The Melanin Memo
DEEP MEMO 04.10 | They Canceled the Data. Now They Can Cancel the Crisis.
No PRAMS. No CDC maternal health staff. No Blueprint. Black Maternal Health Week starts tomorrow and the receipts on what Washington destroyed are right here.
Bliss Collective,
This is the Deep Memo, where we don’t just tell you what happened, we tell you why it matters, what the system doesn’t want you to see, and what you can do with what you know. Today we’re going deeper on the story I flagged in the Brief: Black maternal health, the 10-year anniversary of BMHW, and the federal dismantling happening in plain sight while the theme this year says “Rooted in Justice and Joy.” We have to hold both the joy AND the fight; Let’s get into it.
HEART PILLAR
HEALTH & WELLNESS + BLACK MENTAL HEALTH | Rooted in Justice and Joy While Washington Burns the Infrastructure
WHAT’S HAPPENING | Tomorrow, April 11, Black Maternal Health Week 2026 begins. Ten years ago, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) founded this movement. This year’s theme is “Rooted in Justice and Joy” a declaration that joy itself is an act of resistance for Black mothers in a country that still loses us at rates that should be a national emergency.
Here are the numbers, verified and sourced, that you need to carry with you this week and beyond:
• In 2023, the U.S. maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 per 100,000 live births while rates for white (14.5), Hispanic (12.4), and Asian (10.7) women all decreased. (CDC / Congress.gov H.Res.332)
• A December 2025 study found maternal mortality rates are three times higher in Black and Indigenous mothers than in white mothers.
• In New York City, Black non-Hispanic women are five times more likely to die of a pregnancy-associated cause than white women. (NYC Health Dept, 2026)
• In Guilford County, NC, Black infants make up 70% of the county’s infant mortality. (WHQR, Apr 9, 2026)
• In Washtenaw County, Michigan, 44% of pregnancy-related deaths among Black mothers are considered preventable. (Michigan Medicine / WEMU, 2026)
• Nationally, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the maternal mortality rate for Black women increased by 26%. (CDC)
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WHAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE
While advocates mark a decade of BMHW with workshops, wellness events, and policy dialogues, the federal infrastructure that was supposed to address this crisis has been systematically dismantled:
• Most staff in the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health have been laid off.
• Community-based maternal health grants have been halted.
• The prior White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis was erased.
• The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) the tool states used for DECADES to understand why women are dying was eliminated.
• The federal FY2026 budget called for eliminating CDC’s Safe Motherhood program funding entirely. (RFK Jr. has “signaled willingness” to restore it but signaling is not funding.)
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MB Healthcare Admin Lens | I spent 15+ years in healthcare administration at leading institutions in Los Angeles and New York. I’ve seen how systems work and how they fail our communities. That experience shapes everything MB investigates. I know what it means when you cut the data infrastructure. Without PRAMS, states lose the ability to track what interventions actually save lives. Without that data, maternal mortality review boards are operating blind. This is not a mistake. This is policy designed to erase the evidence of a crisis so there’s no mandate to address it.
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK + WHAT YOU CAN DO
• NYC Health Dept events run April 11–17 across all five boroughs including Sugar Scrub/Paint & Sip, Yoga, Belly Dancing, birth justice workshops, and doula discussions. (Bronx: April 16, Tremont Action Center, 10am–1:30pm)
• NYS Dept of Health roundtable: Monday April 13 at Ancient Song Doula Services, 521 Halsey St., Brooklyn, 1pm.
• Richmond, VA: Birth in Color State of the Union on Black Maternal Health grading state + federal records on maternal health.
• Greater Washington Community Foundation + CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield: awarding up to $200K over two years to DC-area organizations working on maternal health equity.
• Visit blackmamasmatter.org for the full 2026 toolkit and local event listings.
THE MB ANGLE: JOY IS NOT A CONSOLATION PRIZE
Here’s what I keep turning over as we head into BMHW 2026: the theme “Rooted in Justice and Joy” is an argument, not a pivot. It’s BMMA saying: we have been here for 10 years. We have grieved. We have documented. We have testified. We have organized. And we are still here. Joy is not the absence of urgency it is the claim that Black mothers deserve to survive AND to thrive. To be celebrated AND to be protected. Both at the same time.
