Mothers of Black Boys Don’t Exhale
Mothers of black boys survive by
pushing fear down so it doesn’t
overflow, overwhelm our senses
paralyze us and derail our ability
to love, nurture and protect our black boys
We cling. One hand on the bible
and another holding on to our sons
They say that we love boys and raise girls
Forgive us; we have been anxious since their birth
We haven’t exhaled because we remember Emmitt Till
and we are in the same prayer circle as the
mothers of Tamir, Elijah, and Trayvon
We embrace the legend of the strong black
woman during the day but cry silent tears at night
As we push down, there is an uprising of fibroids,
anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, yet we carry on
We organize and fight and vote and hold our boys close
We fight for our sons because we need the world to heal
so that every mother of black boys can finally exhale.
By Janet Autherine
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I was inspired to write the poetry book, the Heart and Soul of Black Women, because of the enormous stress that we are facing, especially mothers of black sons. The poem, Mothers of Black Boys Don’t Exhale, is a window to our hearts. I hope that this book is a helpful addition to the movement to support the voices and stories of black women. Available on Amazon: http://bit.ly/HeartandSoulBook
