BIPOC Parenting Series: Tyler's Story

As a community-focused company, Kabrita USA strives to be inclusive and to continuously celebrate diversity. In honor of Black History Month, Kabrita USA is featuring a BIPOC Parenting Series, for the entire month of February. The BIPOC Parenting Series centres BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) parents’ experiences. Our goal is to enhance greater representation of BIPOC parents in the media, as well as to amplify BIPOC voices and stories.

Today, we are sharing Tyler’s story about finding joy throughout her motherhood journey.

Tyler's Story:

The day I gave birth brought me so much joy. When I looked at my sons, I saw a level of perfection and purity which I had never experienced before. Despite this great pride, my feelings were dampened within a few months by the reminder that their lives may not be as I envisioned due to their race. I wondered what conversations I would need to have about race and how soon before I would have to burst their bubble of innocence. The world gives us mothers so many reasons to worry about our children, but being a Black mother to Black children in America is a unique beast. It is a lofty task to teach awareness without instilling fear and seeing their Blackness as a privilege instead of a burden.

Although my motherhood is often portrayed as something to be endured, I find joy. I reject the images of welfare reliance and tropes of Black mothers as militant and uneducated. Instead, I find great joy in reading books to my children that speak of their Black heritage, culture, and pride. I find great joy in applying homemade hair butters to my boys' hair and watching their little curls form tendrils. I find great joy in playing the rhythmic beats that leave them entranced by the music of their ancestors. And I will find great joy in raising Black boys in America because I know that I am raising two beautiful children that will contribute to society in powerful ways.

Kabrita USA BIPOC Parenting Series shares genuine stories written by parents from the BIPOC community. Each story offers a different perspective from their personal parenting experience. To read more stories, please visit our Nourish Blog.