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In last week’s cover story for the magazine, Linda Villarosa wrote masterfully about how the intertwined crisis of black infant and maternal mortality is related not to the genetics of race but to the lived experience of being a black woman in this country. We asked readers to share their stories of struggling to receive proper prenatal and postnatal care, and hundreds of people responded. Below is a selection of some of the stories. ‘We Often Feel Lonely on This Birth Path’ As soon as I...

The wealth gap between blacks and whites would take 225 years to disappear, according to one recent, rather optimistic, estimate . As to how this could happen, theories abound. Squeezing shut the homeownership gap is a popular solution, and understandably so. A century of racist housing policy—redlining, mortgage loan discrimination, preferential housing subsidies—has created major barriers to homeownership for black Americans. Simultaneously, the federal government has long promoted...

A dozen foster parents surround the table at the mandated Foster Care Child Sex Trafficking class, listening with perked ears to the class leader. She is a survivor of early childhood sex trafficking. The leader continues, noting signs of trafficking, many of which she experienced herself. Amidst a continual onslaught of questions from attendees, the leader teaches the parents safe ways to interact with their previously trafficked foster child, including being careful to ask before physical...

The call was brief, and had the relaxed feel of someone making a reservation at a restaurant. “I have two gentlemen at my cafe who are refusing to make a purchase or leave,” the manager of the Starbucks told the 911 dispatcher. She calmly gave her address, and after being reassured that law enforcement would be on the way shortly, she thanked the dispatcher and hung up. The call, of which audio was released by the Philadelphia police department, lasted roughly 20 seconds. Rashon Nelson and...

I teach middle school Special Education in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana. This area is one of the most violent in the city, and also one of the most devastated during Hurricane Katrina. I know the ACEs Study used the most common sources of childhood trauma, but would it be relevant to tweak the questionnaire to include Gun Violence and Natural Disaster for my students? 1. Gun violence is part of every day life for my students. Nearly all have had a family member, peer or family friend...

The Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality and the National Black Women’s Justice Institute are proud to announce the Trauma-Informed Learning Network for Girls of Color (The Learning Network), which will be launched in late spring. The Learning Network will provide a secure platform for school system leaders and educators to learn from experts across the country about trauma-informed approaches to girls of color and to engage in peer-to-peer learning. Registration is free and open...

What are the reasons that parents or caregivers do not fully disclose their own or their young children’s ACEs when asked to fill out an ACE screening form in their child’s pediatrician’s office? That was one of the many questions raised in a recent webinar entitled Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting: Practical Considerations and Lessons Learned . Dr. Kavitha Selvaraj, an attending physician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s hospital...

Editor’s note: To provide a full picture of what hate speech victims experienced, we have not edited out offensive language. It was the day after the 2016 presidential election. Melissa Johnson was walking out of a Trader Joe’s in the heart of San Diego when a shiny BMW pulled up alongside her. The driver was a man in his late 30s. Dark hair. Green eyes. Her first thought: He’s kind of hot. The car slowed down. Then the man shouted at her through the open window. “Fuck you, nigger, go back...

I know that I'm preaching to the choir with this article ( Stress-related hormone cortisol lowers significantly after just 45 minutes of art creation ), but I'd like to share a personal story and along with it a some floating hopes I have in all of this trauma-informed work that we strive to do. My Brief Story I didn't always like to paint. In fact, I hated it because I was high-achieving and didn't think I was good enough to do it. One day my senior year of college, a friend of mine (let's...

Comments: I read the following Op Ed in my local paper (the Davis Enterprise) this morning about Earth Day, honoring leaders who spent their life working to end poverty, racism, militarism, ecological devastation and calls on us to join the Poor People's Campaign. The aim of the campaign is to build a fusion movement. Acknowledging the validity of the many issues and “silos” we are each committed to, they are calling people to act together to build a people-centered, transformative movement...

Sen. Tammy Duckworth gave birth to Maile Pearl on April 9, 2018. In doing so, the Democrat from Illinois became the first U.S. senator to give birth while serving in office. 10 days after giving birth, Duckworth made history again by bringing her baby onto the Senate floor. "People see that Senator Duckworth is a war veteran and a woman holding elected office," one woman wrote on Twitter . "I see a disabled mother who is holding one of the highest government positions. She is the answer...

Interview with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk by Elissa Melaragno: Elissa Melaragno: I read your entire book through the acknowledgments, and the very last acknowledgment was “to an affirmation of the life force which drives us human beings to create a meaningful life regardless of the obstacles we encounter.” What have you learned about this life force in the process of your work? Dr. Bessel van der Kolk: It comes up over and over again. I just went to visit my childhood friends in the...