*In a unique and beautiful display of Black motherhood, a photo series showcasing mothers breastfeeding their babies aims to raise awareness and support for women of color who nurse their babies. It may be hard to believe, but there is still a societal stigma behind a woman breastfeeding her infant in a public place such as a restaurant.
The idea came from Angela Warren, a mother and member of the Facebook group Chocolate Milk Mommies of Birmingham. Warren staged women in a variety of outdoor environments, nursing their babies and local photographer and founder of the nonprofit H&C, Inc. Lakisha Cohill captured the women in the photos we see.
In an interview with POPSUGAR, Warren said…
“Being a part of this movement has been life-changing. I didn’t breastfeed due to lack of knowledge and support. These amazing women have convinced me why it’s so important to nurse your children naturally and have created a community specifically to give knowledge and support to moms who breastfeed,” Cohill said. “Each of these women represents a [rewritten] chapter of the story of our history. For as long as I can remember, women (particularly women of color) have been given a script on what they should or shouldn’t be doing, so we decided to drop the original script and create our stories based off who we are [and] not who we’re told to be.”
According to POPSUGAR, the group’s end goal is to normalize breastfeeding and make a woman’s choice to decide how she feeds her baby a bigger part of the conversation.
“I’d like people to see a beautiful bond between women and their children. This [photo shoot] is a statement saying that black women do breastfeed despite being encouraged not to. [We wanted] to show a positive image of black women supporting one another and being powerful, strong goddesses despite the negative ways we have been stereotyped by the world.”
See more beautiful photos of loving mothers and their infants on Cohill’s H&C, Inc. Facebook page.
