• Definitions/Explanations
  • 12 Steps to de-Colonize / re-Africanize Thinking
  • Why A 12 Step de-Colonize/re-Africanize Program is Needed & Is Successful
  • Pre-Colonial History – 1800-200,000 (Hued Humans in Africa in 200,000 BC)
  • How Racism/white Supremacy  Functions in 10 Primary Life Areas
  • New Way of Thinking Classes
  • Solutions

Ubuntu: The 12 Step Program to de-Colonize & re-Africanize Our Thinking

Category Archives: #culture

Joe Biden Blames white Male Patriarchal Culture…Black/African Matriarchal Culture Isn’t Sexist

27 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, Cultural Education, Solutions, war

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#matriarchy, #patriarchy, #toxicmasculinity

Joe Biden Blames Sexual Assaults on ‘white man’s [Patriarchal] Culture’

He Should Have Also Said: Black/African Matriarchal Culture Isn’t Sexist

By Chris Perez    March 26, 2019 | 10:34pm

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Former Vice President Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe BidenGetty Images for It’s On Us

Women have been suffering in “a white man’s culture” — which has continually turned a blind eye to sexual assault and misconduct, according to former Vice President Joe Biden, who propped up Anita Hill as an example.

“To this day I regret I couldn’t come up with a way to give her the kind of hearing she deserved,” Biden said Tuesday while speaking at an event to combat sexual violence on college campuses.

“But I also realized there was a real and perceived problem the [Senate Judiciary] committee faced: They’re a bunch of white guys.”

The 76-year-old Democrat continued, “No, I mean it sincerely — a bunch of white guys…hearing this testimony. So…when Anita Hill came to testify, she faced a committee that didn’t fully understand what the hell it was all about.”

Biden, who was Judiciary chairman for the 1991 Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, got criticized heavily for his handling of the Hill situation. Thomas was accused of harassing Hill, who is black, while he was her supervisor.

“Last fall, you saw it all over again in the Kavanaugh hearing,” Biden blasted. “Almost 30 years…the culture — the institutional culture — has not changed. We have an obligation to change the culture in this country.”

Later on during his speech, Biden brought up a widespread misconception about the “rule of thumb” being an old reference to British common law and it’s tolerance of domestic abuse.

“This is English jurisprudential culture — a white man’s culture,” Biden said, describing how people think the “rule of thumb” was a law that allowed husbands to beat their wives with sticks no thicker than their thumbs.

“It’s got to change,” he repeated.

Describing sexual assault, Biden claimed it was “about the abuse of power.”

“It’s not about sex,” he said. “It’s about power. The most insidious abuse of power of all. And right now we live in a culture where the abuse of power is allowed to penetrate the highest offices of government, where it lives in board rooms and global corporations, and it poisons entire industries — from Hollywood to hotel workers. It pushes down women all around the world.”

Biden spoke for more than a half hour during Tuesday’s event, which was held at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan. He repeatedly condemned violence against women throughout his speech.

“No man has a right to lay a hand on a woman, no matter what she’s wearing, she does, who she is…Never,” Biden said. “If you see a brother taking an inebriated co-ed up the stairs at a fraternity house and you don’t go and stop it, you’re a damn coward. You don’t deserve to be called a man.”

 

Needs to change?  To what? Answer: Matriarchy is isn’t hierarchical, i.e., sexist, classist, or racist.

white Bishop “knowingly employed pedophiles” = Toxic Masculinity

20 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, Cultural Education, war

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#

white Male Toxic Sexual Masculinity…

 

white Bishop “KNOWINGLY employed pedophiles”

church toxic 2

West Virginia Sues Bishop and Diocese Over Sex Abuse, Citing Consumer Protection

church toxic 3

W.Va. suit accuses diocese of knowingly employing pedophiles

 

Toxic Masculinity…is a white male thing…via white male patriarchal culture

 

 

 

 

Why Put A Black Face on Toxic Masculinity? When It’s Really a white Thing

20 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by Jackie Morgan in Family/Relationship/Sex, Relationships & Sex, war

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#angrywhitemen, #toxicmasculinity, #whitesupremacyinternationalterrorthreat

White Supremacy is an International Terror Threat

 

Image result for toxic masculinity

As indicated by the New Zealand shooter, Brenton Tarrant, the violent white male Patriarchal culture is what determines how boys are raised in this country…it’s a white thing, a white violent thing.  Lying is too, that’s why they put a Black face on it in this article.

