Friend, Foe, Family, Stranger: Fourteen Books On Black Motherhood By Black Daughters

In 1859, Harriet Wilson published Our Nig. This forgotten caller was nan first book published by a Black female successful nan United States. Wilson’s main character, Frado, is parentified excessively young and past becomes a mother excessively soon. This traumatic acquisition is wide caricatured successful world literature, but past again misogynoir is older than nan alleged democracies of nan West.

Across nan diaspora, Black women are desexualized and hypersexualized astatine each age. And arsenic pinch astir anti-Black racism successful nan United States, it stems from chattel slavery. During this aforesaid enslavement, Black midwives pioneered nan section of obstetrics and gynecology, yet Black mothers still person nan highest mortality complaint successful nan nation, if not nan world. With each this and much intersectional and systematic prejudice, nan very beingness of Black motherhood is simply a miracle.

Thankfully, much and much Black authors are challenging this dehumanization. They punctual america that each Black mother is unsocial and that each of them has a communicative worthy telling. For immoderate daughters, their mother is their first friend. For immoderate daughters, their mother is their first foe. For others still, their mother is both.

The second is simply a shape successful our stories. It is worthy noting that astir of nan authors successful this article person knowledgeable aliases do acquisition estrangement from their mothers aliases estrangement from their daughters. What is motherhood if not an enactment of dismembering; arsenic successful putting nan full into abstracted parts? And what is daughterhood if not an enactment of remembering; arsenic successful putting abstracted parts of nan full together again?

The calamity and drama of it each is that these members, beryllium they intelligence aliases beingness aliases spiritual, cannot beryllium genuinely abstracted aliases genuinely full again. As I proceed to move done nan complexities of Black daughterhood, I americium grounded successful my lifelong emotion of books. Beginning pinch nan ancestors, these are books that resonate pinch maine connected this Mother’s Day.

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Nella Larsen, Passing

“I deliberation that being a mother is nan cruelest point successful nan world.” To picture nan 2 biracial mothers successful this 1929 novella arsenic “complicated” is an oversimplification. In theory, some women could beryllium black-presenting and white-presenting, but 1 makes nan fateful prime to beryllium white-passing arsenic an adult. Their tense encounters, complete pinch homoerotic undertones, are explored against nan backdrop of 1920s Harlem.

The 2021 movie adjustment was poignantly changeable successful black-and-white and directed by Rebecca Hall. This arguable 2nd book unjustly ended her profession but made Nella Larsen nan first Black female to triumph a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Maya Angelou, Mom & Me & Mom

“My mother’s gifts of courageousness to maine were some ample and small. The second are woven truthful subtly into nan cloth of my psyche that I tin hardly separate wherever she stops and I begin.” In this 2013 New York Times bestseller memoir, Maya Angelou graciously offers an friendly image of her absent mother.

Much tin beryllium made of nan mother who sends her children distant to protect them from herself. They later reconnect, and this past book of hers is yet 1 of redemption. Maya Angelou was awarded nan National Medal of Arts and nan Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier she died successful 2014.

Toni Morrison, Beloved

“I don’t attraction what she is. Grown don’t mean a point to a mother. A kid is simply a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that expected to mean? In my bosom it don’t mean a thing.” This 1987 shade communicative focuses connected a formerly enslaved mother who is haunted by her dormant girl and her surviving daughter. The horrors of motherhood and daughterhood are dissected passim nan book.

This masterpiece was adapted into a 1998 movie formed and a 2016 power series. This caller yet made Toni Morrison nan first Black female to triumph nan Nobel Prize successful Literature.

Toi Derricotte, Natural Birth

“all nan girls were cheering erstwhile one went downstairs. one was / nan 1 who told them to beryllium tough, to extremity believing / successful their mother’s pain, that poison… / it wouldn’t wounded / for illustration we’d been told. commencement was beautiful if we believed / that it was beautiful and correct and good!” This susceptible poesy postulation was published successful 1983, and it chronicles nan author’s acquisition pinch unplanned gestation and whirlwind marriage.

Toi Derricotte later co-founded Cave Canem successful 1996 and won nan 2020 Frost Medal from nan Poetry Society of America.

Alice Walker, The Color Purple

“But 1 time erstwhile I was sitting quiet and emotion for illustration a motherless child, which I was, it travel to me: that emotion of being portion of everything, not abstracted astatine all.” This 1982 caller examines a spectrum of relationships betwixt women, including nan spectrum of forced motherhood.

This epistolary epic was adapted into a 1985 film, a 2005 shape musical, a 2008 power series, and a 2023 movie musical. This caller made Alice Walker nan first Black female to triumph nan National Book Award successful Fiction, and to triumph nan Pulitzer Prize successful Fiction.

Octavia Butler, Parable of nan Sower

“All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you.” This New York Times bestseller is arguably nan astir prophetic subject fabrication caller for our times. The bosom of this caller and nan sequel is simply a hyperempathetic prodigy turned revolutionary, but nan sequel is unempathetically narrated by her daughter. Both books besides research adoptive motherhood and different forms of chosen family.

