“My mom was always a fan of just really elegant, sophisticated pieces. I mean we grew up in Maine, so we didn't have a lot of call for black tie or anything, but I think I definitely got that sensibility from her.” ThinkingMeanBlackPiecesFansGrewMomGrew UpMy MomTiesSophisticatedSensibilityElegantMaineBlack Tie Author:Anna Kendrick
“When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his mom was from Germany and spoke with a German accent. So we all had multiple identities.” BlackBornHalfGrowing UpGrowingIdentityMomForestsGermanyParksSpokesMultipleAccentsMy Best FriendMexicanIntegratedColombiaVietnameseMultiple Identities Author:Dinaw Mengestu
“I do remember being teased by my cousins on my mom's side for not being black enough. And then I'd spend the summer with my dad and be sent to all white summer camps where I was 'that black girl.'” EnoughRememberGirlSidesBlackWhiteMomDadSummerMy DadMy MomCampsCousinMy CousinSummer CampBlack Girl Author:Lauren London
“[Michael] Brown's mom, Lesley McSpadden, is the latest African American mother whose tear-streaked face forces the nation to remember the name of yet another unarmed black teenager gunned down under questionable circumstances.” RealityRememberFacesMotherPoliticsNamesForceNationsBlackCommunityJusticeFamilyHistoryViolenceGenerationsTearsMomCircumstancesEqualEthicsHuman RightsIdeologyAfrican AmericanTeenagerBrownFree SpeechEqual RightsQuestionableUnarmed Author:Jonathan Capehart
“My mom had a Canon AE1 camera and I read the manual and that's basically how I became a photographer. I was in the Baltimore punk scene. I knew it was a special time, so I went out and documented that whole era. I was the only person to really do it of my friends in real black and white, beautiful portraits.” PersonsRealWholeBeautifulBlackWhiteSpecialMomSceneMy FriendsCamerasPhotographerMy MomErasPunkBlack And WhitePortraitsManualsBaltimoreCanonSpecial Times Author:Jeff Vespa
“I had a non-existent knowledge of Queen Victoria's early years. Like everyone else, I thought of her as an old lady dressed in black. My mom had told me about her, though, that she had a very loving relationship with Albert, that they had lots of kids, and that he died young.” YearsKidsYoungBlackMomDiedMy MomQueensOld LadyVictoriaLoving Relationships Author:Emily Blunt
“My dad also survived five divorces, and the women he married cleaned his ass out every time. I used to think my dad got divorced because he wanted new furniture. At one point in my life, all we had left was a wooden box, a 12 black-and-white TV, and a four-man rubber raft for a couch. And yet, I was the coolest kid in third grade. Mom, can we have a sleepover in Christopher Titus' house? They have a raft in the living room! We can row to breakfast in the morning. I can actually be Captain Crunch!” ThinkingMenI CanKidsWantedUsedHouseLeftBlackWhiteRoomsMorningFiveFourTvsMomDadMarriedThirdsMy DadBoxesDivorceAssGradesBreakfastBlack And WhiteCaptainsSurvivedFurnitureDivorcedCouchesLiving RoomRubberCrunchThird GradeSleepovers Author:Christopher Titus
“Mom did not want me to have anything to do with playing music. Being from a middle-class Black family in that particular era, everybody wanted you to have a profession -- a doctor, a lawyer, and so forth. So she sent me to school to study medicine.” WantWantedSchoolBlackClassGrowing UpStudyMiddleParticularMomMusic IsDoctorsMedicineProfessionLawyerErasMiddle ClassWant MePlaying MusicBlack Family Author:Don Alias
“My mom [comes] to see my shows because she's so proud, but I'm talking about losing my virginity, my ex-wife and our sexual problems, and she's sitting in the front row smiling. I just go, "Mom, you can't sit in the front row, you can't smile. You have to go way in the back and dress in black. If I see you it's like you're breaking in when I'm having sex with my wife. It's just wrong."” IfsWayShowsProblemSexBlackTalkingWifeFrontsLike YouMomProudLosingSittingDressesMy MomMy WifeExesVirginityHaving SexEx Wife Author:John Leguizamo
“I think people couldn't really put me in [one race]. I wasn't Mexican, I wasn't white, I wasn't black, I wasn't Asian... I wasn't anything, and I didn't really fit into anybody's group. My dad is Mexican, and my mom is French and Danish.” PeopleThinkingBlackWhiteRaceGroupsMomDadFitMy DadMy MomAsianMexicanDanish Author:Jessica Alba
