“I don't personally believe you can extricate environmental issues from reproductive issues because if a mother is drinking polluted water, what is that going to do to her system? What is that going to do to the system of the baby that she's housing? If she lives in an area where he can see noxious fumes being pumped into the air because of a nearby refinery, what is that going to do to her respiratory system? … If she lives in a food desert, what is that going to do to her strength? All of these things matter.” — Zora Schiltz Rouse

While working as a journalist and editor, Morgan Jerkins noticed a trend: stories and personal essays about the ethics of having a baby in a world marked by rising temperatures and other indicators of climate change. But these stories, she noticed, were always written by white women. “I thought to myself, ‘well they're not the most susceptible to violence, or erasure or lack of care. If anyone should be writing a lot of these stories, it should be black and brown women.’”

That recognition was the genesis of “Black Madonna.” In this inspiring conversation, Jerkins and her co-director Zora Schiltz Rouse discuss how they collaborated in order to bring Aziza’s story to life.

Follow Black Madonna on Instagram:
@black_madonna_bloom | @_morganjerkins | @zoritapepita

If you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you will get each episode of the pod straight to your inbox. Learn more at reprofilm.org or at @reprofilm The rePROFilm Podcast is executive produced by mamafilm. Looking forward to bringing you our next conversation!