为庆祝展览 我会尽我所能，给你最好的。, 本次活动聚焦黑人母亲的形象和故事，诚邀您参与一场关于母性全貌的及时对话。本次活动由 PAUSE 合作举办，PAUSE 致力于为有色人种社区创造安全、符合文化背景且由专家指导的哀伤和临终关怀资源空间。对话将邀请两位助产士 Crystal Coleman 和 Deidre Medley Coutsoumpos，她们将分别作为分娩和临终关怀的陪伴者，探讨生与死的两极对立。对话由 Art + Practice 艺术项目经理 Eboné McCloud 主持。.
扬声器
As a mother of three incredibly opinionated, creative, of two growing teens, and one preteen, Deidre Medley does all of her work with hopes that these humans will live in a world with easy access to reproductive options to support any of the choices they need to make in the future. Aside from adventuring through the mountains and ensuring she’s pouring into her next generation, Deidre serves as Executive Director and founding member of the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective of the Inland Empire. A collective of Black birthworkers, reclaiming their rights to birth through connection, cause and community. They provide services, support and education that foster wellness in Black birthing families and the birthworkers who serve them.
Over 20 years, Deidre has served in many roles in the maternal health space, lactation educator counselor, childbirth educator, maternal health advocate, and her entry into this work, birth doula. Throughout her career has led the charge in coordinating three doula programs servicing Riverside and San Bernardino counties which combined has utilized about 70 doulas serving nearly 700 families. In an effort to grow access to doula care, Deidre founded Grounded Beginnings Birth, a community based doula program that facilitates culturally congruent and spirit-centered doula trainings. Deidre recently completed her M.S. in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership at UCSF.
Crystal Coleman is a devoted End Of Life Doula driven by compassion and dedicated to providing a calm, supportive presence during one of life’s most meaningful transitions. Grounded in empathy and deep respect for each individual’s journey, she brings a steady, reassuring approach to end-of-life care for both individuals and their loved ones. The work of an End Of Life Doula resonated with her in 2014. The curiosity of supporting and guiding someone at the end of life led her to explore and ultimately find her love and alignment in life. After volunteering and supporting many at the end of life, she was officially certified as a Death Doula in early 2023.
Further moved by the meaningfulness of the work, Crystal founded The Journeyed Soul in 2024. She believes there is great value in supporting, guiding and care at the end of life. Her goal is to create conversations about death and dying and bring awareness to the importance of planning, while honoring the journey.