Mama's Gon' Buy You a Mocking Bird: Why #BlackMothersStillMatter: A Short Genealogy of Black Mothers' Maternal Activism and Politicized Care

Background: This study examined the relationship between racial identity clusters and postpartum depressive symptoms (PPDS) in Black postpartum mothers living in Georgia. Aims: A cross-sectional study design using Cross’s nigrescence theory as a framework was used to explore the relationship between Black racial identity and PPDS. Method: Black mothers were administered online questionnaires via Qualtrics. A total sample of 116 self-identified Black mothers were enrolled in the study. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 41 years ( M = 29.5 ± 5.3) and their infants were 1 to 12 months old ( M = 5.6 ± 3.5). The majority of mothers were married or cohabitating with their partner (71%), had a college degree (53%), and worked full-time (57%). Results: Hierarchical cluster analysis identified six racial identity clusters within the sample: Assimilated and Miseducated, Self-Hating, Anti-White, Multiculturalist, Low Race Salience, and Conflicted. A Kruskal-Wallis H test determined there was no difference in PPDS scores between racial identity clusters. Conclusion: This study is the first to explore the relationship between Black racial identity clusters of postpartum mothers and their mental health. Findings emphasize the complexity of Black racial identity and suggest that the current assessment tools may not adequately detect PPDS in Black mothers. The implications for these findings in nursing practice and future research are discussed.

Download Full-text

Distinguishing Racism, Not Race, as a Risk Factor for Child Welfare Involvement: Reclaiming the Familial and Cultural Strengths in the Lived Experiences of Child Welfare-Affected Parents of Color

Genealogy ◽

10.3390/genealogy5010011 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 11

Author(s):

Tricia N. Stephens

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Black Mothers ◽

Black Parents ◽

Family Separation ◽

Constant State ◽

Parents Of Color ◽

Family Centered

Child welfare-affected parents of color (CW-PaoC) are often described using language that is deficit-focused, their families depicted as fragile and living in a near constant state of crisis and need. This commentary challenges the stereotypes created by hyper-attention to these parents’ struggles and situates them, and their families, within the broader context of the American appetite for family separation, wherein specific types of families are targeted for scrutiny, intervention and regulation. The concept of fragility within families is dissected to illustrate the ways in which racism and classism demarcate certain families for separation. Excerpts from two separate interviews conducted with Black mothers in 2014 and 2020 are used to illustrate how the appetite for family separation is currently fed. Familial and cultural strengths that counteract the prevailing deficit-focused narrative of CW-PaoC, particularly Black parents, are discussed. This commentary ends with a call for the dissolution of the CW system in its current regulatory form and the rebuilding of family-centered supports that center familial strengths.

Download Full-text

Birthing #blackboyjoy: Black Midwives Caring for Black Mothers of Black Boys During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Maternal and Child Health Journal ◽

10.1007/s10995-021-03224-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Keisha L. Goode ◽

Arielle Bernardin

Keyword(s):

Black People ◽

Professional Organizations ◽

Black Boys ◽

Reproductive Justice ◽

Black Mothers ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Structural Racism ◽

Psychosocial Experiences ◽

Pregnancy And Childbirth ◽

Black Life

Abstract Background Structural racism mediates all aspects of Black life. The medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth, and its detrimental impacts on Black birth, is well documented. The Black Lives Matter movement has elevated the national consciousness on all aspects of Black life, but significant attention has been directed toward the murder and dehumanization of Black men and boys. Black midwives, caring for Black people, using the Midwives Model of Care© which consistently demonstrates its efficacy and better outcomes for Black people, are uniquely positioned to witness the physical and psychosocial experiences of birthing Black boys in America. Methods Between 2011 and 2013, the first author conducted interviews with 22 Black midwives to understand their perceptions of, and experiences in, predominantly white midwifery education programs and professional organizations. Convenience and snowball sampling were used. This paper investigates previously unreported and unexamined data from the original study by focusing on the witness and insight of nine midwives who provided care for Black mothers of boys during pregnancy and childbirth. Findings The data presented three themes: It’s a Boy: On Restlessness and Complicated Uneasiness; Desensitization of Black Death; and, Physiological Impacts of Toxic Stress. Conclusions The findings demonstrate that caring for Black people must be simultaneously theorized and executed within an anti-racist, relationship-centered, reproductive justice framework. Black midwives are uniquely positioned to do this work. Greater attention, in practice and in research, is needed to investigate the birth experiences of Black mothers of boys.

