Maternity Made In All Black
Maternity Made In All Black
“Remembering our roots, the strength of them, and the beauty of what we look like in our own brands”
2020 was major year... a lot happened, and a lot didn’t happen. It was a huge year for the culture when I think about it. I remember the end of “Horton Hears a Who” when the son who didn’t talk climbed to the highest of highs to make the loudest of loud sound all so, as a collective, the animals could hear every who saying, “we are here, we are here, we are here!” And not that as a people we have never been here, but it was time for those who didn’t know, didn’t care, and weren’t sure to know for sure WE ARE HERE! I’ve never been more proud, so there was no debate about what I wanted the theme of my maternity photo shoot to be. I knew the photos would live beyond my moment in time I was enjoying and so I wanted it to embody and capture what we as a people were experiencing at the moment because it affected my pregnancy in so many ways.
Now becoming a boy mom raised a lot of thoughts, questions, and awareness. The poor prenatal care I was receiving made me living proof that we go unheard, unseen, and there’s no one around to fight for us because it’s us vs big business and all of that affected my mental and my unborn and my well being. This entire year for me felt like it came with a since of empowerment and entitlement to take what’s ours. I chose all black designers for my attire and I chose all black business owners for my hair, makeup, and photography; and I chose to do my photos in my grandmother’s yard (that land holds a story for our family as well) because I’ve always known that we have to support us and that we have to use our platforms. This was a choice I made that my photo shoot would capture me, but it was more than just about me... it was about family, strength, unity, and the essence of the black community. You see I understood the power of fashion and the power of black dollars. I chose 3 looks to channel all of this energy.
For my Poetic Justice look the feature piece was the Malcolm X Jersey from Melanin Apparel. For one, we know what that movie means to the culture and two, if you look closely the arm reads “by any means necessary” in red.... BOLD (just like me). For what I called my Mother of Nature look I chose to use a bright colored Ankara Crop top from Ankara Delights, Beautiful Handmade earrings from Ch0ked, and choker from Truface by Grace. I wanted to give a feeling of remembering our roots, the strength of them, and the beauty of what we look like in our own brands. For my last look that I called Queen of Hearts I chose the focal piece to be a fitted yet free flowing white skirt from Hanifa’s Congo line (that also has a story tied to it about Congo itself) crowns, and my little family. For this look I wanted it to read that we as a culture are royalty, the strength in family, and I chose white because it symbolizes light and I was bringing light to the situations at hand and what we could become if we took a stand. I knew that the moment wouldn’t last forever, but the photos would and I wanted to be able to look back and not only see, but feel the power of fashion and current events that we will one day call history. Take a look at the photos and tell me what you see.
