April 16, 2026 • 36 mins
The Ebony Canal to Irth App to D3 Truths About Health and Wellness Explained + More
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up his way up at Angela Yee and we're
about to have a super important conversation. I got my girl,
Coach Jesse here with me today and you're always bringing
all the knowledge here and things that we need.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now we have one of.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Our favorite shredditorsitors in a building.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Emi is here. Thank you for joining us at Ebony Canal.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
If you're watching, you can see it on the hoodie
but super important documentary and the Earth app. We have
Kimberly sales dollars here. Hey, thank you so much for
joining us today. And so Coach Jesse, it's Black Maternal
Health Week and we've been talking about this too. I
saw been and Jerry's we're talking about the Black maternal
health crisis as well. Yeah, they did this whole thing about.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
It, and we done broke free and we don't tell
the truth right.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And this is more than a conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's impacting black and brown women at disproportionate rates. This
is something literally that thanks to Coach Jesse, we've been
talking about now for years. Wow, and co see, this
is a conversation that you've been in also, not just
in your profession, but it's also very personal for you,
as it is for all.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Of us here, so let's talk about it, right.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Yeah, you know, there's something called morbidities, mortalities rate, there's
black maternal mortality, and then there's near missus. Right, So
I was a near miss as you know, due to
battling fibers fourteen years. Fibers is actually one of the
higher risk issues that causes miscarriage and also complications during pregnancies.
(01:32):
So it actually causes a major risk factor during pregnancies,
and we are have way more fibruaries than a race way. Absolutely,
you know, we're disproportionately affected by that. And then of
course my heart stopped on the delivery table, which you know, again,
thank god I'm here.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
Hey whoo.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
But when I learned about the work that Kimberly was
doing for me, it was like I reached out to
I said, look, I'm on your advisory board.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
I was like, I don't know, you don't know me,
but this is Barbado.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
I said, look, I'm on your advisory board because I'm
gonna do whatever you need because we really need to be.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
The cavalry for one another.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
Right.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
So I learned about a maze work. Actually I met
him at the NAACP Image Awards where they won. Because
Kimberly is a part of Zations, She's a part of
the documentary as well, and I was like this, we
have to have them here for this conversation this year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So let's start with what is The Ebony Canal.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The Ebony Canal is an incredible film that follows the
journey of for women and it really examines kind of
the her historic portal between the disparities, but also the
joy of it. This film is about hurt healing, but
it's also about hope. And the thing is I put
(02:51):
this together almost like a piece of art because as
a father, as a son, as a devoted husband, I
had to do something to represent the film where I
married culture cultural with clinical, you know what I mean.
And we shot in black and white. We're blacks and
white spaces. We turned the color when the kids turned one.
(03:15):
Narrated by Viola Davis.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Hello, hell, that's crazy that happened?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah yeah, yeah, no, no for sure, No, no, I
mean the story. You know. One of our producers, Jonathan
shout him out Donita and also Donna Marie. They showed
her the trailer. The trailer was only three minutes in
forty three seconds, and she said, you know what, I
want to be a part of this. She was doing
(03:44):
G twenty you know, just came off a woman king,
but she said she wanted to focus on legacy driven
stories and ours was a story. You know, she can
get twenty million a movie all day, but she said, yo,
I'm not doing it for the likes. I want to
do it for the legacy. And that's what we did
it for.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Amazing. Now I'll go ahead, Kimberly.
Speaker 6 (04:06):
No, I was going to say, I love the also
the pre part about that it's just around like you
really showing up in her Instagram comments. Listen, he was
up there, No.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
No, no, I was up there. I literally said I
would love to work with you for about a month
until it came true.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And and here it is the only maternal health documentary
to win Best Documentary at the NAACP for you know,
fifty seven years.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Wow, that's crazy that started.
Speaker 7 (04:38):
Well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Congratulations again, three Webby Awards, three.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Webby Awards, two Anthems, five Telly Awards.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
It's crazy and I love the way that you are
going on tour with this too. On the Auto an
opportunity to see the film, but it's touched so many people.
Even when you watch it, it's so emotional to hear
women tell their stories and what they've been through.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
It is such a beautifully done.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Thank you so much, you know, I'm a shudded.
Speaker 6 (05:08):
The beauty of it is really like, you know, because
you can see a documentary, but I think the beauty
that you may put into it and the way that
you don't even feel like you're watching a documentary, you know,
it's just so moving, and I think that's why it's
resonating with so many people. I get to go to
a lot of the screenings and they're always full and
sold out and people standing and people outside trying to
(05:29):
get in, and so it's just been a really powerful
movement for storytelling.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Now can't believe for the Earth app. So listen on
what the Earth app is because I've known about the
Earth app for years now, but I want you to
explain what it is and how beneficial this is when
we're trying to get good healthcare, because we're in a
system right now where it matters so much is taking
care of you. Who is going to be answering those
questions for you how they make you feel, but also
(05:56):
making sure that they care absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
I just tell people that I created Earth because I
wish I had it. When I was giving birth, I
read the lists, thought I was going to the best
hospital in New York City and walked out feeling like
what just happened to me? Everything that I read for
as a standard practice of care I had to fight for.
And so I just didn't understand why would I had
been so disrespected, so dismissed, and feeling so unseen at
(06:22):
a place that so many places said were the best.
And so I really wanted to create a place where
I could see reviews from people like me, that I
could see reviews from people who look like me, who
were in my lived experience. So I was not yet
married when I had my first child. I was literally
a graduate school, so I was on basic insurance like
a student, right, And so how do we do that?
(06:43):
And so that's what Earth is. It's like the word birth,
but we dropped the beef for bias, so it's irt,
but it is the first of its kind, yelp like
platform for black and brown women and birthing people too
fine and leave reviews of the obgyns, birthing hospitals, and pediatricians.
We are all about crowds sourcing and publicly sharing where
we're getting good care and where we are not, so
(07:04):
that we can keep each other.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Safe right right, and keep it well accountable and.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Keep people accountable. I'm like, look around, you are not
going to a two star restaurant on purpose.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
You're looking at those reviews.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Exactly at it. You don't stay there, you gon't eat there.
And how do we use this very effective tool in
service of the black women who are disproportionately dying within
this system? And then the beauty really of earth for
me is what's happened on the back end. We turn
our anonymized reviews into data to work with hospitals to
(07:35):
take them through a quality improvement program. That's that's a
minimum of two years, all centered in black women's voices,
and we're now as of yesterday's I just got back
from our press conference in Minneapolis, we are in nine
hospitals really driving the Birth Without Bias quality improvement program,
all rooted in our stories, all lived experiences, our data,
(07:55):
our feedback as the way forward. So I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
How do hospitals take to that too, just curious if
their initially was some type.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Yeah. Yeah, hospitals don't like us, and I love it.
I tell my team, if they are happy to see us,
then we are not doing our jobs. They should not
be right. You know, if you if you see us coming,
you should you should be concerned. But what they acknowledge
is like they don't have the data. Black folks are
not responding to those hospital surveys. They're not responding to
(08:25):
those h caps, those prescanes. We love them, but we
don't We don't have time. Our community tells us they
don't know if they're going to be tracked, if they
if they're honest, and so they simply don't respond. And
health systems are not going to be able to solve
this issue just with clinical data. Right, And we can't
just say it's about maternal mortality and morbidity those misses,
because just because we didn't die or nearly die doesn't
(08:47):
mean we had the experience that we deserve. Right, We
got to raise the bar. And so with Earth, we're saying,
this is what makes a five star experience for a
black person in your community. Because racism in New York
City is not like racism in Alabama. We always use
hyperlocal data. Okay, and this is the hospital. This is
the standard that we're holding this hospital to here, right,
(09:07):
this is what this means for people here, and then
we go there and learn it there and then we
do that right. All about hyper local data driveing quality
improvement in that area.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Yeah, critical thing is that it's putting the power back
in our hands. Right when you go back to civil rights,
the civil rights movement, I always say this, it's like,
remember what saved our lives?