“The biggest surprise was a picture my mom sent me, just about the time that we were about to wrap up the book, of me as a 5-year-old dressed in my first Halloween costume that she made for me. I said, "What's this? I never saw this photo." And she said, "We made you this black-and-orange Halloween costume out of crepe paper" - we were too poor to have fabric back then - "and you wanted to go as the Queen Of Halloween." And I was like, "What?" And she said, "Yeah, the Princess Of Halloween, the Queen Of Halloween, something like that.” YearsFirstsMadeSaidBookWantedBlackPoorSawsMomPaperYeahSurpriseMy MomQueensPrincessFabricHalloweenCostumesOrangeWrapsCrepesHalloween Costume Author:Cassandra Peterson
“I was inspired a little while before The Voice to dye my hair half black half blonde by Cruella De Vil of 101 Dalmatians. One day I was watching it and I told my mom I was going to dye my hair like Cruella's, and she thought I was joking. I came home from the salon, and she didn't talk to me for a few days!” LittlesHomeBlackVoiceHalfHairMomOne DayInspiredMy MomBlondeTalk To MeSalonsDalmatians Author:Melanie Martinez
“My mom used to get involved with the Black Panther activities in Los Angeles. For me it was more about how to view my consciousness on these issues with a biblical framework.” UsedBlackViewsConsciousnessIssuesMomInvolvedActivityMy MomLos AngelesBiblicalFrameworkGet InvolvedPanthersBlack Panther Author:Sho Baraka
“I existed in a space where my mother was a black woman and my father was a white man. And that's how I saw the world. I was just like, some dads are whites and some moms are black. And that's how it is.” MenWorldMotherFatherBlackSpaceWhiteSawsMomDadWhite ManBlack Women Author:Trevor Noah
“There are some universal elements when it comes to motherhood - especially for Black moms. Black women are selfless. Many women think of their children before they think about themselves.” ThinkingChildrenBlackMomMotherhoodSelflessBlack Women Author:Tichina Arnold
“My mom is Jamaican and Chinese, and my dad is Polish and African American, so I'm pretty mixed. My nickname in high school was United Nations. I was fine with it, even though I identify as a black woman. People don't realize it hurts my feelings when someone looks at my hair or my eyes, and says, "But you're not actually black. You're black, but you're not black black, because your eyes are green." I'm like, "What? No, no, I'm definitely black." Even some of my closest friends have said that. It's been a bit touchy for me.” PeopleFeelingsEyeSchoolBlackRealizingHurtMomDadHigh SchoolMy DadMy MomAfrican AmericanChineseIt HurtsBlack WomenUnited Nations Author:Ayesha Curry
“That's an actor's life. I thought Meet Joe Black was gonna be one of the big changes for me, and it was gonna be a runaway hit - and it wasn't. And with Mr. Mom, I said, "There's just no way." And it turned out to be a huge hit.” BlackMomRunaway Author:Jeffrey Tambor
“Having my foundation be from two positive black role models in my life, my mom and my dad, two strong-minded intelligent individuals who clearly have made a great deal of great decisions in their lives and put me in a position, via educational institutions, to be around other intelligent people and to have a strong moral foundation, from which I try to never stray far. It all spurred me to carve out my own little niche as a human being.” PeopleTryingIndividualStrongBlackDecisionMoralMomDadIntelligentMy DadEducationalMy MomRole ModelsNiche Author:Mr. Lif
“There was always music in our home. My mom and my dad loved music. I remember when we were kids we would have these great parties at the house with congas and bongos and African drums, and it was amazing. It wasn't until years later that I found out that they were actually Black Panther meetings.” YearsHomeKidsRememberFoundHouseBlackPartyMomDadMeetingsMy DadMy MomRemember WhenPanthersBlack PantherGreat PartyCongasBongos Author:Queen Latifah
“Within the black community, roughly 60 percent of children are born to single moms. Moms don't have the emotional wherewithal to deal with their children. Their English is atrocious. Their speaking is atrocious. The dropout rate is horrendous.” ChildrenBlackBornCommunityDealsEmotionalMomPercentRateSingle MomBlack CommunityDropouts Author:Walter Dean Myers