'Aftershock' shows that when Black women’s concerns are dismissed, the aftershock affects the entire Black community; the parents, partners, and siblings of the deceased are left to name the institutions and attitudes that endangered their loved ones.
. Produced by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, the movie delivers on its title, as in the film’s opening sequence the earthquake of maternal mortality disrupts a montage of family videos. Shamony Gibson, one of the two central ancestors featured heavily in this film, is vibrant. She laughs with her mother, activist Shawnee Benton Gibson. She cuddles her first child, Anari. She jokes with her partner and sister. She looks forward to the birth of her second child, Khari.
The video that ends the opening montage is one she recorded especially for her baby son, Khari. We see Shamony revel in her growing belly. “Time is flying. Four months already …” she tells the camera. “I’m that much closer to being a mom again …” She calls Khari “sweet baby,” telling him she is hoping for a home birth. The haunting lightness of the FKA twigs song, appropriately called “Sad Day,” gives us a clue to the revelation that happens in the next few seconds.
, the greatest postpartum threat to Black women is the indifference of the professionals responsible for their care.shows that when Black women’s concerns are dismissed, the aftershock affects the entire Black community; the parents, partners, and siblings of the deceased are left to name the institutions and attitudes that endangered their loved ones.
Beginning with Omari’s voice is just one way that Eiselt and Lewis Lee connect the affected women to the people who love them. Because Shamony’s family felt that she was objectified by the medical professionals who were supposed to care for her, Omari’s activist art is especially touching. Shamony is not an object to Omari; she is the subject of her partner’s intense concentration as he paints her portrait to connect to her spirit.
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