06/19/2025
Rest in Power, Adrianna Smith.
What happened to Adrianna Smith is vile. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s infuriating.
Medical racism is why she died in the first place. The neglect. The disregard. The way Black women and birthing people are so often dismissed, their pain minimized, their concerns ignored — this is what leads to preventable death. This is what steals lives.
But to then use her body — after death — as an incubator for a fetus that had no viable chance… That is a cruelty beyond comprehension. A grotesque violation.
Black bodies have always been used in this country as tools, experiments, test subjects. From the days of gynecological procedures on enslaved women without anesthesia to the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks… and now this. Adrianna deserved dignity. She deserved life. She deserved better.
As a birth doula, this is exactly why I go so hard for my Black clients. Because what’s “standard practice” in medicine too often translates to violence, erasure, or neglect for us. We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to be seen as fully human — but we do.
I’m holding Adrianna’s family and community in my heart, and I’m holding this rage as fuel. To protect, to advocate, to never stop speaking out.
Rest in peace and power, Adrianna. You deserved so much more. 🖤
