What I'm reading :: MEDICAL APARTHEID: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans (Video)

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, is a book by Harriet A. Washington -- and it was literally on my wish list for about three years before I finally got it the other day. It sounded interesting when I first came across it, but it didn't really grab my attention the way it has lately; I wish-listed it and sort of forgot about it for a while until more recently. What I've realized is that the difference between then and now is that since I've began exploring more areas of critical medical breastfeeding and birth..? (if that's what you call it when you're more interested in raicalized politics and other justice issues than practical areas), I now look at this history through an entirely different lens than I would have then. Then, I wouldn't have really known what to do with the information. I wouldn't have been ready for it.

From what I've uncovered so far, Harriet Washington's extensive research provides details about how the vast amount of scientific experiments leads us to what we have seen for generations, with the mistrust of healthcare professionals. I knew of this mistrust, but like others I knew of select case such as the Tuskegee experiment, for example, where over a 40-year time span, Blacks visited doctors, and believed they were receiving treatment, but instead researchers were only gauging the effects of untreated syphillis. I also knew of a few others, and I recently read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, whose rapidly reproducing cancer cells were taken without her knowledge and have been used in countless experiments in medical research facilities across the world (and in space), for the past 50+ years, to create vaccines, find cures for diseases, along with a slew of others; these cells have impacted and in some way helped save my life, yours and the life of everyone you know. Harriet Washington tells us most people view these types of incidents as isolated and sporadic, but the reality is that this anti-Black racism has been at the foundation of this society, and the history of experimentation is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the U.S. healthcare system, and has been ongoing for hundreds of years.

From the reviews I've read, many people talk about how unsettling the narratives are. I've heard the author talking about this book on a few occasions when I've found videos online -- one is embedded below (she does not provide gory details in this video, btw, just in case you are concerned). I've also heard about some of the procedures performed on Black people, often without anesthesia that she highlights. This is probably the reason I've also read by others, that Medical Apartheid is one of those books you pick up, read a couple of pages, and put it down for some time before getting the courage to continue. If this is the case, at over 500 pages, I won't expect to finish anytime soon. And I admit I am a bit nervous about the coming chapters; I've laid awake many nights before, after reading about things like women being stripped naked and whipped near death by a slaver for  accidentally burning his toast at breakfast, just as one example, so I only imagine what I'll feel learning about the information in this one.

I've put a lot of thought into the ways Black people have been abused by the medical system, and the effects of this continued legacy; I think about the ways Black women have suffered greatly, and definitely around areas of breastfeeding and birth. This is also why I am so angered at the idealism that surrounds this area, and how birth workers keep disregarding the blatantly obvious -- that this is not some long lost idea that happened in the very distant past that has nothing to do with us. It's happening now. And it affects each and every one of us.

One of the reasons I am so thankful I became a doula, trained by a Black midwife, who centers Black women's experiences, is because of this. One major benefit of doula support in addition to successfully increasing breastfeeding, is that it reduces the rate of cesarean sections, so women can have a natural vaginal birth, instead of the major (and debilitating) surgery that c-sections are. Being in this role ensures that I am actively working to resist the ways our bodies have been commoditized and mishandled, used-up and disposed of, and it gives me a direct hands-on approach in challenging this legacy. Because I think we've been experimented on and cut into for too long.

Have you read Medical Apartheid? What are your thoughts?

What are some ways we can use the information to raise awareness and work towards solutions inside of the healthcare industry as well as outside of it?

Are you on Goodreads? I am as of late. Look me up and add me. Let's share our reading interests.

Book Review :: Mama Midwife A Birth Adventure

What an anti-racist and social justice activist who constantly deals with stressors of social issues and inequality relishes, are moments like these when we receive children's books such as Mama Midwife, to review.

Mama Midwife, A Birth Adventure, is a self-published text by California resident, Christy Tyner, mother of two, whose children's playtime activity sometimes includes stuffing their clothes with animals and playing 'midwife', acts as one of the inspirations behind this creative work. More inspiration comes from Christy's partner -- a midwife, and the text also served as a way to appeal to children, helping to curb some of the potential trauma inflicted through 'Hollywood scenes where every birth is an excruciating emergency in a hospital that requires intervention.'

