As an adolescent, talking about getting your period for the first time with your mom or the mother figure in your life has never been easy, but now, thankfully, there are a plethora of resources to help guide a candid conversation surrounding puberty, menstruation, and holistic health.
Our young girls shouldn’t feel like they have to hide their periods or like they are full-grown women once they begin menstruation. The Black Women’s Health Imperative’s film ME Period illuminates the critical importance of understanding and prioritizing menstrual health, especially for Black women and girls whose unique health experiences are often overlooked. It also features impactful stories and beloved mother-daughter duos like Tabitha Brown and Choyce Brown, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Ivy Coco Maurice. The film has started a national tour, playing in cities like Washington D.C. and Martha’s Vineyard and showcasing at the 30th ESSENCE Film Festival in New Orleans. At this year’s festival, it won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary.
Founded on the campus of Spelman College over 40 years ago, BWHI is the nation’s only organization solely dedicated to the health and wellness of Black women and girls. ME Period was created to bring awareness to menstrual health and foster a larger conversation around the health disparities Black women face throughout their lives. The film and events like this screening are a testament to BWHI’s ongoing commitment to women’s health education and advocacy.
Lisa Cunningham, the film’s director and executive vice president of Black Women’s Health Imperative, was inspired to create this film because of the organization’s founder and healthcare activist, Byllye Avery. Cunningham referenced Avery’s iconic 1987 documentary, ‘On Becoming a Woman: Mothers and Daughters Talking to Each Other,’ which featured two generations of Black women discussing their experiences with menstruation, sex, and love.
Cunnigham thought it was time to reprise Avery’s film’s core theme, providing a safe space for a candid conversation about puberty, getting your “first period,” and the importance of reclaiming our bodies. “This movie symbolizes freedom. We hope viewers feel like they are freeing themselves of the shackles of thinking that their bodies are cursed,” Cunningham said to ESSENCE.
Regarding her reasoning for selecting Tabitha Brown and Sheryl Lee Ralph, the decision was rooted in relatability. “I needed people who, when people saw them on the screen, they could trust them. They were those authentic, trusted voices. I knew Tabitha was going to say something nobody else would say and that viewers could see themselves through her on the screen,” she said.
On October 25, 2024, Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) hosted a private screening of the award-winning documentary ME Period at the Regency Theater in Inglewood, California. The Los Angeles screening had 375 guests filling the theater, creating a vibrant and engaged audience. Tabitha Brown and her daughter Choyce attended as special guests of honor.
Before the screening, we also had the opportunity to speak with Tabitha and Choyce about their personal experience with having that particular period talk with each other and about their time participating in this film. The fabulous mother-daughter-duo authentically underscored the importance of this topic and elevated the conversation surrounding menstrual health and community advocacy.
“We are mother-daughter, but we’re also a new season of being best friends. This is a conversation that we had. I was very adamant about teaching her about her period. I had a horrible period growing up, so I wanted her not to be afraid,” Tabitha Brown shared.
Choyce said, “I needed my story to be out because I feel like we don’t talk about it enough, and it was a scary time for me, so I needed to know, right? And I was just happy to share because, you know, it’s a normal thing that we should feel comfortable talking about.”
Tabitha continued, “No matter who you are or your status, we all have the same issues. We all go through the same thing, right? So speaking about these important issues brings us together to let everybody know, ‘Honey, we are just all the same.’”
Throughout the screening, the audience was captivated, and many moved to tears as they witnessed the powerful storytelling that ME Period offers, highlighting themes of menstruation, puberty, sexual assault, common misconceptions and stereotypes of periods, and coming to terms with womanhood.
Following the film was an informative panel discussion moderated by Sonya Young Aadam, CEO of CBWHP (California Black Women Health Project), with the film’s director, Lisa Cunningham, Dr. Zsanai Epps, Director of Reproductive Justice Initiatives at BWHI (Black Women’s Health Imperative) and Sharonnie Jackson, BWW (Black Women for Wellness) Rites of Passage program coordinator.
This screening is relevant in light of recent legislation, such as California’s new “Know Your Period” Act, which mandates menstrual health education in public schools. Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent approval of the Act makes California a leader in menstrual health education, setting the stage for community conversations around menstruation to grow into mainstream health dialogues. This event aligns with BWHI’s mission to ensure women’s health remains a top priority and advocates for menstrual equity in education and policy.
Keep up with the ME Period film here.
