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What’s It Like to Be a Black Mother in America? These 10 Articles Are a Must Read

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While I can never fully understand another person’s experience, especially when that experience is far from my own, reading is one way to deepen my understanding of someone else’s journey. As a white mom, I know that I will never be able to fully grasp what it’s like to be a Black mom. I also know that’s not a reason to not try—I need to learn and increase my awareness.

Obviously, to truly educate myself, it will require more than reading about it on the Internet. But I can say that I’m grateful to have access to the following articles written by Black women, featuring their own and others’ perspectives about what it’s like to be a Black mom in America.

Read on for links directly to these 10 powerful stories, articles, and essays, as well as links to each writers’ website, Twitter handle, and Instagram handle, as available.

 

1. As a Black Mother, My Parenting Is Always Political by Dani McClain (@dani_mcclain, @drmclain)

 

2. Dear White Parents, My Black Son and Husband Need You Right Now by Laura Adom (@lauraadom_)

 

3. Raising a Black Son in the US: ‘He Had Never Taken a Breath, and I Was Already Mourning Him’ by Jesmyn Ward (@jesmimi)

 

4. The Unbearable Grief of Black Mothers by A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez (@amrothom)

 

 

5. The Policing of Black Motherhood In A Nation We Were Never Meant To Survive Free by Carmen Green

 

6. This Isn’t Another Horror Story About Black Motherhood by Helena Andrews-Dyer (@helena_andrews)

 

7. What’s Lost When Black Children Are Socialized Into a White World by Dani McClain (@dani_mcclain, @drmclain)

 

8. Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-Or-Death Crisis by Linda Villarosa (@castinginthewind, @lindavillarosa)

 

9. We Asked Black Mothers How They Find Their Joy. This Is What They Said. by Krissah Thompson (@krissah30)

 

10. Being a Protective Black Mom Isn’t a Parenting Choice—It’s the Only Choice by Dasia Moore (@daijmoore)

 

Read More: 12 Books We’re Adding to Our Anti-Racist Reading List