According to The Anti-Defamation League

The extremist-related murders in 2018 were overwhelmingly linked to right-wing extremists.  Every one of the perpetrators had ties to at least one right-wing extremist movement, although one had recently switched to supporting Islamist extremism. White supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings, which is typically the case.  https://bit.ly/2S6yrYT

So Why Put A Black Face on Toxic Masculinity? When It’s Really a white Thing…to the extent that…

 

As WAMU’s program 1A does today in it’s program How To Raise Boys

https://bit.ly/2FftMM0   

 

MALEEK POWELL/CC BY 2.0

Parenting isn’t easy. But raising a boy in 2019 presents a particular type of challenge.

Facilitated by social media, parents and children are constantly unpacking patriarchy, feminism and what it means to be a man.

David McGlynn writes about just part of the anxiety he experiences parenting boys:

The thought of either of my two sons harassing or assaulting another person, or being victims themselves, is enough to keep me up at night. Any parent is likely to share my worry.

Nor are sexual bullying and harassment confined to girls. Teenage boys are under tremendous pressure to “act like a guy,” which often means fitting into narrow (and often toxic) conventions of manhood. Dr. Brown said, “It’s common for boys to be called homophobic slurs in middle and high school, especially if they deviate from the very narrow stereotype of what it means to be a typical adolescent boy.” Some boys, in fact, might sexually harass girls simply to keep themselves from being harassed.

Masculinity can often be aggressive. And as Faith Salie writes for Time,angry men are all around us.

A man uses his car to assassinate an anti-Nazi protestor. A man shoots a congressman at his baseball practice. A man commits mass murder at a Vegas concert. A man massacres worshippers in their church. A police officer slaughters his own family. The headlines blur, but they invariably seem to feature men whom the media informs us felt lonely or powerless. And a significant number of American men who actually possess power — but are not murderously angry — are pridefully aggressive. The President tweets furiously,with violently bad syntax, spastic punctuation and apoplectic capitalization, venially attacking not only swaths of people but individual citizens of the country he has vowed to protect and defend.

Of course, men aren’t inherently bad. But patriarchy is widespread.

How can we combat toxic masculinity and make the world a safer, kinder place for people of all genders? And what role do parents and community members play in the development of boys who will fulfill that goal?

Produced by Haili Blassingame.

Living, white Is Dangerous…Deadly, In Fact…

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, health, Political/Economics, Relationships & Sex, Uncategorized

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#patriarchalculture

Living, white Is Dangerous…Deadly, In Fact…Even for white People

Patriarchal Culture is Unhealthy

White people see the symptoms but are too patriarchal to see the problem, patriarchy.  That’s why they don’t qualify to analyze any of America’s problem…only Black folk quality.

See the bottom of this collage, they say, “…Black and Hispanics, [despite being victims of the system of racism/white supremacy,] tend to have stronger family support, community support and church support to carry them through…rough times.”  

This support system is cultural; it’s a benefit of Matriarchal culture…soooo, white folk need to start living matriarchally,  is what those white women are saying in books like 

IMG-1965

IMG-1984

Danger: Black Men Raised in white Patriarchal Culture…R Taught 2 Abuse

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, Relationships & Sex, war

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#Matriarchysocietiesofpeace, #MolefiKeteAsante, #patriarchalmasculinity, #SocietiesofPeace, #ubuntu

Danger: Don’t Raise Your Black Boy by  white Values…because…

American Psychological Association links ‘masculinity ideology’ to homophobia, misogyny…

Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax must not have been taught African history, as Molefi Asante would prescribe; must not have been raised via the principles of MAAT and Ubuntu; and must not have lived Black or Matriarchal culture which is gender-equal, according to Cheikh Anta Diop.  Why, because as, WEB Dubois, is you only know white culture, you will think and act white.

