Article archive / December 2021
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 9.
Dr. Marva Lewis Joins "Call to Action" for Change in Infant Mental Health Journal
Dr. Marva Lewis joined colleagues in a "Special Statement" and call to action for the Infant Mental Health Journal. The statement, "Call to action: Centering blackness and disrupting systemic racism in infant mental health research and academic publishing," was published on November 7.
Dr. Lewis is an Associate Professor at Tulane University School of Social Work. Dr. Lewis' program of research focuses on the development of culturally valid research methods and measures of racism-based stress during pregnancy, Colorism in African American families, and parental acceptance or rejection of children. In 2021, Dr. Lewis was endorsed as an Infant Mental Health Mentor- Research/Faculty by the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health.
Co-authors of the statement were Iheoma U. Iruka, Fantasy T. Lozada, Erika L. Bocknek, and Holly E. Brophy-Herb.
Authors wrote, "The Infant Mental Health Journal is committed to ending systemic racism and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic publishing. IMHJ unequivocally denounces all forms of racism and white supremacy, including systemic racism in academic publishing. We commit to investigating and working to terminate the ways in which systemic racism has become normalized in academic publishing, including examining our practices and processes at IMHJ. We invite you to join us in intentional, anti- racist work through your scholarship.
"As a second immediate response relative to promoting diverse, equitable, and inclusive research, IMHJ is releasing the following Call to Action, focusing on centering Blackness in infant and early childhood mental health research. This call is designed as a first step in our efforts, and IMHJ looks forward to coming initiatives aimed at disrupting systemic racism in infant and early childhood mental health research for the many scholars studying and working with diverse populations marginalized by racism and systemic inequities.
"It is not enough to acknowledge the inequities that exist in research and academic publishing. Instead, we must intentionally and actively work to disrupt racism in research that ensures a fuller story is told of children's development and well- being, particularly among infants, toddlers, and young children of color.
"Likewise, we must create a shift in the institutional power so that scholars of color, particularly Black scholars, have opportunities to disseminate their work and assume roles of leadership equitably."
At Tulane, Dr. Lewis' basic and applied research includes: Basic research on racism-based stress as an unrecognized factor in racial disparities in perinatal infant outcomes in African American women; Applied research using narrative therapy techniques and measures to strengthen African American family intergenerational relationships based on issues of Colorism as a legacy of the historical trauma of slavery; and prevention and reduction of child abuse and neglect.
Dr. Marva Lewis (photo courtesy Tulane)
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