I appreciate Roberta's detailed and thoughtful posting about breastfeeding
among Black women. Generalizations are often made about "minority" groups
with no attention to the context in which their members are living. The
culture of poverty cuts across racial/cultural/ethnic lines. The
experiences of poor women-regardless of their racial/cultural/ethnic
backgrounds-are likely to have many similarities. And the effect of poverty
and racism on breastfeeding can be seen, if indirectly, in the variation of
breastfeeding rates (and in the quality of health care received by women)
across the US.

We cannot assume that the knowledge we have to offer will be helpful-or
even relevant-to someone from a cultural background different from our own.
We first need to learn what life is like for the other person, how they see
the world. My view, my experience is just one view and one experience.
Yours is just another. We have much to learn from each other.

Cynthia Good Mojab
(Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher
and author; LLL Leader and researcher in the LLLI Publications Department;
and former psychotherapist currently busy nurturing her own little one.)
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://ammawell.homepage.com

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