So when we send our boys to public schools…which can only teach white patriarchal values, they learn to be ‘abusers’…to act like white men…just like Trump and Brett Kavanagh…examples of white peoples’ brightest and greatest… When our Black men are raised ‘white’ they act white…not realizing that when they get caught, unlike Gov. Ralph Northam, they, like Fairfax will most probably be impeached.

Just compare behavior and value system of Detroit Red, Eurocentric patriarchal values vs Malcolm X, Afrocentric matriarchal values.  

Dr. Frances Welsing thinks it imperitive that Blacks understand the system of racism/white supremacy so as not to be confused about everything.  And, understanding the difference between white patriarchal culture and Black African matriarchy culture, is paramount…because culture you’re raised in gives you your values.

Lesson 1 Culture: white vs Black 

Part A  Patriarchy

Patriarchy is a social system in which males hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage.

For the first time in its 127-year history, the American Psychological Association admits that masculine ideology or patriarchy is bad…for men and women.  It’s issuing guidelines because practitioners don’t know how to address or treat the condition — and the 36-page document features a warning.

“Traditional masculinity ideology has been shown to limit males’ psychological development, constrain their behavior, result in gender role strain and gender role conflict and negatively influence mental health and physical health,” the report warns.”

“The new “Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men” defines “masculinity ideology” as “a particular constellation of standards that have held sway over large segments of the population, including: anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence.” The report also links this ideology to homophobia, bullying and sexual harassment.”

WARNING: This is a white man’s condition that Black men get when raised ‘white’ or via patriarchal culture vs Black African matriarchal culture…primarily via school and the white man’s media (Tylor Perry vs Spike Lee). 

TO BE SAVED: Black people need to start living their Matriarchal culture which teaches the values of Ubuntu and the principles of MAAT or just basic respect… for everybody!!

Part B   Matriarchy

Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present, and Future

African Matriarchal culture is the 1st culture, the oldest culture…under which the world has existed 200,000 years, and, which still exist in parts of Africa.  Violent Patriarchy wouldn’t have allowed the world to exist 200,000 years.  Just within the white man’s 8,000 years of existence, there’s been constant conflict, the creation of the atom bomb, global warming, the oceans and even, space is full of junk, etc.

See below, even whites consider Matriarchy as societies of peace:

White women even want to make it a field of study:

Image result for Matriarchal Societies: Studies on Indigenous Cultures Across the Globe

Matriarachy is a culture, not dominated by women, but descent is through women’s lenage…see below, Diop’s ,Two Cradle Theory, a brief description of both cultures.

SN version

American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

21 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, war

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#culturalgenocide #Sentineleasepeople

November 21, 2018, white Man’s Still “Cultural Genocide”

American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island…Trying to Convert Indians to Christianity

American missionary killed on Andaman island home to uncontacted people

 

NEW DELHI  John Allen Chau had to know that what he was about to do was extremely dangerous….warned not to go to prohibited island.

Instead, he pushed ahead in his kayak, which he had packed with a Bible.  Chau left a note saying that Jesus had bestowed him with the strength to go to the most forbidden places on Earth.

T. N. Pandit, an anthropologist who visited North Sentinel several times between 1967 and 1991, said the Sentinelese people — who officially number around 50 and who hunt with spears and arrows fashioned from scraps of metal that wash up on their shores — were more hostile to outsiders than other indigenous communities living in the Andamans.   

Once, when Mr. Pandit’s expedition offered a pig to the Sentinelese, two members of the tribe walked to the edge of the beach, “speared it” and buried it in the sand.

During another encounter, Mr. Pandit was separated from his colleagues and left alone in the water. A young tribesman on the beach pulled out a knife and “made a sign as if he was carving out my body.”

“He threatened; I understood,” Mr. Pandit said. “Contact was different with the Sentinelese,” he added, noting that the Jarawa, another tribe, “invited us to come ashore and sang songs.” 

Being left alone was very important for the Sentinelese, said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, a group that protects the rights of indigenous tribal peoples around the world.

