Schamica “Mimi” Stevenson was recently photographed breastfeeding her son Josiah, and the photographs are powerful. Photographer Ivette Ivens wanted to photograph Stevenson because of her unique story of strength and survival—Stevenson survived a house fire that killed her baby brother in 1985. She was only 2.
Recently, Stevenson opened up about her experience in a Facebook post on the page Black Women Do Breastfeed. In the post, she described how she was able to become pregnant and give birth to her daughter 14 years ago—and then again, this March:
“I am just so blessed that my breasts didn’t get any damage to them and I am able to nurse my little Prince.
This whole journey has been amazing. I’m so happy to encourage other women to breastfeed as well as be an inspiration for others’ self-esteem. Women feel breastfeeding is so hard and time-consuming and just plain-out painful, but I was determined to do so because I’m just thankful to even have my nipples still.”
After the shoot, photographer Ivens shared a photo from the series on her Facebook page:
“Humans tend to stop themselves from achieving their goals because of insecurities, tragedies, illnesses, etc. Mimi did not have it easy, yet she shines confidence, self-love, fearlessness. All of these features we are already born with, but then life happens and some of them might be washed away. Mimi is a great example of how to fight it back. A true, humble warrior.”
Check out the post below:
