#Justice4Kyira Means Justice for Black Mothers Everywhere

Kyira Dixon Johnson’s story is one of the thousands, if not millions, of black mothers who have died because of the history of an inadequate health care system in this country. She is one of too many black mothers who have died because of this country’s legacy of structural racism.

Kyira Johnson, affectionately called Kira by family and friends, died of hemorrhagic shock after enduring 10 hours of internal bleeding after giving birth to her son Langston at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 12, 2016. When the news of Johnson’s death broke, it was devastating for her family, community and all of us who are concerned about the state of black people in this country and the world.

When we sound the call “Black Lives Matter,” we mean every black life everywhere. Our call must center and demand justice for the rising rates of black maternal mortality in the United States. Too many black mothers’ lives are on the line throughout our pregnancies and in childbirth.

Kyira Johnson’s death was preventable. Not only her death, but the manner in which she died, exposes the horrific state of the U.S. health care system, especially for black women and mothers. Each year, more than 12,000 women die because of preventable causes related to childbirth and pregnancy.

Black women are between three and four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues (pdf) than white women. Studies have shown that these rates persist even when black and white women have the same socioeconomic status. Statistics for black women in the South are worse across the board given the legacy of state governments’ reluctance to guarantee basic health care services and reproductive rights.

As a black mother, I am acutely aware of the dangers associated with black women’s health care in this country. My experience after giving birth, notably after a cesarean section, came with its own set of complications, from pneumonia to the threat of blood clots, that I was not informed about or prepared for.

I am alarmed by the abysmal standards that our health care system provides our black women and mothers. It’s clear that while some of us survive childbirth, many of us have died, and many of our black mothers will continue to…

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