Work for black women has been an important and valued dimension of Afrocentric definitions of black motherhood.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the significance of black women's work in defining black motherhood from an Afrocentric perspective.
Patricia Hill Collins highlights that the contributions and labor of black women are integral to understanding black motherhood within the context of Afrocentric values and definitions. By acknowledging this, she asserts the importance of elevating these experiences and perspectives in discussions about motherhood and cultural identity.
In practice
In a discussion on the roles of women in cultural identity, one could reference this quote to highlight the unique contributions of black mothers.
Oppressed groups are frequently placed in the situation of being listened to only if we frame our ideas in the language that is familiar to and comfortable for a dominant group. This requirement often changes the meaning of our ideas and works to elevate the ideas of dominant groups.
To maintain their power, dominant groups create and maintain a popular system of 'commonsense' ideas that support their right to rule. In the United States, hegemonic ideologies concerning race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation are often so pervasive that it is difficult to conceptualize alternatives to them, let alone ways of resisting the social practices that they justify.
The role model approach to social change is no substitute for challenging unjust employment practices, educational policies and housing.
Challenging power structures from the inside, working the cracks within the system, however, requires learning to speak multiple languages of power convincingly.
Under the color-blind ideology of the new racism, Blackness must be SEEN as evidence for the alleged color blindness that seemingly characterizes contemporary economic opportunity.
I look back at 1993 or 1994 when I made it to the National Championships, and I was on used skates and handmade or borrowed costumes. But my mom was there every step of the way for me: she was the one traveling with me all over the world at age 13.
Every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her.
My mother didn't want me to be in fashion. She was in the fashion business, so was my brother, and she thought it was too crazy for me. She wanted me to be married with children, to be independent, yes, but not to have a crazy life.
Rest easy, real mothers. The very fact that you worry about being a good mom means that you already are one.
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?
Few things make the life of a parent more rewarding and sweet as successful children.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.