19/06/2020
Here is looking fierce as ever 3 months after giving birth.
Working with Yasmine on her maternity shoot, we learned a lot about the challenges Black mothers face during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. "Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's partly why the overall rate of pregnancy-related deaths has climbed over the past two decades, making the maternal mortality rate in the United States the worst in any industrialized country, according to a 2016 analysis published in the journal The Lancet."
When Yasmine was giving birth, we were there for support and safety. And she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Watching her be full of joy, connecting with her son every breathing second is fulfilling. However, I know that her experience of motherhood is weighed down by the uncertainty of the future of Black men in America: "One day someone won't think he's cute anymore and will think he's a threat." In Chicago (1955), 14-year old Emmet Till, was accused by a white woman for flirting with her and he was later found brutally murdered by her husband and son. In 2017, she testified that her accusation was false. In Central Park (1989), a white woman was assaulted, and five 13-year olds boys were incarcerated. After 13 years, they were released, proven innocent. In 2020 (South Georgia), Ahmaud Arbery, age 25, was shot by a white man and his son while jogging. There are many more examples where our biases, prejudices and racism fueled "feeling unsafe" which then caused a black man to lose his life unjustly.
I share this, because I strongly believe that art exists to send people a message, to reflect the times or to show a possible future. This portrait series is a reflection of a conversation we've been having about motherhood, its joy, its challenges, about being a Black woman and a mother raising a child during COVID-19 and a racial pandemic. It exists to inspire, to evoke empathy, and to promote understanding one another. People say that it's differences that separates us, but I think, it's our lack of empathy that stands in our way of seeing our similarities. Thank you for reading.