March 15, 2024
On March 12, Trotter Multicultural Center hosted “Black Maternal Rights: Voices & Visions” as part of its Trotter Distinguished Leadership Series. The event was a partnership between Trotter, Center for Racial Justice and Black Maternal Equity Collective (BMEC).
The panel featured Leseliey Welch, co-founder of Birth Detroit and Birth Center Equity; Tatiana Omolo, Government & Policy Affairs Director for Mothering Justice; and Cassy Jones-McBryde, founder of The International Fuller Woman Network and creator of The Michigan Chamber of Reproductive Justice. Lauren Kouassi, a Trotter student staff member and vice president of BMEC, moderated the panel.
The panelists discussed the importance of becoming vocal about policy surrounding birth work, stating that communities must be involved in policy creation so that they can be better served by those policies. They continued their discussion by emphasizing the availability of options and resources for Black birth givers, and talked about the lack of knowledge of these options.
“We deserve so much more than survival,” Welch said. “If we go somewhere and we are not treated well, we do have the ability to go somewhere else and make a different choice. We have options and we have agency.”
The event further delved into the complexities of reproductive rights, health and resources and focused on the inequities Black birth givers and families face. The panel also featured a question and answer session, during which audience members could directly engage in discourse with the panelists.