Date and Time
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024 | 2PM ET/11AM PT| VIRTUAL
Speaker
Jamarah Amani
Midwife, Executive Director, Southern Birth Justice Network
Read Bio
Jamarah Amani, LM is a community midwife who believes in the transformative and healing power of birth and that every baby has a human right to human milk. Her mission is to do her part to build a movement for Birth Justice locally, nationally and globally. Jamarah is the architect of the Birth Justice framework, the Black Midwives Model of Care and the Birth Justice Bill of Rights. Jamarah identifies as Black, Femme and Queer.
A community organizer from the age of sixteen, Jamarah has worked with several organizations across the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa on various public health issues, including HIV prevention, infant mortality risk reduction, access to emergency contraception and access to midwifery care. As a birth worker and activist, Jamarah has been tackling issues of racial justice, including the epidemics of Black maternal and infant morbidity/mortality for over fifteen years. She is currently the Executive Director of Southern Birth Justice Network, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to expand the Birth Justice movement and to make midwifery and doula care accessible to marginalized communities. She is also the co-founder of National Black Midwives Alliance, the only national professional association in the U.S. specifically for midwives of African descent, and a founding member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association.
Jamarah is the recipient of the 2019 Trailblazer Award from the City of Miami, which proclaimed a day in her honor- Jamarah Amani Day, celebrated annually on March 14. She has been featured in a variety of media outlets including PBS, NPR, NBC and publications such as Vox, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Washington Post, among others. She has written for news outlets including the Miami Times and Miami Herald. Jamarah recently received the inaugural Umm Salaamah Sondra Abdullah- Zaimah Birthworker Award from Black Mamas Matter Alliance. In addition to parenting four children and watching the sunrise whenever possible, Jamarah offers midwifery care to families in South Florida and teaches workshops on Birth Justice to organizations across the United States.
Jamarah is currently producing a documentary entitled Legacy Power Voice: Movements in Black Midwifery with her partner, filmmaker Karyl-Lyn Sanderson.
Event Description
Research shows us consistently that the specificity of the Black experience in America has implications for perinatal outcomes. Implicit bias trainings do not go far enough. Black pregnant people and families need health care providers to utilize an anti- racist approach to care delivery. The historical exploitation and abuse of Black folks in the medical industrial complex, especially obstetric violence, has to be dismantled in order to achieve equity. There is a dire need for respectful, anti-racist care grounded in an understanding of Birth Justice, in the traditions of Black midwives. The Black Midwives Care© model is designed to meet the social needs of pregnant, birthing, and postpartum Black mothers/parents. Black Midwives Care© is a liberation-focused model developed by Black midwife Jamarah Amani, centered on Black mamas and families. Black Midwives Care is composed of some of the essential elements that Black midwives have provided to their communities for many generations and includes understanding the impact of race, incorporating cultural elements, connecting with holistic care and, being an advocate.