In the United States, Black and Native American women are 2-3x more likely to die due to pregnancy-related complications than white women. In Arizona, Black and Native American/Indigenous women experience preterm births (babies born too early), low birth weight infants (babies born too small), and infant deaths at a significantly higher rate than white women. Our Mothers and Us, or OMUS for short, is an Arizona organization devoted to fighting for the health and well-being of our Black and Brown mothers, babies, and families in Arizona. We host creative expression workshops, educational classes, and conduct small research/passion projects within the community. This particular research project, the 'Brown-work Groundwork: OMUS+OPNRM Video Project', brings together cause (maternal and child health) and creativity (videography) to highlight the perspectives and experiences of our Black and Brown mothers during pregnancy, birth, and parenting.OMUS founder, Bianca Comer, and OPNRM founder (also a photographer/videographer), Idara Ekpoh, are connected in a personal way. What connects us to this work is that we are both Black women. Although neither of us are mothers ourselves, we each have a Black mother, know other Black mothers, and relate to the cultural struggles of being Black in society.
As this project is a part of a series, the first step was to conduct individual interviews with the mothers (please refer to the two YouTube clips for the interview snippets). These interviews were previously conducted in January 2021 at a Peerspace studio location. Our next step is to bring the mothers together to engage in a dialog, as in a focus group. It is our hope to use a Peerspace studio location for this portion as well. The idea is to create the space for the women to share their thoughts about each other's individual videos, discuss overarching themes, and propose solutions on how OMUS can support their needs or their ideas. We intend to do so sometime in early April of this year.
Peerspace is on a mission to bring people together. We believe it is impossible to achieve that goal unless we also fight for equality and access to resources in the communities we serve.
Having a space to gather, create, and exchange ideas is an important part of any movement. In order to magnify voices that are often quieted, Peerspace will sponsor venues for people who challenge prejudice and fight for social justice and equality.
Each quarter, we will sponsor space for three projects that are relevant to our community. These projects can range from fundraisers and educational initiatives to art exhibits and photo series.
