“If Black women do not Love, there is no Love.
As the women go, so do the people. Stopping the woman stops the future.
If Black women do not Love, strength disconnects, families sicken, growth is questionable, and there are few reasons to conquer ideas or foes.
If Black women Love, so come flowers from the sun, rainbows at dusk.
As Black women connect, the earth expands and minds open.” Haki Madhubuti
This article is dedicated to all the Black mothers who have experienced the loss or separation of their children through the U.S. prison system.
Mother’s Day has just passed as we continue to push forward through this cycle called life. We love and honor our beautiful mothers every day, but on this past Sunday, time slowed down for Black families across the country and around the globe. We all slowed down to give complete attention and appreciation to the women who have given us life.
Laughter, tears, the giving of hugs, delicious home-cooked meals, kisses, flowers, candies, cards, huge stuffed teddy bears, bracelets, necklaces, heart-felt gifts, and visits to grave sites culminated throughout the well-deserved day.
There is absolutely no stronger emotion than a woman’s love for her children. Black mothers continue to struggle, support, teach, nurture, and help sustain a sleeping Black Nation.
There is absolutely no stronger emotion than a woman’s love for her children. Black mothers continue to struggle, support, teach, nurture, and help sustain a sleeping Black Nation.
In spite of all the hurt our mothers endure from a child’s absence, they continue to hold families together and uphold the memories that their children have left behind.
The pain of Black mothers losing their children in the U.S. has been a reality for many centuries. During the traditional time of slavery, Black females were commercially valuable to their white slave masters, not only for their labor but also for their ability to produce more children (prisoners of war).
In the United States, millions of Black children were also torn away from their mother’s grip right on the seller’s auction block.
We must never forget that during this horrific time period, every aspect of the Black mother’s reproductive life was controlled and regulated by the economic interests of the slave owners.
Author Dorothy Roberts writes in her book ‘Killing the Black Body’ that “the domination of a Black woman’s reproduction continued after their children were born. Black women were systematically denied the rights of motherhood. Slave mothers had no legal claim to their own children.”
If a Black woman was fortunate to keep her children, she was deprived of the opportunity to nurture them. The primary task for Black women was purely physical, free labor. If our women were allowed to spend time with their children, it was in an atmosphere of labor. Many women strapped their infants to their backs and did whatever tasks they had to do, from picking cotton to cultivating crops.
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Thank you for reading an excerpt of Khabyr Hadas’ article on scoopusamedia.com. To read more of the article, “Black Mother’s Love, Black Mother’s Strength,” please subscribe to Scoop USA Media. Print subscriptions are $75.00 and online subscriptions (Print, Digital and Vizion) are $90. (52 weeks/1 year)