The Parables duology has been adapted into a 2015 opera and a 2020 schematic novel. The sequel won nan Nebula Award, and Octavia Butler yet became nan first science-fiction writer to triumph a MacArthur Fellowship.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, A Girl is simply a Body of Water

“When children arrive, nan model closes. Wife, mother, age, and domiciled model—the ‘respect’ that comes pinch these roles is nan h2o they move connected your fire.” This multigenerational epic offers a sweeping position of nan blessings and curses that daughters tin inherit from their mothers.

Aside from cementing nan writer arsenic nan top writer successful Buganda’s history, this 2020 caller is unsocial successful its expansive definitions of family, and its tender affirmation of being raised by aggregate mothers. It besides happens to beryllium my favourite book title of each time. Dr. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi won nan Jhalak Prize for this classic.

Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

“There’s an aged saying: mothers raise their daughters and emotion their sons.” This 2020 short communicative postulation excavates nan immense interiority of churched mothers and their questioning daughters, crossed 9 wildly subversive stories. The scope of characters easy blur nan man-made lines betwixt saints and sinners.

This sparkling postulation is being adapted into a forthcoming tv series. This debut led to Deesha Philyaw winning nan Los Angeles Times Book Prize and The Story Prize.

Aaliyah Bilal, Temple Folk

“She looked retired astatine nan streets that she erstwhile considered to beryllium nan only spot she’d ever person a life, though successful that infinitesimal nan full metropolis looked to her for illustration a cage, placing limits connected what she could cognize of nan world.” This 2023 short communicative postulation unravels nan experiences of women successful The Nation of Islam, crossed nine, rich | stories.

The writer was raised successful nan Nation of Islam, and while she has since left, she creates compelling characteristic portraits, full worlds wrong a world. This debut led to Aaliyah Bilal winning nan Whiting Award.

Olufunke Grace Bankole, The Edge of Water

“[T]he years had dulled nan brightness of…longing.” This 2025 debut travels crossed generations, religions, nationalities, and ethnicities to research nan move limits of mother-daughter relationships and our ain free will. The Yoruba heroine pursues a caller commencement successful New Orleans correct earlier nan worst ambiance catastrophe successful nan city’s history.

The book features characters crossed nan spectrum of motherhood and daughterhood. Publishers Weekly gave this caller a starred reappraisal calling it, “A beautiful communicative astir 2 Nigerian women who activity independency from their patriarchal culture.”

Keeonna Harris, Mainline Mama

“I spent truthful overmuch clip believing that my emotion was capable to dress up for everything else.” And truthful goes yet different fallacy of motherhood, successful this 2025 debut written by a young mother. She reveals her difficulties successful navigating nan situation business complex, while her hubby awaits parole and, hopefully, release.

This coming-of-age memoir is group successful Los Angeles and offers a profoundly individual relationship of nan New Jim Crow’s millions of alleged “mainline mamas” who persevere today. Publishers Weekly gave this memoir a starred reappraisal emphasizing that, “This affecting dispatch from wrong nan carceral authorities is not to beryllium missed.”

Camille U. Adams, How to Be Unmothered: A Trinidadian Memoir

“To get something, you person to springiness up something. To equilibrium nan scales, you person to region immoderate weight. To enactment afloat and sail safely to different shore, detritus must beryllium jettisoned. To fly, to beryllium unmoored intends sacrificing that which you’ve outgrown, that which should beryllium near behind. Peel nan skin, portion nan binds….”

The only forthcoming book connected this list, this highly anticipated memoir centers connected a lineage of mothers who time off their daughters. The writer recounts her puerility successful Trinidad and really her ain unmothering leads her to New York City. Dr. Camille U. Adams was an inaugural Tin House Reading Fellow.

Warsan Shire, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth

“To my girl I will say, / ‘when nan men come, group yourself connected fire.'” This 2011 debut is simply a compact chapbook which exorcises a bid of generational traumas. The writer was calved during a Somalian genocide and chronicles nan exile acquisition successful each her poetry. She gives typical attraction to her statement of matriarchs and nan incalculable effects of warfare connected motherhood.

Warsan Shire was nan inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of London and nan inaugural victor of nan African Poetry Prize.

Raquel Willis, The Risk It Takes To Bloom

“[Grandma] joyfully looked up and her eyes switched from Momma to me…and [she] said, ‘You look pretty, for illustration me,’ successful wonderment. I fto retired a relieved sigh, past laic beside her connected nan bed. The claiming, nan validation, was conscionable what I needed aft truthful overmuch self-doubt.” This 2023 memoir was published during a clip erstwhile Black trans women were starting to get their flowers but are now fighting to support what fewer authorities they have.

The writer generously offers penetration into her transition, including her mother wound. Raquel Willis co-founded nan Gender Liberation Movement successful 2020 and is officially a TIME Woman of nan Year.