"Mothering in This Skin" by Aaliyah Henrie in Support of A Mother's Love Initiative
Mother's Day Special. A wild bouquet of Spring color in gratitude to moms worldwide. In all of human existence there is no one more vulnerable to the beauty of creation, and the tragedy of injustice... Thank you, thank you, thank you. - M.A.
Mothering in This Skin
Aaliyah Henrie
I carried you with equal parts fear and fire.
I will never know what kind of world you’ll inherit.
I don’t know if your skin will be embraced, celebrated,
protected—
or questioned like mine was.
I don't know if your curls will be called “beautiful” or “wild,”
if your voice will echo in rooms meant to shrink you,
or if your magic will ever feel like too much for the spaces you're in.
I pray for your safety like a ritual.
Not because I’m scared of you,
but because I know the world can be.
Raising a mixed Black child in America
means holding two truths in my hands at once:
You are everything I dreamed of—
and everything this country still struggles to accept.
I see it already.
In the stares.
In the comments disguised as compliments.
In the people who want to place you in a box
before you’ve even learned how to spell your name.
But you are not a box.
You are a whole story.
A braid of histories, languages, and legacies.
You are laughter and rebellion,
softness and resistance.
You are mine.
And you are more.
I can’t promise this world will be kind.
But I can promise you this:
Your daddy and I—
we will fill your home with truth.
We will teach you pride that cannot be stolen.
Compassion that cannot be hardened.
And strength that does not come from pretending to be smaller.
We will show you what love looks like
when it’s rooted in equity,
in honesty,
in understanding the privilege we hold
and the struggle we carry.
Mothering in this skin is messy and magical.
There are days I ache with the weight of what I know,
and days I dance because of what you remind me—
that joy is an act of resistance.
That laughter is sacred.
That softness is not weakness,
but the soil where resilience grows.
You may not be embraced by the world the way I hope.
But you will be embraced by us.
Fully. Fiercely. Every single day.
And in that—
you will bloom.
A Mother’s Love Initiative “Bringing Back the Village” is a grassroots organization made up of African American mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Our team uniquely reflects the communities we serve, including members who were in prison, who have buried children and siblings due to ‘Violence With Guns,’ people who have children incarcerated for involvement with ‘Violence With guns,’ people who are single parents and parents of children within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Tomorrow! Buy Art, Do good.
Less looksmaxxing, more "covering your nude body with liquid clay and sealing yourself inside an enormous vat of unbaked earth that suggests both an indigenous funerary urn and womb."
A call to action, commonly known by the initialism CTA, is a strategic marketing tool designed to spur an immediate response from an audience, guiding them toward a specific action.
NNH began with the (perhaps naive) hope that it could be of service to folks who needed it. I wasn't exactly sure who that meant- Was it the potential readership? The Mutual Aid groups that would be featured in each post? Or other creative types (equally fed up with the constant "me at the center" paradigm required by our Tech Overlords) looking for a place to get weird and do some good.
SO, if you're out there- whomever you may be- Let me know. Leave a comment. Click a link. Tell a friend. Pitch an idea. Do anything to feel less alone in the world.
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