The Real Reason Black Mothers Are Being Pushed to Breastfeed

On Wednesday, social-justice advocates across the country began to gather — on social media and in person — for the start of the ninth annual Black Breastfeeding Week. This year’s theme, “The Big Pause: Collective Rest for Collective Power,” reminds its participants that radical social change is a long game, that imagining a new world requires rest, self-care, and deliberate focus. The revolution that these advocates desire is one where more Black women breastfeed, where hospitals and birthing centers devote resources to support Black breastfeeding, and where formula companies are no longer allowed to market their products in hospitals. But Black Breastfeeding Week and the tremendous political effort behind it — with its promise of revolution in the form of lactating Black breasts — now makes visible an uncomfortable coalition between Black feminists and the state that treats Black mothers as in need of reform.

Alana Thompson is no longer the rambunctious child beauty queen the world knew as Honey Boo Boo. Channing Tatum’s dating Zoë Kravitz and has zero chill about it, which is kinda sweet. Get ready for more Savage x Fenty, coming next month. All hail Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in the new teaser for Spencer. Check your charcuterie for salmonella. Florida continues to plumb new lows: The debate over masks in classrooms turned violent yesterday when an anti-mask father shoved a mask-wearing student into a fence. He’s now facing up to five years in prison. We’ll read any story about Kacey Musgraves’s expanding universe. And look at this freaky old whale.

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