Speaker 4 (09:26):
As have we had the Green Book? We had the
green Book.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
The green Book was the listing of where it was
safe for us to buy gas, where it was safe
to stay, what hotels, what restaurants took care of us? Right,
Whereas you know now we act like that's not needed.
It is because those ratings and reviews, when you look
at the reviews for doctor, they're not our experiences. They
are white women's experiences. I two faced medical racism over
(09:53):
and over. I'm like, wait a minute, Like that's not
that five stars, Becky's five stars, that's.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Not five star, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
So Naki is just today. But the point is saying
I have power. I have power in my hands. I
have power to say, you know what, I am choosing
to spend vote with my power, my dollar, vote with
(10:22):
my choice right on where I'm going to spend my time,
who's going to care for me? And we don't have
that information without the data that that Kimberly is helping
us collect and with that information, and that's the hospitals
can't get it because we don't trust them.
Speaker 6 (10:35):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
But if we're doing it together as a community, now
we're saying, hey, you know what, uh uh, don't go
to that hospital because this is the experience. Now I
can look at the lived experience somebody has had and
I can say, like I don't want to go there,
but oh wow, it is safe to go here.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And because you know how many times, like as women,
as black women were asking each other like I need
to get a better time, like my doctor, I need
a new doctor, I need this my O G y N.
Somebody literally told me yesterday that she retired and she's like,
I got to find a new one.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
But it's so hard, you know, somebody to find that someone.
Speaker 6 (11:07):
That you trust, you know, actually, I mean it is.
It is terrifying for a lot of people. And so
just like Jessea is saying, like, we need these tools
to find safety, and also we need these tools to
make sure that folks can be held accountable for the
way that a lot of what happens is. You know,
when I was complaining about my story, they were trying
to act like it was a one off. Now we
see these things happen on social media and they will
(11:29):
try to explain it away. But when we put all
of our stories together, and now we can go back
to that hospital and say, no, we got three hundred,
five hundred one thousand people saying the same thing now.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
About your hospital, about your.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
Exactly. So we put our stories together. Now that's true power,
right you know, am.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I to ask you when you were filming the Ebony Canal,
was there anything that shocked you that you were like,
I can't believe.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I mean what shocked me is that black and brown
women are dying three times that of their white counterparts.
You know, black babies are down two and a half
times that of their white counterparts. That's crazy to me, absolutely.
And the thing is, as a father, I knew none
of this. So when I dug into the cinematic research,
I said I'm going to put together a film that
(12:21):
you ain't just gonna watch once, you ain't gonna watch
it twice. You're going to literally put this in colleges,
high schools, medical institutions.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
We're going to.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Screen all over the place, you know, from Sun Dance
to Cannes Film Festival. You know. We're still looking for
a distribution deal, but that's not going to stop.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Us what has been put in to get It's been
difficult to get a distribution deal.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
It's difficult only because we wanted to go to the
right place and I want millions to watch this and
with the current administration, I called it, you know, the
ebony canal just on some areas up move. You know,
I didn't want to call it the black canal. I
wanted to, you know, slip it under if you know,
you know. But I'm saying I'm a bow bow ebony
(13:15):
magazine yet magazine, both meaning black can Now, when you
connect one body of life to another body of life,
this is how we need to put the arts in focus.
And although I can't give birth, I can give birth
to a film that is going to change the world.
And my fourteen year old daughter will say, oh, Dad,
(13:35):
you did this word.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I'm with this, and you know, we talk about mothers
rightfully so as we should be, but this is about
families also, like you just said, so it was important
for you to include also fathers and the broader community
when telling this story. Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Absolutely, you gotta include the fathers. A lot of times
fathers have been sort of pushed aside, Oh, come back
in nine months, you know, leave out the room and
you know, let us deal with this. It's like, wait,
hold up, I think I provided the x Y chromosome.
So me as a film director, you know, I had
(14:12):
to ex out the old narrative in order to establish
the why we have to do this. So that's the
x Y chromosome that I put in as a director.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
And then a lot of times now unfortunately because of
the this tragedy, a lot of the fathers are left,
you know, now moving forward the movement like Charles Johnson,
like Grups, you know, there are so many men who
are actually advancing this entire you know, cause alongside the
work that we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Yeah, absolutely, from shout out to Charles Johnson doing his
thing for care for moms.
Speaker 6 (14:45):
And then also like in the Earth app. We accept
review some fathers because we know that what's happening is important.
So when we go to that hospital, we'll holding them
accountable to how they're treating our black men too, because
some of the reviews up in there from all black
men are unacceptable, the ways that they're being treated and disrespected,
and that has to stop as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
You know, you also support doulas, which is something that
is amazing. You have an Earth Ambassador program.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I feel like that might be.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The first way I've heard of Earth is through the
ambassador program.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
But tell me about supporting the doulas and the birth
workers and what they do well.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
Doulas are, you know, trained birth professionals. The studies show
that they improve the birth outcomes. They really are there
to support the mother. But I was looking at the
landscape and I was like, everybody was training doulas, but
nobody was really sustaining doulas. They were being trained and
put out there, but not being supported. Meanwhile, in our work,
(15:40):
we knew that we needed trusted folks. Right. We are
a technology nonprofit. I could throw all my money in
digital marketing, but being on the ground and being community
first is incredibly important to me and building that trust
in the community was also part of our mission and
our values. So I really saw an opportunity to say,
how do we take these trusted birth workers who are
all already on the ground, going to every community baby shower,
(16:02):
dealing with parents, working with their churches, bring them into
a support opportunity with Earth And so now we have
our Earth Ambassador program. We give them a paid stipend
our Earth and Bachelords because we know that they can
use the supplemental income dulas are not being paid what
they need to be paid any place in this country.
We give them access to a mental health therapist, which
was the first thing that I noticed, and I piloted
(16:23):
this right here in New York City, Angela with the
duela that we were working with and the stories that
they were telling, I'm like, how are y'all doing it?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Give me an example.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
There was this one story that literally made me call
them the therapist. And this duela was supporting a family
and basically she was about to have a preterm birth
of a baby that they did not know was going
to be viable, and so this mother was had to
use the bathroom. Now I do not know why, but
(16:57):
there are many toilets that have the automatic and as
she was using the bathroom, she was realizing that something
else was going to be passing. And this doula who
tells the story of hearing the the the censor start
(17:19):
to go off and seeing now nobody was around, they
had been calling for the nurse, calling for the nurse,
had to go in there, put her hands in the
toilet and catch what came out of this mother.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Gosh, that's chilling, my god.
Speaker 6 (17:34):
That was when I said, you need the therapist. Trauma
is so much, particularly here in our city. And so
when she told me that, and I and then she
was just telling the story, and I said, are you okay?
Can you imagine you gotta put your hands in the
toilet to catch a fetus because no one is around
(17:56):
and you're in a hospital.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
That's crazy.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
That's when I knew. And so I'm telling you they
have all types of stories of feeling like they have
to be the ones either they themselves are being disrespected,
or they are showing up in moments where medical staff
is there and they are not. We know that story
that happened in La with the sister at Sentinela Hospital.
