Last week I found T. Allen-Mercado through MyBrownBaby because of a giveaway they were doing to kick off the holidays. She has a fabulous etsy store Pretty in Peace that I will feature here later this week and a great Tea and Honey Bread blog she showcases her writing on. She is also a contributor to a site called Moms of Hue. I instantly felt an affinity for this centered, creative mother and came close to cyber-stalking her on all three sites because I think she is that cool.
In the process of reading her writing I also began reading other contributors on Moms of Hue thinking that the site had been around a while. Well I have no idea how long this site has been established because today they have been having an official launch party and it has been pretty fun. There have been a lot of giveaways that require you to read the posts of the contributors each time for an answer to a trivia question. In the process you go by their homepage poll with the question, “Do you believe that a blog for Moms of color is needed?” and I was quick to answer Yes. However there are answers on there that are across the board. I want to dedicate this post to why I think a blog like theirs needs to exist, why I voted yes.
For me I had an epiphany two weeks ago about why I wanted to at least have the option of having a midwife of color. It is very simple, as a woman of color diversity allows me to better express and explore myself. As someone entering my parenthood journey this realization will just make me more capable and grounded for my offspring.
I am having this core understanding that I have never been able to wholly understand in my social or professional life until this mother journey and it has only started. I am embracing the space of not being concerned of offending others since I am an outsider with my cultural communication style or other nuances I carry over from my family and peers I identify with. I do live in a place where I am a minority with few people of color around me. I am seeking out parenting sources like My Brown Baby and Moms of Hue because I do not have that kind of connection in the community I live in. For me, these kinds of online resources are serving that lack of connection I have in my everyday real life. For that I am grateful.
That is really why I was so interested in starting Moms of Hue. I don't have these relationships in my own community. I am not very close to my own family- one sister lives in Florida and my other passed in March. My mother and I have has a very bad relationship for years. my husband is Italian and I and my daughter have been immersed in their culture for a long time. My circle of friends in real life is lacking in hue mostly due to the fact that I have not worked or lived in very diverse neighborhoods. But as I found myself getting more involved in online culture I was drawn to the women of color who were sharing their lives online.
I agree with you that these sites are so necessary.
Thank you for sharing and for being a part of the Moms of Hue launch. We started the blog in June but we wanted to build up a substantial archive of content before we officially launch. I hope that you share your writing on the site. Good luck and congrats.