"I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it."

-Simone Biles

It’s a new year, which means it’s time to launch some new ideas that I have been brainstorming for months.

I want to introduce you to a new movement I am creating called “Black Beauties of the Bay.” This movement is personally inspired by my daughter. Moving to Green Bay was indeed a cultural shift. We moved from a neighborhood that was well diverse and a school where there was a big mixture of kids of all ethnic backgrounds to here, where I could count how many diverse kids are in my daughters class on one hand. Lehana is biracial and I am currently watching her process through it. We all struggle to a degree with our identities and are on the journey of blossoming into ourselves, but for a biracial kid it can get a little confusing and sometimes painful. I will never forget the car ride that my baby girl wept in the back seat at just five years old. She couldn’t understand why she was “different” then the rest of her immediate family. She gets, “are you adopted, why is your family all white?” Now that she is older and settling in to being not black, not white but Lehana, I want to continue to surround her with other women she can relate to on levels I can’t. For example, her hair… it’s a process we are still learning and in the picture below we figured out a great combo of products that worked well! It only took three hours this time too! It’s important for girls of color to have other’s they can talk to about, and just as important for their moms to have those resources too.

So why this movement? Because I need my daughter and other daughters to see that our community cares. I want to open up more doors to connection and conversations. I want my work to reflect every woman, in age, in ethnicity and social backgrounds. It was also through my photography I was introduced to Heaven Daniels. We worked together for over an entire year and in that time and developed great friendship. Lehana would come with me to help and it was undeniable, her face would light up, her excitement would rise because not only did Heaven understand her and give incredible insight and encouragement, she also loved makeup, just like her. Heaven pours into others with so much love and encouragement it’s downright infectious and I know there are other women of color in our community that are doing the same thing.

I want to use my gifts to enhance our community and honor my daughter and other young women who follow the studio. Our community is in no shortage of amazing women of color who are movers and shakers, full of wisdom and encouragement and I am ready to meet them.

If you are a woman of color and have a story to share, advice, wisdom or would like to share the impact you are making in our community, I want to invite you to write a letter. This letter is not to me, it’s to the younger you. And I want you to share it with me. My daughter and I will read through it and select the top three letters that align most with this movement. The three selected letters will be published on our social media pages on January 27th with your photo and you will get the opportunity to enjoy the full MBP experience + a professional portrait at the studio on Friday, February 7, 2020.

We will then create a blog series sharing more about you and your perspective and a highlight video of your shoot to celebrate Black History Month!