The Ujima Institute

The Ujima Institute Advancing Black health and wellness justice through collaborations with Black communities and socially conscious partners

Understand that our well-being is connected, and that healthier communities are built together.Health Focus: National he...
08/29/2026

Understand that our well-being is connected, and that healthier communities are built together.

Health Focus: National health goals emphasize creating social, physical, and economic conditions that allow everyone to pursue health and well-being across their lifespans.

Health Practice: Invite someone to take a walk, share a nourishing meal, check in on a neighbor, or join a local activity that supports connection and movement.

Define yourself, speak for yourself, and make informed choices that reflect your values and needs.Health Focus: In immun...
08/28/2026

Define yourself, speak for yourself, and make informed choices that reflect your values and needs.

Health Focus: In immunization, informed decision-making means having clear, trustworthy information about a vaccine’s benefits, risks, timing, and how personal health factors may affect the decision.

Health Practice: Bring your questions to your family doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or public-health provider. Ask which vaccines are recommended for you or your child, and what to expect afterward.

Choose to build a community where every family has what it needs to nourish, heal, and thrive.Health Focus: Breastfeedin...
08/27/2026

Choose to build a community where every family has what it needs to nourish, heal, and thrive.

Health Focus: Breastfeeding can support both infant and maternal health. Human milk provides nutrition and antibodies that help protect infants from infections; breastfeeding is also associated with lower maternal risks of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Health Practice: Share information about the benefits of breastfeeding with expecting mothers to advocate for both their health, and their children's.

Faith in parents, in community care, and in the truth that no family should have to navigate feeding challenges alone. F...
08/25/2026

Faith in parents, in community care, and in the truth that no family should have to navigate feeding challenges alone. Faith becomes meaningful when it is paired with compassion, practical help, and respect for each family’s choices.

Health Focus: Breastfeeding challenges can affect maternal mental well-being, especially when practical support is limited.

Health Practice: Ask new parents if they need any assistance or resources. They may just be too anxious to ask.

The power to imagine, create, and leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we found it. Creativity is not ...
08/25/2026

The power to imagine, create, and leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we found it. Creativity is not limited to art; it also encompasses storytelling, problem-solving, innovation, and building new ways for families to be supported.

Health Focus: Programs such as Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment’s community-based lactation and perinatal mental-health supports demonstrate how creative, culturally grounded spaces can foster connection and care.

Health Practice: Use creativity to make breastfeeding support visible: share affirming stories, organize a parent resource exchange, or support peer groups.

08/23/2026

Build shared prosperity so families have the resources, support, and choices they need to thrive. Cooperative economics asks us to invest in systems that keep care accessible and opportunity circulating throughout our community.

Health Focus: Breastfeeding is shaped by economic conditions, not willpower alone. About 60% of mothers stop breastfeeding sooner than they intended, with barriers including insufficient paid leave, unsupportive workplace policies, limited family support, and challenges accessing lactation care.

Health Practice: Practice cooperative care by connecting eligible families to WIC, which provides nutrition support, breastfeeding education, peer counseling, and health-care referrals.

Caring for one another’s challenges as our shared concern and working together toward solutions is the hallmark of a str...
08/23/2026

Caring for one another’s challenges as our shared concern and working together toward solutions is the hallmark of a strong community. When it comes to our youth, the burden needn't fall on one individual alone.

Health Focus: Breastfeeding outcomes improve when support comes from a variety of places; health professionals, peers, families, workplaces, and community organizations.

Health Practice: Maintain a support network. Families and friends can offer meals, errands, and encouragement; employers can provide private spaces; local resources can provide nutritional assistance.

Every family, every community has the right to make informed, supported decisions; free from pressure, judgment, or barr...
08/22/2026

Every family, every community has the right to make informed, supported decisions; free from pressure, judgment, or barriers to care. Strive to respect and amplify all voices across your community.

Health Focus: Breastfeeding outcomes often depend on community factors. Gaps in access to skilled lactation support persist, and infants who are non-Hispanic Black, live in lower-income households, or live in rural areas are less likely to be breastfed.
Health Practice: Do your best to develop a plan for postpartum breastfeeding support. The best plan is one that is informed, safe, realistic, and aligned with your family’s needs.

We shouldn't have to navigate our communities alone. Strengthen the bonds among families, workplaces, and communities so...
08/20/2026

We shouldn't have to navigate our communities alone. Strengthen the bonds among families, workplaces, and communities so everyone has the support to make informed feeding decisions.

Health Focus: Increasing breastfeeding in Black communities can contribute to reducing maternal and infant illness and death, where families often face uneven access to culturally responsive lactation care and peer support.

Health Practice: Connect your community with resources where you can; lactation professionals, peer groups, WIC services, and trusted relatives or friends; offer practical help with meals, errands, and rest; any assistance goes a long way.

Purpose means creating the conditions where every family can nourish, grow, and thrive. Find meaningful ways to invest i...
08/19/2026

Purpose means creating the conditions where every family can nourish, grow, and thrive. Find meaningful ways to invest in the health of parents, babies, and future generations.

Health Focus: Initiation of breastfeeding is the process of mothers beginning to feed their newborns breast milk. In U.S. data, breastfeeding initiation was 74.5% among Black mothers—the lowest reported rate among the groups measured.

Health Practice: Support breastfeeding equity by sharing culturally responsive resources, encouraging peer-support networks, and advocating for workplace protections.

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3710 Old Sterlington Road
Monroe, LA
71203

Telephone

+13188165663

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