Welcome to America......where the land of the free was stolen from the natives and was built on the backs of slaves.Where black mothers die at 3x higher of a rate than white mothers during pregnancy and childbirth...And where our history is hidden just out of our reach.

Did you know that finding imagery of birth of slaves is basically nonexistent?What do we have to show us that we were more than capable of birthing and caring for our birthing mothers, even during a time when our rights were (obviously) removed from us.Nothing.

So, this is my interpretation, based on what little I could find on the subject, of "slave birth".

This imagery is important to ME, because it sheds light to what has been left in the dark.Not only were we fierce birthers, we were fierce mothers.Not only did we mother our own, but we mothered "massa's" children, too.We passed on, from generation to generation, the art of midwifery before midwives even had a name.

So, this Mother's Day, I want to remember and honor those mother's who were deemed by this nation, unworthy savages - property.

Thank you.

I call this series:"UNTO US A SLAVE IS BORN"

Part I

Part II

So, this is PART TWO of my interpretation of what the birth stories of slaves might look like, based on what little I could find on the subject, of “slave birth”, because google failed me when I initially was searching for images from this era.

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Yes, we were slaves in America. We have been exposed to and subjected to so much heartache during that time that has transferred into our society today. We were enslaved physically, mentally, and spiritually. People are quick to say things like “That was a long time ago, get over it”, it’s apparent that we are expected to let the sins of THEIR fathers slide.

The reality is that their fathers have historically been sliding into our women’s beds even when we were demonized and enslaved. They raped our women, impregnated our women and then allowed their seed to join their slave mothers and work the land with our women or be “blessed” to be distinguished as a “house nig***”.

Because, let’s face it...they weren’t about to claim these children.

Let’s fast forward, shall we? Since we should leave slavery in the past...

Has anyone thought to consider that there’s a chance that only a couple generatations down the line - great, great grandparent maybe - that you could be related, due to RAPE swept under the rug, to someone of the opposite race?

If you identify as white and are reading this, how does that make you feel?

What about if you’re black?

Anyways,

I call this series:

“Sins of Their Fathers”

Part III

TRIGGER WARNING, do not scroll through this set if miscarriages trigger you. You’ve been warned.

Can you imagine, basically being bred like an animal to produce babies and future slaves for Massa to line his pockets and build HIS family’s wealth?

Can you imagine being forced to do hard and manual labor outside for hours on end in the blazing southern heat while being pregnant? Only for that child to be taken from you as an infant and sold away and you are forced to keep on working shortly after their birth…

Can you imagine still being beaten, but conveniently so, by having to lay on the ground with a hole dug out just for your belly to sit for the most trivial things?

What happens when, because of your circumstances during your pregnancy, the unimaginable happens?

I present, “Labor in Labor”.