“After he’s received a graduate degree, married and had children of his own—even then I will worry, because his Blackness will not have faded. … When the downstairs door finally opens and the hushed steps to his room recede down the hallway, I take my first deep breath of the night. Relieved, that at least on this night, my son’s name will not be preceded by a hashtag.”
Tag: Parenting
Black Mothers Are Still Fighting For Their Murdered Children
Black mothers of those killed as a result of police brutality and racially motivated gun violence are making positive change in the wake of their children’s deaths.
“When George Floyd called his mama,” said Diallo, “all of the mothers were summoned to push forward and make things happen. Our strength, our strength is to really push forward the change we need because we’re not going to give up.”
The Sex Talk—With a Little Help from Classic Teen Comedies
Here are five teen films with female protagonists from the 1980s and 1990s (in date order) to get your “sex talk” started. Maybe in their imperfection, you can find moments that will spark dialogue and reflection.
Dear America and My Soon-to-be Sprout
Author Elizabeth Rush explores the intersection of motherhood and environmental activism in this letter to her future child. The letter is included in a new book, Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance and Democracy.
Equal Pay for Moms During COVID-19
June 4, 2020 is Moms’ Equal Pay Day, marking the amount of additional days that moms have to work to earn the same amount of money as the average U.S. dad earned last year.
Unanswered Questions, Obvious Answers: Hunger in the Age of COVID
Prior to COVID-19, nearly 40 million people did not know where they would find their next meal. In the wake of the pandemic, that number has risen to over 60 million and is still climbing. So why haven’t Congress and the Trump administration moved heaven and earth to get SNAP to all those Americans who need it?
Naked: Being Seen is Terrifying, But Liberating
“Nakedness can mean so many things. It can be innocent or provocative, a symbol of degradation or an act of trust. Oddly, even though it’s our natural state, to be naked feels like stepping outside the order of things. We’re unaccustomed to being so visible.”
The Ms. Q&A: The Feminist Case for Guaranteed Income
Roughly half of all single mothers make less than $30,000 per year, and nearly 30 percent of households led by single mothers live in poverty. A guaranteed income recognizes caregiving as work and gives the most marginalized women a stable foundation to stand and build upon.
New Playbooks Help Parents Approach Sex Ed From Home
In the U.S., 29 states require abstinence be stressed in sex ed programs, and only nine require they be LGBTQ inclusive. Many curriculums leave out consent entirely.
The Bloom Homeschooling Playbooks aim to help parents start age-appropriate conversations with their kids about consent, relationships, sexuality and gender identity.
My Daughter’s Abandoned Prom Dress
“All the chaos and upheaval, the illness and death, the exploding unemployment and the imploding economy bring out my fiercest maternal instincts. Letting our children go is hard enough in normal circumstances. Launching them into their futures in the middle of a global pandemic feels impossible.”