The administration has not taken that argument seriously. But we have to. Every person in the Bliss Collective who is pregnant, postpartum, supporting a Black mother, or working in healthcare: the advocacy happening this week is for you, and you are part of it whether you attend an event or not.
BMMA Executive Director Angela D. Aina, named a 2026 TIME100 Health Honoree, said it clearly: they have spent a decade building the global Black Maternal Health Movement. 10 years of midwives, physicians, doulas, nurses, advocates, healing practitioners, and artists. They built something real. We don’t let that be erased quietly.
Sources: NYC Health Dept (Apr 9, 2026); NY State Dept of Health (Apr 8, 2026); accessHealth News (Apr 2026); Washington Informer (Apr 2026); WEMU/Michigan Medicine (Apr 10, 2026); WHQR (Apr 9, 2026); Congress.gov H.Res.332; Healthy Start Florida / BMMA
KNOWLEDGE + HUSTLE PILLARS
Afro Pulse | The Iran Ceasefire and What Nobody Is Saying to Black and Brown Americans
The ceasefire brokered by Pakistan on April 8 stopped the immediate military exchange between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. But the 2026 Iran War named Operation Epic Fury, launched February 28 has already left more than 3,400 dead in Iran (per HRANA), over 1,497 killed in Lebanon including 57 health workers, and 13 U.S. service members lost. The Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global oil flows, has been effectively closed or disrupted since the war began, causing fuel shortages in parts of Asia and rippling economic effects globally.
Today, April 10, U.S. and Iranian delegations are scheduled to meet in Islamabad, Pakistan for peace talks. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is calling the ceasefire a “great victory” citing that it forced the U.S. to accept Iran’s 10-point plan, including lifting sanctions, releasing Iranian assets, withdrawing U.S. forces from regional bases, and guaranteeing Iran’s right to enrich uranium. The U.S. has not confirmed all these terms.
Israel is still bombing Lebanon. Hezbollah is retaliating. Iran is accusing both the U.S. and Israel of violating the ceasefire on Day One. The Strait of Hormuz has reopened and closed again in the same 48 hours. BCA Research warns: “Fighting will ignite later this year, if not later this month.”
What this means for Black and Brown families in the U.S.:
• Gas and energy prices remain elevated the war pushed costs to their highest since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the ceasefire hasn’t fully reversed that.
• Global shipping disruptions hit goods disproportionately consumed by working-class households food, household products, clothing, electronics the same goods already hit by Trump’s tariffs.
• Pharmaceutical tariffs (up to 100% proposed on imported drugs) combine with war-inflated supply chain costs to squeeze medication access for the uninsured and underinsured a disproportionately Black and Brown population.
• The federal government shutdown in late 2025 disrupted BLS data collection, meaning we have an incomplete picture of how the economic pain is actually being distributed.
MB Position: The Iran ceasefire is being sold as a Trump foreign policy win. Don’t buy it without reading the fine print. Peace talks begin today. The ceasefire has already been violated. 13 American service members are dead and we don’t know how many of them came from communities like ours. The political theater of “victory” doesn’t heat your home, doesn’t fill your tank, and doesn’t open the Hormuz for the medicine your grandmother needs.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Apr 8, 2026); NPR (Apr 6–8, 2026); CBS News Live Blog (Apr 8, 2026); NBC News Live Blog (Apr 9, 2026); CNBC (Apr 8, 2026); Britannica 2026 Iran War (Apr 10, 2026); CNN Tariff Tracker (Apr 2026)
I write The Melanin Memo every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday because our community deserves journalism built for them, not around them. Free.
CULTURE PILLAR
For the Culture | Howard University’s Cardi B Course and What It’s Actually Saying About Black Women’s Labor
Howard University is launching a Cardi B-focused course for Fall 2026. It’s going to get think pieces written about it that miss the point entirely. Here’s the MB frame: What Howard is doing is academic legitimization of the business acumen, brand architecture, and cultural labor of a Black woman from the South Bronx who built a global empire with a degree from the school of doing-it-yourself.
