This issue of Nourish Noir features the incomparable Nekisha Killings—visionary, advocate, and truth-teller—who reminds us that we belong in every room shaping the future of lactation. Dive into stories that affirm our place, our power, and our purpose in this work.

Featured in this issue:

• Nekisha Killings, MPH IBCLC is an international board-certified lactation consultant, equity strategist and maternal and child health advocate who speaks, teaches, and facilitates topics related to equity and dismantling bias across various sectors.

• Sophia Taylor LPN, IBCLC, CLC, shares tips and helpful insight on how to  make a career in lactation that's rooted from lived experience and empathy financially sustainable. 

• Bernadette Greene, shares her story going from a teen mom turned breastfeeding advocate turned  executive director of Breastfeed Durham

• Brooke Gilliam IBCLC, RN,  makes understanding how to become a IBCLC  a bit simpler.

• The radiant mama Amber Bell pens her story of what breastfeeding has meant to her family.

In this powerful first issue of Nourish Noir, we talk policy, action, and lactation — not just as clinical care, but as community, legacy, and liberation. This issue is a celebration of our resilience, and a call for equity. 

Featured in this issue:

• Jennifer Day, Executive Director of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, speaks candidly on the importance of policy and advocacy in the fight for breastfeeding equity.
  
  

• Gabreiel Spencer, public health educator and creative, shares how she’s using art as a catalyst for meaningful conversations about lactation in her community.
  
  

• Love Anderson, Chair of the NC Breastfeeding Coalition, reflects on stepping into action to meet the urgent needs of families after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of western North Carolina.
  
  

• A powerful parent story from Jaylah Cogdell, who shares her real and raw breastfeeding journey.