She literally was in the hospital asking for help. Her
husbands had to resuscitate her. Her beloved was the one
(18:23):
trying to bring her back in a hospital.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And you like that, You're not a human being in
the in the hospital.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
And so it was crazy. And so I'm like, these
doulas need support. We give them access to a therapist
who does a group sessions and individual sessions with them.
We invite brands who care about this issue to send
our dulas my things. We had a great partnership with
Carol's daughter because we want them to be treated well. Right,
we say, we have to take care of the people
who are taking care of black and brown birthing families.
(18:51):
That is the statement and mission behind our Earth Ambassador program.
And I started here in New York City with the
dulas who are helping me, and now we are in
fifteen cities. We have Earth Ambassador cohorts in fifteen cities.
These folks are helping us increase our review database. They
are out in the community helping people value their story.
You know, we have a thing at my team. We
(19:11):
always say, how many reviews would Earth have if it
was for white women. Everybody's like millions, But the fact
of the matter is our community needs some more support.
We know you're just going to keep it pushing. We
may feel like it doesn't matter. We may feel like
we've been told that we're alive and our babies alive,
and we're lucky to be alive. Right, And so it
takes extra effort for people to share their story. Yeah,
(19:35):
and it's unfortunate, but that is the work that they're
doing in our community, making every person, every parent, feel
like their story matters. And you share it with Earth
and I promise you that we will make sure it
is a value to another family and we will use
it to hold systems accountable.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
Thing about DO is, you know, as the research and
all the communications around black maternal health, you know, just
became more elevated, more centered, it became clear the vital
role of the duel players.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And everybody was like, duelet's do dules dut duelos.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And it was like, okay, there aren't enough duelas to
save what we're talking about. So they became like, really,
you're putting all this pressure on duels. But as she
just said, but who's sustaining the duelists? In fact, we're
going to be working on a program to support them
with detox now as well. Yes, that's right actually, because
like these women are in need of the same kind
(20:26):
of support that they're offering their women.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
These women they need in themselves.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
And we need more midwives.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I want to ask I wanted to ask, I ask
about three of you when you see what's going on
right now, because briefly we said, especially what's going on
with this administration when we think about healthcare in the
United States, and what were the challenges that we're dealing
with and facing right now? What are some things that
you've observed in these past couple of years.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, I would say, I mean we are unapologetically black nonprofit, right,
like we stand for black people. We sent to black
women because we think that if we get it right
for them, we can get it right for everybody. And
that comes at of cost, right, And so our funding
may not be the same as it was before. People
who used to be like yes, black maternal health when
it was sexy and there was money, are now as
(21:16):
that money is drying up, we're really finding out who
was truly an ally and who was just here because
there was a check, right, And so that's been a
big shift in our area because black maternal health has
been such an issue. And this is why I really
appreciate you, because we have to keep this going ourselves.
And one of the things that has been clear for me,
as much as it can be very depressing, and you know,
(21:37):
just all the things around what's going on in our
crazy world, I'm like, oh, right now, we need our
own data because we can't rely on them because they
share our websites every day, okay.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Changing changing data as parents, lying.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That's right. We need our own tools for safety because
we can't rely on them to keep us safe right now.
And we need our own mechanisms for accountability because ain't
nobody trying to keep these folks accountable to us at
this time? And so this is literally what Earth is
about and why I've just tried to lean in. But
it's been definitely crazy on the streets in terms of
people who were talking to talk but aren't willing to
(22:15):
walk the walk when the wind has changed, and the
funding that has disappeared, and you know, I mean generally
around health, but also particularly in black maternal health.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, very much.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
So. I don't know emay seeing it with funding our
stories as well.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, yeah, I'll be a gentleman. No, So putting a
film like this together is purposeful. If we don't document it,
it's like it never happened. So being able to have
her featured in the film, I mean she just sat
here and spit bars.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Absolutely, I'm a dad.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I mean, you know, I'm here. I know how to
work the camera and how to tread it and everything.
But if it wasn't for pillars like this, we wouldn't
have to found foundation for Ebony Canal that won all
types of awards from you know, Telly's Emmys and things
of that nature. But this is the vehicle that needs
to cross into individuals that might not necessarily know about this,
(23:15):
but if they watch this film, the Ebony Canal, I
promise you. The call to action is to do more
for black and brown women and their babies. And we
started this. We screened at Sundance in twenty twenty five
and we're still going. Yeah, and the funding ain't sexy
for what we're doing. You know what I'm saying. We
(23:37):
don't have shoot them bang bang, whatever the case is.
We did a film, a beautiful piece of art on
black maternal and infant health. So we want to change
through the arts. Yeah, we want to partner with individuals
like Kim like you yourself, to help us get the
word out.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You know, what is a take away that you would
want people to get after seeing this movie?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Like I said, I know, we want to make sure
that the support system is there, people are aware of
what's going on, But what are some actionable things? And
I'm sure people have come to you and said how
much it impacted them, maybe some steps they may have taken.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I honestly, I would break it down. You know, we
need more education, We more need more you know, policy change,
more legislation because you know, black women have been a
part of the undercurrent pun intended. But I think when
we come together in situations like this, we could build
(24:38):
a new wave of solutions driven practices.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
I think the key thing that Kimberly said is that
you fix it for you fix it for black and
brown women, you fix it for everybody period. You say
maternal health, We're really saying let's fix it for everybody,
right right. And you know, if we don't document our
story with integrity, it's like it never happened. We have
to be in we have to own our stories. So
(25:06):
the work that both of you doing is so critical, right,
because somebody else will lie about it. It will be
like it never happened, right, and we have to be
so vigilant about it. And for me on the health side,
you know, the same thing when it comes to women
when they are pregnant, during their maternal health that keeps
(25:27):
them healthy is the same thing we're saying to women,
Let's not wait till you're in a crisis mode. Let's
focus on your health before, like live before they are
heavy cramps, before it's heavy periods, before it's vitamin D deficiency.
Let's take care of our health before pregnancy. Even for men,
we talked about this, did you know? And prevention right
(25:49):
for me is prevention. The same prevention is necessary to
keep women healthy during pregnancy, post pregnancy, to prevent fibroids,
all of that, right, that same D three sufficient see
not deficiency affects sperm motility, it affects the ability to conceive,
It affects testosterone reproductive health, not just the woman. Because
(26:10):
we're also starting National and Fertility Awareness and Firebirds Awareness
Week this week this weekend, so it doesn't it makes
sense that these are all connected. One goes right into
the other. Why because they're all connected and the end
of the stories that we have to be our own cavalry,
and that means starting with taking care of ourselves.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Absolutely, And how did the trailer make you feel when
you watch the trailer?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Oh Man, just watching her tell her story, I was like,
I want to see what everybody else, you know, I
want to hear everybody else's story and I want to
see the you know, I always pray, and I want
to say this, as soon as somebody says that they're
pregnant a black woman, the first thing I do is
pray in my head, like I am praying for you
to have a safe and healthy baby, delivering healthy baby,
(26:53):
that you're healthy. And so I can't even imagine because
I don't have kids, so I don't even know what
it's like to go through what these women have gone through.
Where your baby is, you know, like reliant on somebody
to save their life literally after you give birth, you know,
(27:13):
and that's a difficult like thing.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Sometimes people don't even know the stories of how.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
They were born and things that they went through, and
when they find out, it's so you know, interesting of
like there's people who literally, their mothers almost lost their
life giving birth, or they almost died, you know, when
they were born, and they don't find that out until
or if they find out at all, they don't even
know what happened.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I interviewed my mother on my podcast where I share
joyful black birthing stories, and it was very eye opening
because what's the name.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Of your podcast?
Speaker 6 (27:45):
It was a little the name of your pod? The
podcast is called Birthright, and I only share joyful birth stories.