Download Full-text

“Brenda’s Got a Baby”

Journal of Black Psychology ◽

10.1177/0095798415619260 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 50-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Brooklynn K. Hitchens ◽

Yasser Arafat Payne

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Low Income ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Black Mothers ◽

Single Motherhood ◽

Structural Inequality ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Extensive Field ◽

Group Interviews

This secondary analysis examines low-income, street-identified single Black mothers aged 18 to 35 years in Wilmington, Delaware. This study is guided by the following question: To what extent do family composition and criminal record/street activity shape notions of Black single motherhood? “Sites of resilience” theory informs this study by providing a reconceptualization of street life and the phenomenological experiences of street-identified Black women. This analysis draws on 310 surveys, 6 individual interviews, 3 dual interviews, 2 group interviews, and extensive field observations. Findings reveal how these women experience single motherhood within the context of blocked opportunity and structural inequality. Results also indicate that most women socially reproduced childhood attitudes and conditions, including “fatherless” homes and single motherhood. Use and sales of narcotics and incarceration were primary factors for why their children’s father didn’t reside in the home. Findings also suggest that number of children, arrest and incarceration rates, and educational and employment statuses are predictive of marital status in the women.

Download Full-text

Screening for Substance Use Disorders during Pregnancy: A Decision at the Intersection of Racial and Reproductive Justice

American Journal of Perinatology ◽

10.1055/s-0041-1739433 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Kravitz ◽

Michelle Suh ◽

Matthew Russell ◽

Andres Ojeda ◽

Judy Levison ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Social History ◽

Drug Screening ◽

Racial Bias ◽

The United States ◽

Reproductive Justice ◽

Black Mothers ◽

Legislative History ◽

Screening Policy ◽

Screening Study

Objective: Improve racial equity with routine universal drug screening / Study Design: Commentary on the medicolegal and social history of the United States and the field of obstetrics and gynecology regarding drug screening policy / Results: Critical aspects to inform an equitable drug screening policy include (1) racial bias and stigma related to substance use, (2) the legislative history surrounding substance use during pregnancy, (3) the relationship between substance use and mass incarceration which disproportionately affects persons of color, (4) propensity toward punitive measures for Black mothers with substance use, including termination of parental rights, (5) the role of the medical field in fostering mistrust among our patients / Conclusion: new practices in screening for substance use during pregnancy are needed. Key Points

Download Full-text

On Hearing the Daughters’ Call

Philosophy and Global Affairs ◽

10.5840/pga2021285 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 123-155

Author(s):

Elva Orozco Mendoza ◽

Keyword(s):

Political Participation ◽

Human Condition ◽

The Political ◽

Public Performance ◽

The Public ◽

Northern Mexico ◽

Political Theories ◽

The Relationship ◽

Maternal Activism ◽

The Human Condition

This article offers an interpretation of anti-feminicide maternal activism as political in northern Mexico by analyzing it alongside Hannah Arendt’s concepts of freedom, natality, and the child in The Human Condition. While feminist theorists often debate whether maternalism strengthens or undermines women’s political participation, the author offers an unconventional interpretation of Arendt’s categories to illustrate that the meaning and practice of maternalism radically changes through the public performance of motherhood. While Arendt does not seem the best candidate to navigate this debate, her concepts of freedom and the child provide a productive perspective to rethink the relationship between maternalism and citizenship. In making this claim, this article challenges feminist political theories that depict motherhood as the chief source of women’s subordination. In the case of northern Mexico, anti-feminicide maternal activism illustrates how the political is also a personal endeavor, thereby complementing the famous feminist motto.

Download Full-text