Mama Midwife is told through the eyes of young Miso, who finds herself in an interesting story-telling situation when explaining her mom's work. During Miso's first slumber party, mama is called that night to work, and that sets Miso's friends on curios path full of questions. After the friends decide Miso's mama is not a 'secret agent,' but is instead someone who 'helps babies come out of their mommies,' and 'takes special care of mommy while the baby is growing inside,' the remainder of the story unfolds, and shows an eager to help out, Miso, who eventually gets a chance to assist her mother during a birth.

Mama Midwife is filled with fun, rich and colorful illustrations, along with a story of participating in safe, woman-centered birthing. Mama Midwife displays diversity with a range of characters from elephants to snails, to a raccoon and others. It is not focused on just one category of species, but encompasses a varied selection of those from different groups, which is just as important as the message about birth itself.

Ironically, however, my favorite scene in Mama Midwife, just so happens to be in the area where I also find the largest weakness of the text. The impending delivery of Mama Grizzly is near, and she has called on the midwife. This scene captures a spectacular image of a laboring bear leaned-up against a tree, and receiving encouragement by her partner, and other family before being submerged into a birthing tub and delivering a healthy baby cub. After the delivery, however, there is no mention of breastfeeding this new baby or any other mention of mama's milk anywhere in the text -- at all. Not even when Mama Grizzly is herself drinking chocolate milk with her scrambled eggs as she is recuperiating after labor. A breastfeeding scene would not only add to this story's rich detail, but it would solidify the message of healthy first foods, in natural birthing and infant feeding -- that children also must be exposed to.

Please see the updated post, with the addition of breastfeeding. 

I'm happy I had a chance to review this children's book. Not only was I inspired by the story of Miso and her 'mama midwife,' but my kids were just as eager. I read this to them one night at bedtime, and after they turned around and read it to me -- once each on their own. The story was read three times back to back that night. 

I'm also made me think of the lay and professional birth workers and advocates I know and have encountered, and reminds me of how they are appreciated for all of the woman-centered, healthy birth outcomes, and the positive impressions they make on us, especially when their work gets conveyed in stories like Mama Midwife. As I said earlier, for me it was refreshing to be able to shift the focus from the more serious areas of my work, and relax and read about a heroic birth worker. Mama Midwife has me thinking of going on the hunt for more children's books on the topic or ones close to it. This one was definitely a treat for me, and it certainly helped me exhale. 

Author: Christy Tyner
Publisher: Self-Published @ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Year: 2013
Paperback: 11.50
Hardcover: 15.99
Genre: Children's
Pages: 36
ISBN: 978-1480244108

Thank you, Christy Tyner, for providing a copy of Mama Midwife: A Birth Adventure, for this review.

Note: All opinions are my own and honest, and I am not compensated by the author!

BLACK FEMINIST BLOG CARNIVAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Debunking the 'Man-Hating' Myth

Black Feminist Blog Carnival

There has been an ongoing misconception about Black Feminism. The experiences unique to those of us who have adopted a Black Feminist framework in order to understand the social atmosphere regarding gender, race, and class, has somehow relegated us to hate our Black male counterparts.

Complete MISrepresentation of Black Feminism

This Blog Carnival is for those who identify as a Black Feminist or Womanist. It is inspired by the countless amount of inaccurate information defaming Black Feminism and its regard to Black male interactions. It's purpose is to bring together those powerful voices and simply debunk the Black man-hating myth. There are issues dealing with the unquestionable and complex dynamic between these genders, but the fact remains that the quest for social justice is moot if such a 'man-hating' stance existed.

Complete MISrepresentation of Black Feminism

Update: With more and more people weighing in, I have posted a few updates to this post. Mostly, I want to let you know that I am well aware of the (raging) 'gender war' between Black men and Black women, and understand that many who identify as Black Feminists have had very strong contention and/or outright trauma with Black men. My intention is not to use this space to try and mull over or ignore this crucial area that needs much attention. If anything, perhaps this will continue or open up a new conversation on the topic.

Working to challenge notions like ones in the video above.

Video: What IS Black Feminism?

There are folks who have produced different bodies of knowledge regarding just who can label themself a Black Feminist. In Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, for example, Patricia Hill Collins explains that in order to be a Black Feminist it requires experiencing life and viewing society through the lens of a Black woman. Others suggest that it is more flexible, allowing anyone who wants to identify as such do so to avoid the exclusion Black women have suffered. I don't know what theory you subscribe to, but I will not reject your submission, based on how you define yourself. 

