Black Feminist Mothering in 21st Century Literature : I Am Not Your Mammy

This volume positions Black feminist mothering as much more than biological or caregiving role. Building on key Black feminist tenets, Dr. Carr examines Black women’s maternal labors as the radical proclamation of our ability to mother ourselves, tend to each other, and nourish our communities.

Black feminist mothering can birth new worlds, and as today’s world becomes increasingly hostile–rising costs of food and housing coupled with global warming’s devastating impact–we are in desperate need of a revolutionary feminism bold enough to imagine new pathways for survival. This volume positions Black feminist mothering as much more than biological or caregiving role. Building on key Black feminist tenets, Dr. Carr examines Black women’s maternal labors as the radical proclamation of our ability to mother ourselves, tend to each other, and nourish our communities. Far too often, Black women’s maternal, intellectual, and political labors are only recognized when in service to white supremacist capitalism. Mammy. Breeder. Welfare queen. This text counters these dehumanizing iconographies, focusing instead on the Black maternal’s radical possibilities for freedom. Not only does Carr address Black women’s responses to white supremacist power plays, but she also attends to Black heteropatriarchy and the burdens racial solidarity imposes on Black women. The Black maternal, Carr argues, is a cradle for Black revolution. As Assata Shakur famously declared, “We are pregnant with freedom.”