Thread by @iamn0tthe1

A rant about education: Non-Black “allies” in midwifery education, Quick chat. When you’re calling for a “study of the poor pass rates of Black graduates” on the @AMCBmidwife exam: please understand what you’re saying to the white institutions that make up “midwifery” education

You’re not saying that the data is skewed by the lack of representation of Black graduates compared to the U.S. population therefore every unsuccessful candidate markedly drops the pass rate if you use “race” compared to white students & making it a flawed metric to begin with.

You’re not demanding that @ACNMmidwives , or it’s separately incorporated affiliate organizations that control education; certification of CM/CNM simply admit that the origins & therefore present of nurse midwifery are tied white suffrage that saw all BIPOC Americans left out.

White suffrage gave rise to the maternal child “reforms” like the Sheppard Towner Act that led to the development of nurse midwifery education in parallel with the plans to suppress then eliminate BIPOC midwifery. It was designed to attract the votes of White women.

You’re not saying that the same white supremacy that allowed FNS to not admit a single Black student for 15 years after Brown v Board of Education, or for MCA to admit only a few Black nurses in New York City which had the largest workforce of Black Nurses in the United States

only for the purpose of working Deep South while never offering Black CNMs like Connie Derrell MHSRIP a job when she returned to NYC from Alabama after the closure of the Tuskegee program & who couldn’t gain employment as a nurse midwife for 25 years in New York City;

MCA all the while hired white nurses, many who had little or no nursing to work in community clinics and birth settings that served Black & Puerto Rican mothers. Heavily engaging eugenicists like Margaret Sanger to discourage their fertility moving forward.

You’re not saying that the white supremacy that allowed the Dean of Columbia School of Nursing to look Dr. Betty Carrington in the face & tell her she didn’t belong there; even after jumping over every unnecessary barrier they placed in front of her still continue today

in the regular emails I get from white faculty & student coordinators about their “concerns” that Black students, who are usually among the most qualified strongest clinical students I have “are struggling” when they’re not

but when I communicate with the same faculty about the weaknesses and concerns
I have about white students who lack clinical experience but feel no sense of urgency to develop them, I am accused of being racist.

You are not saying that @ACNMmidwives should look at the acceptance, graduation & pass rates of each program, inter-program &overall; that there are flaws in the admission & matriculation process of programs that admit students with indicators that they may in fact struggle

in any graduate level health education program like low GPA in undergrad, no science education or experience prior to entering the midwifery education & who then provide little to no support for those students who entered the program at risk to insure success.

You’re not saying that @ACNMmidwives should look at the diversity & pass rates of midwifery programs & between programs, their admission standards, student support, funding packages or lack thereof that may reduce the risk of socially & economically marginalized students failing.

You’re not saying @ACNMmidwives shoud evaluate institutional racism & the interpersonal racism of individual faculty & preceptors with retrospective &prospective evaluations by Black students & alumni to identify the systems & who exercised their power to sabotage Black students.

You’re not saying they should interrogate the diversity of midwifery program directors; faculty at all 39 programs, compare them to the diversity of the Schools of Nursing in which they are housed to see if midwifery faculty are as diverse as other specialties, & if not why not.

You’re also not saying that you recognize that in every cohort, the MAJORITY of Black students matriculate through midwifery programs, graduate and pass the AMCB exam the first time.

Because like Medicine, Law, Public Health etc. Black midwifery candidates are EXCELLENT.

So properly identify the nature & scope of the problem to develop an appropriate research question or stop. Because you’re still looking at the problem through the prism of white supremacy that says Blackness is a disability to and therefore Black people need aids to succeed.

And please, for the love of The Divine, contract with or hire a legitimate Black led group of educational specialists: educators, epidemiologists, sociologist, psychologists to help you identify the real needs.

Because: Garbage in Garbage out. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk