From Black maternal mortality to public education, here’s how bans on diversity, equity and inclusion programs are negatively impacting Texas women.
By Jill Ament
About ten years ago, Travis County was grappling with a troubling statistic: pregnant and birthing Black women were dying at a rate 1.5 times higher than white women.
Black Mamas ATX was launched in 2018 to address and prevent these maternal mortality disparities among Black women in the area.
“Seeing that it wasn’t something that you could fix by telling people to exercise and eat better, it’s a bigger, structural issue that goes beyond those factors,” said Black Mamas ATX Executive Director, Kelenne Blake. “Some research at the time was showing that having a doula present with mom at birth helped their outcomes. And we saw that research with Black women and Black doulas as well.”
Black Mamas ATX pairs expectant Black mothers with a community-based doula, free of charge. They also provide free mental health support, lactation consulting and other maternal services to Black women in Travis County.
However, recent actions led by Republicans at the state and federal level banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are putting the future of their services at risk, Blake said. Earlier this year, a $1.1 million federal grant which helps Black Mamas ATX pay for staff and free mental health support for clients was temporarily frozen for about a week.
“We’re a small organization,” Blake said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty with grants and funding. We’re not yet a huge, self-sustaining organization… we’re pretty grass roots. That freeze created a landslide of concern and uncertainty.”
The funds were reinstated as the federal DEI ban got caught up in the courts. But during that week, Blake couldn’t pay some staff members on time. She’s not sure if the grant will be reinstated for the next funding cycle.
Black Mamas ATX isn’t the only Black women-led organization in the area concerned about future federal grant funding under the Trump Administration’s DEI ban.
Pflugerville’s Pfaith House provides safe, transitional housing for women and children, especially Black and Brown families, who are fleeing domestic violence or experiencing chronic homelessness. Pfaith House was founded by Pflugerville City Councilwoman Kimberly Holiday, who has experienced homelessness first hand.
“I knew that Black and Brown women and children fleeing domestic violence often had nowhere to go,” Holiday said. “The existing shelters are overcrowded, and many do not cater to the specific needs of Black and Brown women, who often face additional layers of discrimination and stigma when seeking assistance.”
She’s also concerned about her organization’s future work as DEI bans at the state and federal level are making it difficult to access funding outside of the community.
“The recent anti-DEI movement has made it increasingly difficult for Black women-led organizations like PFaith House to access critical funding, resources, and partnerships,” Holiday said. “Many traditional funding streams have dried up as public and private institutions face pressure to move away from equity-focused initiatives that were never about exclusion, but about ensuring that historically marginalized communities have access to the same opportunities as everyone else.”
These organizations are also seeing fallout from a bill Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed into law in 2024. That measure prohibits public state universities from having DEI offices as well as providing faculty training and programs related to DEI.
As a result, Black Mamas ATX had to move their annual Black maternal mortality conference off the UT-Austin campus. Their maternal mental health conference organized with the university is no more. Blake said professors at public universities are less inclined to work with their organization for fear of retaliation from the state.
Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are once again considering measures in the 89th legislative session that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion programming and hiring practices, this time in public K-12 schools across the state.
Texas State Teacher Association Executive Director Ovidia Molina, said SB12 will disproportionately threaten women, who make up 75% of regular classroom teachers and 79% of substitute teachers in Texas.
“So we’re attacked,” Molina said. “We’re not paid enough. And now we’re being made to again look like we are against our parents. What we really want is the best education, all of the resources, all of the opportunities for our children. I don’t know if it would be under attack if it wasn’t a mostly female profession.”
As for Kelenne Blake with Black Mamas ATX, these DEI bans are disheartening and sad, but not surprising.
“You’re talking to a person and a community who has been through a lot and uncertainty is not something we’re unfamiliar with,” Blake said. “We are a resilient community and we support each other and I don’t think this will destroy the work completely.”
Blake said DEI bans may cause her organization to be smaller, but she believes they will still be mighty. She said for now, they are going to lean hard on the local community to support their mission so they can continue to serve pregnant Black women in Travis County.
