Detroit-based organization leads fights for Black mothers
For Danielle Atkinson, motherhood didn't just change her. It fueled a movement.
During Black Maternal Health Week, a national campaign to raise awareness and improve outcomes for Black mothers, the Detroit-based organization Mothering Justice is spotlighting what happens when advocacy turns into action.
"We're not only calling for change, we're creating it," said Atkinson, founding executive director of Mothering Justice. "Black women are more likely to die during childbirth, have lower-paying jobs, and are often the primary caregivers. That reality demanded action."
Atkinson, a mother of six, founded Mothering Justice after struggling to access affordable child care and paid leave during her first pregnancy. What began as a small effort to connect with other moms quickly evolved into a growing movement of organizers and a strong sense of community.
"The whole goal of organizing is to organize ourselves out of a job," she said. "That means a world where inequity doesn't exist."
Mothering Justice also plays a key role in pushing for legislative change. The group is part of the coalition backing Michigan's "MI Momnibus" bills, a package of legislation focused on closing racial disparities in maternal health care.
For Tamika Jackson, a reproductive justice organizer with the group, this work is deeply personal.
Jackson shares her traumatic birth experience with lawmakers in Lansing as part of her fight for trauma-free birthing experiences for Black women — who, according to the CDC, are nearly 3.5 times more likely to die from childbirth complications than white women.
"On May 14, 2022, during what was supposed to be a routine epidural, my anesthesiologist made a mistake," Jackson said, speaking to lawmakers in Lansing. "I suffocated during labor. I coded. I was put on life support and had an emergency C-section. I survived, but just barely."
Since launching in 2012, Mothering Justice has expanded its impact beyond Michigan, building coalitions, pushing for policy change and amplifying the voices of Black mothers across the country.
"We built power with Black women and Black people," Jackson said. "And we took that power not only to our state capitol but to our country's capitol."
Visit Mothering Justice's website for more information.
A native of Detroit, Lauren Winfrey has dreamed of the day she'd return home to tell stories in the city that's helped shape the woman she is today. So, when the opportunity to wake up early with Detroit and its surrounding areas to anchor the weekend morning newscast presented itself, she accepted it without hesitation.
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