 

 

Follow Jeffrey Gettleman, Hari Kumar and Kai Schultz on Twitter: @gettleman, @HariNYT and @Kai_Schultz.

Ayesha Venkataraman contributed reporting

Offered Scholarship; Temple U At Game; But Principal Said Jamal, Can’t Play…You Homeless…Got No Fixed Address

21 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by Jackie Morgan in Family/Relationship/Sex, health, Solution

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#12StepforRacializedThinking, #Jamelcanusemyaddress, #makeamends

Offered Scholarship; Temple U At Game; But Principal Said Jamal, Can’t Play…You Homeless…Got No Fixed Address

Racism 202: Perfect example of ‘internalized racial inferiority’ which is the root of ‘Blacks hurting Black syndrome‘…principal telling student not to play because he’s homeless.

Ballou

Principal Jackson told the coach he’d be fired if Jamel played.  Wow!!!  All the principal needed do is give Jamel an address.   Can’t we think outside the box to help each other?

No…not when we suffer from ‘internalized racial inferiority’ which means we act like honorary white people and treat each other like whites treat each other.  So, even though the DC State Athletic Association (DCSAA) cleared Jamel to play, the principal went out of his way to bench Jamel shortly before the home game.   The principal was probably angry and felt he had to have the last word after the team held a protest in favor of Jamel and being out-voted by the DCSAA. 

The principal needs to be sent to 12 Steps for Racialized Thinking where he’ll learn the difference between helping and hurting people of color, he’ll make amends, and learn a new way of thinking.

“Internalized racial inferiority’ is a mental health issue…it’s ‘racialized thinking’…a habitual way of thinking about race and can be best addressed by 12 Steps for Racialized Thinking program.

Happy ending, Jamel’s been offered a permanent home now but, just in case, if he needs to, #Jamelcanusemyaddress.

https://bit.ly/2DmS8pd

https://bit.ly/2MLVYrn

whites Say, Their Culture, Patriarchy…Permits white Men To Abuse Women, The Poor, Non-whites, & Children

30 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, Solution

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#CheikhAntaDiop #UNESCOUniversalDeclarationonCulturalDiversity, #culturalgenocide, #culturalhegemony, #Ifiamadiume

What Do whites Say About Their Culture, Patriarchy

Protesters outside the US Embassy in London the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“…a church held up and fueled by...patriarchy and the resulting toxic masculinity. At its core, patriarchy seeks to defend, embolden, justify and ascribe power to men in general, but also power specifically over women.”

But at its simplest, it conveys the existence of a societal structure of male supremacy that operates at the expense of women – rather in the way that “white supremacy” conveys the existence of a societal structure that operates at the expense of black people.  https://bit.ly/2MlovUT

Rich white men are afraid of Matriarchy…afraid of women being equal… 


“Women are going to take charge of society. …Steve Bannon has warned Donald Trump the anti-patriarchy movement will dramatically change power relations in the US and predicted it will be bigger than the Tea Party… It’s an anti-patriarchy movement. Time’s up on 10,000 years of recorded history. This is coming. This is real.”…“You watch. The time has come. Women are going to take charge of society. ..Trump…is the patriarch. This is a definitional moment in the culture. It’ll never be the same going forward.”

The age of patriarchy: how an unfashionable idea became a rallying cry for [white] feminism today   https://bit.ly/2MlovUT

“…It’s a societal structure of [white] male supremacy that operates at the expense of women – rather in the way that “white supremacy” conveys the existence of a societal structure that operates at the expense of black people.  It operates through inequalities at the level of the law and the state…upheld by powerful [European] cultural norms and supported by tradition, education and religion.” 

