Through the Night: Centering the Voices of Caregivers

“One voice will not get anything done.”

Daniel Caldwell – caregiver and advocate

On May 13, 2021, BOLD hosted Through the Night: Where’s the Safety Net? – a post-screening discussion of Through the Night. The film, directed by documentary filmmaker Loira Limbal and broadcast on PBS throughout the month of May, is a monumental work of cultural organizing that gives a platform to child care providers, who are predominantly women of color. The film tells the story of a 24-hour child care provider, Delores “Nunu,” her husband Patrick, and the working mothers who struggle to afford child care for their children and for whom Nunu’s day care center is a haven. Panelists in the discussion around the film included:

Loira Limbal, Through the Night director – an Afro-Dominican filmmaker and DJ and the Senior Vice President of Programs at Firelight Media
Jacklyn Izsraael, a labor and community organizer, a community doula and the GA Organizing Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
Denise Perry, Executive Director of BOLD
Danielle Caldwell, an early childhood educator/childcare advocate, and a veteran Family Child Care Provider
Chanelle ‘C.C.’ Croxton, a labor organizer and the North Carolina Organizing Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance

The powerful conversation began by exploring the role of storytelling in shedding light on the lives of marginalized caregivers and mothers and Limba’s own journey as a mother, filmmaker, and professional to document “Nunu’s” career and life as a caregiver. As it continued, speakers touched on the origins of caregiving in free labor, the invisibility of domestic work, and the historic undervaluing of Black women in the care economy. Danielle Caldwell, a veteran caregiver and two leaders from the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) / We Dream In Black shared their vision for enabling Black women to thrive in their professions as child care workers and domestic workers. Finally, participants shared calls to action for policies that would ensure a living wage and safety net for child care workers in North Carolina and Georgia–and ultimately nation-wide. Listen to excerpts of the conversation here.