{"id":36950,"date":"2025-08-27T14:48:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T18:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=36950"},"modified":"2025-08-27T16:03:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T20:03:56","slug":"the-buzz-about-the-ebony-canal-2025-by-greggwmorris-theword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/the-buzz-about-the-ebony-canal-2025-by-greggwmorris-theword\/","title":{"rendered":"The Buzz About THE EBONY CANAL (2025):  Best Documentary for Social Impact at the 2025 ESSENCE Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE EBONY CANAL is a superb award-winning documentary delving into the disturbing disparities of infant mortality and maternal health among Black and Brown women, weaving together powerful stories of healing and hope to inspire solution-driven practices that transform the future of maternal care.<\/p>\n<p>Narrated by Academy Award-winning icon, Viola Davis, this seismic cinematic poem is directed by Emmai Alaquiva examines the historic portal between the disturbing disparities of infant mortality and the current state of the maternal health of Black and Brown women.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B6n0c29NfKA?si=mQaKzyIMAur2C07K\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xlfilmfestival\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this profile on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xlfilmfestival\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XL Film Festival<\/a> (@<a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xlfilmfestival\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">xlfilmfestival<\/a>) \u2022 Instagram photos and videos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-37060\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony-560x364.jpg 560w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony-260x169.jpg 260w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony-160x104.jpg 160w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pub-thisebony-768x499.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>What Critics Are Saying<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The film not only highlights inequities but humanizes and is a call for dramatic action in the way that it tells the stories of Black and Brown mothers navigating birth, loss, and survival in a healthcare system that often fails. By preserving deeply personal journeys, from from conception through children&#8217;s first birthdays, it\u00a0 underscores collective responsibility to advocate for solutions.<\/p>\n<p>It features\u00a0 interviews from a broad coalition of voices: Vice President Kamala Harris, actor-advocate Lamman Rucker, and experts like Kimberly Seals Allers (founder of the Irth App), Dr. Margaret Larkins\u2011Pettigrew (OB\/GYN), and Charles Johnson, among others. THE EBONY CANAL balances emotional narrative with expert analysis, offering both empathy and strategy.<\/p>\n<p>The Essence\u00a0 Film Festival is known for celebrating and sparking vital conversations surrounding Black maternal health. One panelist was quoted as saying, that this film &#8220;is a roadmap \u2026 It shows what happens when we listen to Black women, invest in community care, and demand systems change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>THE EBONY CANAL is on tour.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7155\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7155\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-7155\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-560x560.jpg 560w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-260x260.jpg 260w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700-160x160.jpg 160w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gwm-700x700.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7155\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>the WORD<\/strong><\/em> Editor, Reviewer Gregg W. Morris<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE EBONY CANAL aims not only to highlight inequities, but to humanize and inspire action. It tells the stories of Black and Brown mothers navigating birth, loss, and survival in a healthcare system that often fails them. \u2013 Article by Gregg W. Morris, <em><strong>the WORD<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/the-buzz-about-the-ebony-canal-2025-by-greggwmorris-theword\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":37067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2269"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36950"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37073,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36950\/revisions\/37073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}