Growing up, I was dominantly surrounded by Black women and raised by a single Black Mother. It is something that I value and cherish, and it shaped the Black woman I am still becoming. Through reading other people’s experiences and ideas of either being a Black woman or truly knowing a Black woman, I noticed how it is still commonly mentioned how strong Black women are and how we can handle anything that comes to us. For most of my life, I accepted this as a victory and something to be proud of. Though as I have aged, I see how detrimental this notion is in moments of true weakness and how it has affected Black women’s health and wellbeing both physically and mentally, including myself.
 I was later brought back to the words of author, teacher, activist and cultural critic, Brittney Cooper, where she simply, yet vitally states: “We can neither heal nor fix that which we will not confront.” Through remembering these words with a renewed conscious, holding onto my own questions concerning my own body, my life, my experiences and how I navigate through hardships as a Black woman, With Love, To You was born.
With Love, To You is an ongoing body of work created during a challenging period in my life where I am critically examining, unlearning and learning many things about myself and ideals I held to be “true” for so long, including but not limited to the labels placed on me as a “strong” Black woman. Daring to be vulnerable, I examined and critically photographed myself, various environments and subjects where I am emotionally drawn. 


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Alayna N Pernell

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