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A Lorain journalist and producer is highlighting the issues surrounding Black women’s health.
Betty Halliburton, an independent producer and founder of Intentional Content Inc., has produced the docuseries “Black Women: Our Hope, Health and Healing” in collaboration with Ideastream Public Media.
Halliburton also is the media relations personnel for the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival.
The four-part series was birthed out of Halliburton’s other collaboration with Ideastream, “Connecting the Dots Between Racism and Health Disparities.”
“I’m so grateful to Ideastream for sponsoring this project,” she said. “Being an independent producer allowed me to share my gift of storytelling and really do it from my unique perspective.”
The free screening of the series will take place during the festival at 2 p.m., Sept. 16, at One Cleveland Center, 1375 E. Ninth St. in the heart of downtown Cleveland.
Following the screening, there will be a discussion featuring some participants of the docuseries.
Halliburton said the inspiration behind the series came from a study on the health of Black women in Northeast Ohio.
“The study detailed that Cleveland was one of the worst places for women of color, particularly Black women, to thrive in education, business or health,” she said. “I began to look into that because they were talking about me and the women around me.”
Halliburton said the revelation caused her to dive deeper into the issue and seek to showcase the plight of Black women.
“I took it very personally, and became very passionate about presenting this idea to Ideastream,” she said. “There are so many disadvantages that we still face, so I wanted to talk about that and include the aspect of mental health.”
Black women from a myriad of professions including filmmaking, counseling, journalism and health professionals were recruited to tell their stories and give their expertise, Halliburton said.
“This series is so important because Black women are simultaneously portrayed as super women, but in silence, we suffer and put ourselves last,” she said. “This piece deals with so many scenarios and causes us to think.”
Among those showcased were Lorain native Marva Jones, clinical counselor and founder of Tree of Life Counseling and Training Center in Westlake.
“I want people to recognize that their lives are worth living and fighting for; to know they’re special and deserve to have the best life possible while learning from the ways we documented hope and assistance,” Halliburton said.
For more information on the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival, visit gcuff.org.