********************

WHAT IS A BLOG CARNIVAL? A blog carnival is an online action that aims to utilize the growing power of our combined reach on social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest) to jumpstart – and jump into! – a national conversation. This “Black Feminist” blog carnival will have blog posts ranging from the personal to the political, in a range of mediums, from text to video. I will collect and publish the individual blog posts. The links to all posts will then be gathered into one overarching post that will serve to host and introduce the blog carnival (momrising.com).

HOW TO SUBMIT: Please submit through the link, or you can email it directly to: lactationjourney@hotmail.com

Please do not feel you need to be a 'writer' in order to participate. Whether you consider yourself a 'seasoned' professional, or not, your voice counts! Please bring your honest perspective, and you are welcome to be as personal, conservative or as politically-charged as you'd like.

INCLUDE:

• Your  post! Can be previously published work, and there are no restrictions on length. You are welcome to use whichever format you'd like in order to convey your message, i.e. creative fiction article, poem, YouTube video, etc. Please note: If you insert a YouTube video in leu of a full-length post, please include a paragraph or two explaining the key points of your video. This will be inserted into the post (here's an example). Please also include the url to your video. 
• Post Title
• Your name and email address (or you can submit anonymously)
• A headshot 
• A picture to insert into your article. This is not required, but often times posts containing images related to the post topic are shared more frequently around the social networking sites. 
• A link to your website or blog
• A 2-3 sentence byline/'About Me' (preferably in third person -- he, she, they), and can include your Twitter @. 

TIMELINE: This carnival will be hosted here on the Lactation Journey Blog, and posts will be published on Thursday, May 9th 16th, but you are welcome to submit yours as soon as you'd like.

*This blog deals with the social, cultural and very racial aspects of Afro-decendent breastfeeding from a radical Black Feminist perspective. It is straight-forward and quite political (unapologetically so). If you feel this may be a concern to you, before you submit, I would encourage you to click around on this site for a bit, to ensure you are OK with having your content featured here.

*Comments: Comments are maintained by Disqus. I suggest when your work is published here, you subscribe to the comments. To do this, navigate to your post (or any other that you'd like), and scroll down to the very bottom until you reach the 'comments' section. There, you will see two grayish links, which allow you to subscribe either by RSS or through email. By subscribing, you will be notified when someone has responded to your post, and you can make sure you engage your reader and answer questions, if necessary.

If you have any other comments, concerns, thoughts or questions at all, just ask!
 

Deadline for submissions is Thursday, May 2, 2013! Thursday May, 9th, 2013!

School official refuses to dismantle white supremacist breastfeeding curriculum

Think back to last year and the 'white breastfeeding policy.' Do you recall when I enrolled in the PEBL (Professional Education in Breastfeeding and Lactation) course, in order to obtain a Certified Lactation Educator Certificate (CLE)? Do you recall how excited I was before class began, an enthusiasm that quickly diminished on the first day, when it became clear this would be a experience to learn more ways to cater to white women -- and produce more maternal-infant mammies -- only learning ways to focus on white women's birthing and breastfeeding outcomes? My frustrations with the course material were so intense that I approached the director of the school about this concern, and she suggested we get together to 'discuss it' when I had time? She said they had been looking for ways to de-center whiteness? I never scheduled that meeting. I ended up being super busy, but aside from that, I decided it was not my job to volunteer my time to educate this institution on ways to make their curriculum less exclusive and be the 'bridge' for Communities of Color.

About a week ago, someone posted a flyer in a birthing group page on facebook. This flyer stated that it was time for professionals to begin discussing the 'social determinants of health' -- that there are outside influences that determine women's birthing outcomes, based on race, class. Ya think? An interesting conversation erupted in the comment section of this one. I weighed in, of course, and simply said that this move was "LONG overdue!!" A few other folks chimed in, too, and one of them was the director of the school where I received my CLE. She ensured that the school she directed will now begin implementing discussions on these social determinants of health in their upcoming intro doula courses -- something like that. Of course she received those many fallacious 'Likes' that people give so freely on facebook, but I thought this was a good opportunity to ask her about her breastfeeding course. I asked if the school would be implementing ways to address the overrepresentation of white women. I told her that at it stands now (which I'm sure she knows) the curriculum makes the entire breastfeeding experience (including the complications) central to the white body -- this is dehumanizing to communities of color. I told her that this change was also long over due. Well, guess what her response was.... NOTHING! That's right she ignored me and didn't responded to my question. AT ALL! 

