mothers

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Black Mothers Are At The Center Of A Fight To Keep Youth Out Of An Adult Prison In Louisiana

Parents and legal advocates in Louisiana — chief among them Black mothers — say a plan to temporarily transfer incarcerated youth to an adult facility once known as “America’s bloodiest prison” will traumatize the children and limit their access to education and rehabilitation opportunities. Under the plan from Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, about two dozen juveniles are being transferred from the Bridge City Center for Youth to the Louisiana State Prison at Angola until some time in 2023. According to reports, the first set of youth was transferred this week. Governor Edwards’ office did not immediately respond to The 19th’s request for comment. Angola — which is notorious for its violence — is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States and is named for the former slave...

By Listening To Other Black Mothers, As A Black Sociologist, And A Mom – I’ve Learned About Their Pandemic Struggles And Strengths

2May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, Journalism

By Listening To Other Black Mothers, As A Black Sociologist, And A Mom – I’ve Learned About Their Pandemic Struggles And Strengths

I spent the 2020 spring break week setting up to teach my college courses online while helping to care for my 14-month-old grandchild, whose daycare had closed. At the same time, I couldn’t help thinking, being the sociologist I am, of the devastating consequences of COVID-19 I saw for women like me, Black mothers, whom I have studied for over a decade. Social science research can influence policy. Sharing Black mothers’ stories in their own voices may ultimately lead to more compassionate policies. My work is part of a small body of descriptive research, mostly by researchers of color, countering negativity and victim-blaming in earlier studies of Black families. My research partner, sociologist BarBara Scott, lives in Chicago, where I grew up. In our studies of Black mothers there, we’...

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s Neighborhood Black Mothers Will Soon Receive Monthly Cash Payments

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s Neighborhood Black Mothers Will Soon Receive Monthly Cash Payments

A new program is launching in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward — the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. — that could help build the case for the idea he popularized half a century ago: guaranteed cash payments as a vehicle out of poverty. The program, which will launch early this year in King’s neighborhood, will send monthly payments of $850 to 650 Black women over two years, making it one of the largest guaranteed income programs to date. Guaranteed income — the concept of sending people cash payments with no strings attached — was featured in King’s 1967 book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” in which he argued that sometimes the simplest idea could be the most effective in ending poverty. But the concept of guaranteed monthly payments remained a fringe issue for decades un...

Mothers in prison aren’t likely to see their families this Thanksgiving – or any other day

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Mothers in prison aren’t likely to see their families this Thanksgiving – or any other day

On a mid-October morning, I drove from Philadelphia to State Correctional Institution Muncy, Pennsylvania’s oldest and largest women’s prison. Nearly two-thirds of imprisoned mothers have never received a visit from their children. Shutterstock/Sakhorn The prison, located in the north central part of the state, is set at the base of a mountain and encircled by farmlands, feed mills and the upper branch of the Susquehanna River. The 170-mile drive took nearly four hours. I was visiting Cynthia Alvarado. In 2010, a Philadelphia jury found Alvarado guilty of driving the getaway car in a robbery homicide. The judge gave her the same sentence as the man who pulled the trigger: life without the possibility of parole. I was there to discuss her case as part of project on Pennsylvania’s accompli...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Black Mothers Change the Narrative By Telling Their Stories

Black women have been poorly represented in the mainstream. So a new yearlong fellowship prepares women to redefine the stories that are being told and control who gets to tell them. The wrenching image of a Black mother clinging to her 1-year-old son as police officers and security guards at a public benefits office in Brooklyn ripped him from her arms went viral recently. Child endangerment and resisting arrest charges against the 23-year-old Brooklyn mom were later dropped. Now, Jazmine Headley is speaking out. What happened to her, Headley told The New York Times, is not isolated; it happens to many people. “My story is the only one that made it to the surface.” “The surface” Headley is referring to is mainstream media. The charges against her were dropped and she re...