A Word: Black Wombs Matter

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The U.S. has some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world. And African Americans are three times more likely to die in childbirth than whites. The documentary Aftershock focuses on how the healthcare system is failing Black mothers at the most vulnerable time of their lives, and how their families are fighting to change that. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson speaks with the film’s co-director and co-producer Tonya Lewis Lee about the history of the crisis and the movement to solve it. Aftershock is currently streaming on Hulu. Guest: Tonya Lewis Lee Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is award, a podcast from Slate. I'm your host, Jason Johnson. The maternal mortality
0:05.2	crisis in the black community has killed thousands of African-American women. Now the documentary
0:10.1	After Shot is telling the stories of their deaths and the families they leave behind.
0:14.8	I think that we need to have a shift in culture of our language and then as birthing people
0:20.5	and families really go out there and try to find the support that works for us because when
0:26.4	a woman has the right support around her and she feels safe and dignified she will have a better
0:33.3	birthing outcome. More on the black maternal mortality crisis coming up on a word with me Jason
0:39.2	Johnson stay with us. Soar into a new age of adventure with world of warcraft dragon flight.
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1:04.8	Available November 28th on fece and mac. Learn more at worldofwarcraft.com
1:13.3	Welcome to a word of podcast about race and politics and everything else. I'm your host Jason
1:17.6	Johnson. The US healthcare system is failing to make childbirth a safe experience for many mothers.
1:24.2	Among ten of the richest nations on earth, the US has by far the highest death rate during and
1:32.0	shortly after childbirth. And black women are three times more likely to die than white women.
1:37.7	The maternal mortality crisis is the centerpiece of the new documentary aftershock.
1:42.7	It tells the stories of women who died, their survivors and have some of their families have
1:47.8	harnessed their grief into activism. People like shunny benton gibson.
1:52.3	This crazy behind system is killing us and we called it aftershock because shamanis death was like a tsunami.
2:00.8	When black mothers died, there's a ripple effect and yes the death is the earthquake but the shit
2:05.5	afterwards is overwhelming. The nights we had dinner finished like oh my god I missed my daughter. I missed
	...

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