Members of the Case Western Reserve University community are invited to join First Year Cleveland, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, School of Medicine, and community partners for an on-campus screening of Toxic: A Black Woman’s Story. The screening will be held Friday, Oct. 25, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Thwing Center ballroom.
Envisioned, filmed and premiered in Cleveland five years ago, Toxic follows Nina, a pregnant Black woman in her second trimester. The film depicts the cumulative effects of toxic, racialized stress Nina experiences in a single day—and how that stress contributes to infant mortality.
Following the 30-minute film, a facilitated table discussion will be held over lunch to explore how our own bias, history, and racist systems must be named and dismantled to build communities where families can thrive.
In 2021, Black babies made up 35% of births in Cuyahoga County and 59% of infant deaths.
Racism and discrimination are the root causes of infant death. Black mothers in Greater Cleveland are four times more likely to experience the death of their baby than white mothers, regardless of socioeconomic status.
First Year Cleveland, housed at the Mandel School, believes everyone has a role to play in ensuring that every baby born in Greater Cleveland will celebrate a first birthday.