Lately there’s been a lot of talk in the public health and breastfeeding circles about equity. And rightly so. The scope and depth of racial disparities across various health indicators and in breastfeeding—life’s earliest health intervention—cannot be ignored. Yet every year, many in these same circles, both publicly and privately question why Black Breastfeeding Week is necessary. To be clear, ever since our inaugural year, the co-founders of Black Breastfeeding Week (including myself) decided that we did not have to explain why we need a Black Breastfeeding Week—as respected advocates with...

We all watched with shaking heads this week as a Sears security employee posted screen shots of breastfeeding mothers that he captured from Sears security footage on Twitter. The twitterverse unleashed its fury, citing the obvious concern about violating the privacy of these unsuspecting mothers and the obvious stupidity of an employee who should know better. The employee was fired. The fact is, when to comes to breastfeeding in public, employees of many retailers often get their companies in big trouble, with let’s say, not-well-thought-out moves. Last week, a nursing mother who claimed she...