Anytime I am commended for the job I am doing as a mother, I am quick to point out that the job that my mother did is the reason for any positive aspect of what I do for my children as a mother. I think that now I’ll make it a point to add that the job that my father did is also a huge part of any success I have has a parent, but since this is MOTHERS’ DAY…

My mother (and father) raised four independent, intelligent, hard working, critically thinking individuals who have strong faith and care about people and contribute to the well-being of those less fortunate in a very real way, even in the midst of this pandemic. My grandmothers raised children who were educated, successful and impactful in a society that sought to minimize them because of the color of their skin and my great grandmothers raised children who persevered and thrived beyond the Great Depression. Children who owned their own businesses and raised children to become property owners and entrepreneurs in a state that erected monuments to the confederacy. My great great grandmothers did the same and my great great great grandmothers supported the decision of those in their community (including one of my great great great grandfathers) to fight in the Civil War on the Union side to end the bondage of their people, even when doing so meant risking their own freedom and lives.

So what about me? What about my four children? What will be the legacy of the work I do day in and day out? Only time will tell, but I have always instilled in them the truth that no matter how low anyone’s expectations of them are, they come from a long line of people who overcame the insurmountable, and so I expect them to overcome also.

Happy Mother’s Day.