Building Maternal Futures
Join Pregnancy Justice and Level Forward for an essential discussion of pregnancy and motherhood with leading experts Khiara M. Bridges, Mary Fariba Afsari, and Lourdes A. Rivera, who will be in conversation about the recent, profound changes to reproductive rights and justice, centering the experiences of pregnant people of color, and their efforts to defend the rights and dignity for pregnant people.
Plus, experience a sneak peek of MOTHER JUSTICE – a new narrative short film series with truth-telling fiction honoring Black Motherhood, backed by research and possibilities – created by Level Forward in partnership with Population Media Center. An actor will perform a monologue from Lauren Whitehead’s Cliff & Clara & Her Baby.
There will be an opportunity to purchase signed copies of Expecting Inequity and Labor: One Woman’s Work at the event.
This panel is held in partnership with Monuments to Motherhood, a fifteen-foot-tall bronze sculpture situated in Prospect Park, honoring caregiving in all its forms, recognizing those who nurture, sustain, and support their communities—often in ways that go unseen. Across the country, public statuary rarely reflects these essential contributions, and the role of care remains largely overlooked in civic spaces.
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PARTICIPANTS
Khiara M. Bridges is an anthropologist and the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley School of Law Her newest book, Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans, was released in March 2026.
Lourdes A. Rivera is the president of Pregnancy Justice, a legal nonprofit and advocacy organization that advances and defends pregnant people's rights no matter if they give birth, experience a pregnancy loss, or have an abortion.
Mary Fariba Afsari, DO, is a board-certified OB-GYN and founder of FemForward Health in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of Labor: One Woman’s Work, a powerful exploration of maternal health, reproductive justice, and the lived experiences of women navigating pregnancy and care.
BPL Presents programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
