In some African communities, the matriarch or Queen mother has her hut near the village’s opening. No other tribe or community would dare risk hurting the Queen mother in an attack because mothers hold a sacred place in the hearts and minds of the majority of African peoples across the continent.
Mothers hold sacred space in the lives of most people on the planet, and that is especially so for Black mothers.
When I grew up, if you wanted to start a fight on general principle, all you had to do was utter the words “Yo mama…” and the fight was on from there. You could talk about fathers all day long, and little would happen, but mothers are sacred.
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11th, and as the great Marvin Gaye sang in his quintessential classic album and title song, “What’s Going On?” “Mother, mother, there’s far too many of you crying…”
Far too many Black mothers are crying because of the unjust killing of their sons and daughters. Far too many poor working-class mothers are crying because their children are navigating a nation that only sees their babies as a commodity or a criminal.
There are far too many mothers who are crying because they are not paid fairly or compensated equitably as the men they work alongside. Far too many mothers are not offered the opportunity for promotions like the men around them in the same company, even though the men, more often than not, are less educated and less experienced than the mothers they work alongside.
Far too many mothers are crying and are not celebrated as in many African societies. Yet, these same mothers are still the bedrock of the church, the Democratic Party, and the “roux in the gumbo” of many Black communities. These same mothers instill hope, ingenuity, and courage in their children and the children in their communities. These same mothers are like the mothers Langston Hughes wrote about in his poem “Mother to Son.”
“Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare.
But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps. ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now— For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”
It was the resistance of poor Black women like Shiphrah and Puah who birthed the deliverer Moses in the scriptures, and there are women like Shiphrah and Puah today who are birthing deliverers, prophets, engineers, scholars, and builders.
It was Black women like Rizpah in Second Samuel who protested over the bodies of her sons who were murdered by the state and forced King David to acknowledge the unjust nature of their deaths and honor her sons even in death. There are still Rizpahs today who are putting their bodies on the line for justice for their families.
It was a Black girl about sixteen years old who birth the savior of the world in the New Testament and there are Black women and girls today who God is using to bring Good News into the lives of others in this society and world.
I celebrate mothers who have biological children and spiritual children as they still press forward despite these fearful times.
I honor mothers, whether single mothers, surrogate mothers, Big mamas, Muh-dears, or Queen mothers who don’t dare diminish themselves by standing behind any man but stand with men as a vanguard of liberation, life, and love.
In the 1994 movie “The Crow,” starring the late Jason Lee, his mythical hero character speaks these words to a destitute mother, saying, “Don’t you know that mother is the name of God on the lips and hearts of all children.” Finally, as the classic R&B song says by the great Intruders, “I’ll always love my mama, she’s my favorite girl; I’ll always love my mama, she brought me in this world – You only get one, you only get one, yeah.”
Happy Mother’s Day to God’s Crowns of Creation!
Be well, Be authentic and Stay Woke! Uhuru Sassa!!!
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.
Rev. John E. Jackson
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.”