I was actually surprised she ignored me. I really didn't expect it. If anything, I would have figured she would at least try and skirt around the question -- maybe pat me on the back and fill the atmosphere with false hopes. Isn't that the way most folks do things, especially when they're confronted with issues of exclusion? But that didn't happen. I'm disappointed. Not surprised. I'm not the only one who felt this way about the course curriculum, but I'm probably the only one to speak out about it in such a public forum, where hundreds of other people could see. I also know this is a much larger problem than simply one institution's refusal to move beyond the scope of whiteness. But this, like any other experience -- I'm going to own and call it how I see it where I see it, whether on a large or small scale.

I would like to suggest to the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA, that you are benefitting no one by your refusal to address the racism and xenophobia infused in your breastfeeding curriculum. In addition, this avoidance only makes you in direct compliance with the many health and social disparities rampant in this society and on a larger scale, in which everyone (yes even white people), suffer. The students at your institution, who believe they are signed up to provide health and medical services to those in need only continue to receive a direct lesson in white supremacy, which only contributes to their physical, moral, mental, and spiritual deterioration. Additionally, they simply remain ignorant in assisting a certain percentage of the population, and this fortifies the rampant maternal-infant mortality our country faces, especially among Black, Brown and other NON-white populations. And more, People of Color who enroll in your courses never even learn how to serve our own communities. Think she knows that Black women have the lowest breastfeeding initiation and duration rates of any group in the country, and that breastmilk is literally the difference between life and death for some of our babies? 

I hope you can see, Ms. Kennedy, that this only perpetuates the cycle of racism and the myth of white supremacy in your school and beyond. And I hope you can also recognize, too, that by continuing to ignore this even in an environment that is supposed to contribute to the health of people by teaching birthing, breastfeeding and other so-called holistic practices, you are only doing more harm than good.

Inequity in Breastfeeding Support Summit Registration Now Open!

Registration is live for the breastfeeding summit, focusing on 'The impact of institutional racism, power and white privilege on breastfeeding rates and maternal-infant mortality.' This summit is happening on June 21-22, 2013, at the Brockey Conference Center South Seattle Community College in Seattle, WA, and is 'A collaboration of the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, Mahogany Moms Breastfeeding Coalition, Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, and Community Breastfeeding Activists.'

There's a pretty cool line-up of speakers, including Kathi Barber -- author of The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding, Midwife Shafia M. Monroe, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, where I joined as a member and also trained as a Full-Circle Doula. 

The purpose of this conference is to collaborate, educate and act together as a community of breastfeeding supporters to learn about and counter institutional racism and social injustice in perinatal support services. 

Below is the rest of the info I copied from the event page, with a bit about the speakers, and you can click here to register:

Goals:
Raise awareness in the breastfeeding support community and other perinatal support fields, of significant health disparities between women of color and white women and the impact of racism, injustice, and white privilege on maternal-infant health services and outcomes.

Facilitate the development of an action plan to address these disparities and identify actions that individuals, organizations, and communities can take, in line with the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding.

Objectives:
Educate health care providers, breastfeeding counselors, childcare providers, employers and community members on how to counter institutional racism in their communities and organizations.

Facilitate a dynamic cross-exchange of culturally competent breastfeeding information and best-practice support strategies for women of all ethnicities.

Facilitate collaborative discourse to develop an action plan to address current disparities in both breastfeeding rates and access to breastfeeding services.

Confirmed Speakers:

Kathi Barber, CLC, Founder of the African American Breastfeeding Alliance and author of The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding

Sheila Capestany, MPH, MSW, Executive Director of Open Arms Perinatal Services

Shafia Monroe, Midwife, President and CEO of International Center for Traditional Childbearing

Cynthia Good Mojab, MS, IBCLC, RLC, CATSM

Joan E. Dodgson, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN

Jeanette McCulloch, IBCLC, LLL & Wendy Gordon, LM, CPM, MPH

Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka, MSEd & Jeanine Valrie, MPH

Inga Aaron, BA, Community Breastfeeding Activist

Sherry Payne, MSN, RN, CNE, IBCLC, Executive Director Uzazi Village

Camie Jae Goldhammer, MSW, CLE, Postpartum Doula, Founder and Chair of the Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington

If you have any other questions, let me know. Or you can email the committee. Hope to see you.

