Another thing that rich white people have co-opted in recent years--home births. The number of women choosing to have their children at home rather than at the hospital has shot up recently, and having this option available is primarily contingent on income level and race. Especially given the fact that 1) the richer you are, the more likely you are to have health insurance that would cover the costs of a home birth, and 2) the richer you are, the less likely you are in the first place to deal with health problems or risk factors during and after a home birth.
That makes the option of a home birth fundamentally unavailable to many WOC, who are also the people most at risk for dealing with unwanted medical intervention while giving birth in a hospital. There is a long history of the state performing medical procedures on women who are vulnerable and haven’t given their consent, not to mention the sterilization of WOC in America. And it’s not as if a hospital birth actually helps, given the fact that black women in the United States also have some of the worst maternal mortality rates of any developed nation.
And this problem isn’t confined to the United States either. Take Mexico for instance:
While many of the birth practices in humanized hospitals aim to “revive” the techniques of traditional midwives, ironically, traditional midwifery is being prohibited in many of the poor Indigenous communities where these techniques have endured for centuries. These birth techniques include massaging the pregnant woman’s belly to position the fetus, preparing herbal teas to stimulate the birthing process, various birthing postures that broaden the birth canal, ritual burying of the placenta near the home, and postpartum restoration through consuming bone broth and taking an herbal bath.
This threat against traditional midwifery practice has been institutionalized over the last decade: The government provides monthly stipends to the poorest quarter of the population conditional on their compliance with several rules, one of which is that pregnant women give birth in a government hospital. Traditional midwives like Leonila are required to direct all births to hospitals. And they are threatened with murder charges should a woman or baby die in their care, no matter how far they live from hospitals. Some of the women I met are several hours by bus or pickup truck from the nearest regional hospital where they are mandated to give birth.
I've been staying on tumblr more because Facebook is making me upset with either willful ignorance, or people using MLK jr left and right. I spent thirty minutes typing up my word vomit. I have links and receipts throughout my Ferguson tag. So like, iunno. Enjoy.
I'm going to sound like an angry, black, feminist/conspiracy theorist for a moment. I'm sick of people getting upset with what happened in Ferguson. Not the fact that the justice served was down right laughable, but the reaction to the riots/out burst.
Did any of you notice what exactly got burned down????? Churches, and black owned businesses. Not chain stores, not gas stations, not schools-- Churches. And Black owned businesses.
Why would people living in their own neighbor hood torch where they live. Sure, the urge to smash things is trememdous when something comes around, but these last one hundred and eight days, the days after are taken care of. Hundreds of volunteers, people of the community, come out with brooms and bags and clean up. Every single time. Does that make the news? Barely.
Now back to my first point, the burning of churches and black owned businesses. That ain't sound fishy to you? No? To my black friends, why don't you go ask your parents or grandparents, who left burning crosses in their yards or threatened people with your skin tone. Is that bringing up any ideas? Here's a hint. They love wearing white. :3
After Monday night's chaos, Tuesday night had something to show. On another social media site, was one of the biggest doxxes in history. A couple hundred names and personal information was leaked, including credit cards and SSN. Every single one of those names were KKK. They were told to stay out of the protests, something happened and all the information was leaked.
The police in that town are also not clean. They are scum, and have not owned up to a thing they did since day one. Do you think, the people who refused to wear badges, or display their numbers when using tear gas, rubber bullets, and flairs on people (men, women and children) are above actually sending provocateurs into the ranks of citizens and causing more unrest? They want a reason to put them down like animals. They already had snipers and SWAT gear. The police were only waiting for the word to commit genocide.
"But Jasmine the news said--"
The news is fucking laughable like the justice that was served. The entire month of August (when the shooting happened) none of the networks said a damn thing. Twitter had hundreds of posts, questions, within the first few days. They caught the police in armor, the protests, and video to back up their claims. It wasn't until two weeks in did any of the networks even care.
"This is getting big! Think of our ratings!" And when they did report, they did the same thing. People rioting in the streets, destroying stuff, robbing McDs.
The police smashed in restaurants that were safe zones. The workers were handing out milk to Tear Gas victims.
I want to know, why you're believing at first glance the people in power over asking the people that live there. Or the news stations that are roped off in tame areas. Or the anchors who are doing things for ratings of their networks.
None of you are doing the leg work, the five minute google search, or asking people what happened. Go in twitter, yes social media, and look up #ferguson. See first hand what is happening from people that are actually there. Front row.
You're all just accepting that a bunch of angry black people burned down their own backyard.
You don't think someone outside the community, with nothing to lose, is in there throwing mozal tovs? You don't think racists won't weasal there way in and make things worse? Their were a handful at Darren Wilson's rally, high ranking officials of the Klan itself.
I am sick of seeing people use MLK jr as some sort of symbol for piece and togetherness.
"If MLK was alive he'd be so ashamed--"
That you're using his memory for complacent n$ggers instead of fighting for peace. That man was well dressed, spoke beautifully, and was shot to death. He marched for peace and was arrested. He spoke against violence and spent time in jail when he should be in the hospital at times.
Do you know what that man would be ashamed of? How forty-fifty years after his death, people stil have to stand up with cardboard signs and shout that "Black lives matter!" That mothers are still weeping, that fathers are crying, over their dead sons and daughters. That Justice is as big a joke then as it is now. That the work he did means absolutely nothing and is summed up to people wittling away everything to merely his "I had a Dream" speech.
MLK jr was shot and killed by people like Darren Wilson and the system they uphold. How are you not angry? That man was on paid leave during the entire thing. From donations through the police department, gained 500K. He married his cop girlfriend, and last night on MSNBC, did an interview that gained him another 400K.
That man is rich and happily married, but you guys are only looking at the protesters, wagging your fingers, "Shame for your behavior."
A child is dead.
His family is in mourning.
A murderer is a happily married milionaire.
No justice was served.
But let's look at the angry n&ggers and feel ashamed we're black because of them.
