An Angry Black Mom
I decided not to focus on athletes for this week's blog post. The injustices displayed within the past few weeks have been appalling. Myself, along with many others, have been using their social media platforms to create a space for voices to be heard. A beautiful mom who I went to high school with has agreed to share her story. The Pelvic Floor Playbook will forever be a safe space for anyone to share their thoughts and I will always promote real stories. The title and post today were all written by Nneka Jackson, ESQ. Here's her story.
An Angry Black Mom
“The day I found out I was having a boy I was so happy and overwhelmed. Prior to my gender reveal, I already knew deep down inside I was carrying a boy. But seeing blue streamers at the reveal confirmed what I already believed. Once I was able to gather my thoughts, it all sunk in. I was carrying a black man in America in my uterus. And at that moment all of the beautiful thoughts I dreamed of for my son’s future now turned into all of the nightmares I would have for his future.
Long before I was pregnant I knew that one day I would birth a black child, so I spent my time protesting for change, educating people on racism and speaking out whenever I was given a chance. Now that the time was coming and I was preparing for that black child all I could think about was how to keep him safe. How to keep the world from thinking he was dangerous, and a threat. I thought about the lessons his father and I would have to teach him if he encountered a cop who believed him to be dangerous. I knew no matter how smart he was, or how educated he was, or how innocent he was, his race was an automatic death sentence in the eyes of the law. I knew that my son would be born guilty and would wear that conviction for the rest of his life. And while my son is only 2, and still cute and innocent, in 8 years when he turns 10, he won’t be that same cute innocent child in the eyes of most of the world. Being a mother we already have enough worry keeping our children safe.
But as a black mother, you have an added level of stress due to racism and how our kids will be treated. A mother's sole job is to protect our kids, and the constant feeling of knowing there is nothing I can do to protect my child from a racist society is so hurtful that I often shy away from those thoughts. In his final moments George Floyd called on his mama. And as a black mama I’m here, here to protect and save all black sons from the suffocation of racism that has been constantly kneeling on our necks. I will end with this final thought. Being black in America is not tiring, the problems we face for being black in America is tiring. And I will no longer stand to have racism suffocate us any longer.”
