This episode features Katina Stone Butler and her son Jamie (aka Miztick) discussing their innovative product called Hood Sensory - a sensory-friendly hoodie designed for neurodivergent individuals.

Follow Hood Sensory on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

Resources Mentioned:

• Hood Sensory website
• Denton Black Film Festival

Key Learnings:

• Neurodivergency refers to people who think, process, or experience the world differently from the majority - such as those with autism, ADHD, anxiety, etc.
• The hoodie is designed with features like weighted blanket pads, compression sleeves, fidget toys, and chewable silicone to meet different sensory needs discreetly.
• Hoodies have historically been associated with Black culture, from the Black Panthers to hip-hop, becoming both criminalized and a symbol of resistance.
• After Trayvon Martin's death, hoodies represented the need for Black youth to find comfort and self-soothing, especially heightened by the pandemic's isolation.
• The goal is to create an affordable, stylish product serving the Black community first while being accessible to anyone needing sensory accommodations.
• Having products designed for the most marginalized helps lift up and care for all people with similar needs.

The show highlights the passion and care put into developing an innovative solution born from lived experiences within the Black community. Listeners are encouraged to visit the website, follow their social media, and consider purchasing to support this meaningful work.

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In light of Black Maternal Health Week, this episode revisits key issues in black maternal health with Cessilye Smith, exploring the historical and ongoing role of black midwives through her personal story and discussing the work of entities like Abide Women's Services to better black mothers and infants' health outcomes.

Cessilye R. Smith, an inspiring maternal justice advocate, joins this episode with rich stories and insightful reflections on her work. She is the driving force behind Abide Women's Services, an organization dedicated to reducing disparities in black infant and maternal health outcomes. As a liberator, justice seeker, and mother, Cessilye is deeply connected to her heritage, tracing her roots to the resistance-driven Kru tribe of Liberia. Through Abide, she works tirelessly to ensure black women and their babies receive adequate and culturally respectful care during one of the most critical times of their lives.

• Black midwives have played a crucial and often uncredited role in birthing not only black but also white babies throughout history, birthing the nation as a whole.
• There's a sacred legacy in the resistance of colonization evident in black maternal lineage, vital to understanding the depth of black women's reproductive experiences.
• The celebration and amplification of the black midwifery tradition are crucial for advancing maternal care and combating disparities in black maternal health.
• Abide Women's Services is an exemplar of empowering and quality maternal care, focusing on community health and honoring the black maternal experience from pre-pregnancy to postpartum.
• Mental health for black women can be supported through culturally sensitive community gatherings, celebrating their life, and offering spaces for rest and collective healing.

• "Black women were catching everybody's babies, black, white, you know, and they brought their cultures, you know, their ancestral wisdom and knowledge." - Cessilye Smith
• "It's in my blood. So, yeah, that's how it ties into the work I do today." - Cessilye Smith, on her connection to the Kru tribe and its influence on her advocacy work.
• "Reparations begin with birth because it begins with life and transitioning the next life forward." - Katina
• "We're saying no, we're going back to our roots and where we are going to heal from the beginning. From birth." - Cessilye Smith
• "Events like this address mental health. Being able to gather in a space curated specifically for black women is part of our mental health journey." - Cessilye Smith

• Abide Women's Services official website: abidewomen.org
• Cecily Smith's presentation at the White House
• Black Mamas Matter Alliance
• Upcoming event: Black Maternal Health Week event in partnership with The Fountain

Visit us at blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com + supports us at patreon.com/blackhistoryforwhitepeople.

Buy our book on Amazon!

$5/month supports us at patreon.com/blackhistoryforwhitepeople.

Check us out on Instagram @BlackHistoryForWhitePeople or freel free to email us at hello@blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com.

We're re-airing our episode from last year that began Black History Month and hope that you use this month to learn more about our country.

We explore the legacy of one of Black history’s most notable men, Carter G. Woodson. To celebrate Black History Month, we wanted to share the story of the person who literally created what we now know of as “Black History Month,” Carter G. Woodson.

The Mis-Education of the Negro - Carter G. Woodson

Visit us at blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com + supports us at patreon.com/blackhistoryforwhitepeople.

Buy our book on Amazon!

$5/month supports us at patreon.com/blackhistoryforwhitepeople.

Check us out on Instagram @BlackHistoryForWhitePeople or freel free to email us at hello@blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com.