I told them [the producers] I couldn't compound the lie that Black fathers don't care about their children. I was proud of the family life I was able to introduce to television.
Esther RolleRead
My mother grew up with each of her children - whatever your age, that's the age she'd be when she listened to your stories. She never belittled our problems. It made for something permanent and reliable.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the deep connection and understanding a mother has with her children, validating their experiences regardless of age.
In this quote, Esther Rolle reflects on the unique bond between a mother and her children, highlighting how her mother actively engaged with each child's experiences at their individual levels of maturity. This approach not only fostered emotional support but also created a sense of reliability and permanence in their relationship, allowing for open communication and validation of their feelings without judgment.
In practice
During a Mother's Day speech reflecting on the impact of mothers.
I told them [the producers] I couldn't compound the lie that Black fathers don't care about their children. I was proud of the family life I was able to introduce to television.
I had a wonderful father, and I couldn't bear that television virtually ignored black fathers.
My father died when I was 7. I was his favorite child, and he was my beloved father. I brought him along with me all through my life. Every elderly man has a bit of my father in him for me.
Brain scans show synchrony between the brains of mother and child; but what they can't show is the internal bond that belongs to neither alone, a fusion in which the self feels so permeable it doesn't matter whose body is whose.
What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.
My son smelled like a cinnamon bun, and that smell entered into my biological being, and it became an imperative that I keep him alive at all costs, so then there's this monster - this tiger or lion - that comes forward in you to protect them. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't matter if they become men or women.
If family violence teaches children that might makes right at home, how will we hope to cure the futile impulse to solve worldly conflicts with force?
When I was growing up I wanted to adopt, because I was aware there were kids that didn't have parents. It's not a humanitarian thing, because I don't see it as a sacrifice. It's a gift. We're all lucky to have each other.
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