Black babies are two times more likely to die in their first year of life than white babies. This is a gap that has persisted in our country for decades. Around the country, people are trying in big ways and small to close it.
The Castlemont neighborhood in East Oakland is known as a Best Babies Zone. The idea of this initiative is that improving life for everyone in the community will ultimately save babies.
Read more from this series on LAist:
- America's Black Babies Are Paying For Society's Ills. What Will We Do To Fix It?
- Keeping Black Babies Alive Is A Priority For LA's Top Health Officials
- These People Have Dedicated Their Lives To Keeping Black Babies Alive
- Black Babies Die At Twice The Rate Of White Babies. My Family Is Part Of This Statistic
This project received support from the Center for Health Journalism's California Fellowship and its Fund for Journalism on Child Well-being.