When considering the health of a country, one of the first things to examine is the health and viability of its birthing population. Compared to other countries of its size and resources, the United States is failing women and birthing people. The situation is beyond dire when we zoom in on the maternal health rates as they pertain to Black women. In their heartbreakingly poignant new documentary, Aftershock, directors Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt probe all of the ways that America’s health system has betrayed and devastated Black women and the Black community across time.
Told through the families of Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Issac, and screened at the 2022 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, two young women who died due to childbirth complications, Aftershock explores some damning statistics in our healthcare system, centers on the families left to pick up the pieces, and demands a call to action.
Continue reading at ESSENCE.