black parenting
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‘Highly Offended’ White Teacher Kicked My 9-Year-Old Son Out of Class for Taking Knee During Pledge
When my 9-year-old son told me that he had been thrown out of his fourth-grade class for kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance, I was mildly surprised by his actions, but furious with his teachers. Their instinctive responses were harsh reminders of how deeply white supremacy is embedded in the classroom. But more important for…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 2: Lemuria
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. These are their stories. I first met Lemuria Alawode-El in 1994…
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A Late-Ass, Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gift Guide From Me (a Mom) for Your Mama (Also a Mom)
OK, I’ve been too busy taking care of everyone else’s needs first to get to my own, which is a basic condition of motherhood. Getting around to making a list of things that other people can do for us as moms was, to be honest, far down on my personal to-do list. Nonetheless, the clock…
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The Criticism of Jacob Copeland’s Mom Is Unfair (and a Tiny Bit Racist, Too)
The entire spectacle of national signing day is an exercise in absurdity. It’s absurd that major-conference college football is such a behemoth that the decisions made by 17- and 18-year-olds are nationally televised events with press conferences, pep rallies and parades. It’s absurd that these decisions matter enough to create (and end) jobs and shift…
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What It Feels Like to Receive a Call From Your Child After Cops Draw Their Guns on Him
I’ve had the same headache since 2 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 4. My son has had the same nightmares every night since then as well. Most people will say, “Be lucky he wasn’t shot or killed,” but when you send your child to college, the last thing you expect to happen is for him to call…
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Dear Companies That Produce and Sell Shit, Would It Kill You to Add Some People of Color to Your Packaging?
On a recent trip to buy some gifts for my own and other children for Christmas, I decided to venture to the beads-and-bracelets-and-shit aisle of a Toys R Us near my home. This is my go-to aisle when I need a random gift for my daughter or her classmates when we’re on the way to…
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Louisiana Mom Makes Her Son Do Free Yard Work Following 3-Day Suspension From School
Ain’t nobody got time to waste. At least Demetris Payne was not having it with her son when he was suspended from school for three days. Normally, one would think a suspension would be a three-day vacation, but not on Payne’s watch. In an inspirationally petty way (with just a whole lot of loving discipline),…
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I’m About to Be a Father to a Black Boy and I’m Scared to Death for Him (and Me)
My wife and I had gone to the doctor’s for a routine appointment. We weren’t married then; in fact, we weren’t even engaged, but we were ready for a baby. We had a name. We’d gone to Target and purchased a pair of crocheted bunny ears and a rubber duck that can tell the bath…
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Unpopular Opinions: Does Sparing the Rod Spoil the Child? GMG Staffers Weigh In
It all started (in Slack) when one of the Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group staffers started talking about what we call our parents—daddy, mommy, mom, dad, momma, etc.—and then our weekend social media editor and resident comedian, Corey Townsend, admitted: “I called my mother the wicked witch one day and she thought I said bitch … she…
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Solange Pens a Letter to Her Teenage Self, Talks Being a Teen Mom
Solange is gracing the cover of this month’s issue of Teen Vogue and penned a letter to her teenage self, describing life’s ups and downs and how to survive them. In the letter, which was printed in all lowercase, Solange talked about becoming a mom at 17 and how people would count her out: seventeen…