Annie Mae Fultz dragged herself into the emergency room. She was hard of hearing and unable to speak, but it was clear she needed help. However, it was definitely not the kind she was about to get this time.
Fultz’s four girls were born healthy and instantly became famous. But the white doctor who delivered them wanted fame for himself. He named the girls and experimented on them, injecting the infants with dangerously high levels of vitamin C. But he wasn’t done trying to play God with the Fultz family.
He signed a baby formula endorsement deal with Pet Milk on Fultz’s behalf. Pet Milk launched a campaign that convinced Black mothers their formula was superior to breast milk and made record-breaking profits. Their mother Annie Mae remained in poverty.
Eventually the doctor took custody of the girls so he could continue benefiting from their fame. This set a precedence for Black children to be taken from their families and portraying Black mothers as unfit, whether true or not.
Associating bad parenting with Black mothers is a false and dangerous narrative. We push back by fighting for access to quality medical care, creating lucrative employment opportunities for each other, and demanding safe, affordable childcare for Black women.