Black Public Media’s (BPM) Peabody Award-winning series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange returns for its 18th season on June 15 with “Listen to Me.”
BPM said “Listen to Me” is “an intimate and urgent documentary following three Black women as they navigate the risks, realities, and inequities of pregnancy, birth, and care in America.”
BPM said the film, which brings striking racial disparities in maternal health into sharp focus, will be available on the PBS App and PBS.org.
Premiering ahead of Father’s Day and the national Juneteenth celebration, BPM said “’Listen to Me’ follows three Black women through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood, revealing how systemic inequities shape their care and endanger their lives.”
Directed by Kanika Harris and Stephanie Etienne, BPM said the film pairs “deeply personal storytelling with a probing examination of the Black maternal health crisis, offering a powerful call for accountability, healing and change.”
BPM said “Listen to Me” will also air later in the month on WORLD, which feeds at the same time to all time zones. Broadcast times are listed in Eastern Time; viewers in other US time zones should tune in at the corresponding local time.
The film airs Wednesday, June 24, at 7 p.m. ET; Thursday, June 25, at 12 a.m. ET, which is 9 p.m. PT on Wednesday, June 24; Thursday, June 25, at 8 a.m. ET; and Saturday, June 27, at 1 p.m. ET.
“The film is being released at a time when maternal mortality rates in the United States are declining for all groups except Black women,” BPM said. “Black women are more than three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause as white women, and Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as White babies.”
BPM said Harris, a Washington, D.C.-based behavioral health scientist, near-miss survivor, doula, and birth justice advocate, focuses on health equity, maternal health and women’s health.
She holds a doctorate and a master’s in public health and serves as executive director of the National Association to Advance Black Birth.
Etienne is a Baltimore-based certified nurse-midwife and herbalist, who holds a master’s in public health and serves on the boards of several organizations dedicated to promoting midwifery care and reducing maternal and infant mortality in the African Diaspora.
BPM said Season 18 of AfroPoP continues on July 2 with “This World Is Not My Own”, an award-winning, genre-blending feature documentary by Opendox (Petter Ringbom and Marquise Stillwell).
BPM said it traces the life and legacy of Nellie Mae Rowe, a self-taught 20th century Black artist whose “bold, deeply personal work carried her from the rural South to late-life recognition on the national and global art scene.”
The film features Emmy® Award winner Uzo Aduba as Rowe and Broadway veteran Amy Warren as gallery owner/arts patron Judith Alexander, BPM said.
A third film, planned for November, will be announced later this year, BPM said.
“’Listen to Me’ is exactly the kind of story AfroPoP was created to share — powerful, unflinching and rooted in the lived experiences of Black people across the diaspora,” said BPM Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz, who executive produces the series. “It is vital that these stories remain in the public sphere because they deepen our understanding of one another, challenge inequities and reflect the complexities of Black life.”
