Nia Weeks and her daughter Cameron sat in the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport last month, awaiting their flight to San Francisco, where they were set to spend a week on an expense-free retreat in West Marin. 

Wracked with nerves, Ms. Weeks, a civil rights lawyer and advocate for Black women and families in Louisiana, debated not getting on the flight. Even with scheduled time off, taking a whole week meant not being…