THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
UChicago scholar premieres documentary on racial health disparities
“The Fight for Black Lives” selected for Santa Barbara International Film Festival
In the United States, Black newborns are 2.5 times more likely to die than white newborns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mortality rate for Black mothers (and Black Americans in general) skyrocketed. UChicago Prof. Micere Keels recognized the gap between what research tell us and the media discourse.
“In every major health event, there are racial health disparities because there are core, underlying drivers in access to resources that allow us to recover when we get sick,” said Keels, who studies system inequities in UChicago’s Department of Comparative Human Development. “Yes, COVID matters. But if we keep talking about just this moment, we’re going to be back here again."
Not interested in writing another paper fated to a shelf, Keels was driven to pick up a new educational tool—documentary filmmaking.
“The Fight for Black Lives” explores racial health disparities in the U.S. through personal stories of Black women who were pregnant during the first year of the pandemic, along with experts across the healthcare field. The film also shines a light on how Reconstruction-era policies still affect health outcomes today.
Directed by Keels, the documentary premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this February. The film will also screen on Feb. 23 at the Social Justice Now Film Festival.