Deadline: 1 August 2011
Mother’s Day 2011, two mama bloggers swarmed the internet with intimate and loving images of Black Women Breastfeeding. It’s powerful message, creating community and demanding space in the discourse of maternal and child wellness specific to Black women. These images were shared in hopes to encourage and validate our choice as Black mothers to parent our babies as we choose. Something that was once legacy and inherent to Black culture has thus become such a revolutionary act.
With the bombardment of free formula samples given to us at our prenatal visits, delivered to us in our mail, offered to us in our social service offices, pushed at community events, breastfeeding has become and been deemed more “complicated” than ever. The message that is being sent to Black women is that when it comes to breastfeeding it is simply too hard, takes too much time, is unclean, and unnatural. All of these ideas (and more) have perpetuated the myth amongst health care providers and professionals that BLACK WOMEN DO NOT BREASTFEED. With only 110 Baby Friendly hospitals in the United States (out of over 10,000 hospitals total) where can Black mamas reference to receive the love, support and encouragement to fulfill their breastfeeding destiny?
This book/anthology will be an extension of the viral Brown Mamas Breastfeeding Project. We aim to create discourse on Black women and breastfeeding, to display how breastfeeding is a part of our culture and legacy, to examine the social, emotional, and physical barriers to breastfeeding, to exhibit examples of perseverance when the breastfeeding gets tough, and to provide tips on how to maintain the breastfeeding relationship if you and baby are separated, while simultaneously sharing stories, images and creative works of and by real breastfeeding, Black mamas.
Submissions to be considered:
*Photos (must be 300 dpi or greater–most digital cameras satisfy this request. Please no cell phone pictures.)
*Written reflections on breastfeeding (extended breastfeeding, multiples, etc.)
*Poetry, songs & other creative writings (no longer than 2 pages in 12 pt Times New Roman, please)
*Original Breastfeeding art
Consider these topics for your submission(s) (no longer than 2 pages in 12 pt Times New Roman, please):
*relactation
*breastfeeding for another mama’s baby
*bf despite what doctors, nurses, midwives told you
*bf in public spaces
*family legacies of bf
*how you’ve dealt with bf difficulties (engorgement, mastitis, sore/cracked nipples)
*seeking support
*mother-child bond
*examples of perseverance in bf
*bf and physical challenges
*text messages or phone call transcriptions of black mamas supporting each other with bf
*anything we haven’t included or thought of!
Submissions should be mailed to liquidgoldbook@gmail.com.
Contact Information:
For inquiries: liquidgoldbook@gmail.com
For submissions: liquidgoldbook@gmail.com
Website: http://itsbetterathome.wordpress.com or http://soulvegmama.com