Ciarra's blog

I had the extreme honor of presenting our poster Updated Infant Feeding Recommendations for US Parents Living with HIV: Empowering Patient/Provider Partnership & Communication at the 2024 National Ryan White Conference...

All of us have a story, a triumph, something that may not be so glamourous at face value – but the breath in our bodies stand as a testament to the next person that hard things can be done.

Recently, I had the extreme pleasure of attending the 2023 Motown Experience: Birth & Breastfeeding Conference hosted by the Black Mothers' Breastfeeding Association in Detroit, MI.

So, I don't know if you know That I've been at this social media, advocacy thing for a little minute now. Probably bout, what, like 4 or 5 years or something like that? However long ago it was, I...

Never did I ever imagine that *I* would be standing in ANYbody's conference presenting ANYthing to some nurses. And here we are. This year's Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) Conference was held in Tampa, Florida, November 17-19th and what a wonderful experience this was!

Tip: Can't nobody take your voice. It's yours. I mean, people always have the choice of ignoring you. But that doesn't mean shut up.

Are you stupid? Or are you dumb? What in the hell would possess you to breastfeed a new, precious, innocent life? Do you hate her or something?

This gone sound crazy. But I don't know how to be no woman. I mean, especially not good enough to teach another woman how to do it. I just be doing shit. ... trying on different versions of myself....

"Ciarra. Just sit your ass down and write." ... this is really how I be talking to myself. Cus I'm stubborn. And, apparently that soft shit don't work with me. You gotta get indignant. Yell a little...

I called Al-Anon. In tears. Ugly, snotty, gasping for air type ass tears. The lady on the other end of the line was patient as I struggled to ask for where the meetings be at. Knowing good, damned...