But I believe what you're saying, Angel, like, we need
to know what's in on matrilineal line around birthing. So
I was like, let me interview my mom and she
was knocked out in the early seven with no regrets.
She was like, oh, I saw you. They told you
they poked about salato, and I saw you two days later.
(28:06):
I said, two days She said, your dad said you
were fine.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
I said, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
My mama always is like it was the most painful
experience in my life, and it scared me ever since.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
It doesn't have to be that way.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
But yeah, but I've been knocked out like your mom,
with no regrets, no regrets that give me all the drugs,
give me find me up from them, you know where
people and I've heard a lot of women say they
didn't want the epidural, they didn't want this until oh.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
Yeah, give me, I want to I want no drugs,
I want to natural.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Give me the drugs.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
No, no, no no.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
And you hooked me up before I get how do
you do this? And I think, like, you know, this
is part of the kind of the tension that people create.
But when you have a baby, it's natural, Like a
baby came out natural. That's all that I'm saying. When
you did that with support, it's really not the debate
we need to be having. I think these are the
little things that people try to use to make themselves
(29:07):
feel better. But I'm just like, m so the baby
got out of you. You're getting all my support and
encouragement period.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Bridge Bridget from Essence at the at the Power Moms
thing this weekend. She's an IVF mom. She's she shared
how in her community people were saying, well, why don't
you have a baby the natural way?
Speaker 6 (29:25):
I was like, five.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
Times iv F mom over here, and well not five
times five times, I VS.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
It was natural.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
She's alive, she's a human being, you know, she's like
it's so crazy.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
She's still a person, you know.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
T.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Exceptional, exceptional for sure.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
So I appreciate what you guys are doing. Just beyond
grateful and thank you Angela for making room for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
If somebody does want to bring the Ebony Canal, let's
just say they're like, you know what, I'm inspired and
I want to bring this like to my community.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
If somebody's like, I want to be an ambassador, can you.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Just give us listen, please log onto Instagram. We can
have our you can get to our email that way.
Ebonycanal dot com, Ebonycanal at gmail dot com. We are
ready for you to do a screening. This is so important.
Everybody needs to watch.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
This film right Divine nine are all.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
The medical from Howard Harv Let's pull up. Let's pull
up for black and brown women and their children.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
And I know, Kimberly, you kicked off the Power Moms
tour at Brooklyn chop House here in New York City.
My girl thetary Nut and Lewis was actually the So
talk to me about yeah, about that event and also
how people can reach you if they are interested or
want to be an ambassador. But of course everyone can
download the app.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
Yes, everyone can download the app, but you know, we really
want to have a conversation that's centered droy and power
of Black motherhood. You know, many times Black Maternal Health
Week can be about dire statistics. But we wanted to
make sure that we were leaning into our power and so,
of course, drawing from Naori's iconic role, we had this
concept for a power Mom's tour that was kicking off
in New York City right on Black Maternal Health Week
(31:18):
and also Earth.
Speaker 7 (31:19):
Day proclamation back in twenty twenty four declared April eleventh,
Earth Birth without Buda's Day in New York City, so
we always celebrate that.
Speaker 6 (31:30):
And it was really just a beautiful It was beautiful.
It was a powerful celebration of who we are. We
had great panels. Coach Jesse was there. We talked about wellness,
We talked about balancing career, motherhood, when Notori shared her
own struggles when she was pregnant and filming so no
yes and trying to breastfeed afterward. And you know, we
talked about ourselves, whether we need about detox or our
(31:52):
pelvic floor or Queen of Fula was there, you know,
to really talk about.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
Chess.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
We talked about black motherhood in the We had some
filmmakers there who talked about how we can change the
narrative in black maternal health and how black mothers are perceived.
Because I was saying, we have been told on television
like we're perfectly capable of taking care of everybody else's children,
was somehow incapable of taking care of our own?
Speaker 7 (32:16):
Right?
Speaker 6 (32:17):
That was a lie that the media was telling about
Black mothers four years and so this is why the
ebony canal is so important when we are crafting our
own stories right, that don't come from a deficit mindset,
that don't come from struggle mentality and all the things,
and to really shift that narrative. So it was just
an amazing event. I love the book and chop House Food.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Chop House.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
That's right down through. And we did our ask the Aunties,
right Coach Jesse and two other friends every first Sunday
in the Earth app we host asked the Aunties. It's
I got intergenerational and we know you young moms like
TikTok and Google, but ask your Aunties. We got you.
So we were answering questions. We had a question this thing.
This is crazy, but we we did a segment of
(33:04):
Ask the Aunties to share intergenerational wisdom because you know,
we believe that that's important, right and that you know,
my motherhood journey is more at further along than Jesse's
or our friend Dione or Shanie Benton's, but we are
here in service of other young moms. We always make
it funny. You talk about everything, money, sex, relationships, you
name it, bring it to the Aunties. We got you, okay,
(33:26):
And so we did a segment of that as well,
and it was just really a powerful afternoon. It was
it was beautiful and so that's what we did on
Saturday to kick off Blackton our Health Week. Folks can please,
you know, follow us on Instagram at the Earth app
it's I r th h app. Check out Earth app
dot com and download our free ebook that's all about
(33:47):
how you can birth safely as a black and brown person.
Definitely go into the app, but also check out the community.
We have a community in the app where you can
find your bump tribe with other people who are giving
birth when you are. All of our Earth ambassadors all
over the country are in there answering your questions. Helping
you find community, making sure you have good resources of information.
We have lots of live events in the app, so
(34:09):
there's a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I love your home marketing time. I mean, it's amazing
how your mind works, you know, the thing about it.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Sometimes you said something that when people get pregnant, it's crazy.
I automatically do start praying for what I pray for,
a healthy baby, healthy mommy. But it doesn't have to
be scary when we have the right community and support
around us. And I think that's what we're saying. We're
taking control of our narrative in our community by choosing
and knowing who we're doing it with. And that's what
(34:42):
Earth is providing information for.
Speaker 6 (34:44):
We say that joy is a metric, right, It's not
just about surviving. Yes, yes, we want you healthy and happy,
but that should be basic.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Right.
Speaker 6 (34:52):
You're in the hospital and you're not even really sick,
you know what I'm saying. You're not sick when you're
giving birds. And so we say joy is a metric,
you know, and so add to your prayers. You deserve
a joyful birth. Joy is your birthright.
Speaker 7 (35:05):
Right.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
We talk about this a lot on the podcast. Right,
And so how do we raise the bar and say yes?
And Joy is on Metric as well. Well.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Listen, I love it. This is great. Is a series
or something.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
It does to so many, there's so much and I'm
ready to shreddit all of that. Yeah right, you know how.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Many people who could can tell their stories on a
regular No.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Absolutely. And the thing is, you know, the sky's not
the limit, It's just a baseline. So let's get a rocket.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Jesse. Always appreciate you whenever you're here.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
I love you. I got a free bee forever for everybody.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Excuse me, Okay.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
Because I didn't want to dig dig into the whole
D three conversation, we created a tip sheet because most
of y'all don't know your D three levels. You don't
know how much you need to take, and you don't
know how to take it properly, and it's so vital
to all your health. So it's the detoxnow dot Com
forward Slash D three Guide.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Download it, read it, please, plelease.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
It's the one thing you can do to change your
health that is so easy to fix.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
My reup too, Yes, I got you, Okay, all right, just.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Put that out there.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
But thank you all so much for coming.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I appreciate it and thank you for the great work
that you do too, because I know it is so
much appreciated and necessary and needed.
