Last Updated: December 17, 2024

Black History Month, established by the “Father of Black History,”  Dr. Carter G. Woodson, is a time dedicated to celebrating the achievements and contributions of Black individuals throughout American history. It is also a time for us to honor the generations of work and sacrifices fighting for freedom and equity and incorporate that into our work today, especially within the field of maternal and child health (MCH).  

As leaders in MCH, we are working to advance systemic, political, and individual changes that move racial equity forward. AMCHP has made a formal commitment to anti-racism and racial equity, which acknowledges that racism is a public health crisis and lays out our plan to critically analyze and change our organizational systems. We aim to operationalize this commitment through our partnerships, advocacy efforts, communications, and events with the goal of advancing racial equity. Preceding these actions, we must continually challenge ourselves to learn, unlearn, and ground our work in the knowledge of the past.  

As a part of AMCHP’s Black History Month & Beyond, we have compiled resources from our staff that consist of books, articles, films, podcasts, and more related to Black History impacting MCH. We ask that you help us celebrate Black history beyond the month of February by contributing items you would like to see shared throughout the year in the form below.  

Year-Long Form 

Resources  

• Articles  
  • Black History Month: The Importance of Black Midwives, Then, Now and Tomorrow 
  • The Birth Center’s Reflecting on Black History Month 
  • The Mothers of Black History Month 
  • Learning the African History of Caesarean Sections Will Help Us Better Challenge Stigma 
  • 16 African American Public Health Heroes You Need To Know
  • HHS Black History Month- Maternal/Child Health 
  • Celebrate Black History Month: Through the Lens of Black Health & Wellness   
  • Black History Month Themes: Past, Present and Future
  • The Harlem Renaissance in Black Queer History 
  • Profiles in Perseverance: You may not know their names. But these courageous Black Americans changed history. 
  • 31 Little-Known Black History Facts You May Not Have Learned in School 
  • 15 Lesser-Known Black History Facts 
  • Black History Month Breaking Barriers Past and Present: The Legacy of Dr. Clarice Reid, Pioneer in Sickle Cell Research, and BioMark Diagnostics
  • Howard University Salutes Black History Legend: Dr. Roland B. Scott, Pioneering Sickle Cell Researcher
  • Biography: Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston
  • Dr. Whitten, pioneer of sickle cell screening and champion of African-American medical students
  • Dr. Helen Octavia Dickens – Biography
  • Black (Disability) History: Past, Present, and Future.
  • Why Black Disabled History Matters
  • Explore the Black Panther Party’s History in Oakland, CA
  • February Resources: Screening & Diagnosis for BIPOC Communities and Black History Month
  • The Black and brown activists who started Pride
  • Susan Smith McKinney Steward: Brooklyn’s First Black Woman Physician

• Books  
  • AMCHP Essential Reading for Black History Month and Beyond: The 2022 Edition 
  • A Taste of Power by Elaine Brown
  • Legacy by Uché Blackstock
  • Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization by Khiara Bridges
  • Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger 
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 
  • The Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth
  • Undivided Rights by Jael Silliman, Loretta Ross, Marlene Gerber Fried, Elena Gutiérrez 
  • We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
  • Women Who Change the World: Stories from the Fight for Social Justice by Loretta Ross, Hilary Moore, Roz Pelles, Vanessa Nosie, Betty Yu, Malkia Devich-Cyril, Priscilla Gonzalez, Terese Howard, Yomara Velez, Lynn Lewis
  • Rest is Resistance by Trisha Hersey

• Films 
  • Aftershock 
  • Birthing Justice  
  • Eggs Over Easy
  • Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
  • She Quit

• Podcasts  
  • MCH Bridges: Episode #3 Parts 1 + 2: Redesigning Birth Work For The Future with the InTune Mother Society 
  • Natal Stories 
  • Sisters in Loss

• Academic Works  
  • “To Mitigate the Afflictions of the Human Race” — The Legacy of Dr. Rebecca Crumpler 
  • Robert Felkin MD (1853–1926) and Caesarean delivery in Central Africa (1879) 
  • Black Maternal and Infant Health: Historical Legacies of Slavery 
  • The Race to Innocence: Confronting Hierarchical Relations among Women

• & Beyond 
  • Advancing Health Equity and Anti-Racism in MCH Policy – AMCHP Learning Module
  • A Journey to Birth Justice: A Panel Discussion with the Filmmakers of Aftershock
  • IRTH App: The #1 “Yelp-like” platform for the pregnancy and new motherhood journey, made by and for people of color. 
  • MAGIC, MIRTH, AND MORTALITY: Musings On Black Motherhood 
  • Webinar: Black & LGBTQ+: At the Intersection of Race, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity
  • Black Mamas Matter Alliance 
  • Ancient Song Doula Services 
  • Sister Song
  • NPR: How to think about rest as a form of resistance