Women in African-American Families

Power of Nurturing: The Family Environment Created by Black Women

Makayla Cutter, Abraham Lin, Joseph Nguyen

    

       There are many people who nurture Black women within the family. The growth of Black women is inspired by the people around them and the knowledge and wisdom they give to those women. For any person, a family is important in the development of who they are. The people in a person’s household are often models for their own life. It is especially important for Black women to have models that show a more inclusive picture than what is shown in the media. Parents and older members of the family are responsible for the nurturing of the women in their families. The family structure of Black families often includes extended families in households [1]. This includes grandmothers and aunts and often people who are not family by blood, but family through the heart. The big family structure supports Black households and influences the values of the family members on the roles and responsibilities of a person. We looked into several oral history interviews of Black women describing their family lives and the women in their families to form a picture of their lives as children and caretakers.

       The family structure is an important part to the experience of Black women. Dr. Patricia Bath [2], a physician and a professor at Charles R. Drew University and UCLA, said that “the most important things were family.” Growing up in a Black neighborhood in New York City, the stable environment of her family supported her and provided her a sense of fulfillment against poverty. She never felt that they were poor or lesser than other people because the people in her family never treated her as such. When young Black women are allowed to enjoy their childhoods without someone of the outside reminding them of their disadvantages, they thrive in such context. 

       Black women who receive encouragement from their parents benefit from the boost in confidence that society does not always give them. Amy Robertson Goldson [3] talks about how her family’s high expectations led her to “achieve excellence.” This kind of environment is especially important for Black women who are in the media held to a different standard than children of other races and genders. Family provides a protection layer to Black girls in their development of womanhood, as they do not feel the added weight of responsibilities that are not assigned to their counterparts.

       Women in Black families work together to support the family structure. Rochelle Brown [4] describes several women in her childhood that took care of her. Her mother was the main breadwinner of the household. When her mother and other mothers were out earning money for their households, a motherly figure in the community helped take care of her. Brown describes a close-knit community in which families depended on one another. 

       Due to various social and cultural factors, Black women are often the main breadwinners of their households [5]. Black women are often single mothers, resulting in immense pressure to simultaneously provide income and handle domestic tasks. Considering the high volume of the incarceration of Black men and the economic instability they are facing, Black women are often on their own to raise a family. Although troubling, this level of responsibility leads to empowered black women. Most Black women view financial independence as an important value, regardless of their marital status. “It would never occur to me not to have my own dime or to be able to kind of make it or to not have two ideas about what the next step is,” said Marian Wright [6], to support her claim that the women in her family line are strong and central to the community. They were independent and they were the role models that inspired other women in the family.  

       Though Black women are held up to high responsibilities in supporting the households, they face serious, unfair challenges, which put them up to even more difficulties. On average, they receive lower wages than white women and Black men, and they earn even less if they have children. The discrimination they face leads to high stress and health problems, which added to the challenge to their work and became a vicious cycle [7]. The intersectionality of Black women in the workplace increases the challenges of them being the breadwinner and the caretaker of the family. Moreover, Black women are facing negative stereotypes that they are incompetent to be a mother. Despite these adversaries, they work together with one another to support families and raise their children. Therefore, the resilience Black women have, highlighted by self-reliance and persistence, made them strong women figures and role models.

       Black women are seen as integral parts of the structure and development of families. Whether they are mothers, sisters, aunts, or grandmothers, black women are looked to for guidance and nurturing. Black households are often led by a strong maternal figure. This woman is looked to with great respect and her responsibility is to keep the family together. Often older women in neighborhoods care for children while their parents are away or at work. Rochelle Brown [8] describes “Big Mama” from her neighborhood who looked after the kids on the block while their parents were at work. While not being related by blood to the family, she played a large role in the upbringing of the children on her street. Big Mama isn’t a singular case; older Black women stepping in to take care of the children around them is something that happens often. These women provide care to families who need it, and by extension become a part of the family.

       It is important to note that throughout time, Black women have been seen as caregivers for not only their own family members but others as well, no matter what race. Black women who came here as slaves were expected to take care of their masters and mistresses as well as the children. Even after slavery formally ended black women were hired in nanny roles and often saw the children they worked for more than their own children. Frances T. Matlock [9] recalls a white woman leaving her four-year-old daughter with her grandmother, who was a midwife. The woman left and never picked up her child. This is an extreme example of black women taking care of children who weren’t their own but regardless still a telling one. By the 1960s, nearly 90 percent of southern black women worked as domestic workers [10] meaning that a large majority of black women were taking care of other people’s families and not their own. Mothers began teaching their daughters how to take care of a household not to be practiced at home but in the white residences.

       Traditionally, Black women play an important role as caregivers within the family. While Black women have cared for others inside and outside of their family, it is equally important to acknowledge the impact that the family has on them. Their families provide an environment for their personal growth and development of skills that she will take into the real world.

 

Works Cited

1. Littlejohn-Blake, Sheila M. and Darling, Carol A. “Understanding the Strengths of African American Families.” Journal of Black Studies 23, no. 4 (Jun. 1993): 460-471.
2. Bath, Patricia. “Dr. Patricia Bath Remembers Her Home Life”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Nov 29, 2012.
3. Goldson, Amy R. “Amy Robertson Goldson Describes Her Childhood Personality And Interests”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 17, 2004.
4. Brown, Rochelle. “Rochelle Brown Remembers Women In The Neighborhood Who Mentored Her As A Young Girl”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 13, 2007.
5. Lewis, Edith A. “Role Strain in African-American Women: The Efficacy of Support Networks”. Journal of Black Studies 20, no. 2 (Jun. 1989): 155-169.
6. Edelman, Marian W. “Marian Edelman Recalls The Tradition Of Independent Women In Her Family”. Interview by Julieanna L. Richardson. TheHistoryMakers, Apr 24, 2001.
7. Lewis, Edith A. “Role Strain in African-American Women: The Efficacy of Support Networks”. Journal of Black Studies 20, no. 2 (Jun. 1989): 155-169.
8. Brown, Rochelle. “Rochelle Brown Remembers Women In The Neighborhood Who Mentored Her As A Young Girl”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Aug 13, 2007.
9. Matlock, Frances T. “Frances T. Matlock Describes Her Grandmother, Lydia Baird Bundy”. Interview by Larry Crowe. TheHistoryMakers, Jun 3, 2002.
10. Armstrong, Trena E. “The hidden help: black domestic workers in the civil rights movement.” (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 46.