Is the African American womb a place of danger?

We have all been in a dangerous place that has left us uneasy. Maybe it was a dark alley, an unfamiliar neighborhood, diving in shark invested waters, caught in the middle of a hurricane or earthquake. What if I told you the African American female womb itself is the most dangerous place? Well this statement is true according to a new and controversial billboard that recently was placed in Soho (New york City) by an anti-abortion group. The billboard depicts the likings of the African American community by stating the most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.

An African American REVEREND by the name of Stephen Broden leads the pact of the anti-abortion group, which is called Life Always. In a recent interview he stated, "We celebrate our history, but our future is in jeopardy as a genocidal plot is carried out through abortion,"  While I believe his message was misinterpreted I do feel as if the photo is very nonessential and could have been abstained. According to NY Daily News the statistics for African Americans in America is approximately 13% and the amount of abortions our community faces accounts for 36.4% nationwide.


 I was so appalled by seeing this billboard, solely because a black man felt the need to promote this ignorance. The womb that was once nurtured by his very on African American mother clearly was safe enough if she was capable of birthing him. By stating the African American womb is dangerous belittles us as a whole. That's not saying abortions are wrong because God said thy shall not...  but its depicting a single race and saying the black woman's womb is suicidal to an embryo, as if we purposely all have abortions. I came across this YouTube video by a Spelman College Graduate who did a brilliant job summing up my feelings on the ordeal. Tell us your thoughts?

3 comments:

Amber Yum said...

I was thoroughly disgusted by this billboard. I got the same reaction when BET has a commercial that depicts the same message. Not only is this ignorant but its also probably untrue. I however wouldn't doubt that the abortion rate is higher among African Americans in densley populated urban areas but as a whole I won't accept that. Once again this is a case of flippant stereotyping. Unless these abortion rates are 50% or more among all black women on a widespread scale the whole idea of the Black Woman's womb being an attribution for death is irrelevant.

Blake said...

Thank you so much for posting my video. As much as it breaks my heart that we as a community have to endure these sorts of attacks on a daily basis, I'm confident that if enough of us speak out we can make a difference.

And you will be glad to know that as of last night...the billboard is no longer up!

Amber Steez said...

@Amber I understand the concern for abortions especially in the black community but there are definitely other ways to convey this message to our community. Then again, the sign raised so many eyebrows that it could have worked.

@Blake Darling I had no idea that you had a blog. I came across your video on a friends page via youtube. Thank you for sharing that the sign has been taken down!