Episode 33: - Raquiah King and Akeila Ware: When Choosing Life Ends in Death

TWTDNH is a truth-telling podcast on domestic violence, trauma, and systemic injustice. If you’ve survived abuse, loss, or institutional neglect—or work in these spaces—we’re seeking collaborators and experts to help amplify unheard voices. 📧 healingwounds13@gmail.com

In this episode, listeners are invited into two powerful and heartbreaking stories of young Black women whose lives were cut short while carrying the children they longed to welcome. Through Raquiah King and Akelia Ware’s journeys, the episode explores the devastating intersection of pregnancy, intimate partner violence, and systemic inequities in healthcare and society. With compassion and urgency, the narrative honors their choices, their dreams, and the families left behind, while shining a light on the dangers too often ignored.

More than a recounting of tragedy, this episode is a call to awareness and action. It threads together personal reflection, medical insight, and the voices of loved ones to underscore how bias, silence, and violence continue to endanger women—especially women of color. Listeners will leave not only remembering Raquiah and Akelia, but also carrying forward the reminder that protecting mothers and children means confronting uncomfortable truths and demanding change.

If you are Pregnant and need help immediately:

United States Resources:

Pregnant women needing immediate housing..dialing 2‑1‑1 is the fastest way to connect with local housing resources in the U.S.

• WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Program) → https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic
• Medicaid / Pregnancy Medicaid → https://www.medicaid.gov
• TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) → https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/tanf 
• Good Counsel Homes (Maternity Homes in NY/NJ) → https://www.goodcounselhomes.org
• Homeless Prenatal Program (San Francisco, CA) → https://www.homelessprenatal.org
• Dial 2‑1‑1 (U.S.) → https://www.211.org

🌍 Global Resources

• UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) → https://www.unfpa.org
• International Rescue Committee (IRC) → https://www.rescue.org
• Save the Children → https://www.savethechildren.org
• Marie Stopes International (MSI Reproductive Choices) → https://www.msichoices.org

Domestic Violence Support:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.) → https://www.thehotline.org
• Women’s Aid (UK & International) → https://www.womensaid.org.uk

If you are a veteran struggling with your mental health please dial 988 and press 1. YOU MATTER.