PITTSBURGH — This week marks Black Maternal Health Week, an annual awareness and advocacy campaign focused on health outcomes of Black mothers and babies.
A documentary film, directed by a Pittsburgh man, is a part of the conversation this year. It highlights both issues and examines the troubling statistics and disparities that leave Black women and babies particularly vulnerable to negative outcomes. It’s called The Ebony Canal, and since first debuting last year, it has quickly garnered national attention.
Janis Burley is the President and CEO of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and an executive producer of the Ebony Canal.
She knows the issue personally, and it is a story she does not share often.
“My first child was born and lived for a month,” Burley said. “When people tell you Oh, you can have another baby,’ you can, but that doesn’t take away the pain from the loss of the child that is no longer with you.”
She had gone into early labor. She was 26 years old at the time, educated and married to a physician.
“No one saw that coming, so we weren’t really prepared for it,” Burley said. “I never got a chance to hold him because he was small. He was in the incubator. I didn’t get a chance to hold him until he had passed away.”
When she heard about the project, she was happy to throw her support behind it, especially knowing who the director was.
“I knew if there was anyone that could tackle this problem, tell the story in a really beautiful, artistic way, it would be Emmai Alaquiva,” she said.
Emmai Alaquiva is an Emmy award-winning director and Smithsonian-published photographer. He’s also from Pittsburgh and was raised in Wilkinsburg.
Alaquiva was tapped by the Richard King Mellon Foundation to lead the project. He directed, shot and edited the film. Over the course of more than a year, he followed several Black mothers through their pregnancy journey and up until their baby’s first birthday. His team also interviewed over 100 people, including doctors and other experts.
“Black and brown women shouldn’t be dying three times that of their white counterparts. Black babies shouldn’t be dying 2.5x that of their counterparts,” Alaquiva said.
When he first started the project, he was stunned to learn how many Black women he knew with personal stories related to Black maternal health and infant mortality.
“I began to like ask my mother, ‘Hey, Mom, did you have any complications with me?’ She said ‘Yes. I just never really talked about it.’ Wow,” he said. “I asked my wife. Turns out my wife was a twin, and her twin didn’t survive.”
The film is filled with personal accounts and stories filled with both heartbreak and joy. It is artfully told, even if the subject matter is a difficult one.
The film is narrated by EGOT winner Viola Davis.
“When Viola saw this trailer, that’s 3 minutes and 45 seconds, she said, ‘Move everything off my schedule. This is legacy work and I want to be a part of it,” Alaquiva said.
The film has already won two Emmy awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short Form Documentary, three Webby awards and five Telly awards.
They are eyeing an Oscar next and are also currently in talks with several streaming platforms, including Netflix and Hulu to get the documentary on a major platform.
“We are going to continue this journey well past the accolades. We want policy change. We want educational change,” Alaquiva said.
The Ebony Canal launched an international tour that kicked off last Saturday. It includes a list of screenings and discussions with healthcare leaders, advocates and policymakers. Tour stops include the Cannes Film Festival in France.
There currently are no upcoming public screenings scheduled in Pittsburgh.
To learn more about the documentary and keep an eye on upcoming screenings, visit The Ebony Canal website or follow theebonycanal on Instagram.
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