Ella Baker and Deja Vu–51 Years Later

Eight months ago, I wrote what is now the most popular post on Mamademics: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Why White Moms Need To Care About Murdered Black Children. My initial reasons for writing that post centered around the deafening silence coming from white allies, particularly moms on the deaths of young Black men and women, particularly at the hands of white vigilantes and police officers. After my post, there were of course people who proved my points, but there were also so many people who spoke up about wanting to make a change. In the last eight months, the conversations I’ve had with other mothers, while uncomfortable at times, have given me so much hope for the future. Those conversations sparked my Raising an Advocate series, which I’ve neglected a bit the last few months.

Earlier today while watching a marathon of  African Americans: Many Rivers, a PBS series with Mr. S and Sesame they showed snippets of a speech that Ella Baker gave in 1964. I felt a chill as I heard Baker say “Until the killing of black men, black mothers’ sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother’s son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens.” She said those words 51 years ago today and yet here we are still asking for our sons’ lives to matter. For our daughters’ lives to matter. For our husbands’ and wives’ lives to matter. Just let that sink in for a moment…

Now what are we going to do to insure that in 2066 Black mothers aren’t still writing these same words? How are we going to dismantle the institutional and systematic racism that is still so embedded in the fabric of our country? Let’s talk…

I’m ready to be part of the solution and I hope you’ll join me in the online course, Raising an Advocate 101.

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