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BLACK LIVES MATTER

Our Pledge to Building an Anti-Racist Organization

To our dear Devoted Mamas Community,

 

Our black sisters and brothers are faced with trauma on top of generational trauma every single day because of the deep institutional and societal racism they have endured for the last 400 years in the United States.

 

In today’s America they must plead to feel SEEN and HEARD and RESPECTED as the beautiful human beings they are. They shouldn’t have to fight for basic human rights.

 

Additionally, our black mama friends are more likely to die in childbirth than those who are white AND on top of it they are faced with losing their babies on a daily basis as they grow up.

 

IT IS NOT RIGHT. IT IS NOT OK.

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As white women, we have allowed some of the harder work of addressing racism to pass because of our privilege. We have been doing, but not enough.

 

We are fully committed to learning. We are committed to having uncomfortable conversations, to dismantling ways of doing business that are upholding structural racism, and to taking action that can be felt by those of whom our actions are intended to support.

 

To our Black community members, we SEE you. We HEAR you and we will fight for you every single day. Rest assured that we stand by you.

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This is a live, active page. It will be updated on a regular basis because this process of running our business in a way that is consciously inclusive, equitable and anti-racist is a fluid, ongoing journey.

 

Through this plan we commit to doing the personal and professional work needed to truly affect change. It requires radical foundational, cellular, subconscious shifts that must be followed through with action and accountability. 

 

Please feel free to visit this page often to see what we are doing. If you have questions about any of our plans, or see things that we could be doing better, please let us know. 

 

We are here to listen. We are here to learn. We are here to act.

 

In love and unity,
Kendra + Nicole

An Action Plan

We are committed to doing deep personal work first. That includes taking courses, reading books, educating ourselves on true black history, and the history of black women and reproductive justice.

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We are not here to teach anti-racism, we are here to support and amplify the voices who are already showing us the way (and have been for years).

 

Here are some of the books we are currently reading and on our reading list:

 

The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Reproductive Justice by Loretta J. Ross & Rickie Solinger

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

Me and White Supremacy, Layla Saad

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These are some of the workshops, webinars and online classes we have been taking / will take:

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Anti-Racism & Allyship for Rehab and Movement Professionals with Dr. JPop

Shine Talk for Kids: A Black Liberated Parenting Course
 

Healthcare: The Black Experience Part 1: The Provider Experience
 

Healthcare: The Black Experience Part 2: The Patient Experience
 

Reimagining Small Business: A town hall to listen, learn & commit to building equitable, anti-racist organizations

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Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Training - Soul Work
 

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Here are some of the Black voices we are following (and you should too):

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Nicole Cardoza - specifically, sign up for her Anti-Racism Daily Email
 

Monique Melton


Rachel Rodgers

 

Rachel Cargle

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Dr. Kameelah Phillips, OB/GYN

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We are committed to showing up for social justice reform: protesting, signing petitions, writing letters to elected officials and scrutinizing who we are voting for and their policies that affect structural racism.

 

We are committed to highlighting and amplifying black voices in the space of birth, breastfeeding, postpartum health and policy – as well as those making an impact in black maternal health and wellness. 

 

We have taken a pledge to build Devoted Mamas as an anti-racist organization. This includes acknowledging that this is an ongoing-process and way of BEING that extends far beyond this page. This is not a one-and-done initiative.

 

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Our Pledge

  1. We pledge to name white supremacy personally and professionally. This includes becoming more literate in the terms of structural racism, anti-blackness, and white Supremacy, how these affect black women in pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum/motherhood, naming it and calling it out when we see it. 
     

  2. We pledge to engage in anti-racist education:

    • We will invest money and time on an on-going basis to take courses, read books and articles, on Black Maternal Health and anti-racism and engage in monthly discussions.

    • We will actively seek out opportunities to advance our yoga, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding and fitness studies with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) teachers, leaders, coaches and organizations who are further down the road that we are at being anti-racist.

    • We will hire a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant to heighten our awareness, analysis, action and accountability. 

    • We will review our education and learning quarterly to ensure it is on-going and relevant.
       

  3. We commit to being open to conflict. We welcome open discussion in all of our classes and community boards. We will never silence discussion that promotes racial equality.
     

  4. We commit to investing a portion of our monthly company budget to the Black community on an ongoing basis. This includes looking into our vendors, contractors and services we use and products that we buy and shifting dollars to Black-owned businesses.
     

 

This is an ongoing discussion. Please stay connected with what we're doing on a regular basis over on Instagram.

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