We support all families to thrive–young, immigrant, queer, single, immigrant deserve the love, support and resources they need. Visit us at http://strongfamiliesmovement.org.
What if all the grassroots groups who work with the families who are consistently pushed to the margins and thrown under the bus talked about their causes as if they were all connected? What if we worked as if we were facing the same stigma and hate? What if I, in my parenting, felt connected to immigrant mamas fighting to reclaim their community? What if I, in my resistance, understood deeply my relationship to mothers who lose their children to juvenile justice, foster care systems, and/or incarceration?
If you happen to be a woman of color, you simply don’t have any business that is your own, as far as society is concerned. The Jezebel and Welfare Queen stereotypes shape the responses you receive from others when you have a belly full of baby. So, the next time someone asks me how many more babies I’m going to have, I will have to respond with a “Girllllll, stay out my bedroom.”
Sometimes I want to be "that mom." Not the mom that wakes up and first thing disconnects a tube from her son's belly that just administered medication. Sometimes I want to be the other mom, whose kid grows out of their shoes so fast she hears the cash register at Foot Locker ringing in her sleep.
Let's recognize that the way to honor motherhood is to respect and support a woman’s decision about whether she is ready to be a parent. That means making sure that every pregnant woman, regardless of her ability to pay, has health care insurance coverage for all of her medical needs, including abortion.
When I think about Mother’s Day, I usually picture a Dad in plaid pajama pants destroying the kitchen with his kids in a clumsy effort to make his wife breakfast in bed. Mother’s Day looks a little different in our house.
Hyatt Hotels, a global corporation, has been engaging in its own war on women... their own workers. This Mama’s Day, I want to recognize an incredible group of women who are fighting back to demand better treatment for themselves and their co-workers.
All this burning of fossil fuels ends up in our lungs, or in the sky warming our planet. I growl at the statistics. My blood boils at seeing mostly kids of color wheezing in the emergency room right alongside of us. We need a big transition.
My daughters! Remember that the secret of eternity is being in the moment, connected to everything real while breathing the dreams of the past and the future.
