[ad_1]
Actress Tatyana Ali has a long history of advocating for black women, especially when it comes to fighting for reproductive justice amid the black maternal mortality crisis, as she shared with SheKnows earlier this year. Now the mom of two boys, Edward “Aszi” 4, and Alejandro, 1, share a “protest photo” on the first day of Black Breastfeeding Week.
Related story
Halsey just shared another unfiltered breastfeeding pic: “Welcome to the Jungle”
“I don’t want to see any negativity in my comments section,” Ali, who played Ashley Banks on The prince of Bel-Air, captioned an Instagram photo of herself breastfeeding her youngest child, with her oldest son looking at the camera. “If you can wiggle your fingers to be negative about this image, then you don’t know what it is. It’s a protest photo. Black women are posting these photos to show their solidarity in a resistance movement that is old. I post pictures of myself breastfeeding my babies because with it I bring the much needed hope and joy to my sisters who can and choose to breastfeed their babies but are harassed by uneducated people “confused” in their lives and even more worrying, harassed by health care providers who know full well that breastfeeding should be encouraged. It is a movement to normalize black breastfeeding and publicize its processes and nuances.
Ali dedicated his post to Syesha Mercado, the American Idol alum whose newborn girl and baby boy were taken from her and her partner by child welfare authorities in Sarasota, Florida. Earlier this month, authorities took the girl, whose name is Ast, from the arms of Mercado in an unexpected welfare check despite protests from Mercado that she is still breastfeeding. Although Mercado has recently reunited with his daughter, his 15-month-old son Amen Ra is still not with his family. In March, the boy was placed in manatee child protection services after hospital workers suspected him of being “severely malnourished,” as NBC News reported, claiming Mercado has denied.
“Amen Ra’s mom @syesha went to the hospital with questions about breastfeeding and hydration,” Ali wrote. “It was when she sought help from health professionals in this area of her maternity journey that CPS unfairly took her 15-month-old son away from her. And it was for these reasons alone that they then snatched her 6-day-old newborn baby girl from her loving arms. Black midwives tell us that lactation is a primary source of conflict in hospitals between black patients and providers.
She added, “So when I post these photos please understand that this is a matter of life and death, an issue regarding our civil liberties, our sanity and our only protection from those who believe that they have the right to harm us and our children. If seeing an image like this awakens in you a violence that would belittle this moment of love in my family’s life, then get the hell out of my page. And, I really mean it. I love us.”
Thank you, Tatyana, for using your voice and platform to take a stand for black women and for continuing to share these powerful stories.
And before you go, check out these awesome books that cover the mental and physical health of black women:
[ad_2]
Source link