Shawna Queen Doula

03/14/2024

08/16/2023

08/01/2020

07/19/2020

July 23 is our next Zoom support group chat for . Sign up at https://www.standwithtrans.org/support-groups!

07/19/2020

06/27/2020

06/22/2020

New trans youth support groups have been posted! Get info and sign up to attend at standwithtrans.org/support-groups!

06/01/2020

A word for white birthworkers:
Black people are dying at the hands of police. Black birthing people and babies are dying at the hands of doctors. Black children are pushed through the school to prison pipeline, left struggling and imprisoned and abused at the hands of our government. Black children and parents are pulled from eachother and traumatized at the hands of the foster care system. I could go on forever about how the country we live in brutalizes, exploits, consumes and murders Black people. When living under the constant oppression and violence that is the white gaze -where are Black people suppose to feel safe? Beyond feeling safe, thrive? What are you doing within your immediate community to ensure the safety of Black people? Have you examined your contribution to the violence lately? Have you contemplated your own behaviors in a way that helps you understand that you are adding to the oppression, even if you're not meaning to? Reposting things on social media is a well meaning gesture but you know what actually counts? Using your white body privilege to protect and uplift Black communities. Dismantling and unlearning the white supremacy that was handed down to you in this society so that you can stop perpetrating violence. Changing your behavior and the behaviors that you permiss in your social and professional circles. LISTENING TO AND PAYING BLACK PEOPLE FOR THEIR WORK.
Since quarantine started I decided to take a step back from social media. The constant stream of fear and violence and fear and violence was weighing on me and I was tired. I took a break to reflect on myself and the needs of those around me in my community. I meditated on growth, on impact.
But I'm stepping out of my social-media-distancing to tell my fellow white birth workers to step the f**k up. Do something. It doesn't have to be like this and if you're not working to end the violence against the Black community then you are apart of the problem. No justice? No peace.

03/03/2020

Come process your birthwork experiences!

02/25/2020

So excited to be facilitating this group at Radical Well-Being in Southfield!
Are you LGBTQ2+ and in the process of building or growing your family? Please join us for this peer support group and connect with other folks and families in the community!

02/24/2020

I think that talking about Black infant and maternal mortality rates for white birthworkers is often uncomfortable because it forces us to reflect and unpack how we are contributing, stimulating, and perpetuating the causes (racism and oppression). It is our job as white birthworkers (and people in general) to constantly be working to rid ourselves of the anti-Blackness that has been handed down to us and to challenge ourselves to be better. There is no arrival point in being an ally to the Black community. It is a life long commitment to dismantling the anti-Blackness within ourselves and the oppressive systems that we live within. It is listening to Black people (and paying them for their time!!!). It is working to help create new, safe, mindful practices and systems that value, uplift and protect Black lives. The work is never done.
If you are a white birthworker ask yourself periodically what you are doing to ensure that you are working from an anti-oppression framework. What are you doing to ensure the best care for your Black clients (including referrals for Black birthworkers who your client may prefer)?
Are you educated in the ways that our society inherently traumatizes Black people? Are you providing trauma informed care to your clients?
If you ever think you are "doing enough", I'm here to tell you that you could be doing more. And I know, that's uncomfortable. Think of it as growing pains.