When you become a Mother, you become a worrier, it is inevitable. Your heart is walking around outside of you in a big scary world and every terrible scenario of terror has runs through your head at one point or another. You would sacrifice anything for your children and you want to protect them with everything you have. You love so much it hurts.

Now, I want you to imagine what it is truly like being the mother of a Black child. You are shown day after day that all of those worries in your head are not just your own self induced fears, but real life horrors that are broadcasted daily. No matter how much you know your child is good, that their heart is kind, they will still be seen as a threat to some people. Their beautiful, perfect skin that you have looked at and loved since the day they were born will become a barrier in a world that has been programmed to believe that somehow being born Black is wrong. It makes my heart break every time I think about this, it should make your heart break too.

I created this project to elevate the voices of some of the amazing Black Womxn in our community. I want to celebrate Black Joy because I know there is so much of it that gets ignored, I wanted to celebrate Black success, because as a society when only acknowledge it when it benefits us, usually via entertainment or sports. I want to show you Womxn who who have worked their entire lives to elevate voices in their own community not because of accolades, but because of love. These are Womxn who have carried hope in their hearts despite deep generational pain that has been carried on over and over again. They are mothers who matter, with children who matter, and husbands who matter. The Black Lives Matter movement is necessary because for so many years we have ignored the pain of Black people in our country. We did not want to look at ourselves and admit that we were wrong about so many things. We believed this made up narrative that has been fed to us by a system that benefits from the lies it tells. We are all guilty of buying into a way of life that only benefits a select few people while the others have to work twice as hard just to survive. I am so tired of screaming into the abyss but I keep screaming because my tiredness means nothing when I think of the many years my fellow brothers and sisters of color have been screaming and crying and dying in the name of white supremacy.

I have been showing you lots of pretty photos over the past month. I hope in my heart you have been able to see beyond the beautiful photos to the souls of these absolutely amazing Womxn I have photographed.

I hope it has changed the way you see your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend, a stranger. These are Womxn just like you, they are mothers, healers, artist, friends and wives. They are patiently waiting for you to see them. Begging you to stand up and use your voice to help them. If you have been touched by this project, I hope you have taken the time to look within to see where you have contributed to the problem of racism in your own life. It is not easy, it is uncomfortable. We can be uncomfortable together. It is ok to admit faults, to grow from mistakes, to unlearn old patterns. You are not alone, this is a revolution of our hearts and how we treat fellow human beings.

I wanted to start this post on Kimberly with this info, because her story touched my heart so deeply when I met her. She fell into some serious depression for a period of time. Her depression was triggered by her fear for her son and her husband. Yes, those terrors I talked about that are so real, they paralyzed her. But, her story doesn’t end there. She decided one day she had to get out of bed, she started doing yoga on a regular basis. It was there, on the mat, that Kimberly started her path to healing. She showed up for herself even when she didn’t want to. She spent months working on herself and finding new ways to fight her depression. I am so proud of Kimberly, her story is so inspiring to me. I read this quote recently about true healers being people who help you find your own path to healing. No one can heal you, but you. Kimberly is a healer, she is now helping others find their way by teaching yoga and listening. After our photo session together, she sat with me as I cried and shared my own journey. She offered wonderful advice. We went from strangers to friends within an hour just because of our stories. It was such a loving experience that I will always be grateful for. Let’s keep these conversations going.

Find Kimberly at Just Be Connected Yoga where she is offering virtual classes.

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commissioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.