Speaker 6 (36:26):
Thank you, thank you,
What's up his way up at Angela Yee and we're
about to have a super important conversation. I got my girl,
Coach Jesse here with me today and you're always bringing
all the knowledge here and things that we need.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now we have one of.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Our favorite shredditorsitors in a building.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Emi is here. Thank you for joining us at Ebony Canal.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
If you're watching, you can see it on the hoodie
but super important documentary and the Earth app. We have
Kimberly sales dollars here. Hey, thank you so much for
joining us today. And so Coach Jesse, it's Black Maternal
Health Week and we've been talking about this too. I
saw been and Jerry's we're talking about the Black maternal
health crisis as well. Yeah, they did this whole thing about.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
It, and we done broke free and we don't tell
the truth right.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And this is more than a conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's impacting black and brown women at disproportionate rates. This
is something literally that thanks to Coach Jesse, we've been
talking about now for years. Wow, and co see, this
is a conversation that you've been in also, not just
in your profession, but it's also very personal for you,
as it is for all.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Of us here, so let's talk about it, right.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Yeah, you know, there's something called morbidities, mortalities rate, there's
black maternal mortality, and then there's near missus. Right, So
I was a near miss as you know, due to
battling fibers fourteen years. Fibers is actually one of the
higher risk issues that causes miscarriage and also complications during pregnancies.
(01:32):
So it actually causes a major risk factor during pregnancies,
and we are have way more fibruaries than a race way. Absolutely,
you know, we're disproportionately affected by that. And then of
course my heart stopped on the delivery table, which you know, again,
thank god I'm here.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
Hey whoo.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
But when I learned about the work that Kimberly was
doing for me, it was like I reached out to
I said, look, I'm on your advisory board.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
I was like, I don't know, you don't know me,
but this is Barbado.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
I said, look, I'm on your advisory board because I'm
gonna do whatever you need because we really need to be.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
The cavalry for one another.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
Right.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
So I learned about a maze work. Actually I met
him at the NAACP Image Awards where they won. Because
Kimberly is a part of Zations, She's a part of
the documentary as well, and I was like this, we
have to have them here for this conversation this year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So let's start with what is The Ebony Canal.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The Ebony Canal is an incredible film that follows the
journey of for women and it really examines kind of
the her historic portal between the disparities, but also the
joy of it. This film is about hurt healing, but
it's also about hope. And the thing is I put
(02:51):
this together almost like a piece of art because as
a father, as a son, as a devoted husband, I
had to do something to represent the film where I
married culture cultural with clinical, you know what I mean.
And we shot in black and white. We're blacks and
white spaces. We turned the color when the kids turned one.
(03:15):
Narrated by Viola Davis.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Hello, hell, that's crazy that happened?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah yeah, yeah, no, no for sure, No, no, I
mean the story. You know. One of our producers, Jonathan
shout him out Donita and also Donna Marie. They showed
her the trailer. The trailer was only three minutes in
forty three seconds, and she said, you know what, I
want to be a part of this. She was doing
(03:44):
G twenty you know, just came off a woman king,
but she said she wanted to focus on legacy driven
stories and ours was a story. You know, she can
get twenty million a movie all day, but she said, yo,
I'm not doing it for the likes. I want to
do it for the legacy. And that's what we did
it for.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Amazing. Now I'll go ahead, Kimberly.
Speaker 6 (04:06):
No, I was going to say, I love the also
the pre part about that it's just around like you
really showing up in her Instagram comments. Listen, he was
up there, No.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
No, no, I was up there. I literally said I
would love to work with you for about a month
until it came true.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And and here it is the only maternal health documentary
to win Best Documentary at the NAACP for you know,
fifty seven years.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Wow, that's crazy that started.
Speaker 7 (04:38):
Well.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Congratulations again, three Webby Awards, three.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Webby Awards, two Anthems, five Telly Awards.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
It's crazy and I love the way that you are
going on tour with this too. On the Auto an
opportunity to see the film, but it's touched so many people.
Even when you watch it, it's so emotional to hear
women tell their stories and what they've been through.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
It is such a beautifully done.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Thank you so much, you know, I'm a shudded.
Speaker 6 (05:08):
The beauty of it is really like, you know, because
you can see a documentary, but I think the beauty
that you may put into it and the way that
you don't even feel like you're watching a documentary, you know,
it's just so moving, and I think that's why it's
resonating with so many people. I get to go to
a lot of the screenings and they're always full and
sold out and people standing and people outside trying to
(05:29):
get in, and so it's just been a really powerful
movement for storytelling.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Now can't believe for the Earth app. So listen on
what the Earth app is because I've known about the
Earth app for years now, but I want you to
explain what it is and how beneficial this is when
we're trying to get good healthcare, because we're in a
system right now where it matters so much is taking
care of you. Who is going to be answering those
questions for you how they make you feel, but also
(05:56):
making sure that they care absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
I just tell people that I created Earth because I
wish I had it. When I was giving birth, I
read the lists, thought I was going to the best
hospital in New York City and walked out feeling like
what just happened to me? Everything that I read for
as a standard practice of care I had to fight for.
And so I just didn't understand why would I had
been so disrespected, so dismissed, and feeling so unseen at
(06:22):
a place that so many places said were the best.
And so I really wanted to create a place where
I could see reviews from people like me, that I
could see reviews from people who look like me, who
were in my lived experience. So I was not yet
married when I had my first child. I was literally
a graduate school, so I was on basic insurance like
a student, right, And so how do we do that?
(06:43):
And so that's what Earth is. It's like the word birth,
but we dropped the beef for bias, so it's irt,
but it is the first of its kind, yelp like
platform for black and brown women and birthing people too
fine and leave reviews of the obgyns, birthing hospitals, and pediatricians.
We are all about crowds sourcing and publicly sharing where
we're getting good care and where we are not, so
(07:04):
that we can keep each other.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Safe right right, and keep it well accountable and.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Keep people accountable. I'm like, look around, you are not
going to a two star restaurant on purpose.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
You're looking at those reviews.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Exactly at it. You don't stay there, you gon't eat there.
And how do we use this very effective tool in
service of the black women who are disproportionately dying within
this system? And then the beauty really of earth for
me is what's happened on the back end. We turn
our anonymized reviews into data to work with hospitals to
(07:35):
take them through a quality improvement program. That's that's a
minimum of two years, all centered in black women's voices,
and we're now as of yesterday's I just got back
from our press conference in Minneapolis, we are in nine
hospitals really driving the Birth Without Bias quality improvement program,
all rooted in our stories, all lived experiences, our data,
(07:55):
our feedback as the way forward. So I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
How do hospitals take to that too, just curious if
their initially was some type.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Yeah. Yeah, hospitals don't like us, and I love it.
I tell my team, if they are happy to see us,
then we are not doing our jobs. They should not
be right. You know, if you if you see us coming,
you should you should be concerned. But what they acknowledge
is like they don't have the data. Black folks are
not responding to those hospital surveys. They're not responding to
(08:25):
those h caps, those prescanes. We love them, but we
don't We don't have time. Our community tells us they
don't know if they're going to be tracked, if they
if they're honest, and so they simply don't respond. And
health systems are not going to be able to solve
this issue just with clinical data. Right, And we can't
just say it's about maternal mortality and morbidity those misses,
because just because we didn't die or nearly die doesn't
(08:47):
mean we had the experience that we deserve. Right, We
got to raise the bar. And so with Earth, we're saying,
this is what makes a five star experience for a
black person in your community. Because racism in New York
City is not like racism in Alabama. We always use
hyperlocal data. Okay, and this is the hospital. This is
the standard that we're holding this hospital to here, right,
(09:07):
this is what this means for people here, and then
we go there and learn it there and then we
do that right. All about hyper local data driveing quality
improvement in that area.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Yeah, critical thing is that it's putting the power back
in our hands. Right when you go back to civil rights,
the civil rights movement, I always say this, it's like,
remember what saved our lives?