If Patriarchy is the Culture of Europeans, What’s Black/African Culture

UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity  says Culture is… 

“…a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of …a group and that it encompasses , in addition to art and literature, lifestyle [violent or peaceful], ways of living together [individualistic or communal], value system [love of money or respect for eldes], tratitions [abuse or revere children], and beliefs [men dominate women or men & women – equal]…”   

The Expert on Culture: Cheikh Anta Diop

Image result for c a diop

But to really understand culture, Matriarchy or Patriarchy, let’s consult the world’s foremost scholar who used linguistic, cultureal & physical anthropology, history and the knowledge of chemistry and physics to disprove the white historians who been falsifying history for past 500 years.   He proved that Africa had a culture, Matriarchy, that it’s not inferior to Patriarchy, and that it’s the 1st and oldest culture.   Diop says, the two primary climates, hot and cold, produced two distinct cultures with different characteristics which include:  

Image result for c a diop cultural unity of black africa

 Diop says, the two primary climates, hot and cold, produced two distinct cultures with different characteristics which include:  

                                                                                           

Africa: Reinventing Matriarchy, Religion and Culture

Nigerian, Ifi Amadiume issues a clarion call for a new understanding of Africa. The author of the best-selling Male Daughters/Female Husbands here issues a challenge to western anthropologists to recognize their own complicity in producing a version of Africa that is often little more than a reflection of their own class-based, patriarchal thought.
The book* explores how imperialism, violence, patriarchy and class-based social structures – originally imposed by colonialism – have become internalized to result in a contemporary Africa cursed with neo-colonial states. Explores the hidden matriarchal history of Africa which continues to empower women in political struggle throughout the continent.

Black Feminist Only Talk About Patriarchy: Understanding Patriarchy by bell hooks

Interestingly, unlike white feminist, Black feminist don’t talk about Matriarchy…I think because Sen. Patrick Monihan lied when he said Black families were Matriarchal, thus pathological…and Black social scientist, having not done their homework, believed him.

Image result for sen patrick moynihan

The Negro Family: The Case For National Action (known as the Moynihan Report, 1965)

…the report concluded that the structure of family life in the black community constituted a ‘tangle of pathology

…the report argued that the matriarchal structure of black culture weakened the ability of black men to function as authority figures

What white Feminist Say About Matriarchy

They call Matriarchal societies…societies of peace and they’re trying to claim, appropriate, steal the concept as theirs and are in the process of making it a ‘field of study’ like biology, sociology, ….with them being the experts in the field…

POINT:  Know your culture before ‘the’ Trump who’re afraid of anti-Patriarchy or Matriarchy destroys it.

(European) Marriage For Love Is Recent…Check History

17 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by Jackie Morgan in #culture, Family/Relationship/Sex, Relationships & Sex, Solution

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#KhauVaiLoveMarket, #KhauVaiLoveMarket #hmonglovefestival, #polyandry

 Marriage For Love Is Recent…Check History…European History, That It…Our History of Relationships Is Different

Listen to History of (European) Marriage:   

https://wamu.org/story/18/02/12/when-did-marriage-become-so-hard/

This movie, a true story, portrays why whites got married in the 1700’s; the radio program gives an overview as how it came to be what it is currently.

Belle poster.jpg

Black people are the oldest people in the world therefore, they have the oldest types of relationships…and not the type white people have…and, it doesn’t include high rates of divorce, jealously, abuse or illegitimate children, less divorce, no jealousy, or abuse. 

Our history include: 

Polygamy definition is – marriage in which a spouse of either sex may have more than one mate at the same time.

Image result for polygamy

Polyandry – a woman has more than  one husband practiced among Tibetans in Nepal, parts of China and part of northern India, in which two or more brothers are married to the same wife, with the wife having equal “sexual access” to them.

Image result for one wife several husbands

 

Love Festival to meet or find a lover – The Hmong of Vietnam go to a Love Market Festival annually to find lovers or to be with lovers…if the woman gets pregnant no thing…the husband accepts it as his, no anger or jealously

Image result for khau vai love market

No Word for Sex –  in the Dagaaba culture and tradition, there is no word for sex; Malidoma and Sobonfu Some’s marriage was arranged and couples don’t sleep together the night they marry.  They say the problems with American relationships is they start at the top of intimacy, with sex then have no where to go with their relationships. 

Mother’s Brother Is Father not Biological Father – In European Patriarchal culture, descent is traced through the man or father…if child is not his, the child is illegitimate. 

