In this Issue: Celebrating Fatherhood!
June is an exciting month for the AAIMM village! All month long, we're amplifying our Fatherhood program on our website, social media platforms, and through grassroots and media efforts. We're also looking forward to community events celebrating fathers and freedom.
Keep reading to learn more!
Fathers are identified, supported and celebrated by AAIMM as integral members of our Village that serve in their role as vital to the foundation of celebratory, healthy and joyous births.
Fathers can be the most powerful advocates for their partners before, during, and after birth if equipped with the proper tools, information, and resources. As such, AAIMM has invested in programs designed to specifically engage Black fathers: Black Daddy Dialogue and the Expecting Fathers Group for Black Dads.
Throughout the month of June, AAIMM will be shining a bright light on our Fatherhood program and highlighting the important role that fathers play, while providing dads with tips, resources, inspirational stories, and opportunities to grow their own village of support.
Join us by engaging on our social media channels and visiting our Fatherhoodpage, which will be updated throughout the month. Share the information with expectant and new dads you know and help us spread the word that #BlackDadsMatter!
Follow Along!
Use Hashtags:
- #BlackDadsMatter
- #BlackFatherhood
- #DadsNeedAVillageToo
- #GrowTheVillage
Holding Space for Our Fathers
By Ruel Nolledo
Building the Village is a special 4-part series from First 5 LA, focusing on the work taking place in neighborhoods throughout L.A. County to combat the disproportionately high rates of Black maternal and infant deaths and ensure that all Black families experience joyous and healthy births. Created and supported by L.A. County’s AAIMM Prevention Initiative, local partnerships known as Community Action Teams (CATs) are bringing everyone together to raise awareness of the crisis and identify the solutions that work best for their community. In addition to the L.A. Department of Public Health, each CAT includes local residents (including mothers/birthing persons and dads/partners), community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, health care providers and plans/networks, birth workers such as doulas and midwives, First 5 LA, the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, local businesses, and other allies.
It’s a hot, blue-bright Saturday morning in June, the kind that promises summer is just around the corner. Even though it’s early, the pedestrian plaza at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Public Health in South Los Angeles is buzzing with activity. Volunteers are hustling to set up resource tables and banners. Off to the side, someone is carefully wheeling a delicate-looking machine through the wide glass doors of a screening room. And next to a pillar of balloons — black, yellow, green and red — a barber is setting up his station.
The focus of these preparations is the second Juneteenth Father’s Day Celebration, a full-day event highlighting the crucial role fathers play in promoting healthy birth outcomes for Black mothers and infants. Part community baby shower, part resource fair, the event offers expecting parents the chance to chat with doulas and prenatal experts, pick up free resources — like backpacks customized for diaper changing — and even catch a glimpse of their unborn babies in real-time, courtesy of a free 4D ultrasound screening.
Keeping everything in motion at the event is Adjoa Jones, Director of the AAIMM Prevention Initiative. Decked in a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “EMPOWER-ENGAGE-ACKNOWLEDGE BLACK FATHERS,” she greets everyone warmly, even as she gently coaxes them to gather toward the front of the plaza.
“This event is for you,” she tells those gathered. “We want you to know that this is done with our love and real integrity. We are committed to keeping our foot on the pedal. We are committed to keeping our foot on the gas.”
“Because we can't give up,” she continues, her voice full of emotion. “We have to be the people who are out here to protect, support and believe Black women. We have to be the people that make sure that Black women survive the pregnancy and childbirth journey.”
The event is the brainchild of the South Los Angeles/South Bay Community Action Team (SLASB CAT), a collaborative partnership dedicated to addressing African American/Black infant and maternal mortality in the South Los Angeles/South Bay community. Like other AAIMM CATs operating in L.A. County, SLASB’s work is rooted in a pivotal truth: That racism is a root cause of maternal and infant disparities — not just in specific instances but in terms of how the cumulative effects of pervasive and persistent racism produce toxic stress that damages and weakens a mother’s physical and mental health and that of her child.
AAIMM'S JUNETEENTH FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION
On Saturday, June 8, the South Los Angeles/South Bay (SLASB) AAIMM Prevention Initiative Community Action Team and Star Status Cares held a Juneteenth Father's Day Celebration for Black fathers and their families. The fun-filled day was an opportunity for families to receive vital support for their birthing journey, including baby essentials and resources for fathers.
Activities included health screenings, a live DJ, food, raffles, free haircuts, and more!
Don't miss another event in your area! Join an AAIMM Community Action Teamand get involved today.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Click the fliers above to RSVP and for more information!
OPPORTUNITIES
Home visiting programs can help parents learn about their child’s growth and health, engage in activities that will encourage their child’s brain development, and connect families to other needed resources. They are shown to be good for both mom and baby. For more information on home visitation, click here or for an eDirectory of home visiting services in LA County, click the image above.
Integrated Community Solutions is a workgroup brought to you on behalf of the SLASB AAIMM CAT every 2nd Wednesday from 1-2:30pm PST via Zoom.
Visit the SLASB AAIMM CAT page or contact Gabrielle Brown ([email protected]) or Nada Dalati ([email protected]) for more information.
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