Healthy Savannah Offers Free Screening of “Chocolate Milk” Documentary as Part of Black Breastfeeding Week

(Savannah, GA) August 5, 2025, Healthy Savannah has planned a special screening of the documentary “Chocolate Milk” for 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 24, 2025, at Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Campus. The free event will be held at the Student Union ballroom, located at 11935 Library Dr, Savannah, GA 31419. The doors will open at 2:30 p.m. and the public is encouraged to arrive early to ensure everyone is seated before the film begins.

The 90-minute documentary will be followed by a 45-minute discussion on efforts to help improve breastfeeding rates among Black women, who currently have the lowest breastfeeding rates. The event is sponsored by NextStep Evaluation, Think Equity Solutions, Georgia Southern University and the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University.

“Healthy Savannah chose this date to share this film with the community to coincide with National Breastfeeding Month, held annually during August, and specifically Black Breastfeeding Week, which will be recognized from August 25-31,” said Elsie Smalls, PhD, Breastfeeding Program manager at Healthy Savannah. “We hope that the film and this observance will help raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding in the Black community and inspire discussion to address challenges and promote support systems for Black breastfeeding mothers.”

According to the 2022 CDC Breastfeeding Report Card, 75% of Black infants were introduced to breastfeeding compared to 92.7% of Asian, 86.2% non-Hispanic white, and 83.4% Hispanic infants. The report further stated that Black mothers did not breastfeed as long as other mothers, with only 44.7% of Black mothers still breastfeeding at six months compared to 62% of white mothers.

Georgia Department of Health data shows similar trends with breastfeeding rates for Black mothers among the lowest. For Black mothers in Chatham County, breastfeeding rates declined from 76% in 2019 to 60.3% in 2023 and rose to 80.8% in 2024.

CHOCOLATE MILK: THE DOCUMENTARY SERIES is a collection of over forty testimonials recorded by filmmaker and public health advocate Elizabeth Gray Bayne from mothers and health providers about their experiences or personal journeys with breastfeeding.

“The film masterfully tells the story of African American women and their journey with breastfeeding. It does an amazing job of working towards its purpose of increasing normalcy around breastfeeding within the African American community, ” said Nandi A. Marshall, DrPH, MPH, CHES ®, CLC, CDE®. Marshall is the associate dean for academic affairs and professor, Health Policy & Community Health in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University.

“Black mothers who are considering breastfeeding need to be surrounded by a support system of their partners, families, workplace colleagues, and communities,” said Marshall. “We want to invite those supporters to watch this film as well, so they can better understand the importance of that support.”

The 2025 National Breastfeeding Month Theme is Forward Together, centering on unity, solidarity, and hope, and celebrating the strength and determination of the organizations and advocates committed to advancing policy, systems, and environmental change in the First Food field and improving access to human milk. Other special observance weeks include Workplace Lactation Week (September 1-7) and Latina/x Breastfeeding Week (September 8-14).

Earlier this year, Healthy Savannah launched a “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” initiative, providing door decals and certificates of recognition to local organizations that offer reasonable accommodations for breastfeeding and pumping, including break time and private, clean spaces. The program is funded by a CDC Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant administered by Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia.

As part of the REACH grant, Healthy Savannah also initiated a breastfeeding landscape assessment survey in February 2025 to evaluate how businesses across Chatham County are supporting nursing parents. The assessment aims to determine employer awareness, implemented policies, and areas needing support in light of the 2022 Pump Act. Initial feedback indicates growing interest in learning more about policy development.

As of mid-July, 16 businesses and 75 community members or employees had responded. Only six (37%) of the responding businesses indicated they had a written lactation accommodation policy, while more than half (62%) were aware of The Pump Act. Four (40%) indicated they would like to learn more about the benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding policies and that they would be interested in an informational session about how to develop a policy.

Of the employees/community members, many (57%) were not aware of the Pump Act and even more (79%) said either their employee handbook did not include a lactation policy or they were unsure if it did. Yet, the majority (61%) said they felt extremely supported to pump at work, with only 13% saying they did not feel supported at all.

“Our goal is to take these survey results and work with organizational leaders, business owners and public officials, as well as human resources professionals in businesses and post-secondary educational institutions across the Savannah area with the good news that compliance is an easy step, and it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Smalls. “Raising visibility of Georgia’s Pump Act and Title IX laws helps ensure workplace support for mothers who want to breastfeed and encourages a breastfeeding-friendly community.”

In Georgia, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (also known as Charlotte’s Law) requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space, other than a restroom, for employees to express breast milk. This legislation applies to both private employers and state and local government entities, including school districts. The law includes an undue hardship exemption for employers with 50 or fewer employees.

Title IX is a landmark US law, enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protects lactating students from discrimination and harassment. It requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations for breastfeeding and pumping, including break time and private, clean spaces.

Learn more about Healthy Savannah’s “Breastfeeding Welcome Here” initiative and take the breastfeeding landscape evaluation survey at: https://healthysavannah.org/our-programs/breastfeeding/

Learn more about CHOCOLATE MILK: THE DOCUMENTARY at https://www.chocolatemilkdoc.com/series

Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus is located at 11935 Abercorn St, Savannah, GA 31419. The Student Union building is located at 11935 Library Dr (XRHP+GR Savannah, Georgia), across from a large parking lot where ample parking should be available. The building’s main entrance is on Science Drive, with some street parking availability.

ABOUT THE YMCA OF COASTAL GEORGIA / HEALTHY SAVANNAH REACH GRANT: In September 2023, the CDC awarded a second five-year, $5.1 million Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant to Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia. The funding supports sustainable health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations in low-wealth neighborhoods, focusing on nutrition, physical activity, breastfeeding, and chronic disease prevention. Working with over 200 community partners, the Savannah/Chatham County team is advancing these goals through an “upstream” approach. Healthy Savannah was honored with the CDC’s 2022 REACH Lark Galloway-Gilliam Award for Advancing Health Equity. healthysavannah.org | ymcaofcoastalga.org