What a Year …

It has, as usual, been a minute since last I wrote to you all. And I won’t make any promises about frequency going forward. I have been busy trying to understand the situation we are in, in the US, and what change looks like, and what my role might be.

I am uncomfortable in large crowds, although I find the turnout for No King Days encouraging. I provide services to small social justice & cultural organizatios who have been hard hit by the federal government cuts, and frankly, the cowardice of many (but not all!) foundations in the threats made in the attack on “DEI”, that cover for dispossession and disenfranchisement of immigrants, Black, Brown, Indigenous and other people of color.

What I have learned in my travels through The South

Scroll down for my annual list of organizations I am supporting with year -end contributions. Join me!

There is much fear around the Louisiana v. Callais case and the possibility that the Supremes may (will?) decide in a way that disenfranchises Black and Brown voters in the South.

Here is a link to an article from the New York Times that I am sharing because of how it illustrates the awful extent of ICE activity, especially in southern & some western states that offer little resistance. I have been reflecting on what is referred to as Third Country Removals. It is my opinion that those detainees are in effect rendered stateless.

Here is a definition of statelessness:

The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons establishes the legal definition for stateless persons as “[a] person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.”. A person’s citizenship and nationality may be determined based on the laws of a country where an individual has significant ties, such as their country of birth and where their parents were born, among others. A person can be born into statelessness. Also, a person can lose citizenship and nationality in a number of ways, including when a country ceases to exist or adopts nationality laws that discriminate against certain groups, which can render the person stateless if they possess no other nationality.

So, not only is the Federal government violating their due process rights, those sent for detention in a third country with no recourse to legal protection and no verification of their status as a citizen of another country have very few rights under human rights conventions.

Many of you probably followed how the USDA deprived farmers of the financial support they had been promised this year, endangering the harvest, their livelihood and the stability of their families. While large producers were later provided with some redress, “DEI” farmers — Black, Indigenous, Brown, and Asian small farmers, — have received nothing.

Southern Echo’s Version of Health Equity & Social Determinants of Health

Giving Pregnant People & Children of All Ages a Chance

I could go on, SNAP benefits, health insurance subsidies, transportation improvement funding, but I do want to focus on two organizations that I love and support this holiday season: Southern Echo & A Wombman’s Way Warrior Midwife Training (AWWWMT).

Southern Echo is has been building skills, leadership, and organizing in the Delta region of Mississippi since 1989. Their focus today is Health and Whole Child Equity (website is being updated). They were one of the first Black-led organizations to raise the alarm about ICE raids in the Delta. You can donate to their essential work **here**.

A Wombman’s Way Warrior Midwife Training is enacting a vital mission: The mission of A Wombman’s Way Warrior Midwife Training Program is to transform maternal and infant health by training midwives to provide comprehensive, culturally competent, and trauma-informed care that improves outcomes for women, families, and communities.

Founded by Sakina O’Uhuru, A Wombman’s Way Warrior Midwife Training envisions a world where every woman and birthing person is supported by a well-trained, culturally grounded midwife rooted in justice, compassion, and ancestral wisdom — ensuring safe, sacred, and empowered birth experiences for all.

Full disclosure — I am a new board member of AWWWMT — and realized how critical their purpose and mission is to Black people, especially in the healthcare deprived South — when Mississippi announced that in 2024 the state has the worst infant mortality rate in the US: 9.7 infants per thousand (almost double the national average). Of the 323 babies that died, two thirds were Black. Maternal death rates were highest among Black women at 148.3 per thousand. Most deaths are attributable, in my opinion, to poor prenatal care, lack of access to obstetrical services, lack of health insurance and internalized racist attitudes toward Black women by the medical establishment.

AWW Warrior Midwife Training will create the a new generation of midwives prepared to engage the struggle to save Black women, birthing people and babies. It is a long tradition being revived. You can support AWWWMT here.

I have gone on way too long! I appreciate your attention and — fingers crossed — there won’t be 6 months between missives!