If you're a modern 21st Century mother, you’ve read at least one
"momoir" — books written by mothers that capture, with varying degrees
of success, the nature of motherhood in these times.
But as Deesha Philyaw points out in the brilliantly titled "Ain't I A Mommy"
article from Bitch (via Alternet), few, if any, such books have been
written by black women. Why, she wonders, aren't black women's
experiences of parenting considered something that would sell to the
mainstream book buyer? After all, Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions
started the trend (and in my option remains the best of the genre), and
there aren’t a huge number of dreadlocked, single, Christian, liberal,
recovering alcoholic moms out there who'd buy the book out of affinity.
Good writing sold the book and that's hardly limited to whitefolks.
Philyaw makes several interesting points, one of which is...
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