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  • USBC Membership
    • USBC Member Directory
    • Join USBC
    • Membership Benefits & FAQs
    • Membership Fee Schedules
    • Membership Interest Form & Affiliated Coalitions Directory Request Form
  • Policy & Actions
    • Constellation Work Groups >
      • Infant & Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Constellation
      • Disrupting Formula Marketing Constellation
      • Lactation Support Providers Constellation
      • Pasteurized Donor Human Milk Constellation
      • Workplace Support Constellation
    • Active Legislation
    • Breastfeeding Policy Map
    • Existing Legislation
    • Federal Policies, Programs, & Initiatives
    • PUMP Act >
      • The PUMP Act Explained
      • PUMP Act Implementation Resources
      • Know Your Rights-PUMP-Act--PWFA
    • Federal Appropriations for Breastfeeding
    • Take Action
    • Letters & Public Comments
  • Resources
    • USBC Directories >
      • USBC Member Directory
      • Affiliated Coalitions Directory
    • Breastfeeding References
    • Breastfeeding Resources for Parents
    • Breastfeeding In Emergencies >
      • Infant Formula Recall and Shortage
    • Constellation Developed Resources
    • Image Gallery Access
    • Lactation Support Provider Training Directory >
      • Lactation Support Providers Pathways
    • Learning Opportunities
    • Monthly Observances
    • State Breastfeeding Reports
    • USBC Data Survey
  • News & Events
    • Annual Conference
    • Events Calendar
    • National Breastfeeding Month
    • USBC in the Media
    • USBC News & Blogs
    • Weekly Wire Newsletter
  • About Us
    • About the USBC
    • Explaining our "Why"
    • Our Team
    • Job Opportunities
    • Board of Directors
    • USBC Committees
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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    • Community Agreements & Guidelines
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uSBC News & Blogs

2023 archives
December
  • 12/4/2023: usbc stakeholder listening sessions: share your vision for achieving infant nutrition security
November 
  • 11/29/2023: USBC Membership meeting mission moment with dr. scott hartman
  • 11/22/2023: Reflections on Native American Heritage Month: a Conversation with kimberly moore-salas
  • 11/21/2023: 2023 Impact Report: breastfeeding policy priorities
  • 11/17/2023: USBC Interim EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANNOUNCEMENT
October
  • 10/30/2023: USBC Executive director transition announcement
September
  • 9/28/2023: using data to inform infant and young child feeding in emergency preparedness systems
  • 9/20/2023: Reviving identity caucuses at the usbc: we want to hear from you!
  • 9/19/2023: Reflecting on national breastfeeding month 2023 wins
August
  • 8/25/2023: FY24 appropriations: what recent senate bills mean for infant feeding
July
  • 7/28/2023: Fy24 appropriations: what the house and senate bills mean for infant feeding
  • ​7/25/2023: taking the time for celebration: the pump act and pwfa are law!
  • ​7/21/2023: news from the chair: change is good
march
  • 3/23/2023: fiscal year 2024 president's budget: what it means for the lactation field
  • 3/1/2023: renewing the usbc commitment to equity as we seek to grow the usbc membership network
february
  • ​2/16/2023: join the usbc welcome congress campaign!
  • ​2/15/2023: the u.s. breastfeeding committee launches the creating space scholarship
  • ​2/8/2023: open letter to congress: new research highlights critical need for strong policies to leverage the value of breastfeeding
january
  • ​1/12/2023: fy23 federal budget signed into law: what it means for infant feeding
  • ​1/6/2023: pump for nursing mothers act signed into law
2022 archives
december
  • 12/24/2022: pump for nursing mothers act will soon be signed into law
  • 12/8/2022: usda proposes new wic package
november
  • ​11/1/2022: the usbc membership steps into a new opportunity for connection: launching the first food connection hub & taking a mission moment with monica esparza
october
  • 10/27/2022: 2022 impact report: breastfeeding policy priorities
  • 10/24/2022: a closer look at the 2022 cdc breastfeeding report card
september
  • 9/29/2022: STATEMENT ON WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HUNGER, NUTRITION, AND HEALTh
august
  • 8/24/2022: fy23 appropriations: what the senate bills mean for infant feeding
  • 8/18/2022: a consideration of choice (in the absence of systemic supports)*
​july
  • 7/14/2022: fy23 appropriations: what the house bills mean for infant feeding
june
  • 6/24/2022: the senate failed to pass the pump act on wednesday. that hurts. but it doesn't mean the fight is over.
  • 6/2/2022: the four pillars of infant nutrition security in the united states
​may
  • 5/19/2022: infant formula recall and shortage: resources
  • 5/13/2022: calling your senator about the pump act is easy! here's how.
january
  • 1/26/2022: call for proposals for the 2022 conference!
  • 1/3/2022: impact report: 2021 breastfeeding policy priorities
​
2021 archives
DECEMBER  
  • 12/9/2021: 2020 state and territory breastfeeding reports now available!
  • 12/3/2021: join usbc on our equity journey​
november
  • 11/12/2021: 2020 usbc annual report released!​​​​
october​
  • 10/22/2021: protecting parents, babies, public health, employers, and the economy: a bipartisan case for the pump for nursing mothers act
  • 10/22/2021: pump for nursing mothers act passes with bipartisan support in u.s. house of representatives
  • 10/20/2021: breaking news: the pump act is going to the house floor for a vote this friday
september
  • 9/30/2021: reflections on national preparedness month and the pandemic
  • 9/28/2021: join the nationwide pump act call-in day
  • ​9/27/2021: the house is voting on the pump act this week. join the week of action.
  • 9/26/2021: pump act week of action partner toolkit
  • 9/10/2021: reflections on national breastfeeding month 2021: every step of the way
august
  • 8/24/2021: 8 questions answered by the usbc policy team
july
  • 7/29/2021: Cdc awards usbc a five-year grant to coordinate a national approach to improve the infant feeding landscape
  • 7/22/2021: fiscal year 2022 house agriculture and dhs appropriations reports released
  • 7/16/2021: fiscal year 2022 house labor-hhs appropriations report released
may
  • 5/24/2021: reclaiming our tradition: aanhpi breastfeeding week 2021
2020 archives
AUGUST
  • 8/31/2020: celebrating #bbw20: revive. restore. reclaim!
  • 8/21/2020: native breastfeeding week is over, but the work continues
  • ​8/7/2020: happy national breastfeeding month! we are many voices united #nbm2020

