PS: On Instagram, you've said that the freedom of women to "choose" motherhood and embody motherhood also means the freedom to choose how to mother. Could you expand on that?
This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who "mothered" us, along with our biological mothers.
MR: Absolutely! I've been sharing short notes on Black feminist theory and queer studies on Instagram, and one of the recent Stories was about Black women's ability to "choose" motherhood rather than have it be imposed upon them. You know how some people say that "love" is a verb? Well, I think that mothering is like that, too. When you "choose" to mother, you are choosing to parent that child, whether or not that child looks like you or is even biologically related to you.
Black women have been caring for a community of children for all of modern history, yet so much of womanhood is still defined by the ability to bear children. This usually leaves women who are unable to have children or who choose not [to], out of the picture. Yet, they parent children, too, whether adoptive or community-raised children. This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who "mothered" us, along with our biological mothers.
PS: I love what you have to say about kinship and how we define family. It reminds me of an essay about "half"-siblings we published by Lacey Johnson, who wrote: "I believe we limit ourselves when we glorify the idea of genetic connection so much that it limits other connections that ask to heal and bless us."
![PS: On Instagram, you've said that the freedom of women to "choose" motherhood and embody motherhood also means the freedom to choose how to mother. Could you expand on that?
This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who "mothered" us, along with our biological mothers.
MR: Absolutely! I've been sharing short notes on Black feminist theory and queer studies on Instagram, and one of the recent Stories was about Black women's ability to "choose" motherhood rather than have it be imposed upon them. You know how some people say that "love" is a verb? Well, I think that mothering is like that, too. When you "choose" to mother, you are choosing to parent that child, whether or not that child looks like you or is even biologically related to you.
Black women have been caring for a community of children for all of modern history, yet so much of womanhood is still defined by the ability to bear children. This usually leaves women who are unable to have children or who choose not [to], out of the picture. Yet, they parent children, too, whether adoptive or community-raised children. This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who "mothered" us, along with our biological mothers.
PS: I love what you have to say about kinship and how we define family. It reminds me of an essay about "half"-siblings we published by Lacey Johnson, who wrote: "I believe we limit ourselves when we glorify the idea of genetic connection so much that it limits other connections that ask to heal and bless us."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/VmCz1gENjEW1EoapFglc84CIVj8/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2020/05/07/738/n/24155406/76e9b0df3260f1ff_woman-wearing-and-holding-her-pink-cap-3819783/i/PS-On-Instagram-youve-said-that-freedom-women-to-choose.jpg "PS: On Instagram, you've said that the freedom of women to \"choose\" motherhood and embody motherhood also means the freedom to choose how to mother. Could you expand on that?
This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who \"mothered\" us, along with our biological mothers.
MR: Absolutely! I've been sharing short notes on Black feminist theory and queer studies on Instagram, and one of the recent Stories was about Black women's ability to \"choose\" motherhood rather than have it be imposed upon them. You know how some people say that \"love\" is a verb? Well, I think that mothering is like that, too. When you \"choose\" to mother, you are choosing to parent that child, whether or not that child looks like you or is even biologically related to you.
Black women have been caring for a community of children for all of modern history, yet so much of womanhood is still defined by the ability to bear children. This usually leaves women who are unable to have children or who choose not [to], out of the picture. Yet, they parent children, too, whether adoptive or community-raised children. This Mother's Day, we ought to acknowledge all the people who \"mothered\" us, along with our biological mothers.
PS: I love what you have to say about kinship and how we define family. It reminds me of an essay about \"half\"-siblings we published by Lacey Johnson, who wrote: \"I believe we limit ourselves when we glorify the idea of genetic connection so much that it limits other connections that ask to heal and bless us.\"")
