Strong Families
Strong Families
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.
All Work
Motherhood: An Exercise in Fear Management and a Vision for Courage
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?
Criminal Injustice: Arrested and Detained Parents Are Denied Opportunity to Contact and Make Arrangements for Their Children
A part of keeping families safe and secure is making sure that in times of misfortune, children and their parents are able to communicate.
Stay Out of My Bedroom: Women of Color Have the Right to Decide If and When to Parent
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.”
I Am (Not) That Mom: Raising a Kid with Cardiomyopathy
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.
Honoring Motherhood Means Honoring a Woman’s Decision About Whether She Is Ready to Mother
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.
Our Mothers: A Lesbian Mom Examines the Mother She Thought She’d Be and the Mother She Is
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.
Fighting Back Against Hyatt’s War on Mamas
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.
Moms Need Abortion Access Too
Nearly ten years ago, I made one of the toughest parenting decisions of my life: I terminated a much-wanted pregnancy.
Commentary Weaning Us Off Of Dirty Energy: For Mother’s Day, Solar Energy for All
Weaning Us Off Of Dirty Energy: For Mother’s Day, Solar Energy for All
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.
Mother’s Day Poem: A Mother’s Moment of Clarity
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.
Mother’s Day for the Rest of Us: What Mamas Need Can’t Be Found in a Greeting Card
The mothers whose lives are not being reflected on greeting cards are in need of something that can’t be delivered, worn, or eaten. They need policies that accurately reflect the reality of their daily lives.
Commentary Maternity and Birthing
Unchain My Heart: The Shackling of Pregnant Women in Prison Needs to Stop
We thought passing our antishackling bill would be easy. After all, who would want to be seen arguing that pregnant women should wear chains?
Queer Mamas of Color: All The Ways People Make Families
Being a queer mama of color, in all of the ways that we are queer mamas of color, means that we have to talk about race, immigration, disability, class, gender, gender identity, and sexuality. We have to name these things because they shape how, where, when, and why we parent.
Commentary Mamahood by Choice, Not Chance
Mamahood by Choice, Not Chance
This Mama’s Day, I encourage all women to stand up and say, "Mamahood by Choice!" Becoming a mama should always be a decision that a woman makes with her partner—and not because she doesn’t have access to family planning.
Loving So Much It Hurts: Why I’m Not Sure If I Can Be a Mom
The question of motherhood, of raising a child, of being a mother to another human life is so loaded for me that I spend an equal amount of time trying not to think about it and obsessing about it.
Remembering Bei Bei Shuai on Mama’s Day
Almost two months ago, I wrote about Bei Bei Shuai on my blog, Radical Doula. Now it’s Mama’s Day, and Bei Bei is still in prison.
Mama’s Day Our Way: Celebrating Diversity on Mother’s Day 2012
Mother's Day has a way of making everyone feel like an outsider. This brunch-y, kid friendly version of Mother's Day, creates the feeling that there is some elusive "right way" to celebrate and be celebrated. We want to flip that.
