WAETIE SANAA COOPER BURNETTE

It was 10 years ago when the AME Bishop, Cecelia Williams Bryant, stopped abruptly in the middle of her sermon to almost 500 parishioners at Bethel AME Church, in Jamaica Plain, MA, to call forth Waetie-Sanaa Cooper Burnette as a leader. At the time, Waetie-Sanaa had been experiencing repeated miscarriages, and, after the service, the only question she had to the Bishop was: "Will I have children?" The Bishop said, "Yes, you will have children, but what I am speaking of is much bigger than that." Waetie-Sanaa had no idea what THAT was about, but she left at peace. Her son was born later that year and a daughter three years later. They would breastfeed 7 years consecutively while she worked part time in the evenings as a caterer at the the Seaport Hotel, in South Boston, and coached parents of children under three and pregnant clients as a Home Visitor and Recruiter with Early Head Start, Randolph.
 
The combined real world training of being in the field with families of all walks of life balanced her many years prior studying for a Masters in  Theological Studies (MTS) in Women's Health and Spiritual Formation at Andover Newton/ Yale Divinity School. Furthermore, a scholarship to become a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) from Vital Village provided an early investment in practical breastfeeding support skills and a platform to write on the Daily Milk Blog gave her the initial exposure to begin writing as a maternal health blogger. Once named a Rose Community Transformer and Community Champion, she then took bigger leaps with unusual and innovative content on the BreastPowered.org Facebook page which has drawn a worldwide following. While Waetie-Sanaa was named a Mellon Mays Fellow at Wellesley College because of her potential to become a great liberal arts professor, she has thoroughly enjoyed using interdisciplinary methods to teach the world about the needs of breastfeeding families using art, politics, humor, religion, class, history, race, and popular culture from as many angles as possible. She looks forward to joining Boston University School of Social Work's incoming class this fall where she will focus her studies on how interventions with families and community support can reduce adverse childhood experiences (aces) and improve perinatal mental health.