Shawnee Benton Gibson is a New York City-based left-of-center activist who focuses on Black women, abortion access, and maternal care. She is the CEO and the co-founder of Spirit of A Woman (S.O.W.) Leadership Development Institute, which offers professional development, including “psychodrama,” a “therapeutic healing modality in which clients are able to use action methods and their physical bodies as mediums for unearthing personal truths and healing from traumatic experiences.” She appeared in the 2022 film Aftershock, which tells the story of her daughter’s death after giving birth in 2019. ¹

Background and Work

Shawnee Benton Gibson is a graduate of New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. She works in women’s health, focusing on “social justice” and maternal-mortality outcomes for minority women. ²

Gibson is the co-founder and CEO of Spirit of A Woman (S.O.W.) Leadership Development Institute. The organization states that it uses “traditional methods of understanding development to incorporating learning strategies that honor the whole person” ³ The professional development page also discusses using “psychodrama,” a “therapeutic healing modality in which clients are able to use action methods and their physical bodies as mediums for unearthing personal truths and healing from traumatic experiences.” The method was conceived and developed by J.L. Moreno and uses “guided dramatic action” to examine problems or issues raised in a group, or in individual counseling. ⁴

In Spring 2023, Spirit of A Woman (S.O.W.) Leadership Development Institute is advertising a 4-month program called the “Be The Tree” collective that claims to “ignit[e] mental, spiritual and emotional shifts in the lives of the women.” The program claims to include “interactive and experiential activities, authentic and enlightening group discussions, sacred rituals, emotional and artistic expression and a level of camaraderie and sisterhood with other women that expanded their capacity to partner, share and trust.” ⁵

Gibson is also the founder and CEO of The Griots’ Healing Circle, a boutique consulting firm offering coaching, counseling, workshop and training experiences. ⁶

Tedx Talk

In a Tedx Talk published on October 4, 2022, Gibson discussed the death of her daughter while giving birth to a son in 2019. The talk focuses on the impact of words in changing the maternal mortality outcomes of minority women. In the talk, Gibson claimed that people need to “step up” and “speak up” to “ensure systemic racism and oppression do not destroy black lives.” ⁷

Aftershock

Gibson appears in the movie Aftershock, a 2022 documentary film directed and produced by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee. The film tells the story of Shawnee’s daughter who died in October 2019, 13 days after she gave birth to a son at age 30. The film features her family and Bruce McIntyre, whose 26-year-old partner Amber Rose Isaac died in April 2020 after an emergency cesarian section. The filmmakers gave their subjects iPhones so they could film themselves during lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁸

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2.  “SOW Leadership Development.” SOW. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://sowleadershipdevelopment.mykajabi.com/state-department-and-professional-development-1
3. “SOW Leadership Development.” SOW. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://sowleadershipdevelopment.mykajabi.com/state-department-and-professional-development-1
4. “SOW Leadership Development.” SOW. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://sowleadershipdevelopment.mykajabi.com/state-department-and-professional-development-1
5.   “Be The Tree.” SOW. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://sowleadershipdevelopment.mykajabi.com/Be-the-Tree
6. “The Mother Wit Conference.” Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.themotherwitconference.com/shawnee-renee-benton.html
7. “Words & Wombs Create Worlds: The Black Maternal Health Crisis | Shawnee Benton Gibson | TEDxBoston.” Youtube. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI2Ysub_sxc
8. Bahr, Lindsey. “‘Aftershock’ puts human face to maternal health crisis in US.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. Jan. 25, 2022. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/national/story/2022-01-25/aftershock-puts-human-face-to-maternal-health-crisis-in-us