Black Lives Matter: 2020 and Beyond

At AustinBorn we unequivocally believe that Black Lives Matter. We are listening and learning, and are committed to making change within our organization to become better allies, better community members, and better educators.

We must:

commit to our own anti-racism work in the maternal health system and beyond, which starts first with acknowledging our own privilege as white educators and how it has allowed us to move easily through the world.
expand inclusivity in our language, in our class curriculums, and in our outreach, which means acknowledging the disproportionate hardships Black women face in the perinatal period and engaging in work to dismantle the barriers.
increase our scholarship funds for BIPOC families to provide more access to evidence-based education and support, which means actively reaching more people rather than assuming they’ll find us. (They have enough work to do.)
only partner with businesses and peers who are committed to anti-racism work, which means calling out those who are not in alignment and calling in those who are.
support more Black organizations and businesses in our community and increase donations to those we are already supporting, which also means compensating Black educators for their work, their teachings, their time, energy, and space.
use our platform to LISTEN TO AND AMPLIFY BLACK VOICES, which means hearing without defensive energy and elevating Black voices, particularly Black women, without being performative or expecting recognition for that.

We’re acting on the ways we need to improve, which means acknowledging the ways we’ve failed in the past. We work in a system where Black women are 4-5 times more likely than white women to suffer complications and death in childbirth and postpartum, and we have not prioritized changing that in the past. We have a platform that must be used to help reduce Black maternal mortality and morbidity rates, improve perinatal education and support and access to those, and amplify Black professionals in the maternal healthcare system.

Black educators and businesses we are supporting :

Austin Channing Brown

Austin Justice Coalition

Mama Sana Vibrant Woman

Monique Melton