“HELD: Honoring Postpartum Recovery, Bodily Autonomy & the Power of Choice for Black and Brown Women”

On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, the Speak, Move, Change Collective and the ARIAH Foundation, in partnership with Mothering Justice, will gather at Brooklyn Commons for a powerful hybrid experience as part of National Postpartum Awareness Week.

Day #3 amplifies Reproductive Justice as a living framework; one that names and addresses the cultural, political, social, and economic conditions shaping postpartum life for Black and Brown families.

This gathering centers a fundamental truth: postpartum healing cannot be rushed, standardized, or dictated by systems that fail to honor the fullness of our bodies and lived realities. Healing after birth is physical, emotional, hormonal, relational, and for many, lifelong. There is no universal timeline. There is only truth, experience, and choice.

Through storytelling, embodied education, truth telling, and community dialogue, participants will explore the core tenets of Reproductive Justice:

 • The right to personal bodily autonomy
• The right to have a child
• The right to not have a child
• The right to nurture the children we have in safe and healthy environments

Together, we will challenge the myth that six weeks equals healed and name the often silenced realities of postpartum life; including surgical recovery, pelvic floor changes, hormonal shifts, mental health impacts, and bodies that may be permanently transformed.

At the heart of the experience is the In Her Honor portrait series, created by Omari Maynard. This sacred installation honors mothers who have been lost to preventable maternal mortality, many during pregnancy and far too many in the postpartum period. Their presence calls us into remembrance and responsibility; reminding us what is at stake when our communities are not heard, not protected, and not cared for.

This moment also invites deeper reflection on birth spacing, consent, and the power of choice in a post-Roe landscape. When the ability to determine if and when to carry another pregnancy is constrained, postpartum healing is directly impacted. Reproductive Justice demands that we honor the right to rest, to delay, to seek support, to redefine intimacy, and to make decisions that sustain long term wellbeing.

Hosted at Brooklyn Commons, a collaborative innovation hub rooted in community, creativity, and connection, this gathering bridges art, advocacy, and collective action. Together with Mothering Justice, whose leadership continues to advance policy, narrative change, and the lived experiences of Black mothers, this event reflects a deep and sustained partnership grounded in movement building and transformation.

Through art, storytelling, and community reflection, we will hold space for remembrance, truth, and possibility. We will honor the lives that guide this work. And we will affirm what every family deserves:

The right to heal. The right to be heard. The right to choose.

Postpartum is forever.
Healing must unfold in our own time.