motherhood photograher
Mommin’ is hard, a lot of the time. We lay down at night and think about all the things that we didn’t finish, didn’t do right or certainly could have done better. The laundry is never completely done, and most of the time their are dishes in the sink ( at least at my house). Regardless of all of the shortcomings we think we have, our babies don’t see any of that. Give yourself some grace, take photos with your babies. It won’t be this way for long.
I grew up in the small town of Grand Cane, Louisiana; in a neighborhood referred to as Ranchland Acres (predominantly white). I was the only child for 14 years until my younger brother was born.
On a few occasions my parents told me stories of some of our older neighbors and how they were labeled racist. I remember my dad having an encounter with one neighbor in particular. Firewood fell off my dad’s trailer in the ditch, in front of the neighbors home. The neighbor was outside, and as my father was turning onto the next street the neighbor literally flagged him down to come back and remove a couple pieces of firewood from the ditch in front of his home.
Working in retail I’ve witnessed first hand experience. One time in particular, myself and another employee were referred to as the colored girl/woman in reference to a mistake that was made.
Yes, after all of the incidents related to officers killing African American men and women and getting away with it. I myself have only had a few encounters with law enforcement during traffic stops . When I found out I was having a son I feared that one day he would miss an opportunity based off the color of his skin. I then knew i would choose a name for him that if he filled out a job application they wouldn’t automatically assume he was a person of color.
I fear that one day he will be wrongful accused or even killed based off the color of his skin. I refuse to teach him to dislike or judge anyone based on how they look different from him.
I have no doubt that he will encounter racism, but my hope for Ashton is that he can grow up in this cruel world and be any and everything he wants to be.
