Many of our students attended this year’s meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), held in Atlanta, November 4 – 8. What follows is a post from one of these attendees.
By Kenya Smith, BS
In the days leading up to APHA, I had a mix of emotions. I was excited to travel to Atlanta and attend the vast variety of seminars. But at the same time, I was nervous. I was nervous that my unpolished networking skills would leave me without any connections and that would leave more unsure of what I wanted to do in my future career. I shouldn’t have worried. I met a lot of interesting people who worked in Maternal Child Health. One, introduced to me at the Tulane APHA meetup, was someone who works in sexual health for women of color, which intersects with my career interest of reproductive health. Currently, she is working on social media campaigns to raise awareness for gender-equality policy issues. I was so happy that I was set up on this “blind date,” because she offered me practicum work if I wanted to travel to New York.
Another awesome experience I had at APHA was the oral presentation called Black Mamas Matter: Maternal deaths a human rights crisis. This presentation stressed the importance of reproductive justice, which is the human right to safe and respectful maternal health care. This presentation was given by founding members of the Black Mama’s Matter Alliance (BBMA) whose main goal is to “envision a world where Black mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to thrive before, during, and after pregnancy.” This was by far my favorite presentation as it indicated the importance of black mothers and to raise awareness of the lack of advocacy there is for them. I think it is extremely important that BBMA exists, because black mothers have the highest mortality rate and are often an afterthought once their child is born. Going to this presentation absolutely made me feel like I was in the right place and reaffirmed my passion for reproductive health. By the end of my trip I realized, that I had no reason to be nervous. Attending APHA was one of my most memorable and impactful experiences.
Kenya Smith is a first year MPH student and a scholar in the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at Tulane. She received a bachelor degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her interests include reproductive health for women of color, maternal and infant health and breastfeeding advocacy.
