How to Join the Initiative?
April 11 – 17 is Black Maternal Health Week. Started five years ago by the Black Mammas Matter Alliance and officially made nationwide in 2021, this campaign directly addresses an existential health crisis that affects the MCNY community.
The MCNY Library has decided to launch our own 2022 Black Maternal Health Initiative to support the deep concern around this severe health disparity expressed by students, alumni, and faculty over several library conversations in 2021.
The initiative centers on the leadership of students and alumni. We are recruiting a group of Peer Leaders, both students and alumni, who want to take action. If you join us, you will collaborate with your MCNY colleagues and local activists to shape a community conversation around this critical issue. Learn more and fill out the application to be a Peer Leader here.
How Did the Initiative Begin?
In January 2022, MCNY library decided to support student, alumni, and faculty concerns around this health equity crisis by creating the MCNY Black Maternal Health Initiative, a student and community engagement project to bring awareness to the problem and organize education and advocacy efforts.
In February 2022, we reached out to area community-based organizations and activists and are fortunate to now be partnering with Dr. Melissa Barber and the BX Rebirth Collective. Passionate and skilled leaders in community health, our partners have already engaged the MCNY community in a vibrant two-part exploration of the complex issues around Black maternal health.
In March 2022, we held a series of informal info sessions to talk more about what this initiative might look like.
Recently, we learned that MCNY Library had received the 2022 Libraries Transform Communities: Engagement Grant from the American Library Association to support the Black Maternal Health Initiative and the work of the Peer Leadership Group.
Now in April 2022, we are asking you to join us. Apply to be a peer leader here!
Kids Book Giveaway sponsored by Brooklyn Book Bodega!
Come help yourself! For Black Maternal Health Week, April 11-17, MCNY Library is partnering with the Brooklyn Book Bodega for free books for the kids in the lives of our students! Look for the book giveaway carts on-campus at the Bronx and Manhattan MCNY libraries!