Book Review :: The Doula Guide To Birth: Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know #DoulaProgression

There is a growing trend in women who are electing to have a doula (doo-luh) -- a "woman servant," present at her birth, and many others who believe no woman should be without these assistants, so it is not surprising that more and more written work on the profession and how doulas can be helpful, are appearing in bookstores. This one, The Doula Guide To Birth: Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know, is a text written by Ananda Lowe and Rachel Zimmerman, who both have done extensive work with pregnant and birthing women.

The Doula Guide To Birth places birth companions in the context of pregnancy and shows exactly where we fit. It begins with examining the origins of doulas, and over 12 chapters the pair take turns with discussing the benefits of doulas, whose presence can provide emotional support along with other benefits like pain relief. It also provides information and advice for partners of a pregnant and laboring woman, discusses how difficult yet rewarding labor is, how to find a doula, understanding early labor versus active labor, epidurals, cesareans and more. This easy to understand text is not filled with esoteric ideas and medical terminology that requires a certain level of knowledge about birth practices or medicine. For example, Chapter one, Doulas Are Great Pain Relief, offers an explanation on how pain relief could be curved with the assistance of a doula. Amanda and Rachel tell us that the comfort women receive makes doulas the 'best medicine' in preventing intervention, by being available throughout all stages of early and active labor. In this way, a doula can assist with breathing techniques, suggesting different positions for comfort, offer a massage, and others, all which help to ease or erase a woman's fear. Chapter two discusses Fathers, Partners, and Other Loved Ones, and how we can assist. This chapter discusses the impact doulas have on other members of the family -- fathers, children, grandmothers, for example, and to show how a doula's presence can assist with these other members who choose to be present at the birth.

The remaining chapters on labor, labor techniques, dilation, birth plans, exams and others, are helpful in developing a image of why doula work is a burgeoning field. For those like myself who not as seasoned in the birthing scene, I find The Doula Guide can be used as a tool for practical ways to understand how birth companions can be of assistance to women, who are largely birthing in hospitals. The experiences of women who have used doulas, are a component of this texts, as they share their stories of fears, frustrations and triumph. Though the large part of the conversation focused on romanticized notions, that didn't go as deep as necessary, there was attention given that birthing will not always happen with a mother-father dyad, and that being single or estranged from the baby's father or partner is a possibility.

I became a doula to fortify my breastfeeding work. After doing some researching on the profession, I knew that it would provide me an additional layer of insight, and allow me to go deeper on ways to promote the tradition. I knew that along with numerous other benefits we have positive outcomes with assisting women, and the chances of successful breastfeeding increase tremendously when one is present. Because of this, my initial goal was to practice postpartum. Once I showed up to training, though, and sat through class those few days learning of the countless other reasons why women need these birth companions I knew that my trajectory had changed. This book was initially required reading before attending doula training -- I had no idea it was even on the list until I showed up to class and heard others talking about it. I'm not sure how I missed that important detail.

Authors Ananda and Rachel both have a love of birth and a desire to see women have happy and healthy pregnancies, and for these reasons, it is remarkable that the issues of social inequity that grossly affect the more vulnerable populations are avoided. Since this book talks to expectant mothers as well as doulas, averting discussions on issues of race and racism, class stratification, and others, gives the assumption that everyone experiences pregnancy and birth the same, that everyone can afford a doula, that racism and class issues are not inextricably linked to birth disparities or how someone experiences pregnancy and birth, and assumes everyone has access to a doula. This important discussion remained absent from the text. The usefulness of the large amount of practical information, to me, is overshadowed by the lack of attention to critical areas where birth companions (and everyone) should be concerned. The modern maternal-infant mammification of Black women continues to gain traction, as critical attention to areas of gender, race and class are omitted, and Women of Color's unique circumstances in this society are overlooked.

