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Let's start with some basic facts. In 2001, women in Canada gave birth at a rate of 11.21 per 1000. In the United Kingdom, the birth rate was 11.54. In the United States of America, the rate was 14.2.
Flip the coin. That same year in Kenya, the birth rate was 28.5, more than twice the rate of the U.S. In Haiti, the rate was 31.68. In Ethiopia, the rate was 44.68. And in Niger, the birth rate was an impressive 50.68 births per 1000.
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The bottom line: In Black countries, women
are having babies. In white countries, women are not having as many babies. So,
as African women, Caribbean women -- Black women living in Canada: where should
we get our information about pregnancy and parenting?
In an analysis of racial disparities of
medical information in magazines, Shakoora Omonuwa, M.D., presents survey
results showing that magazines are most often used as a significant source of
health information for women. Now, the majority of pregnancy and parenting
magazines available in Canada present a mainstream or “European”
perspective. Omonuwa calls such publications “white-oriented magazines.”
Maybe you've seen those magazines. I know I've seen them. When I was pregnant with my first baby, and desperate for answers, I pored over pages of smiling, bulging-bellied blondes, brunettes and redheads alongside articles from using mayonnaise to moisturize my hair to using candy to toilet-train my child; exalting drugs my mother never used and food my grandmother never heard of. Where were my beautiful sisters in these magazines? Where were the nappy heads of my children? Where were MY issues, MY values, the wisdom of MY ancestors for expectant and new mothers?
Pregnancy and parenting have always been uniquely cultural experiences. And who is best suited to give advice to African women on having and raising children? White-oriented magazines that reflect the interests of countries and cultures with consistently low (and falling) rates of birth? No, the Black women who are actually having children and who understand the value of the family should be the ones to teach the world.
Introducing: Black Woman and Child.
Black Woman and Child is a publication for women who are pregnant, plan to become pregnant and/or have a child or children aged seven and under. That's the "official" target market. Informally, Black Woman and Child is for women like us. Women who eat yam, green bananas, injera, callaloo, foofoo and other delicious food not included in the so-called "typical" pregnancy menu. Women with afros, twists and dreads. Women who like a little zouk, soca, highlife, jazz and ska in their workout. Women who put the words "African-centered" in front of "education." Women who wear boubous, kente, mudcloth and headwraps. Women who boil herbs. Women who say "back home." Women like me. Women like you.
In an article that looks at the relationship between white supremacy and health services, author Loretta J. Ross writes, "Around the world, the reproductive health needs [of] women of color are sadly neglected or actively harmed...constantly compromised by poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, and injustice...Forms of population control are re-emerging in overt and covert forms."
I believe that the solution to this global problem is awareness in our communities. Black Woman and Child will contribute by providing relevant pregnancy and parenting information strongly rooted in Pan-African culture. The knowledge shared will be as specific to Black women as what we exchange with our families and friends. In the changing cultural landscape, communities are becoming more fragmented. Factors as far-reaching as immigration and as close-to-home as the night shift have taken their toll on our relationships. Many women no longer enjoy unlimited access to their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and girlfriends. Black Woman and Child will be a central information resource to fill that knowledge void.
I think especially about the kind of knowledge that I needed when I was pregnant and still need today in raising my wonderful son and planning for future children. For example, Queen Afua, founder of the Global Sacred Woman Village Center and co-director of the Heal Thyelf Natural Living Center, is one of the future contributors to Black Woman and Child magazine. Queen Afua promotes "liberation through purification" and healing with herbs, juices and baths. She also has many suggestions about healthy food alternatives, spiritual and sexual union, female infertility and the holistic family. Black Woman and Child will include such important areas as rituals, discipline, education, finance, breastfeeding, news, views and more. The magazine will represent wisdom from as many different cultures as possible within the African Diaspora.
Black Woman and Child will be an important resource for sisters dedicated to preserving the culture in our childbearing and child raising experience. Sisters like you. And sisters like me. Believe me, I have the stretch marks to prove it!
Actually, I lie I don't have any stretch marks, thanks to the wonders of shea butter. Just some more of that African wisdom I was talking about!
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Nicole James is the publisher of NuBeing International and the proud mother of Njau, born in June, 2001. To find out more about Black Woman and Child magazine, as well as upcoming information sessions, workshops and other events, please call (416) 335-9045 or visit www.blackwomanandchild.com.
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REFERENCES
CIA Factbook at www.cia.gov
Mosca, L., Jones, W.K., King, K., B., Ouyang, P., Redberg, R.F., Hill, M.N. (2000). "Awareness, perception, and knowledge of heart disease risk and prevention among women in the United States." Archives of Family Medicine, 9, 506-515.
Omonuwa, Shakoora. "How informative on medical conditions and their treatments are black-oriented magazines compared to white-oriented magazines?"
Ross, Loretta J. "The SisterSong Collective: Women of Color, Reproductive Health and Human Rights (SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Project)." American Journal of Health Studies. University of Alabama, Department of Health Studies. Spring, 2001.