Celebrating #BBW20: Revive. Restore. Reclaim!

8/31/2020

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Nikia Sankofa, MPH, MPA
​Revive. Restore. Reclaim! Those words are a balm. It immediately puts me into the mindset that the power to feed Black babies is, and has always been, in the hands of Black parents, families, and communities. We get to go back and fetch it, grab the history, and take it into the future.
Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka, Kiddada Green, and Kimberly Seals Allers, three giants in the lactation advocacy community, founded Black Breastfeeding Week in 2013. The theme that first year was Black Lives Matter, which is quite poignant as we consider the historical moment where we are right now. Over the last 8 years, the collective celebration of Black breastfeeding during the fourth week of August has grown exponentially. The dates for #BBW20 were August 25 to 31, 2020, and the theme was Revive. Restore. Reclaim!
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​In June, the USBC hosted a webinar, "Collective Impact: A Conversation with Organizers of August Breastfeeding Events," and we had the pleasure of hearing from one of the Black Breastfeeding Week founders, Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka. During that live talk, Anayah shared the origin story of Black Breastfeeding Week. Some power words that came through for me during that talk were reckoning, reclaiming, healing, preservation despite hardship, collaboration, and celebration.

I deeply appreciate that for Black Breastfeeding Week, the attention is on an asset-based framework that centers families and uses an inclusive and inter-generational approach that supports the nullification of trauma. At conferences, meetings, and in the research, we often discuss and see data on breastfeeding disparities between Black and other communities, but #BBW20 is not about any of that noise. Instead, there is a lifting of research (both academic and lived), stories, imagery, discussions, and healthy activities, and there is the actual lifting of babies. This all reflects the beauty and veracity of lactation experiences in Black communities throughout the diaspora.

I was concerned about how communities would celebrate #BBW20 amid this pandemic when physical distancing (I am trying to no longer say social distancing) is still encouraged. Coming together to touch and agree, to embrace, to laugh, and to break bread are essential elements of celebrations in Black communities, and I wondered how that would translate to virtual spaces. 

On this final day of #BBW20, I can look back and say, "They did that!" The virtual engagement transcended anything that I could have imagined. From the "Million Milk March," organized by Memphis-based BSTARS, which raised money for 19 Black breastfeeding organizations across the country through a virtual solidarity walk throughout August, to the "Movies n Milk" drive-in fundraiser by the Chicago Birthworks Collective, #BBW20 event organizers have been highly creative and industrious. Search the hashtags #BBW20 and #ReviveRestoreReclaim on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The new question is...how will they top this next year?

This is the last day of National Breastfeeding Month and Black Breastfeeding Week, but the work of transforming the lactation landscape continues. It is not too late for you to catch a few final events! This is "ManDay Monday," and we can all tune in to "Breast Milk Feeding: The Tale of Two Fathers" to hear from Dr. Torian Easterling of the NYC Health Department and Bruce McIntyre, who lost his partner, Amber Isaac, after their child was born earlier this year. This event will be live at 8 p.m. ET on the Black Breastfeeding Week Facebook page.
​
Lift your voices in support of Black breastfeeding, this week and every week.
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​Nikia Sankofa
Executive Director
U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
[email protected]
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