Although birthworkers ignore these areas, it is no secret to lay and professionals that the scale is unquestionably weighted against certain members in this society. Economically disadvantaged women, for example, have unequal access to resources, creating larger health and equity issues among these groups and the overall society and complications in pregnancy, birth and postpartum increase. It is also no secret that Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. FOUR TIMES! And many Women of Color's birthing outcomes are too often fraught with inequality due to racism, immigrant status, sexual identity and many who have issues even getting care. So while I wouldn't disregard The Doula Guide, it is not without the absence of disappointment. I would urge its authors and everyone in this area -- privileged midwives, doulas, birth assistants, Drs, nurses, Lactation Consultants, to stop idealizing birth and pretending that everyone births in an idealistic setting. Stop overlooking that racism, class division and all other socially manufactured circumstances is NON-existent when it comes to carrying a child. Stop ignoring the impact of these on her, her baby's health and safety and breastfeeding success! And more urgently, stop ignoring that Communities of Color are not mostly affected. As birth workers, we bear the responsibility of proactively exploring and examining issues of injustice and inequality, and work at eradicating these for more positive outcomes.

I'm not surprised this text was used in the doula training I was enrolled in -- a training that centered the experiences of Black women. The Doula Guide does offer information that can be useful as a starting point to understand what a doula does, and may possibly be beneficial in allowing women to make more informed decisions. The conversation, however, must move away from the largely idealistic and saccharine ones we too often see in these professions and focus more on birth justice so one day every woman can experience this, because as of now this is not the way it is, and depending on who you are, being pregnant can kill you! 

This text was not provided by the publisher to review on my site. It was purchased with my own funds, as part of Doula Certification, which requires a written review and submission of birth and midwifery texts. This post is here simply to share this report/review with my audience. 

Author: Ananda Lowe, Rachel Zimmerman

Publisher: Bantam
Year: 2009

Paperback: 17.00

Genre: Pregnancy

Pages: 270

ISBN: 9-780553385267

Pearl Primus is in bloom again! (I hope)

Having this plant really means a lot to me. I got this from friends of the late, great and renowned anthropologist, Dr. Pearl Primus. In 1990, Dr. Primus gifted this type-of-a-sanseviera plant, native to West Africa (which I'm sure she picked up on one of her many trips there), to her friends -- who would later author a book on her life, The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography of Pearl Primus, to tell how she challenged social inequity and racial injustice through education and dance anthropology.

 

After I read the text that worked up the most insatiable appetite possible to know more about Dr. Primus, and had already rendered her a major 'Shero', I became acquainted with one of the co-authors of The Dance Claimed Me, who I eventually got this plant from. It is offspring from that original gift, -- an 'indestructible' plant and because of that characteristic is said to be good luck. It has been growing, reproducing and being shared for the past 23+ years. Except for that it wasn't growing -- for me, at least. 

When I first received her (yes, my plant has a gender) almost one year ago, I placed her in the kitchen and watered her every two-three days. But that didn't work. Last Summer, I talked to someone, who suggested I "clean her up" by removing the dead leaves that had begun accumulating because she just wasn't thriving, and my sister suggested putting her in new soil. She bought me the cute planter that you see in the picture, along with a bag of nutrient-rich soil, and after I repotted her, initially I thought she was an outdoor plant, so I sat her outside, which ended up being a bad idea! Something took a huge bite out of her and she has even fallen over twice, breaking her leaves -- and still wasn't growing. My feeling have been continuously hurt over what's happened to my plant, along with her 'failure to thrive'. When I brought her inside and made her new home in the window sill is only when I began to see a bit of growth last year -- but then the cold season came and that was the end of that. Now, it's finally Springtime again, and we have as much sun as one can hope for around here, so I'm hoping she will begin to do some blooming over the next number of months. I check on her daily, and make sure she stays hydrated and well-fed, so I'm looking for something amazing, so keep an eye out. And if you have any suggestions at all for how my brown thumbs (literally and figuratively) can get her to thrive, then please let on.

Dr. Pearl Primus

"Dance is my medicine. It is the scream which eases for a while the terrible frustration common to all human beings who, because of race, creed, or color, are "invisible." Dance is the fist with which I fight the sickening ignorance of prejudice. It is the veiled attempt I feel for those who patronize with false smiles, handouts, empty promises, insecure compliments. Instead of growing twisted like a gnarled tree inside myself, I am able to dance out my anger and tears." - Pearl Primus, 1968