In African Matriarchal culture descent is traced through the woman or mother; mother’s brother or uncle fulfilled the father role..all children, therefore have a father…no concept of illegitimacy and the child belongs to the village….the extended family. 

Just image, if African Americans began to live matriarch-ally, none of our children would be illegitimate, i.e., all Black children would have a father, his uncle.  The practice would begin to  put an end to ‘fatherless’ children.  Yes, we’d probably have to return to several generations living together but that would solve a lot of other problems we have because we’re living patriarch-ally.

Female Husbands / Male Daughters – has nothing to do with sex.  

In other words, the marriage promotes the social or economic status of the women. The women don’t engage in sex with each other they each have the right to have sex with men of their choice.  The purpose of the union is the continuation of the family line. the man who impregnates the woman is chosen from the female ‘husband’s’ clan.

POINT: To know the types of marriage people engage in globally and historically would broaden they type of relationships available to us vs only knowing about one.

The 1st Step To Solving Any Problem Is Simple…Talk About It…Then, Study It…Become An Expert On The Topic

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by Jackie Morgan in Family/Relationship/Sex, health, Solutions, Uncategorized

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#Blacklowbirthratebabies, #facingtheblackshadow, #theisispapers

The Answer Is Simple…1st Step…Talk About It…

In A Racism 12 Group Ideally; Step 2,  Go Beyond Personal Experience…Research & Study It, Become An Expert On It

Here are some facts…per my research….

 

 

Low Birth Weight Babies And Black Women: What’s The Connection?

Your baby’s weight at birth is one of the key signs that the baby is healthy. So, when the baby has a low birth weight, which means they weigh less than 5.5 pounds at birth, they could be at risk for several health issues.

As newborns, they may have problems like difficulty breathing, heart problems, or bleeding in the brain. Later in life, they have a higher than normal risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or becoming obese.

Your baby’s weight and racism might not seem like topics that belong in the same sentence.  But they’re more related than you might think. Let’s dive into why being a Black woman makes you more at risk to have a low birth weight baby.

Racism—Starting In The Womb

It’s not being Black and female that increases the risk of having a low-birth weight baby. It’s the connection between being Black and being discriminated against that increases the risk.

Unlike other disparities, education doesn’t even matter. Babies born to college-educated Black women are still more likely to have a lower birth weight than babies born to white women who dropped out high school.

low birth weight

1AEBF46D-776E-45F5-811E-CAE54E0D29BERacism Causes Stress

Many things can cause stress, from looking for a job to losing a loved one. And racism is right up there with the rest. Many Black women don’t even realize they are facing the stress of racism because it’s become so normal.

There are a few reasons why racism can make you stressed:

  • It’s rude. That might not sound very scientific, but—it’s true. When someone says or does something racist, it’s demeaning and negative. That can take a major toll on your psyche and health. Even your medical team might treat you differently—usually, without intending to—which can lead to subpar treatment during pregnancy.
  • Others’ racist attitudes can make it more difficult for Black women to find work, get housing, or receive good medical care. All of these factors impact the baby’s health and your health during pregnancy.

And Stress Affects My Baby’s Weight, How?

Everyone’s body produces cortisol (a.k.a. the “stress hormone”). During a normal pregnancy, your cortisol level can increase by 2 to 4 times. However, stress can make your body release more cortisol, and that’s where things get messy. Too much cortisol can reduce blood flow to the fetus, and that can restrict your baby’s growth.

Chronic stress can also weaken your immune system. This makes it harder for your body to fight infections, including infections in the uterus. This can lead to premature birth (a baby born before 37 weeks). And premature birth causes low birth weight in two-thirds of underweight newborns.

The bottom line: Racism is a powerful stressor that causes your body to release the same hormones it would in any other stressful situation. If you’re constantly facing discrimination, that stress can keep on building up and affect your baby’s birth weight.

Racism Can Also Affect You And Your Baby Like This …

Stress (like the stress caused by racism) can affect your behavior, which can, in turn, lead to low birth weight.

When people are stressed, they are more likely to turn to cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. All of these activities can slow the baby’s growth in the womb, causing low birth weight.

