Thank you to all who attended our Feb. 28th Film Screening and Panel Discussion of the documentary, Aftershock

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RESOURCES

Chicago Area- Get Informed, Donate, Volunteer

Chicago South Side Birth Center the first freestanding Black midwife led birth center on the south side of Chicago and the second free standing birth center in the city of Chicago.

Black Chicago Doula Alliance mission is to unite Black doulas across the Chicagoland area so that we can celebrate and support each other.

Health Connect One, leading organization in birth worker research, advocacy and training.

Start Early, Formerly known as the Ounce of Prevention, research, training, advocacy and home visiting doula network resource

Birth Center of Chicago, first freestanding birth center in the city of Chicago

Chicago Volunteer Doulas, connects pregnant and birthing people to free and low-cost compassionate labor, postpartum, and pregnancy loss support and information rooted in Black feminist wisdom and healing.

CALL TO ACTION – Get involved

Reach out to your Members of Congress to make your voice heard about why this issue matters to you. Look up your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives here and find information about your Senators here.

Join the efforts of community-based organizations that are leading critical initiatives where you live and nationally. Not sure where to start? Here’s a list of organizations on the frontlines of our maternal mortality crisis.

Join the efforts of Black Mamas Matter Alliance for a week of activism April 11-17th to address Black Maternal Health- use #BMHW24 in social media postings about Black maternal health.

Need a Provider?

Reach out to your Members of Congress to make your voice heard about why this issue matters to you. Look up your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives here and find information about your Senators here.

Use the Irthapp to find prenatal, birthing, postpartum, and pediatric reviews of care by other Brown and Black women.

Don’t Forget those we’ve loss & Remember those left behind

To honor the life of Shamony Gibson and support transformative maternal health activism in her memory, please contribute to the ARIAH Foundation.

To honor the life of Amber Rose Issac and support transformative maternal health activism in her memory, please contribute to the Save a Rose Foundation.

AFTERSHOCK

A Film Screening and Discussion about Maternal Mortality

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Black women in the US experience disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality. The award winning documentary film, Aftershock, centers this epidemic, as filmmakers follow the fathers and families of two women who die following childbirth, their experiences in grief, mutual aid, healing, and activism, and the urgent need to collectively take action in response to the social and structural racism that continues to impact black and brown communities.

Attendees will have viewing access to the film two weeks prior to the event. Segments of the film will be shown during the event, with a panel discussion throughout the viewings that will invite audience participation. Click here to register. 

Featured Panel Members

Tonya Lewis Lee, Director, Producer, Writer

Shaquan Dupart, Founder, The Chicago Black Doula Alliance

Michele Morgan, PhD, DePaul Department of Psychology

Moderator: Tracey Lewis Elligan, PhD, Associate Professor, DePaul Dept. of Sociology

Thank you to our Co-Sponsors!

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

School of Nursing

Irwin W. Steans Center

The Women’s Center

Center for Black Diaspora

School of Public Service

The Urban Collaborative

Women’s and Gender Studies

Masters in Public Health Program

The Department of Sociology

and DePaul’s Graduate Student Council

About the film

In October 2019, 30-year-old Shamony Gibson tragically died 13 days following the birth of her son. Two months later, the film team began documenting Shamony’s surviving mother, Shawnee Benton Gibson, and bereaved partner, Omari Maynard, as they began to process what happened and figure out their new normal. In April 2020, 26-year-old Amber Rose Isaac, died due to an emergency c-section. Within weeks of Amber’s death, Omari reaches out to Amber’s surviving partner Bruce McIntyre and a lifelong bond is formed. Together, Omari and Bruce begin the fight for justice for their partners with their families and community by their side, while caring for their children as newly single parents.

Through this documentary, we witness two families become ardent activists in the maternal health space, seeking justice through legislation, medical accountability, community, and the power of art. Their work introduces a myriad of people including a growing brotherhood of surviving Black fathers, along with the work of midwives and physicians on the ground fighting for institutional reform. Through their collective journeys, the film brings us to the front lines of the growing birth justice movement that is demanding systemic change within our medical system and government.

Aftershock premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Doc Competition, and was awarded the Special Jury Award: Impact for Change. Aftershock was acquired out of Sundance by Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News Studios and released on Hulu in the US and on Disney+ worldwide on July 19 2022. See more here.