About The Obsidian Milk Collective
A movement for Lactation Justice.
Black-led. Rooted in Justice. Community-Centered.
The Obsidian Milk Collective (OMC) is Alabama’s first Black-led nonprofit lactation practice, advancing Lactation Justice through comprehensive clinical lactation care, education, workforce development, advocacy, community power, and systems change.
OMC is reimagining what access to lactation care can look like across Alabama by building a model where families can receive knowledgeable, culturally responsive care while addressing the larger systems that determine who has access to that care in the first place.
Who We Are
The Obsidian Milk Collective was founded to address the inequities that continue to shape lactation access and outcomes for Black families.
Lactation does not happen in isolation. A family's ability to reach their feeding goals can be shaped by access to knowledgeable providers, insurance coverage, cost, transportation, geography, workplace conditions, cultural representation, healthcare systems, and public policy.
OMC exists to change those conditions.
We provide comprehensive clinical lactation care while working beyond the individual visit to strengthen the systems surrounding families. Through education, workforce development, community partnerships, advocacy, and systems change, we are building an Alabama where access to lactation care is not determined by where someone lives, what insurance they carry, or what they can afford.
Our Mission
The Obsidian Milk Collective’s mission is to advance Lactation Justice by dismantling barriers to lactation care, strengthening a culturally representative lactation workforce, and building community power to transform the systems that shape infant feeding access and outcomes for Black families and underserved communities across Alabama.
Our Vision
We envision an Alabama where every family can access the comprehensive lactation care they need, without insurance status, income, geography, or systemic barriers determining who receives care.
Our Values
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We believe every person deserves the autonomy, knowledge, resources, care, and conditions necessary to make and carry out their own infant feeding decisions. We work to transform the systems that determine who has access to care, whose experiences are valued, and whose needs are met.
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We center the experiences, knowledge, needs, and leadership of Black families while building systems of lactation care that create greater access and the conditions for families and communities to thrive. We honor the histories and lived experiences that shape Black lactation while building toward something different.
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We believe communities should have power in shaping the policies, programs, resources, and systems that affect them. We listen to and learn from lived experience, build alongside community, strengthen connections, and create opportunities for collective action.
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We believe families deserve care from a workforce that reflects, understands, and respects the communities it serves. We invest in pathways that increase representation and create the conditions for Black and culturally representative lactation professionals to enter, grow, thrive, and remain in the field.
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We believe comprehensive lactation care should be within reach of every family who needs it; not determined by income, insurance coverage, geography, transportation, provider availability, or other structural barriers. We work to identify, dismantle, and transform the conditions that prevent families from accessing care.
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We are accountable to the families and communities we serve. We listen, learn, and remain responsive to lived experience. Our work should be transparent, evidence-informed, and willing to challenge systems, practices, and our own approaches when they do not serve the people they were intended to serve.
Our Philosophy
At OMC, we understand lactation as more than an individual feeding decision.
We created Lactation Justice to name the conditions necessary for people to make informed infant-feeding decisions and access the care, resources, environments, and protections needed to carry those decisions out.
That means looking beyond individual behavior to the systems surrounding families: healthcare access, insurance coverage, transportation, employment, childcare, provider representation, public policy, community resources, and the historical conditions that continue to shape Black lactation experiences.
Families deserve care that respects their autonomy, honors their lived experiences, and supports their feeding decisions without judgment.
Lactation Justice is the foundation of how OMC provides care, builds programs, develops partnerships, strengthens the lactation workforce, and advocates for systems change.
The LATCH Framework
Every aspect of OMC’s work is guided by the LATCH Framework, our approach to putting Lactation Justice into action.
Learn equips families and communities with knowledge.
Access removes barriers to comprehensive lactation care.
Thrive creates the conditions for families and providers to flourish.
Connect strengthens relationships, partnerships, and continuity of care.
Honor recognizes the history, dignity, autonomy, and diverse feeding journeys that shape our work.
Together, these five commitments guide how OMC serves families, develops programs, builds community power, and advocates for lasting systems change.
Join Us
Join us in building the future of lactation care.
Whether you’re seeking care, looking to partner, or investing in Lactation Justice, there’s a place for you in The Obsidian Milk Collective.
Together, we’re building an Alabama where comprehensive lactation care is accessible, culturally responsive, and rooted in the dignity and autonomy of every family.
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2025
The Obsidian Milk Collective begins.
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July 2026
OMC evolved into a statewide lactation justice organization with a new visual identity, the launch of The LATCH Letter, Stories That LATCH, the Lactation Access Initiative, expanded community partnerships, and a renewed vision for equitable access.