Thread by @priskaneely

Black babies in the US are twice as likely to die before their first birthday as white babies.

Since I learned this ugly statistic, and realized it touched my own family, I’ve been wondering:

How has this been true for so long? How do we fix it?

Here's what I found 👇

While I was researching & reporting, this document from 1984 became my best friend.

I could not believe that there were such similar conversations taking place at the federal level more than 30 years ago. (Shoutout to central @LAPublicLibrary where I first found it!)

It was shocking to see exchanges like this one between Congressman Mickey Leland of Texas and Edward Brandt, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services

Policymakers have taken a variety of approaches to address the black-white gap in infant mortality over the decades. They've blamed mothers for lifestyle choices. They've questioned whether the cause is a genetic one.

But neither of those things explains it.

30 years later, we do have a better understanding of what's behind the gap.

The consensus: The cause is a social one, and the suspected assailant is chronic stress brought on by being a black woman in this country.

The focus now? Addressing structural and institutional racism.

Researchers, policymakers and practitioners are taking a hard look at the social determinants of health to explain the stark difference in black/white infant mortality rates.

They've considered how racism manifests itself in the health care system and in physical environments.

More and more research points to the idea that solving the problem of black infant mortality will require deep changes to American society.

And across the country, communities are trying, in big ways and small, to do just that.

There are so many foot soldiers dedicating their lives to this issue.

Raena Granberry lost her first baby and turned her grief into action. Now she recruits black moms to CA's Black Infant Health program.

Listen to her story here: scpr.org/news/2018/06/2…

In Castlemont in Oakland, the neighborhood has become a @BestBabiesZone. Community groups are working with the @AlamedaCounty public health department to save babies by empowering residents economically to improve life for everyone.

In Toledo, Ohio, community groups are working to add men to the conversation about infant mortality. With support from @NICHD_NIH, @gisscenter is training the brothers of the college fraternity @kapsi1911 to be ambassadors about safe sleep practices.

One of the last interviews I did was with Dr. Vicki Alexander, who testified at that 1984 hearing. During her testimony, she called the lack of federal action a "genocide through neglect perpetuated by the U.S. government."

All these years later, she’s still working to save black babies. Talking to her about how little has changed was overwhelming.

"I hear you sighing, but don't sigh, it's OK!" she told me. "It just tells you it's going to be protracted and you have to have allies in all corners."

It's one thing to identify the complex social cause of a concrete public health crisis; it's another to figure out how to unravel that deep social problem.

It’s going to take all of us to turn this around.

Here’s the story I’ve been working on for the past few months. It weaves together the history with what’s happening on the ground now.

I hope you take the time to read it and share it! @LAist
laist.com/2018/06/28/ame…

And the reason I wanted to take this on in the first place? My family is part of this statistic. I decided to tell our story.
laist.com/2018/06/21/bla…