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Black Mamas Matter Alliance

Advancing Black Maternal Health

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Our Mission

Black Mamas Matter Alliance is a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance. We center Black mamas to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice.

Our Vision

We envision a world where Black mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to thrive before, during, and after pregnancy.

Our Goals

  • Change Policy: Introduce and advance policy grounded in the human rights framework that addresses Black maternal health inequity and improves Black maternal health outcomes
  • Cultivate Research: Leverage the talent and knowledge that exists in Black communities and cultivate innovative research methods to inform the policy agenda to improve Black maternal health
  • Advance Care for Black Mamas: Explore, introduce, and enhance holistic and comprehensive approaches to Black mamas’ care
  • Shift Culture: Redirect and reframe the conversation on Black maternal health and amplify the voices of Black mamas

Our Story

The Black Mamas Matter Alliance was sparked by a partnership project between the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (SisterSong) that began in 2013. The two organizations collaborated on story collection on the obstacles that Southern Black women face in accessing maternal health care, leading to poor maternal health outcomes and persistent racial disparities. These findings were included in a joint report – “Reproductive Injustice: Gender and Racial Discrimination in U.S. Health Care” – submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Monica Simpson of SisterSong, Katrina Anderson of CRR, and Elizabeth Dawes Gay co-organized a convening in Atlanta in June 2015 that brought together experts, activists, and stakeholders from a variety of sectors who were concerned about Black maternal health. “Black Mamas Matter” was an outcome of this meeting, along with a call to action to produce toolkits for activists in the South working to improve maternal health. Over the course of the next year, CRR, in collaboration with members of BMM, created the Black Mamas Matter Toolkit.

A second convening was held in Atlanta in June 2016 to launch the toolkit and discuss how to implement it in Georgia, where some political momentum on this issue seemed to exist. At this meeting, members identified the myriad strategies needed to effectively tackle the crisis of maternal health (advocacy, culture shift, research, and service provision) and called for a Black women-led initiative to leverage these strategies.

Recognizing the need for the BMM project to become its own entity, CRR and SisterSong initiated a process to create a Steering Committee to guide BMM into its next phase. In November 2016, BMM hosted its first Steering Committee retreat. At this two-day meeting, the group decided on the “alliance” structure, and crafted a vision, mission, values, goals, and work plan for the upcoming year.

The founding Black Mamas Matter Alliance Steering Committee members include Angela Doyinsola Aina, Elizabeth Dawes Gay, Joia Crear-Perry, Kwajelyn Jackson, and Monica Simpson.

In June 2018, Angela Doyinsola Aina and Elizabeth Dawes Gay became co-directors of the Alliance.

BMMA Staff

Angela Doyinsola Aina, MPH
Executive Director

Angela Doyinsola Aina, MPH

Angela Doyinsola Aina, MPH is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, where she works to convene Black Maternal Health professionals and community-based organizations to develop trainings, programs, quality improvement initiatives, research projects, and black feminist advocacy strategies to advance holistic maternity service provision, policy, and systems change in global public health. She has over 14 years of public health experience, working in different capacities on projects focused on: incorporating health equity strategies into reproductive and maternal health initiatives; strengthening strategic planning and community-based workforce development; and data collection. Ms. Aina has served as a Public Health Analyst, Health Communications Specialist, and a Public Health Prevention Service Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over 5 years, working on Zika and Pregnancy, scientific program management, and 2014 Ebola response staffing. She holds a Master of Public Health degree in International and Women’s Health from Morehouse School of Medicine where she conducted a sequential mixed-method analysis of the reproductive health attitudes and behaviors of Nigerian-born immigrant women in the U.S., and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia State University in Psychology and African-American Studies. Angela’s expertise and perspectives on Black Maternal Health has been featured in media outlets, such as the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, the Root, and HLN/CNN. In March of 2020, she was recognized as a 2020 WebMD Health Hero and highlighted as an advocate for Black Maternal Health in Time Magazine. She is passionate about and committed to work that seek to achieve: the self-determination of women of African descent; the elimination of violence against women; the promotion of Black and African women’s rights and  leadership; and womanist solutions to social and economic injustices. Angela enjoys all things diasporic Black cultural expressions in dance, music, art, fashion, theatre and film.

Rose Aka-James, MPH
National Membership Manager

Rose Aka-James, MPH

Rose Aka-James is a public health professional living in Atlanta, GA with her husband and son. She has a Bachelors in Psychology from St.John’s University and a Masters in Public Health from New York University. During her graduate degree program, she worked with physicians and public health researchers to streamline healthcare and HIV/AIDS testing and education for expecting mothers at government hospitals in Accra, Ghana. As a black mama herself, the issue of inequity in black maternal health, morbidity, and mortality is one which is not only close to home but an imperative human rights area of focus to improve outcomes for generations to come. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, spending time with her family and traveling.


Advisory Committee Members

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, MD

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, MD

Dr. Crear-Perry is the Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative. Most recently, she addressed the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge a human rights framework to improve maternal mortality. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the Birthing Project, Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at Jefferson Community Healthcare Center and as the Director of Clinical Services for the City of New Orleans Health Department where she was responsible for four facilities that provided health care for the homeless, pediatric, WIC, and gynecologic services within the New Orleans clinical service area. Dr. Crear-Perry continues to work to improve access and availability of affordable health care to New Orleans’ citizens post the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. After receiving her bachelor’s trainings at Princeton University and Xavier University, Dr. Crear-Perry completed her medical degree at Louisiana State University and her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tulane University’s School of Medicine. She was also recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A proud recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Healthcare Hero’s award, Dr. Crear-Perry currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and on the Board of Trustees for Community Catalyst, National Medical Association, and the New Orleans African American Museum. She is married to Dr. Andre Perry and has three children: Jade 25, Carlos 21, and Robeson 7. Her love is her family; health equity is her passion; maternal and child health are her calling.

Dr. Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN

Dr. Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN

Dr. Monica R. McLemore is an assistant professor in the Family Health Care Nursing Department, a clinician-scientist at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) and a member of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. She maintains clinical practice at Zuckerberg San Francisco General. Dr. Mclemore’s program of research is focused on understanding the factors that influence the health, wellbeing, and livelihood of low-income and women of color. Dr. McLemore joined BMMA in 2017 as a collaborator and has contributed her expertise, knowledge, and leadership to the research working group and Alliance.

Breana Lipscomb, MPH

Breana Lipscomb, MPH

Breana Lipscomb is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she received her Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Science in Biology and Spanish. She has over 13 years of public health research, advocacy, and program implementation & evaluation experience and has worked in Tennessee, Guatemala, and the State Departments of Health in both Iowa and South Carolina. Breana is an alumna of the Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership Institute at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She has a special interest in addressing maternal health disparities through effective policy and advocacy. She now manages the U.S. Maternal Health & Human Rights Initiative for the Center for Reproductive Rights. In this role, Breana develops advocacy strategies to promote Black maternal health, particularly in the South, mobilizing a broad base of stakeholders—policymakers, reproductive justice community, public health professionals, the medical community, and advocates—to advance state-level policies that further reproductive rights as human rights.

Kwajelyn Jackson, MS

Kwajelyn Jackson, MS

Kwajelyn Jackson currently serves as the Executive Director at Feminist Women’s Health Center (FWHC) in Atlanta, GA, where she manages non-clinical operations, development & communications, volunteer engagement, leadership development, education programs, community outreach, and legislative advocacy work to improve reproductive health, rights and justice in Georgia. She began with FWHC in the summer of 2013, and has since committed to expanding FWHC’s statewide impact and deepening its community partnerships. Kwajelyn also sits on the board of directors for All-Options, Abortion Care Network, Soul Food Cypher, and ProGeorgia, and the steering committees for the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and the Mife Coalition. Prior to joining FWHC, she spent three years as the Program Manager for WonderRoot Community Arts Center and eight years as a Credit Risk Manager with Wachovia Bank’s Community Development Finance Group. She has a BA in economics from Spelman College and an MS in urban policy studies from the Andrew Young School of Public Policy at Georgia State University.

Monica Simpson

Monica Simpson

Monica Raye Simpson is the Executive Director of SisterSong, the National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. Monica has organized extensively against human rights violations, the prison industrial complex, racism and intolerance, and the systematic physical and emotional violence inflicted upon African American women and the African American LBGT community in the South. She is also a singer, full circle Doula and was recently named a New Civil Rights Leader by Essence Magazine.​​ Monica lives by the Paul Robeson’s quote “If the artist does not create, the world suffers.” She has always used her talents of song and spoken word in the community. She has debuted in theatrical productions such as, “For the Love of Harlem,” “Words the Isms,” “Walk Like A Man, ” “The Vagina Monologues” and “For Colored Girls” and has sung for numerous events across the country which includes singing the national anthem and the national Black anthem for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. march and rally in Atlanta, GA. She is currently working on her first solo album and she will also launch Artists United for Reproductive Justice as a project of SisterSong to create a platform for artists to collaborate and create replicable tools to further the work of the Reproductive Justice movement.

Recent Tweets

Thank you for the opportunity to share our work & the work of our movement partners at the National Home Visiting Summit 2021! 💜 #HVSummit #BlackMaternalHealth twitter.com/StartEarlyorg/…

About 4 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

🤗🤩🥰💜 twitter.com/caitlinrain/st…

About 4 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

RT @RRHDr I am THRILLED to announce the launch of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity -my vision is now reality thanks to a $5 million gift from @BlueCrossMN. As Founding Director I will elevate a bold vision for a healthy & antiracist future! tinyurl.com/2v2wjtvp

About 4 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Thank you for all that joined us for the 2021 Black Maternal Health Week National Call, which is now live on YouTube! 💜 Search #BMHW21 National Call to watch what you may have missed #BlackMaternalHealth #BlackMamasMatter pic.twitter.com/2aXq9aFsCL

About 8 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

#MarshaPJohnson is #BlackHerstory The erasure of trans women in social justice movements has been evident throughout history, but we must address issues that are affecting especially our Black trans sisters, if we want to work towards reproductive freedom. #BlackMamasMatter pic.twitter.com/QiIMR91WVX

About a day ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Registration is officially OPEN for the Black Maternal Health Virtual Conference! 🤩 Register now and receive our Early Bird Registration package filled with conference essentials, swag items, and exclusive access to our Groove Thang Special! ➡️ Link is in bio. 😊 #BMHC21 pic.twitter.com/e5n4dVSBNW

About 3 days ago · reply · retweet · favorite

RT @thenaabb The time to end preventable maternal mortality and close racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes is long overdue. What are your asks from this administration to protect Black birthing persons? Join us next week to discuss! pic.twitter.com/XXswosfLMP

About 4 days ago · reply · retweet · favorite

RT @iamKSealsAllers My heart breaks for all Texans. I pray that no mama is forced to consider BOILING SNOW to prepare infant formula for their baby. When we say #breastfeeding is critical emergency preparedness & must be supportd & accessible,This is it!! Pls 👉🏾 me to who is helpng mamas & infants

About 5 days ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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