Advancement of
Reproductive Innovation Through Artistry and Healing
The Foundation
The ARIAH Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to educating, supporting, and advocating for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), who have been impacted by the systematic racism and oppression in the reproductive healthcare system. ARIAH's programs and sevices are centered around BIPOC mothers, birthing people, their partners and families who have experienced trauma and loss due to disparities and inequities in reproductive healthcare.
The Founders
The ARIAH Foundation was created by the mother, sister, and life partner of Shamony Makeba Gibson, a 30 year old mother of two who passed away due to a birth-related pulmonary embolism.
The founders of the ARIAH Foundation are committed to utilizing art and ritual as modalities for healing the historical and present day traumas that BIPOC communities have experienced in the realm of reproductive healthcare. They have employed the tenets of anit-racist, social and restorative justice as conduits for addressing systematic and institutional racism that create disparite outcomes that contribute to near death experiences and fatalities for BIPOC women and birthing people.
The Film
Aftershock
Following the preventable deaths of their loved ones due to childbirth complications, two families galvanize activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.
Through the film, we witness these two families become ardent activists in the maternal health space,
seeking justice through legislation, medical accountability, community, and the power of art. Their work
introduces us to a myriad of people including a growing brotherhood of surviving Black fathers, along with
the work of midwives and physicians on the ground fighting for institutional reform. Through their
collective journeys, we find ourselves on the front lines of the growing birth justice movement that is
demanding systemic change within our medical system and government.
