NFL
By: Zachary Draves
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have always been the benchmark for black educational and professional excellence. There are currently 107 HBCUs in the country and each has produced most of the illustrious black talent in the worlds of science, politics, education, law, medicine, and culture. In many ways, HBCUs are also the heartbeat of economic mobility in the black community generating $14.8 billion in annual revenue and creating around 134,000 jobs on a local and regional level.
Among the most notable institutions is Howard University located in Washington D.C.. “The Mecca” as it is often referred to is the largest HBCU with over 12,000 students and has graduated such luminaries as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Zora Neal Hurston, Chadwick Boseman, Stokely Carmichael, and Vice President Kamala Harris. It is also a school that is rich in tradition when it comes to social activism which for many is a focal point of their educational experience.
It is that spirit of social justice that is being uplifted by the Men’s Basketball team who since 2021 have annually taken on a social justice initiative aimed at highlighting a particular social issue during their Martin Luther King Jr. Day game.
That year when playing against Notre Dame, they joined forces with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s organization When We All Vote to promote voting rights and civic engagement.
After a team discussion and with the support of Head Coach Kenny Blakeney, they have decided to highlight Black Maternal Health for their upcoming MLK Day game on January 16 against Morehouse College.
This was made in part due to last summer’s repeal of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which granted abortion as a constitutional right. The implications of that decision have created fear and uncertainty for many when it comes to having access to all forms of reproductive health care including abortion. All of which has posed the risk of exacerbating the longstanding crisis of black maternal mortality.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications than white women. Some of the contributing factors include the lack of quality healthcare, implicit bias amongst medical professionals, and systemic racism.
The Commonwealth Fund, an organization that independently researches health policy found that states with the most severe restrictions on abortion had a 62% higher rate of maternal deaths than those states where abortion is more accessible.
Team captain and graduate student Jelani Williams spoke of how learning about these circumstances and understanding the makeup of the campus population was the motivating factor for the team to get involved.
(Courtesy: Howard University Athletics)
“We felt it was a hot button issue and something we felt we could try to highlight,” he said. “Being on an HBCU campus where 70% of the student body are black women we just felt like it would be a cool thing to find a social justice issue that was important, that wasn’t highlighted as much, and is close to home for us.”
Since taking on this initiative, they were guests of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, where they attended a screening of the documentary “Birthing Justice” directed by Monique Matthews and executive produced by Olympic gold medalist and advocate Allyson Felix.
(Courtesy: Howard University Athletics)
For Williams it was an experience that made the issue all the more urgent to address.
“We all had an understanding that there were some inequities and that it was an issue, but I think seeing the film and listening to the panel afterwards with people who were experts in the field layout the facts and give a real world experience was eye opening” he said. “It kind of made us more energized to figure out what we could actually do to make some changes in that area.”
In the leadup to the game against Morehouse, the team will be partnering with Mamatoto Village, a D.C. based non-profit that provides comprehensive professional and social services to black mothers. On Sunday January 15, MLK Day, they will be volunteering in delivering pregnancy care kits for both new and soon to be new mothers.
Williams hopes that the impact of their efforts will go beyond raising awareness.
“Doing stuff like pregnancy kits and being able to give people tangible results and tangible things that we can give that help them with the issue. I think those are the two biggest things, trying to create awareness around it and then also have a real world impact on people.” he said.
Howard (8-10, 1-1) will play Morehouse (6-6, 3-5) at home on January 16 at 7:00pm EST.
