Welcome to Front Porch Insights

A Blog Centered on Black Women's Reproductive Health & Wellness

The Young Advisory Leadership Council (YALC) created "Front Porch Insights" to increase awareness around issues of reproductive health and its associated burdens. This blog offers space to give voice to our peers and provide a resource for Black women seeking relevant information for their reproductive health and rights. We invite you to explore the articles below, written by members of YALC and the RSP community.

Disclaimer: The content of this webpage is intended for informational purposes only. We strongly encourage our readers to use this information only as a preliminary resource. We disclaim any liability for the decisions made by anyone based on this information.

Not Everything that Glitters is Gold

By Cierra Brown | January 22, 2025

Imagine you’re getting ready for a concert. You do your regular makeup routine but decide to add glitter for a little extra pizazz. To match the glitter on your face, you strap on some glittery boots to bring your outfit to the next level. Then, every day for the next week, you find specks of…

keep reading +

Championing for Change: An Influencer’s Fight for Her Own Reproductive Health

By Paige Feyock | October 7, 2024

“If we have so much shame and stigma about these health issues, how do we talk about them and notice a pattern? How do we know what signs to look out for? How can we properly advocate for ourselves?” – Latoya Shauntay Snell Latoya Shauntay Snell is a chef, ultrarunner, and social justice advocate from…

keep reading +

Addressing Period Poverty in Our Communities

By Sophia Cassim | October 31, 2023

Many of us have had a moment when we realize it is “that time of the month” while at work or in class, and we feel relieved to find a spare pad or tampon at the bottom of our bags. We may even have had a situation where we couldn’t find that spare and there…

keep reading +

You Are Not Alone in Your Uterine Fibroids Journey

By Nkem Osain | July 31, 2023

Nkem Osian, a member of Resilient Sisterhood Project’s Young Advisory Leadership Council, sat down with RSP for an interview recently about her journey with uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that grow on the uterus and can cause prolonged menstrual periods, early labor, and miscarriages. The size of a fibroid varies from a small…

keep reading +

A Family History

By Maaza Seyoum | January 30, 2023

I was 37 years old when my mom died. Together, we shared a lifetime of experiences: birthdays, trips, and graduations. But now, a decade after her death, the two events that linger most vividly in my mind are the moment I watched her take her last breath and the day I found out that her…

keep reading +
household cleaning items toxic

Introducing Alliance for Healthy Tomorrow and Safer States

By Resilient Sisterhood Project | August 5, 2019

At RSP, we recognize the lack of general awareness and knowledge regarding the toxic chemicals found in many commonly used household and personal care products. A great majority of personal care products used primarily by black women can lead to adverse health outcomes, specifically in the area of reproductive health. In response to this concern,…

keep reading +

Spotlight on Black Maternal Health

By Quin Bottom-Johnson | April 9, 2019

In the US, women of African descent are affected by a significant number of diseases of the reproductive system – which are often under-diagnosed and under-treated. Furthermore, black women continue to face daunting health challenges in terms of pregnancy and childbirth. Black women are 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their…

keep reading +
bcra

Let’s Talk BRCA and The Angelina Effect

By Yassmina McDonald | January 10, 2019

The rate of BRCA testing increased after Angelina Jolie’s article in Time Magazine in 2013, which some labeled the Angelina Effect; however, the disparity among those who should be tested and the groups who are tested needs to be addressed. For many of us, our first introduction to the acronym BRCA occurred in 2013 when…

keep reading +