We’re back with our second episode of the mater mea podcast! (Missed our first show? You can listen to our first episode here.)
Joining us again is author Ylonda Gault and Afro-Latina, Brooklyn-based textile designer Roachele Negron, an independent mother of adolescent boy-girl twins. Roachele is the founder of Rayo and Honey, a line of home decor that fashions Black and Latino pop culture into wall banners. (You can follow Roachele on Twitter @akamami.)
What We Talked About…
How Anthonia first became acquainted with Ylonda: Her New York Times op-ed “What Black Moms Know”
White women identifying as “mamas” and what we think about this trend—our conversation was sparked by a Longreads article by Elissa Strauss called, “The Rise of ‘Mama’” (shout out to David Dennis, writer, thinker, and black man extraordinaire!)
Women who have children later in life grappling with losing their identities when they become moms.
How some women’s experiences can be packaged and sold as cultural phenomena, inspired by Naomi Wolf’s Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood.
Why Roachele calls herself an independent mother instead of a single mother. “It was so freeing to remove single motherhood from me.”
The stages of getting over a divorce and how it changes the way you think about yourself.
How childcare costs made Roachele decide to quit her corporate job and work for herself full time.
Roachele’s experience as a creative of color, her creative process, and managing a creative business as a mom.
Things That Gave Us Life…
Anthonia: Ashley Ford’s Elle.com essay in response to Viola Davis’ Emmy Award win. This quote Ford references from an Essence interview with Davis really gave Anthonia life: “As Black women, we’re always given these seemingly devastating experiences—experiences that could absolutely break us. But what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.”
Ylonda: Michael Strahan’s heart-melting celebration of his daughters and their hair.
Roachele: The social media outcry surrounding the New York Times Magazine poorly done article, “The Passion of Nicki Minaj.”
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