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

Abstract

Black feminist mothering can birth new worlds. As today’s world becomes increasingly hostile—with the rising cost of food coupled with global warming’s devastating impact—we are in need of a feminism bold enough to imagine new pathways for survival. Black feminist mothering may well be the remedy. This volume positions Black feminist mothering as much more than a biological or caregiving role. Building on key Black feminist tenets, Carr examines Black women’s maternal labors as a practice and proclamation for mothering ourselves, tending to each other, and nourishing our communities. Far too often, Black women’s maternal, intellectual, and political labors are recognized only in service to white supremacist capitalism. Mammy. Breeder. Welfare queen. This text counters these dehumanizing iconographies to focus instead on the Black maternal’s imaginitive possibilities. Not only does Carr address Black women’s resistance 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.”