  • It’s estimated that smoking during pregnancy accounts for 20 to 30% of babies born with a low birth weight, and up to 14% of premature births.
  • Secondhand smoke can increase a baby’s risk of low birth weight by as much as 20%.
  • There is no safe time or way to drink. Depending on your drinking habits, you can give your baby a 16% increased risk of low birth weight—as early as the second half of your first trimester.

… And Like This

You’ve heard the saying, “strong, independent Black woman.” And power to you if you are one.

But did you know that being strong and independent can actually be a major stressor if you’re Black?

White women who become strong and independent by climbing their way up the socioeconomic ladder have improved health outcomes. Black women? Not so much.

One of the reasons has been referred to as “weathering,” a term coined by Arline Geronimus, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She explains that Black women have dealt with racism for such a long time that they feel like they’ve been weathered down.

Black women have put up with a lot of disadvantages. They’re more likely than white women to be single householders, raising an entire family. They’re also more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty, and lack access to health care.

Over time, their bodies just can’t take it anymore. They become more stressed, less healthy, and more likely to have babies born with health problems, like low birth weight.

Recap: White women become strong, independent, and healthy. Black women become strong, independent, and not quite so healthy.

That Boiling Blood

There’s something else that Black women deal with that can cause low birth weight: high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (hypertension) is when the force of blood flowing through blood vessels is consistently too high. It can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke.

But it doesn’t just affect you. High blood pressure can mean your developing baby doesn’t get enough oxygen or nutrients. This can cause him to have slow growth and be born underweight.

You can get high blood pressure for a whole slew of reasons. One is that the stress we just talked about can increase your appetite.  And if you’re already having pregnancy cravings, it can be very easy to reach for the foods you know you shouldn’t eat.

Once in awhile? Not a big deal. But if you overdo the pizza and ice cream, you run the risk of developing high blood pressure, which is another risk factor for low birth weight.

Black women may have high blood pressure more than white women. However, it’s also something that all sisters—Black, white, Asian, Hispanic—need to worry about when pregnant.

Stress, lack of exercise, poor sleep, and unhealthy eating can all lead to high blood pressure. And any woman, no matter the color of her skin, may be more likely to have all of these risk factors while pregnant.

There’s Something You Can Do About It

Remember: You may not be able to single-handedly control racism in the U.S. But you can control how you cope with the stress:

  • Refuse to turn to negative coping mechanisms—no smoking, no drinking, no drugs.
  • Surround yourself with supportive girlfriends and drama-free loved ones, at least until the baby is born.
  • Remind yourself that you’re loved, worth taking care of, and can have a great future.
  • Eat a healthy diet. Yes, you’re pregnant, but you still shouldn’t overeat.
  • Work out. Thirty minutes of mild to moderate exercise daily (e.g., brisk walking, swimming) should do the trick.
  • Meditate or join a prenatal yoga class.
  • Address the cause of stress. If your boss is a jerk, if you’re partner is pissing you off, if your landlord is a hot mess, it may be time to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with anyone who is causing you stress, whether it’s related to racism or not.
  • Get enough sleep. Adults need about 7 to 9 hours per night, and pregnant women usually need even more than that. Figure out how you can add some extra sleep time to your day.

If you are pregnant, hoping to one day become pregnant, or know someone who is pregnant, send this information to them. Have a conversation with the medical team during prenatal care about what you can do make sure your baby is born at a healthy weight.

 

SOLUTION:

One of the best ways to relieve stress is talking, sharing, conversation …in a safe space, so, 2/3 persons, start a Racism 12 Step Talk Group…to eventually include an educational piece that explores and examines racism/white supremacy. Read what the victims of oppression who’ve studied it say, like:

  

& listen to the Dr. Frances Cress Welsing on YouTube.

Just like you need to know what to do about hypertension when you have it, you need to know what to do about internalized racial inferiority when you suffer from it.  And, the two doctors above is a good place to start the education process.  

I’ll provide the steps…just ask…& Why 12 Steps For Racialized Thinking forthcoming by Jackie Morgan

 

 

 

 

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