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Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) is mobilizing support for Black maternal health. Black Maternal Health Week April 11–17 is Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW), an initiative created by the Black women-led, cross-sectoral consortium Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), with the intent of raising awareness and fostering community around the experiences of Black mothers and birthing people, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. Atlanta-GA-based BMMA traces its origins to 2013 when the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (SisterSong) began constructive research on the obstacles Black mothers face in accessing health care. Once it had become its own independent entity in 2018, BMMA established Black Maternal Health Week and began working with up to 18 community-based organizations. That number has since grown to nearly 50. Black Maternal Health Week also intentionally coincides with National Minority Health Month,...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. During Donald Trump’s second presidential campaign, his relationship with the tech industry was highlighted due to his budding relationship with Elon Musk , who spent $288 million to help elect Trump. While many people in tech believe this is when the federal government started to embrace the tech industry, the relationship with the federal government was started by former President Barack Obama during his campaign and subsequently expanded while he was in office. Obama first supported technology via social media on the presidential campaign trail in 2008. Facebook had been founded on Harvard University’s campus four years before his campaign, and due to its connection with the younger electorate, he leveraged it in a way not seen before, though it has been seen since with Donald Trump’s embrace of X. Obama’s campaign used Facebook to target younger voters, empower grassroots organizations, and...
Federal health workers are on high alert and feeling “paranoid” after a “DEI Watch List” began making its rounds on social media. According to NBC News, the website displays photos, names, and public information of several employees from health agencies — mostly Black workers from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). At one point, the employees were referred to as “targets” before someone later changed the headline on each page to “dossiers.” Dictionary.com defines dossiers as documents about a particular person, event, or subject. While it is unclear when the website first emerged, NBC reports that it is circulating among various private group chats of federal health workers and through social media links. Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, learned of the website’s existence on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, after a federal health worker shared it with him. He described the acts of online harassment as...
While some runners only need fresh air and a familiar path to get into the zone, others require more motivation. Identifying with the latter group, 26-year-old Destin George Bell developed an application, Card.io , to encourage himself and others like him to get outside and be active. The gamified fitness tracker launched in 2022 and transforms users’ outdoor walking or running into a giant interactive team-based game like Turf War or Capture the Flag. Like Strava and Garmin, it monitors pace, distance, calories burned, and more. It also integrates with those platforms, enabling users to upload completed routes from those trackers into Card.io to compete with others by claiming the parts of town they move in. If you haven’t heard about the app or Bell yet, you probably will soon. The company made its television debut on Friday, Oct. 18, during the Season 16 premiere of the Emmy Award-winning show “Shark Tank.” Pitching on the show is a significant achievement, as less than 1% of...
In the digital age, the term “popcorn brain” has emerged as a metaphor for how our attention shifts from one thing to another, like the popping kernels in a bag of popcorn. Coined by researcher David Levy in 2011 , it explains the overstimulation caused by technology , leading to constant distraction and difficulty in focusing. Popcorn brain describes how our attention rapidly shifts from one thought to another. Similar to our day-to-day lives, the metaphor mirrors the fast-paced environment created by the digital world. Our minds become overwhelmed by the constant influx of information from various sources, resulting in stress and restlessness. What Is The Average Attention Span? According to CNN , Dr. Gloria Mark, a leading expert in informatics at the University of California, Irvine, states that our ability to concentrate is declining. In her book, “ Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity,” Dr. Mark emphasizes decades of research in...
If you step outside, you can likely smell the Black excellence in the air. And that is an indicator that speakers, attendees, and businesses are getting ready for AfroTech Conference 2023. Last year, the team went down to Austin, TX, and took over, proving the power of influence by Black entrepreneurs, technologists, and corporate baddies. Conference attendees were immersed in a deep, empowering, thought-provoking cultural experience packed with tools for leveling up each day. The specially curated schedule was doubly impactful with AfroTech speakers including heavy hitters: Mark Cuban, Touré Roberts, and Tanya Sam. From the wisdom and insight on the Main Stage to the consistent gems dropped at the Learning Lab to the innovative insight shared on the Product & Engineering, Executive, and Web3 stages — there were constant moments filled with “oohs and ahhs” as attendees digested everything the speakers gave out. But tapping in with AfroTech isn’t just for business. Those who work...
The importance of representation within media publications is the reason why we’ve seen so many outlets successfully flourish for catering to underrepresented audiences. For AMAKA Studio — a brand new digital media publisher that recently launched on International Women’s Day — its sole mission is dedicated to celebrating stories centered around Pan-African womanhood and those across the diaspora. As a multimedia platform, AMAKA Studio aims to break new ground for African women that provides a space where their culturally-relevant experiences, needs, and interests are being amplified for the world to see from the perspectives of women of their communities. With Nigerian-American journalist and media maven Ivie Ani leading the publication as editor-in-chief, the platform has an overarching goal to bridge the gap between North and Sub-Saharan Africa and expand the media landscape for African women empowerment. Photo Credit: Robert Mayer In this new role, Ani brings with her years of...
