The Black and Native Bonding Project
According to a 2019 CDC report, Native, Alaskan Native, and Black women have a mortality rate during or right after birth 4-5 times higher than their white counterparts after age 30. Before age 30, the mortality rates for these women during or right after birth are 2-3 times higher. The CDC itself defines this as a national issue, and says these numbers aren't driven by education level, and it's true for women nationwide. The numbers are a deep and painful example of systemic racism, all over our country.
Pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80% since 2018, with COVID being a major factor in the numbers. And with the end of Roe v. Wade, these numbers are only expected to increase dramatically more. We already know that states that have restricted access to abortion services had maternal death rates in 2020 that were 62% higher than in states preserving access to abortion services.
When I read the CDC report in 2019, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This is an ongoing series. I'll always invite women into my studio for photographs. If you want to be a part of the series, please let me know.
Art can't necessarily change a racist system, but through art, we have the power to shine a light on the joy and love women bring in birthing new life. We have an opportunity to humanize women in these three communities -- Alaskan Native, Black, and Native -- and to show depth and beauty in the love and intimacy these women bring to their families, to their children. We have an opportunity to empower marginalized women, to show them that they belong in medical spaces. That they are celebrated and welcomed.
My series of photographs focuses on Native, Alaskan Native, and Black women bonding with their babies and young children. The series is simple and beautiful, and all about love and connection. Skin to skin. Mama to babe. The goal is to hang these photographs in labor and delivery wards in hospitals, in birthing centers, and other public spaces where women go for care -- women's clinics, family doctors.
Pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80% since 2018, with COVID being a major factor in the numbers. And with the end of Roe v. Wade, these numbers are only expected to increase dramatically more. We already know that states that have restricted access to abortion services had maternal death rates in 2020 that were 62% higher than in states preserving access to abortion services.
When I read the CDC report in 2019, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This is an ongoing series. I'll always invite women into my studio for photographs. If you want to be a part of the series, please let me know.
Art can't necessarily change a racist system, but through art, we have the power to shine a light on the joy and love women bring in birthing new life. We have an opportunity to humanize women in these three communities -- Alaskan Native, Black, and Native -- and to show depth and beauty in the love and intimacy these women bring to their families, to their children. We have an opportunity to empower marginalized women, to show them that they belong in medical spaces. That they are celebrated and welcomed.
My series of photographs focuses on Native, Alaskan Native, and Black women bonding with their babies and young children. The series is simple and beautiful, and all about love and connection. Skin to skin. Mama to babe. The goal is to hang these photographs in labor and delivery wards in hospitals, in birthing centers, and other public spaces where women go for care -- women's clinics, family doctors.
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