Speaker 4 (09:26):
As have we had the Green Book? We had the
green Book.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
The green Book was the listing of where it was
safe for us to buy gas, where it was safe
to stay, what hotels, what restaurants took care of us? Right,
Whereas you know now we act like that's not needed.
It is because those ratings and reviews, when you look
at the reviews for doctor, they're not our experiences. They
are white women's experiences. I two faced medical racism over
(09:53):
and over. I'm like, wait a minute, Like that's not
that five stars, Becky's five stars, that's.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Not five star, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
So Naki is just today. But the point is saying
I have power. I have power in my hands. I
have power to say, you know what, I am choosing
to spend vote with my power, my dollar, vote with
(10:22):
my choice right on where I'm going to spend my time,
who's going to care for me? And we don't have
that information without the data that that Kimberly is helping
us collect and with that information, and that's the hospitals
can't get it because we don't trust them.
Speaker 6 (10:35):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
But if we're doing it together as a community, now
we're saying, hey, you know what, uh uh, don't go
to that hospital because this is the experience. Now I
can look at the lived experience somebody has had and
I can say, like I don't want to go there,
but oh wow, it is safe to go here.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And because you know how many times, like as women,
as black women were asking each other like I need
to get a better time, like my doctor, I need
a new doctor, I need this my O G y N.
Somebody literally told me yesterday that she retired and she's like,
I got to find a new one.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
But it's so hard, you know, somebody to find that someone.
Speaker 6 (11:07):
That you trust, you know, actually, I mean it is.
It is terrifying for a lot of people. And so
just like Jessea is saying, like, we need these tools
to find safety, and also we need these tools to
make sure that folks can be held accountable for the
way that a lot of what happens is. You know,
when I was complaining about my story, they were trying
to act like it was a one off. Now we
see these things happen on social media and they will
(11:29):
try to explain it away. But when we put all
of our stories together, and now we can go back
to that hospital and say, no, we got three hundred,
five hundred one thousand people saying the same thing now.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
About your hospital, about your.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
Exactly. So we put our stories together. Now that's true power,
right you know, am.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I to ask you when you were filming the Ebony Canal,
was there anything that shocked you that you were like,
I can't believe.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I mean what shocked me is that black and brown
women are dying three times that of their white counterparts.
You know, black babies are down two and a half
times that of their white counterparts. That's crazy to me, absolutely.
And the thing is, as a father, I knew none
of this. So when I dug into the cinematic research,
I said I'm going to put together a film that
(12:21):
you ain't just gonna watch once, you ain't gonna watch
it twice. You're going to literally put this in colleges,
high schools, medical institutions.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
We're going to.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Screen all over the place, you know, from Sun Dance
to Cannes Film Festival. You know. We're still looking for
a distribution deal, but that's not going to stop.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Us what has been put in to get It's been
difficult to get a distribution deal.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
It's difficult only because we wanted to go to the
right place and I want millions to watch this and
with the current administration, I called it, you know, the
ebony canal just on some areas up move. You know,
I didn't want to call it the black canal. I
wanted to, you know, slip it under if you know,
you know. But I'm saying I'm a bow bow ebony
(13:15):
magazine yet magazine, both meaning black can Now, when you
connect one body of life to another body of life,
this is how we need to put the arts in focus.
And although I can't give birth, I can give birth
to a film that is going to change the world.
And my fourteen year old daughter will say, oh, Dad,
(13:35):
you did this word.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I'm with this, and you know, we talk about mothers
rightfully so as we should be, but this is about
families also, like you just said, so it was important
for you to include also fathers and the broader community
when telling this story. Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Absolutely, you gotta include the fathers. A lot of times
fathers have been sort of pushed aside, Oh, come back
in nine months, you know, leave out the room and
you know, let us deal with this. It's like, wait,
hold up, I think I provided the x Y chromosome.
So me as a film director, you know, I had
(14:12):
to ex out the old narrative in order to establish
the why we have to do this. So that's the
x Y chromosome that I put in as a director.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
And then a lot of times now unfortunately because of
the this tragedy, a lot of the fathers are left,
you know, now moving forward the movement like Charles Johnson,
like Grups, you know, there are so many men who
are actually advancing this entire you know, cause alongside the
work that we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Yeah, absolutely, from shout out to Charles Johnson doing his
thing for care for moms.
Speaker 6 (14:45):
And then also like in the Earth app. We accept
review some fathers because we know that what's happening is important.
So when we go to that hospital, we'll holding them
accountable to how they're treating our black men too, because
some of the reviews up in there from all black
men are unacceptable, the ways that they're being treated and disrespected,
and that has to stop as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
You know, you also support doulas, which is something that
is amazing. You have an Earth Ambassador program.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I feel like that might be.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The first way I've heard of Earth is through the
ambassador program.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
But tell me about supporting the doulas and the birth
workers and what they do well.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
Doulas are, you know, trained birth professionals. The studies show
that they improve the birth outcomes. They really are there
to support the mother. But I was looking at the
landscape and I was like, everybody was training doulas, but
nobody was really sustaining doulas. They were being trained and
put out there, but not being supported. Meanwhile, in our work,
(15:40):
we knew that we needed trusted folks. Right. We are
a technology nonprofit. I could throw all my money in
digital marketing, but being on the ground and being community
first is incredibly important to me and building that trust
in the community was also part of our mission and
our values. So I really saw an opportunity to say,
how do we take these trusted birth workers who are
all already on the ground, going to every community baby shower,
(16:02):
dealing with parents, working with their churches, bring them into
a support opportunity with Earth And so now we have
our Earth Ambassador program. We give them a paid stipend
our Earth and Bachelords because we know that they can
use the supplemental income dulas are not being paid what
they need to be paid any place in this country.
We give them access to a mental health therapist, which
was the first thing that I noticed, and I piloted
(16:23):
this right here in New York City, Angela with the
duela that we were working with and the stories that
they were telling, I'm like, how are y'all doing it?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Give me an example.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
There was this one story that literally made me call
them the therapist. And this duela was supporting a family
and basically she was about to have a preterm birth
of a baby that they did not know was going
to be viable, and so this mother was had to
use the bathroom. Now I do not know why, but
(16:57):
there are many toilets that have the automatic and as
she was using the bathroom, she was realizing that something
else was going to be passing. And this doula who
tells the story of hearing the the the censor start
(17:19):
to go off and seeing now nobody was around, they
had been calling for the nurse, calling for the nurse,
had to go in there, put her hands in the
toilet and catch what came out of this mother.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
Gosh, that's chilling, my god.
Speaker 6 (17:34):
That was when I said, you need the therapist. Trauma
is so much, particularly here in our city. And so
when she told me that, and I and then she
was just telling the story, and I said, are you okay?
Can you imagine you gotta put your hands in the
toilet to catch a fetus because no one is around
(17:56):
and you're in a hospital.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
That's crazy.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
That's when I knew. And so I'm telling you they
have all types of stories of feeling like they have
to be the ones either they themselves are being disrespected,
or they are showing up in moments where medical staff
is there and they are not. We know that story
that happened in La with the sister at Sentinela Hospital.
She literally was in the hospital asking for help. Her
husbands had to resuscitate her. Her beloved was the one
(18:23):
trying to bring her back in a hospital.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And you like that, You're not a human being in
the in the hospital.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
And so it was crazy. And so I'm like, these
doulas need support. We give them access to a therapist
who does a group sessions and individual sessions with them.
