We need to tell our own stories.
Listen to Me is the story of four women and the cost of motherhood. These women stand at the front lines of the Black maternal health struggle as birth workers and public health experts while walking the delicate tightrope of birthing in the United States. This is a story of the deep complexities and troubling challenges that Black mothers experience. Beyond dismal statistics, Listen to Me centers the voices and spirit of Black women.
The One who survives
The One we lost
The One Who is finding her way
The One we hope and pray for
Kanika Harris, PhD, MPH is a Health Behavioral Scientist based in the Washington, DC area. Kanika Harris is a mother, doula and serves as a public health expert for the DC Mayor’s Lactation Commission. Kanika’s work broadly focuses on social determinants of health, women’s health, and HIV prevention. Listen to Me is her first film.
Stephanie Etienne, CNM, MPH is a New York native of Haitian descent. She is a midwife and believes reproductive justice is a human right. Stephanie also believes that the conditions under which children enter the world should be empowered and honored. She lives in Baltimore, MD with her family. Listen to Me is her first film.
Safidi Tyehimba discovered her love of film at a young age while attending a major film premiere with her parents. A graduate of Temple University’s film program, Safidi has produced films that have won awards at Cannes, UrbanWorld, Blackstar, and a host of other festivals, as well as directing music videos that aired on major networks.
Bradford Young is an award-winning filmmaker.He was the first African-American cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award for the film Arrival in 2017.His most recent work can be seen inSolo: A Star Wars Story directed by Ron Howard. And he just wrapped the Netflix series, Central Park 5, for director Ava Duvernay.
Nefertite Nguvu’s debut feature Film, “In The Morning,” won the Audience Award at The UrbanWorld Film Festival in New York. It won Best International Film At The Terra Di Siena Film Festival in Italy, Best Feature Film at BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia, and Best Feature Film And Best Overall at The Bronzelens Film Festival in Atlanta.
Aisha Jama is a writer, director and film programmer that is dedicated to creating responsible images and amplifying stories that examine our interiority. Her first micro-short film, Neefso, was awarded the 2019 Islamic Scholarship Fund Film Grant.