Board Vice President. Nursing Professor. PhD(c). Black Maternal Health Advocate. Innovative Thinker. Everything Equity. Everything Coconut. #CIHRDoctoralScholar

Canada
Joined March 2013
It is official 🎉. I am a PhD Candidate! Still taking this one in as it feels especially special. I started my PhD three weeks postpartum at @queensu, with a newborn in my arms and absolutely no idea what it would take to balance motherhood, life, and doctoral studies. It wasn’t easy, but here we are. That tiny baby is now two years old, surrounded by powerful women he has come to know as his “PhD aunties”. I successfully defended my PhD thesis proposal, and I am so excited for what comes next. To my family, thank you for carrying me and making room for this dream. To my supervisor, Dr. @KTerna , thank you for giving me the space to grow into my own voice as a scholar. Your mentorship throughout this journey has meant more to me than I can say. To my wonderful committee, Dr. @pilar_camargo and Dr. @dmacdonald902 , and my examiners, Dr. Katherine McKittrick and Dr. Katie Goldie, thank you for challenging my thinking with support and guidance. I am blessed with the most supportive classmates who created time out of their busy schedules to listen to me rehearse and checked in to encourage me. Now comes the part I have been most excited about: the research itself. I get to listen to and learn from Black women as I explore their experiences and meaning-making of miscarriage in Canada. Being a survivor of miscarriage and stillbirth, I feel so privileged to carry this work forward. What a beautiful milestone! From three weeks postpartum to PhD Candidate 🎉🙏🏿 #BlackMaternalHealthMatters
156
86
13
1,243
29,534
Ontario, we complain about property taxes, housing, bad roads, public transit, and the state of our communities. But how many of us actually know who's running in tomorrow's municipal elections? Do you know who your current mayor and councillors are? What have they accomplished? Please research the candidates before voting tomorrow. We cannot demand accountability from leaders we know nothing about. Are you voting tomorrow?
2
9
505
Jason Arday has been cleared of plagiarism FOR A FOURTH TIME
For weeks, some racist Western media outlets published story after story against Professor Jason Arday, at times every few hours, branding him a plagiarist. They hounded him relentlessly, and the pressure became too much for him. He committed suicide in August, aged just 41. This week, he was cleared of plagiarism yet again. A fresh investigation by the academic publisher Taylor & Francis found nothing to support the allegations. Of the four formal investigations into his work, not one substantiated the charge. The same publications that hunted him are now silent. They have not corrected their reporting, and they have not had the decency to admit they were wrong. This is how hard it is to be Black in a deeply racist world, and to succeed where they expect you to fail. Even those who present themselves as the moral conscience of the Western world have nothing to say. In a shameful act, the Oxford Reform Society has invited Nathan Cofnas, the self-described "race realist" who first raised the plagiarism allegations against Professor Arday, to speak at Oriel College next month. Oriel College, the home of Cecil John Rhodes’ statue. These institutions are racist. Sadly, Black leaders have failed to build rival institutions that give Black people respect and intellectual dignity. We are forced to endure disrespect because our leadership has failed us completely. Black billionaires line up to hand money to these institutions in exchange for meaningless honorary titles, instead of building our own. May Professor Arday's soul rest in peace. You were hounded to your death by publications that today do not even have the shame to admit they were wrong.
44
130
1
525
5,524
Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
Black babies deserve to grow old.
1
57
319
2,666
Black babies deserve to grow old.
1
57
319
2,666
Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
My story of anti-Blackness in health care. I never got to take David home 💔
12
40
2
96
2,730
Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
I still remember Birgit tweeting fr a hospital bed in a hallway during this harrowing ordeal 💔 Black healthcare, especially pre/postnatal is at risk due to constant anti-blackness from healthcare providers. It's never addressed as the criminal negligence & hate crime that it is.
My story of anti-Blackness in health care. I never got to take David home 💔
10
21
645
Racism in nursing doesn’t always look like a slur. Sometimes it’s the “forgotten” pain medication. The ignored concern. The assumption that a Black patient is exaggerating their pain. These things may look small individually, but they can have very real consequences. If you are a nurse or want to become a nurse, you have a responsibility to confront racism.
7
44
1
124
1,985
Many years ago, I had to take a White woman with me to be able to rent an apartment in a predominantly White neighborhood right here in Canada. So if you think this type of housing discrimination is only in the U.S., think again. Racism is disgusting. I hope they sue them into oblivion!
11
73
1
307
6,352
Years ago, I had to take a White woman with me to be able to rent an apartment in a predominantly White neighbourhood in Canada. So when we talk about racism in housing, please don’t assume it’s only an American problem. Black people in Canada experience it too. Racism doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it looks like being told a place is suddenly unavailable, being treated differently, or having doors quietly closed. We need to talk about it. We need to acknowledge it. And we need to do better.
7
52
178
2,589
Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
This happened to my mom a couple years ago. Her tongue was so swollen that she nearly couldn't breathe. They know Black folks aren't supposed to take this but prescribe it anyway - the ER doc knew what caused it right away because she had seen other cases
Dear Black people, tell your friends to tell their friends.
16
668
13
2,992
235,948
I was told to educate myself about municipal government. So let’s talk about it. Yes, hospitals are primarily a provincial responsibility. But health care doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Ontario municipalities have roles in public health, paramedic services, long-term care, housing and homelessness services, among other areas that directly affect health. Municipalities also work with the province and contribute to funding and delivering some health and social services. So yes, municipal elections have health care implications. I’m not saying your mayor controls Ontario hospitals. I’m saying local government decisions affect the conditions in which people live, get sick, receive care and recover. October 26. Go vote. #onpoli
4
17
80
1,493