We invite brands who care about this issue to send
our dulas my things. We had a great partnership with
Carol's daughter because we want them to be treated well. Right,
we say, we have to take care of the people
who are taking care of black and brown birthing families.
(18:51):
That is the statement and mission behind our Earth Ambassador program.
And I started here in New York City with the
dulas who are helping me, and now we are in
fifteen cities. We have Earth Ambassador cohorts in fifteen cities.
These folks are helping us increase our review database. They
are out in the community helping people value their story.
You know, we have a thing at my team. We
(19:11):
always say, how many reviews would Earth have if it
was for white women. Everybody's like millions, But the fact
of the matter is our community needs some more support.
We know you're just going to keep it pushing. We
may feel like it doesn't matter. We may feel like
we've been told that we're alive and our babies alive,
and we're lucky to be alive. Right, And so it
takes extra effort for people to share their story. Yeah,
(19:35):
and it's unfortunate, but that is the work that they're
doing in our community, making every person, every parent, feel
like their story matters. And you share it with Earth
and I promise you that we will make sure it
is a value to another family and we will use
it to hold systems accountable.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
Thing about DO is, you know, as the research and
all the communications around black maternal health, you know, just
became more elevated, more centered, it became clear the vital
role of the duel players.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And everybody was like, duelet's do dules dut duelos.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And it was like, okay, there aren't enough duelas to
save what we're talking about. So they became like, really,
you're putting all this pressure on duels. But as she
just said, but who's sustaining the duelists? In fact, we're
going to be working on a program to support them
with detox now as well. Yes, that's right actually, because
like these women are in need of the same kind
(20:26):
of support that they're offering their women.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
These women they need in themselves.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
And we need more midwives.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I want to ask I wanted to ask, I ask
about three of you when you see what's going on
right now, because briefly we said, especially what's going on
with this administration when we think about healthcare in the
United States, and what were the challenges that we're dealing
with and facing right now? What are some things that
you've observed in these past couple of years.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, I would say, I mean we are unapologetically black nonprofit, right,
like we stand for black people. We sent to black
women because we think that if we get it right
for them, we can get it right for everybody. And
that comes at of cost, right, And so our funding
may not be the same as it was before. People
who used to be like yes, black maternal health when
it was sexy and there was money, are now as
(21:16):
that money is drying up, we're really finding out who
was truly an ally and who was just here because
there was a check, right, And so that's been a
big shift in our area because black maternal health has
been such an issue. And this is why I really
appreciate you, because we have to keep this going ourselves.
And one of the things that has been clear for me,
as much as it can be very depressing, and you know,
(21:37):
just all the things around what's going on in our
crazy world, I'm like, oh, right now, we need our
own data because we can't rely on them because they
share our websites every day, okay.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Changing changing data as parents, lying.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That's right. We need our own tools for safety because
we can't rely on them to keep us safe right now.
And we need our own mechanisms for accountability because ain't
nobody trying to keep these folks accountable to us at
this time? And so this is literally what Earth is
about and why I've just tried to lean in. But
it's been definitely crazy on the streets in terms of
people who were talking to talk but aren't willing to
(22:15):
walk the walk when the wind has changed, and the
funding that has disappeared, and you know, I mean generally
around health, but also particularly in black maternal health.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, very much.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
So. I don't know emay seeing it with funding our
stories as well.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, yeah, I'll be a gentleman. No, So putting a
film like this together is purposeful. If we don't document it,
it's like it never happened. So being able to have
her featured in the film, I mean she just sat
here and spit bars.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Absolutely, I'm a dad.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I mean, you know, I'm here. I know how to
work the camera and how to tread it and everything.
But if it wasn't for pillars like this, we wouldn't
have to found foundation for Ebony Canal that won all
types of awards from you know, Telly's Emmys and things
of that nature. But this is the vehicle that needs
to cross into individuals that might not necessarily know about this,
(23:15):
but if they watch this film, the Ebony Canal, I
promise you. The call to action is to do more
for black and brown women and their babies. And we
started this. We screened at Sundance in twenty twenty five
and we're still going. Yeah, and the funding ain't sexy
for what we're doing. You know what I'm saying. We
(23:37):
don't have shoot them bang bang, whatever the case is.
We did a film, a beautiful piece of art on
black maternal and infant health. So we want to change
through the arts. Yeah, we want to partner with individuals
like Kim like you yourself, to help us get the
word out.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You know, what is a take away that you would
want people to get after seeing this movie?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Like I said, I know, we want to make sure
that the support system is there, people are aware of
what's going on, But what are some actionable things? And
I'm sure people have come to you and said how
much it impacted them, maybe some steps they may have taken.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I honestly, I would break it down. You know, we
need more education, We more need more you know, policy change,
more legislation because you know, black women have been a
part of the undercurrent pun intended. But I think when
we come together in situations like this, we could build
(24:38):
a new wave of solutions driven practices.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
I think the key thing that Kimberly said is that
you fix it for you fix it for black and
brown women, you fix it for everybody period. You say
maternal health, We're really saying let's fix it for everybody,
right right. And you know, if we don't document our
story with integrity, it's like it never happened. We have
to be in we have to own our stories. So
(25:06):
the work that both of you doing is so critical, right,
because somebody else will lie about it. It will be
like it never happened, right, and we have to be
so vigilant about it. And for me on the health side,
you know, the same thing when it comes to women
when they are pregnant, during their maternal health that keeps
(25:27):
them healthy is the same thing we're saying to women,
Let's not wait till you're in a crisis mode. Let's
focus on your health before, like live before they are
heavy cramps, before it's heavy periods, before it's vitamin D deficiency.
Let's take care of our health before pregnancy. Even for men,
we talked about this, did you know? And prevention right
(25:49):
for me is prevention. The same prevention is necessary to
keep women healthy during pregnancy, post pregnancy, to prevent fibroids,
all of that, right, that same D three sufficient see
not deficiency affects sperm motility, it affects the ability to conceive,
It affects testosterone reproductive health, not just the woman. Because
(26:10):
we're also starting National and Fertility Awareness and Firebirds Awareness
Week this week this weekend, so it doesn't it makes
sense that these are all connected. One goes right into
the other. Why because they're all connected and the end
of the stories that we have to be our own cavalry,
and that means starting with taking care of ourselves.
Speaker 6 (26:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Absolutely, And how did the trailer make you feel when
you watch the trailer?
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Oh Man, just watching her tell her story, I was like,
I want to see what everybody else, you know, I
want to hear everybody else's story and I want to
see the you know, I always pray, and I want
to say this, as soon as somebody says that they're
pregnant a black woman, the first thing I do is
pray in my head, like I am praying for you
to have a safe and healthy baby, delivering healthy baby,
(26:53):
that you're healthy. And so I can't even imagine because
I don't have kids, so I don't even know what
it's like to go through what these women have gone through.
Where your baby is, you know, like reliant on somebody
to save their life literally after you give birth, you know,
(27:13):
and that's a difficult like thing.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Sometimes people don't even know the stories of how.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
They were born and things that they went through, and
when they find out, it's so you know, interesting of
like there's people who literally, their mothers almost lost their
life giving birth, or they almost died, you know, when
they were born, and they don't find that out until
or if they find out at all, they don't even
know what happened.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I interviewed my mother on my podcast where I share
joyful black birthing stories, and it was very eye opening
because what's the name.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Of your podcast?
Speaker 6 (27:45):
It was a little the name of your pod? The
podcast is called Birthright, and I only share joyful birth stories.