In 2017, Lauren Simmons seemed to be on top of the world. She made Wall Street history — and Black history — when she became the youngest full-time female trader on the NYSE. She was also the second Black woman in history to become an equity trader in the NYSE’s history. As can be expected, her story went viral. “In 2017 I said no to limiting beliefs so I could say yes to shattering glass ceilings and making history. I continue to bet on myself and stand above all the no’s people throw my way. Frankly, I thrive on people who doubt me,” Lauren Simmons said on Instagram. But for all her achievements — and all the success that followed as a result of this groundbreaking moment — she was, according to Black Enterprise, making a measly $12,000 per year (which translates to $1000 a month). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lauren Simmons (@lasimmons) For purposes of understanding, the US Department of Labor says the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 is, as of...
Studies show that Black babies are three times more likely to die during childbirth if cared for by White doctors in the United States reports CNN . This shows racial disparities in human health have an effect on a person even in their first few hours of life. Research showed that after Black physicians took charge of the birth, the mortality rate of Black newborns decreased between 39 percent and 58 percent, according to George Mason University Research . On the other hand, that same research revealed mortality rates for White babies wasn’t affected by the doctor’s race on a scale as wide as it is for Black babies. These findings also support prior research that shows that although infant mortality rates have fallen in the past decades, Black children are still more likely to die earlier than their white counterparts. The authors of the study reveal “the findings suggest that Black physicians outperform their White colleagues when caring for Black newborns,” according to CNN . They...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is partnering with the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) to fight the coronavirus in minority communities. According to a press release , HHS has granted MSM $40 million for The National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19, a three-year initiative designed as a response to racial inequities in healthcare. The aim is to work with community-based organizations to deliver information, healthcare, testing, and other resources to residents in communities “hardest hit by the pandemic.” Additionally, new joint efforts by both institutions will strengthen the strategies by which this data is passed. “Underlying social determinants of health and disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions are contributing to worse COVID-19-related outcomes in minority and socially vulnerable communities, and this partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine is essential to improving our overall...
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is the first-ever Surgeon General of the state of California appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Dr. Harris is an award-winning pediatrician and researcher who has dedicated her medical career to addressing and solving issues related to childhood trauma and the healthcare disparities of underserved communities. According to the California Health and Human Service Agency (CHHS) , the surgeon general position was created in 2019 with the purpose of advising the governor and being the spokesperson on public health issues. The role also includes leading medical professionals, scientists, public health experts, public servants and California citizens toward solutions to public health concerns. According to Black Culture News, the California Surgeon General and University of California, Berkeley graduate received her medical degree from the University of California, Davis and also holds a master’s in public health from Harvard University. After completing a pediatric...
At three-years-old, Rep. Lauren Underwood and her family relocated to Illinois from Ohio. When she was 8-years-old, Underwood was diagnosed with a pre-existing health condition. Now — at 33-year-old — her urge to fight for affordable healthcare for those with pre-existing health conditions has led her to become the youngest Black woman ever to serve in Congress. Here are five facts about the democratic congresswoman from Illinois. She is a Registered Nurse. Rep. Underwood holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Michigan where she graduated Magna cum Laude. She is licensed in three jurisdictions including Michigan, Washington D.C., and Illinois. As an RN, she specializes in public health nursing, where she puts her dual master’s degree in public health and nursing to use. She served on the Obama Administration. Underwood was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). While at...
For many Black people in the United States, getting access to mental health care is a long, complicated process. From navigating anti-Blackness in the medical industry, to restrictive costs, to trying to find a therapist who shares your identity, there are a lot of potential roadblocks. According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health , Black people are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. Knowing that societal factors like racism can impact people’s health, it’s vital for Black people and members of other vulnerable communities to access mental health services. This is where Ayana therapy comes in— an app developed by founder Eric Coly with the goal of providing marginalized communities with access to online therapy. Ayana — which means “mirror” in Bengali — matches marginalized communities with licensed therapists based on their unique experiences and identities. By providing people with the ability to...
As technology becomes a part of people’s everyday lives, people have begun leaking out more information about themselves than they’re actually aware of. From Venmo transactions that are left wide open to Google tracking purchases , tech companies are latching onto your personal data. Now, Google may have recently gone too far. On Wednesday, the University of Chicago, its medical center, and Google were all sued in a potential class-action lawsuit, The New York Times reported . The lawsuit has accused the hospital of sharing hundreds of thousands of patients’ records to Google without removing identifiable date stamps or doctor’s notes. Lorna Wong, a spokeswoman for the University of Chicago Medical Center, said that the “claims in this lawsuit are without merit.” According to The Times, Wong asserted that the medical center “has complied with the laws and regulations applicable to patient privacy.” “We believe our health care research could help save lives in the future, which is...
Time is of the essence when it comes to getting organs to patients who need them, and a recent test may have sparked a breakthrough in how they’re delivered. On April 19, a drone successfully delivered a donor kidney to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center . It marked the first time a drone has been used to deliver an organ to a transplant patient. The drone traveled about three miles to deliver the kidney, according to MIT Technology Review . According to a UMMC press release, the patient was a 44-year-old woman from Baltimore who’d spent eight years on dialysis before the procedure. She was discharged a few days later. Dr. Joseph R. Scalea, assistant professor of surgery at UMSOM, and one of the surgeons who performed the transplant at UMMC, said: “There remains a woeful disparity between the number of recipients on the organ transplant waiting list and the total number of transplantable organs. This new technology has the potential to help widen the donor...