Cardi B’s music rollout strategy the subject of the course is a masterclass in audience ownership, authentic marketing, and cultural timing. The fact that a course is now being built around it says two things simultaneously: (1) Black women’s intellectual and creative labor is worthy of serious academic study, and (2) it took this long for an institution to say so. Both are true. Both matter. Howard saying it matters more than most institutions saying it.
For the Bliss Collective building businesses, media brands, and community platforms: your strategy IS your scholarship. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you need permission to take your own work seriously.
Sources: BlackNews.com (Apr 2026)
FULL SOURCE CITATIONS | All claims in The Melanin Memo are sourced from the following verified, credible institutions and publications:Al JazeeraUS-Iran Ceasefire Coverage, Apr 8, 2026 | aljazeera.comNPRIran War Updates,Apr 6–8,2026 | npr.org|CBS News Live Blog Iran Ceasefire, Apr 8, 2026|cbsnews.com|NBC News Live Blog Iran Ceasefire, Apr 9, 2026 |nbcnews.com|CNBCUS-Iran Ceasefire Market Analysis, Apr 8, 2026| cnbc.com|Britannica 2026 Iran War, Updated Apr 10, 2026 | britannica.com|Tax Policy Center (Brookings/Urban)Tariff Tracker, Apr 2026 | taxpolicycenter.org|Tax FoundationTrump Tariffs Tracker, Apr 2026 | taxfoundation.org|ITEPImpact of Trump’s Tariffs | itep.org|Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) Black Households & Economy, Feb 2026 | cbpp.org|Capital B NewsBlack-Owned Businesses & Tariffs, Aug 2025 | capitalbnews.org|AFRO American NewspapersTariff Whiplash & Black Recession, Mar 2026afro.com|Sacramento ObserverTariff Whiplash, Mar 2026 | sacobserver.com|EssenceTrump Tariffs & Black Small Businesses, Mar 2026 | essence.com|NCNWHigh Cost of Tariffs for BlackBusinesses | ncnw.org|Center for American ProgressHousing & Tariffs|americanprogress.org|NYC Health DepartmentBMHW 2026 Announcement, Apr 9, 2026 | nyc.gov|NY State Dept of Health BMHW Roundtable,Apr 8 2026 | health.ny.gov|accessHealth NewsBMHW Turns 10, Apr 2026|accesshealthnews.net|Washington Informer|BMHW 10 Years, Apr 2026 | washingtoninformer.com|WEMU / Michigan MedicineBlack Maternal Health,Apr 10, 2026|wemu.org|WHQRGuilfordCounty BMHW,Apr9, 2026 |whqr.org|Congress.govH.Res.332 BlackMaternal Health Week 2025 Text |congress.gov|Black Mamas Matter Alliance BMHW 2026 Toolkit| blackmamasmatter.org|KFFMedicaid:What to Watch in 2026,Jan 2026 |kff.org|APA ServicesMedicaid Funding Cuts Update|updates.apaservices.org|Center for Medicare Advocacy OBBB Medicare Impact| medicareadvocacy.org|Medicare Rights CenterOBBB Health Cuts|medicarerights.org|UnidosUSMedicaid Cuts & Communities of Color, Mar 2025|unidosus.org| Economic Policy Institute Medicaid Cuts & POC|epi.org| CBPP Medicaid & Budget Stakes, Mar 2026 | cbpp.org|BlackNews.com Howard University Cardi B Course| blacknews.com|BlackVoteWatch.org Bills Tracker|blackvotewatch.org|CNNTariffImpactTracker,Apr2026 cnn.com|SHVS /Georgetown Medicaid Cuts State Tracking | shvs.org |Pew Research Americans and Trump Tariffs, Feb 2026|pewresearch.org
UNIVERSAL MB DISCLAIMER:The Melanin Memo is published by Melanin Bliss Media LLC. All editorial content reflects the independent investigative journalism and original commentary of Melanin Bliss Media. MB Angle pieces are original editorial commentary. Views expressed are editorial in nature. All factual claims are sourced from peer-reviewed research, credible institutions, and established news organizations. © 2026 Melanin Bliss Media LLC. All rights reserved.
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In truth and in service, see you in the Morning Brief on Monday
Amber K. McClendon
Founder & CEO, Melanin Bliss Media LLC
New York, NY | melaninblissmedia.com