But I believe what you're saying, Angel, like, we need
to know what's in on matrilineal line around birthing. So
I was like, let me interview my mom and she
was knocked out in the early seven with no regrets.
She was like, oh, I saw you. They told you
they poked about salato, and I saw you two days later.
(28:06):
I said, two days She said, your dad said you
were fine.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
I said, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
My mama always is like it was the most painful
experience in my life, and it scared me ever since.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
It doesn't have to be that way.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
But yeah, but I've been knocked out like your mom,
with no regrets, no regrets that give me all the drugs,
give me find me up from them, you know where
people and I've heard a lot of women say they
didn't want the epidural, they didn't want this until oh.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
Yeah, give me, I want to I want no drugs,
I want to natural.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Give me the drugs.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
No, no, no no.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
And you hooked me up before I get how do
you do this? And I think, like, you know, this
is part of the kind of the tension that people create.
But when you have a baby, it's natural, Like a
baby came out natural. That's all that I'm saying. When
you did that with support, it's really not the debate
we need to be having. I think these are the
little things that people try to use to make themselves
(29:07):
feel better. But I'm just like, m so the baby
got out of you. You're getting all my support and
encouragement period.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Bridge Bridget from Essence at the at the Power Moms
thing this weekend. She's an IVF mom. She's she shared
how in her community people were saying, well, why don't
you have a baby the natural way?
Speaker 6 (29:25):
I was like, five.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
Times iv F mom over here, and well not five
times five times, I VS.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
It was natural.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
She's alive, she's a human being, you know, she's like
it's so crazy.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
She's still a person, you know.
Speaker 7 (29:45):
T.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Exceptional, exceptional for sure.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
So I appreciate what you guys are doing. Just beyond
grateful and thank you Angela for making room for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
If somebody does want to bring the Ebony Canal, let's
just say they're like, you know what, I'm inspired and
I want to bring this like to my community.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
If somebody's like, I want to be an ambassador, can you.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Just give us listen, please log onto Instagram. We can
have our you can get to our email that way.
Ebonycanal dot com, Ebonycanal at gmail dot com. We are
ready for you to do a screening. This is so important.
Everybody needs to watch.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
This film right Divine nine are all.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
The medical from Howard Harv Let's pull up. Let's pull
up for black and brown women and their children.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
And I know, Kimberly, you kicked off the Power Moms
tour at Brooklyn chop House here in New York City.
My girl thetary Nut and Lewis was actually the So
talk to me about yeah, about that event and also
how people can reach you if they are interested or
want to be an ambassador. But of course everyone can
download the app.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
Yes, everyone can download the app, but you know, we really
want to have a conversation that's centered droy and power
of Black motherhood. You know, many times Black Maternal Health
Week can be about dire statistics. But we wanted to
make sure that we were leaning into our power and so,
of course, drawing from Naori's iconic role, we had this
concept for a power Mom's tour that was kicking off
in New York City right on Black Maternal Health Week
(31:18):
and also Earth.
Speaker 7 (31:19):
Day proclamation back in twenty twenty four declared April eleventh,
Earth Birth without Buda's Day in New York City, so
we always celebrate that.
Speaker 6 (31:30):
And it was really just a beautiful It was beautiful.
It was a powerful celebration of who we are. We
had great panels. Coach Jesse was there. We talked about wellness,
We talked about balancing career, motherhood, when Notori shared her
own struggles when she was pregnant and filming so no
yes and trying to breastfeed afterward. And you know, we
talked about ourselves, whether we need about detox or our
(31:52):
pelvic floor or Queen of Fula was there, you know,
to really talk about.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
Chess.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
We talked about black motherhood in the We had some
filmmakers there who talked about how we can change the
narrative in black maternal health and how black mothers are perceived.
Because I was saying, we have been told on television
like we're perfectly capable of taking care of everybody else's children,
was somehow incapable of taking care of our own?
Speaker 7 (32:16):
Right?
Speaker 6 (32:17):
That was a lie that the media was telling about
Black mothers four years and so this is why the
ebony canal is so important when we are crafting our
own stories right, that don't come from a deficit mindset,
that don't come from struggle mentality and all the things,
and to really shift that narrative. So it was just
an amazing event. I love the book and chop House Food.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Chop House.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
That's right down through. And we did our ask the Aunties,
right Coach Jesse and two other friends every first Sunday
in the Earth app we host asked the Aunties. It's
I got intergenerational and we know you young moms like
TikTok and Google, but ask your Aunties. We got you.
So we were answering questions. We had a question this thing.
This is crazy, but we we did a segment of
(33:04):
Ask the Aunties to share intergenerational wisdom because you know,
we believe that that's important, right and that you know,
my motherhood journey is more at further along than Jesse's
or our friend Dione or Shanie Benton's, but we are
here in service of other young moms. We always make
it funny. You talk about everything, money, sex, relationships, you
name it, bring it to the Aunties. We got you, okay,
(33:26):
And so we did a segment of that as well,
and it was just really a powerful afternoon. It was
it was beautiful and so that's what we did on
Saturday to kick off Blackton our Health Week. Folks can please,
you know, follow us on Instagram at the Earth app
it's I r th h app. Check out Earth app
dot com and download our free ebook that's all about
(33:47):
how you can birth safely as a black and brown person.
Definitely go into the app, but also check out the community.
We have a community in the app where you can
find your bump tribe with other people who are giving
birth when you are. All of our Earth ambassadors all
over the country are in there answering your questions. Helping
you find community, making sure you have good resources of information.
We have lots of live events in the app, so
(34:09):
there's a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I love your home marketing time. I mean, it's amazing
how your mind works, you know, the thing about it.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Sometimes you said something that when people get pregnant, it's crazy.
I automatically do start praying for what I pray for,
a healthy baby, healthy mommy. But it doesn't have to
be scary when we have the right community and support
around us. And I think that's what we're saying. We're
taking control of our narrative in our community by choosing
and knowing who we're doing it with. And that's what
(34:42):
Earth is providing information for.
Speaker 6 (34:44):
We say that joy is a metric, right, It's not
just about surviving. Yes, yes, we want you healthy and happy,
but that should be basic.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Right.
Speaker 6 (34:52):
You're in the hospital and you're not even really sick,
you know what I'm saying. You're not sick when you're
giving birds. And so we say joy is a metric,
you know, and so add to your prayers. You deserve
a joyful birth. Joy is your birthright.
Speaker 7 (35:05):
Right.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
We talk about this a lot on the podcast. Right,
And so how do we raise the bar and say yes?
And Joy is on Metric as well. Well.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Listen, I love it. This is great. Is a series
or something.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
It does to so many, there's so much and I'm
ready to shreddit all of that. Yeah right, you know how.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Many people who could can tell their stories on a
regular No.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Absolutely. And the thing is, you know, the sky's not
the limit, It's just a baseline. So let's get a rocket.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Jesse. Always appreciate you whenever you're here.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
I love you. I got a free bee forever for everybody.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Excuse me, Okay.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
Because I didn't want to dig dig into the whole
D three conversation, we created a tip sheet because most
of y'all don't know your D three levels. You don't
know how much you need to take, and you don't
know how to take it properly, and it's so vital
to all your health. So it's the detoxnow dot Com
forward Slash D three Guide.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Download it, read it, please, plelease.
Speaker 5 (36:06):
It's the one thing you can do to change your
health that is so easy to fix.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
My reup too, Yes, I got you, Okay, all right, just.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Put that out there.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
But thank you all so much for coming.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I appreciate it and thank you for the great work
that you do too, because I know it is so
much appreciated and necessary and needed.
Speaker 6 (36:26):
Thank you, thank you,
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