Bridget Biddy Mason (1818-1891) was one of the first landowners in Los Angeles beginning in the 1850s and founded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in L.A. in 1872.

Although born a slave in Mississippi, Mason migrated with her last owner, Robert Marion Smith, a Mormon convert, to the state of Utah. Along the 1,700 mile, 300-wagon caravan trek—which she  traversed entirely on foot—Mason set up and broke down the camp, cooked the meals, herded cattle and....served as a midwife—all while caring for her own three daughters, one of which was a newborn.

[Gerald Garth is a part of the AAIMM network, and Lead facilitator of the AAIMM Village Fund.]

'It was June 2020 and Gerald Garth was asked to do a video interview with the Los Angeles Times about his role as one of the main organizers of the All Black Lives Matter march that was only days away.

For the interview setting, the reporter chose the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Bayard Rustin Plaza, named for the openly gay civil rights activist who was the organizing genius behind the 1963 March on Washington and a top advisor to Martin Luther King.

“It’s a moment I’ll never forget,” Garth tells LGBT News Now.

 In early January, he found himself back at the Center but this time to begin his job as the newly-hired director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

“When I saw the Center’s commitment to really lifting, expanding, and growing its work in addressing racism and equality and equity, I saw an opportunity for me to bring my skills and strengths to a place that has been just a pillar in LGBTQ+ health and wellness,” he says. “I’ve always celebrated the Center and the great work that it has done. It has been a beacon and uplifted so many people and communities.”

Garth has already began working with Center leadership and with a staff DEI committee to create a racial equity plan for the Center. The goal of the plan is to establish actionable and measurable initiatives in every Center department to further the effort of dismantling systemic racism.

“If we liken ourselves to an orchestra, there is value coming from every section but it has to be moving and playing together for it to be at its best,” he explains. “One of my goals is to really help break a number of the silos that we have historically seen in the Center and tie that work together.”

The Perinatal Equity Initiative Coordinator will be responsible for conducting a range of tasks related to the effective and efficient implementation of the Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI) and the Los Angeles County Five-Year Plan to address racial inequality in birth outcomes. 

The Los Angeles County AAIMM Prevention Initiative is a coalition of the Los Angeles County Departments of Public Health, Health Services, and Mental Health, First 5 LA, community organizations, mental and health care providers, funders, and community members. We are united in one purpose: to address the unacceptably high rates of Black infant and maternal deaths in the county and ensure healthy and joyous births for Black families. Through a series of comprehensive coordinated strategies, we aim to reduce the county's gap in Black/White infant mortality rates by 30% by 2023.

The AAIMM Initiative approaches its work from a frame that the root cause of the mortality disparity is the stress caused by a Black person’s exposure to racism and the impact of that stress on a Black woman/birthing person’s body, compounded by structures in society that perpetuate racism, and the presence of implicit and overt bias in the systems of support that interact with Black families. 

The Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI) was established in the state legislature's Budget Act of 2018 as the Department of Public Health’s response to the alarming statewide gap in Black infant mortality. PEI is designed as a complement to the state's Black Infant Health (BIH) Program, a group-based service, information and social support program for Black mothers to buffer the negative effects of racism on their health. The goal of PEI is to improve birth outcomes and reduce preterm birth and mortality through interventions implemented at the county level that are evidence-based, evidence-informed or reflect promising practices. 

If you're a Black person with a Due Date before January 15th - You may qualify for a NO COST Doula Program

See flyer for details!

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 16, 2021) — Communities Lifting Communities (CLC), the Public Health Alliance of Southern California (Alliance), and the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC), recently marked the end of its first, two-year cohort of Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies, a collaborative effort to reduce Black maternal and infant health inequities in Los Angeles County.

The Cherished Futures landmark took place just prior to a Dec. 7 White House statement that identified reducing maternal mortality and morbidity as a strategic objective of the Biden-Harris Administration. The statement followed a presidential proclamation released during April’s Black Maternal Health Week, when Vice President Kamala Harris presided over a roundtable on the issue.  

“Black women in our country are facing a maternal health crisis,” Harris said at the time. “We know the primary reasons why: systemic racial inequities and implicit bias,”

We believe in the importance of centering the real experiences of Black mothers/birthing persons. This effort deeply connects people to the narratives that relate to our work and, rather, to the people for whom this work was created. It also allows us to share the joys as well as sit with the gravity of the birthing experience.

ARE YOU A DOULA WHO WORKS WITH BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN PREGNANT WOMEN AND FAMILIES?

WE'RE HIRING! 

See Flyer Below For More Detail!

We love to welcome new babies into the world, but we don’t want to welcome them too soon.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. remains among the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth—a crisis fueled by the health equity gap in our health care system that puts women and babies of color at the greatest risk.

If your family has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and needs financial assistance, you may qualify for help through BIG:LEAP. The City of Los Angeles has launched the BIG:LEAP (Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot) program, the largest guaranteed basic income pilot in the nation designed to bring about more equitable opportunities for families. The City’s program will provide $1,000 a month for 12 months to approximately 3,200 eligible families across Los Angeles in an effort to increase financial opportunities for households who are living below the poverty line.

Presented by the Association of Black Women Physicians (ABWP), The L.A. County AAIMM Initiative and The March of Dimes: Overcoming disparities in African American Infant and Maternal Mortality: Doctors and Doulas and Mamas, Oh My!

Intended Audience: Physicians, Nurses, NPs, CNMs, LMs, PAs, Allied Health Staff and Community Members

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• • Define the role(s) of the doula during pregnancy, birth, and the post partum period

  • Identify the ways that doctors and doulas can partner to support successful and joyous childbirth

  • Discuss ways that doctors and doulas in-partnership can help decrease African American infant and maternal mortality

For more information see flyer below:

OVERCOMING DISPARITIES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN INFANT AND MATERNAL MORTALITY: DOCTORS AND DOULAS AND MAMAS, OH MY!

Presented by the Association of Black Women Physicians (ABWP), The L.A. County AAIMM Initiative and The March of Dimes: Overcoming disparities in African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Preterm Birth

Intended Audience: Physicians, Nurses, NPs, CNMs, LMs, PAs, Allied Health Staff and Community Members

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Define preterm infant morbidity and mortality in relation to gestational age at birth
• Name the diagnoses and complications that affect preterm births
• Provide information and evidence, and assess candidates for interventions
• Discuss key patient education points to increase understanding and strategies to better support patient experience

For more information see flyer below:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ASSOCIATION OF BLACK PROVIDERS:

https://www.blackwomenphysicians.org