BBM founder Stacia L. Brown and her beautiful daughter
Greetings, Beyond Baby Mamas Community!
First allow me to extend a (somewhat belated) Happy New Year wish to you all! I hope this year will bring you and your children some of the best opportunities of your life. May you all grow closer in love and understanding of one another. May you weather every challenge — no matter how difficult — with hope, faith, and grace.
We wrapped up last year pretty quietly. Thanks to all who contributed to our Feed A Family Drive for Thanksgiving 2013. Though we received many requests after Thanksgiving and volunteers were still contacting us well after November, we decided not to extend the drive into December due to limited time and resources. If you contacted us either to receive or to give after our Thanksgiving deadline, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
Now onto the fun stuff: our Beyond Baby Mamas will be back with its first new content of the new year on Monday. First up is a piece from the writer of one of last year’s most popular Community Blogger posts, Yasmine McMorrin. She’ll be checking in with us and updating readers on the steps she’s taken in her single mom journey since the last time she wrote here. Be sure to check back and read her post on Jan. 13; it’s a don’t-miss!
In the meantime, we want to let you know about some of the best single-mom writing and initiatives we read ’round the web this week. We love how vocal unmarried parents are becoming about their experiences, and we hope to fill 2014 with more voices to round out that chorus.
Check out these phenomenal posts and spread the word about each!
- Natasha Vianna writes about wanting to remain a “fun mom” as her daughter gets older and the demands of proving for their family increase.
- mater mea, one of BBM’s absolute favorite websites/publications on black motherhood is in the midst of a fundraiser. Watch their video, contribute and help them bring you even more top-notch content, including gorgeous photography and in-depth interviews.
- Ebony Digital Editor Jamilah Lemieux writes about some folks’ preoccupation with Blue Ivy’s natural hair. (You can also check the post out at Ebony.com.) Lemieux was recently featured in a gorgeous interview about her motherhood experience at mater mea, too. Check it out if you haven’t already.
- Tanya Fields, who we wrote about here in November, has launched a new food justice initiative in her Bronx community, the South Bronx Mobile Market. If you or someone you know can benefit from it, get involved.
As always, we’re looking for new Community Bloggers. If you’re interested in telling your current (or formerly) unmarried motherhood story, review our submission guidelines and send us a pitch!
With hope and admiration,
Stacia L. Brown, Founder
