Updates from the BBHI Team- Welcoming June!

Word from the Director

As we step into the month of June, we honor a powerful trio of themes: Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

I am consistently motivated by the fight for the continued liberation of Black people and the unmitigated necessity of positive male representation. During this time I am committed to being gentle with the men in my life and creating safe spaces for them to rest and be vulnerable. We will celebrate, we will rejoice and we will love one another! Have a great month everyone! 

  -Maya

Community Events

With 70 degree weather and kids out of school, June welcomes summer! Here’s where you can spend your time this month:

On Saturday, June 7th from 11:30am–2:30pm, Wu Yee Children’s Services is hosting a free community resource fair for families with young children. Homeless Children’s Network will be there, so please stop by and say hi if you see us! Sign up to attend here.

Join the Rafiki Coalition for their 14th Annual Black Health and Healing Summit on Friday and Saturday, June 6th and 7th. From 9am-5pm, immerse yourself in presentations, community dialogues, wellness practices, and more. Learn more here.

On Saturday, June 14th from 11am-6pm, gather for Fillmore’s Juneteenth block party! The Freedom Celebration will span 8 city blocks featuring dozens of retail and food vendors, free carnival rides and more. RSVP here. 

Also on Saturday, June 14th from 1-5pm, Pop-Up Village is back at the Southeast Community Center! Every 2nd Saturday until October, gather to cultivate joy, healing, and connection. Learn more here.

On Sunday, June 15th from 12-6pm, continue the Juneteenth festivities and honor the fathers in your life at Bayview’s Juneteenth celebration! Find out more.

SisterWalks, hosted by SisterWeb and UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative, is a monthly series of community walks in the Bay Area designed to center Black maternal health. I attended last month’s and hope to see you there this month! Check out this video on why I keep showing up and check back here for this month’s date and time.

BBHI attended Embrace’s two-day Black Birthworker Retreat and left feeling rejuvenated and grounded in our ancestral knowledge. We deepened our understanding of collective and self-advocacy, found new ways to build trust, and felt the healing power of music. We’re excited to bring our findings to the work we do with our clients!

-Briana

Clinical Corner: Juneteenth, Black Birth Work, and Celebrating Black  Fatherhood – A Powerful Intersection 

BBHI honors both Juneteenth and Father’s Day—celebrating freedom and family, and reflecting on the deep connection between the fight for Black liberation and our intentional work to improve Black maternal and infant health outcomes.

The statistics remain stagnant: Black birthing people continue to face disproportionate risks and disparities that carry generational impacts. Juneteenth reminds us of the enduring fight for freedom—and this work is part of that fight. It’s a fight we continue to confront with both urgency and compassion.

At BBHI, we honor Juneteenth through action—advocating for safe, respectful, and culturally-rooted care across all systems. As we continue our journey to launch, we proudly carry forward HCN’s legacy of community-centered healing and empowerment. Our goal is to ensure that Black birthing people and their families receive care that not only meets their needs but also uplifts and amplifies their voices.

In this same spirit, we take time to uplift and celebrate Black fathers. Too often overlooked, Black fathers are loving, present, and powerful pillars in the lives of their children, families, and communities. BBHI honors your strength, your struggle, and your existence. You matter—deeply—to the Black birthing person, to the Black birth worker, and to this movement.

This Juneteenth and Father’s Day, let us be reminded that liberation and love are deeply intertwined. This work is our ongoing expression of liberation—ensuring that Black birthing people are seen, heard, and supported, and that Black families not only survive but truly thrive.

-Iesha 

Reflections of the Past 

One of my favorite quotes by Angela Davis is the following: “Radical simply means grasping things at the root.” I believe that what she means is to take a look at history and see what patterns, behaviors and events took place in the past, what is repeating today and ask ourselves, how and where can we make positive social change? In my role, as BBHI’s Program Assistant, and as a person of color from Filipino descent, plus being a mother myself, I am learning how to be a better ally and to embody solidarity. I feel it’s a privilege and responsibility to do this work to support my team and communities I serve, as well as it is an absolute joy to acknowledge and celebrate both daily victories and monumental occasions such as Juneteenth! As they say, “Know history, know self. No history, no self.” So I came upon an article that taught me a little more about this important day in June. I invite others to take time and read here and/or continue some of your own research, as well. I firmly believe that our collective struggles share the same roots (colonization, white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, etc.) and therefore our liberation, too, is interconnected. 

-Jyn

We appreciate everyone for supporting our journey—we're just getting started! Stay tuned for more updates and highlights as additional events and program offerings will begin rolling out after our official start date in July—this is just the beginning. 

Thank you for reading this month's newsletter. We look forward to connecting with you soon!

In solidarity & celebration,

The BBHI Team