Wounds Of Eric Garner Killing Raw In ‘Ballad Of A Black Mother’ Documentary

Dominic Patten
·2 min read
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A decade after the filmed death of Eric Garner from a police chokehold on the streets of New York caught the attention of the nation and saw protests throughout America, an upcoming documentary looks at what happens when the cameras are turned off.

Set to come out around the 10th anniversary of the July 17, 2014, killing of the 43-year-old horticulturist by a still unconvicted NYPD officer, Ballad of A Black Mother turns the spotlight on Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother.  Directed by Brad Bailey, the 35-minute film features Carr’s journey from city employee to justice advocate as the Staten Island matriarch grieves the loss of her son.

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Put in a prohibited and fatal chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo that summer day almost a decade ago after Garner complained of constant harassment by the cops, the Black man’s cries 11 times of “I can’t breathe” went unrecognized. Facedown and pinned on the Staten Island sidewalk, Garner was unconscious for nearly 10 minutes before an ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead less than a hour later.

While fired from the NYPD five years later, a grand jury did not indict Pantaleo late that year, despite the official analysis declaring Garner’s death a homicide. In mid-2015, Eric Garner’s family reached a $5.9 million settlement with the city of New York.

In the years since her son’s death, Carr pushed successfully to get Pantaleo canned, as well as advocating for federal and state legislation like the Empire State’s Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, which makes such harsh measures by police illegal. The short documentary goes behind that public work for a look at the private toll.

As well as detailing Carr’s own trajectory, Ballad of a Black Mother delves into the lives of other women who have lost their children to police violence – “the club no one wants to be a part of,” as Carr says in the film.

Ballad of A Black Mother is produced by Brad Bailey Productions and The Aziza Work Group Inc.

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