8 Black Moms Who Overcame Challenging Situations to Make History – SheKnows

The truth about foreigners

Many of us know Sojourner Truth as an abolitionist and women’s rights activist. However, it is unknown to many that Sojourner escaped slavery with her young daughter in 1826. Sojourner then learns that her five-year-old son Peter has been illegally sold to a slave trader in Alabama, and Sojourner sues his former owner for custody. of her son. She won her case, becoming one of the first black women to sue a white man in court and win. She continued her work as an abolitionist and activist, and she gave the speech that made her famous in “Ain’t IA Woman.”

josephine baker

Josephine Baker was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927. tropical siren, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this amazing woman’s accomplishments. In addition to being a huge star in the entertainment world (and an iconic symbol of the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties), Baker supported the French Resistance during World War II (although she was born in the United States) married a French man) who made France his home). As a result, she was awarded several medals and prestigious honors.

In the 1960s, Baker refused to perform in front of segregated audiences, was known for his contributions to the U.S. civil rights movement, and worked closely with the NAACP.

Through all of this, Ms. Baker began adopting children of various ethnicities (10 sons and two daughters in total), whom she named the “Rainbow Tribe.” She felt it was important to raise them all according to their own traditions, and she wanted to show everyone that love and family ties have nothing to do with race or religion.

Ann Lowe

Fashion designer Anne Lowe didn’t begin her career in the fashion industry until she became a mother. After separating from her first husband, Lowe and her son moved to New York City, where she enrolled at the ST Taylor School of Design. Lowe, the only black student in her segregated school, attended classes alone in a room. But that didn’t deter her. She opened her own design studio and earned her reputation as “society’s best kept secret,” with clients including the DuPont, Roosevelt, and Rockefeller families.

A twice-divorced mother of two, Lowe was asked to design future first lady Jacqueline Bouvier’s bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses for her marriage to then-Senator John F. Kennedy in 1953. . Her Lowe studio flooded 10 days before her wedding. At the wedding, the wedding dress was destroyed. But Mr. Rowe bounced back. Rather, it’s because her mothers know how to get things done. Unfortunately, Lowe did not receive credit for designing Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress until after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, an American politician and lawyer, was the first African American woman elected to Congress to represent the West Coast. And in 1973, Ms. Burke became the first member of Congress to give birth during her tenure, and she became the first member of Congress to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1979, Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to fill a vacancy on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, making Burke the first woman and first African American to serve as supervisor. Her daughter Autumn Yvonne was elected to the California State Assembly in 2014, making the pair the first mother and daughter to serve together in the California State Assembly.

Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton

Mamie Clayton is a history maker because she left her mark on history. Preservative. As law librarian at UCLA, she was instrumental in establishing the African American Learning Center Library. But when her request for funding to purchase rare, out-of-print books by and about Black Americans was denied, Ms. Clayton decided to help preserve this fundamental piece of Black history. I realized I had to do something different. Therefore, she strengthened her efforts to: Collecting such books used to be her hobby. In the garage of her home in Los Angeles, Dr. Creighton has assembled “the finest collection of African American literature, manuscripts, films, and private works,” consisting of more than 2 million pieces documenting Black history. I have collected a collection called “One”. and American culture. She opened her garage to anyone who took an interest in her, including students, academics, researchers, and notable authors Langston Hughes and Alex Haley.

Dr. Clayton’s accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but her most important accomplishment was raising her three sons. After her death, her collection was moved from the garage to what is now known as the Mamie A. Creighton Library and Museum. Her sons continue her legacy and are involved in her life’s passion to this day.

wilma rudolph

Wilma Rudolph, a world record holder and Olympic champion, survived several serious illnesses as a child, including pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio. However, she qualified for the Olympics in 1956 while she was still in high school, and she became the youngest member of her US Olympic team. Then Rudolph gave birth to her first daughter in 1958, immediately after her graduation. In 1960 she competed in the Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. Unfortunately for her, Rudolph felt pressured at the time to choose her dream of the Olympics over her daughter’s presence.her daughter yolanda shared with washington post“She said she was sad because she missed so many of my milestones.”

katherine johnson

Do you know the movie that won the Oscar? hidden person, you’ve probably heard of Katherine Johnson. She was one of the first African American women to work as a NASA scientist and was often referred to as the “human computer.” Johnson began her career as a teacher in black public schools in Virginia. She was later selected by the West Virginia President to be the graduate program integration officer and became the first black woman enrolled in the graduate mathematics program. However, at the end of her first session, she decided to drop out of school to start a family with her first husband, James Goble. In 1953, Goble died of an inoperable brain tumor, and Johnson, a widowed mother of three, continued to work for NASA. Three years later, she married James Johnson, and she continued to make essential contributions to NASA programs for nearly her 30 years.

allyson felix

Olympic athlete Allyson Felix is ​​the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, and the most decorated athlete of any gender at the World Athletics Championships. Just 10 months after giving birth to her first child, Felix won her 12th gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, breaking Usain Bolt’s gold medal record.She bravely called out to Nike. New York Times editorial In that same year. She disclosed that she was pregnant during her contract negotiations, but Nike offered her a 70% cut in salary in her new contract and was not given the maternity benefits she requested. Needless to say, Felix refused to sign his contract and instead moved forward with a deal with Athleta and launched his own shoe and lifestyle brand, Seiche.

Shonda Rhimes

If you’ve been watching TV lately, it’s nearly impossible not to know who Shonda Rhimes is. She is the first African American woman to create and executive produce a Top 10 Network series, a medical drama. Grey’s Anatomy. Her company, Shondaland, is Practitioners, scandals and how to get away with murderand bridgerton, making her perhaps one of the most successful producers in all of television. The award-winning writer and producer has three daughters, one through adoption and one through surrogacy, and has been candid about her views on motherhood throughout her career. I’m here.in Interview red book magazine, Rhimes said: Your children need to see a happy and fulfilled mother. The last thing you want to do is pass on your unhappy, holding back, bitter self to your children. When I pursue my goals, my children see the best in me. ”

Ketanji Brown Jackson

As the first black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a force to be reckoned with. She said her first memories of law were sitting next to her father studying her law book and her working diligently on a coloring book. Most Supreme Court justices have backgrounds as prosecutors or corporate lawyers. Jackson has a more diverse background, including stints as a public defender and federal judge at law firms large and small. According to NPR“If Mr. Jackson is appointed, he will be the first Supreme Court justice since Thurgood Marshall to represent indigent criminal defendants.”

Equally important to Jackson is her other role as mother to her two daughters with longtime husband Patrick Jackson. She spoke candidly about her struggles raising children, especially teenagers. “During the work day, I’m a federal judge, which means people generally treat me with respect. … But by the evening… all of my wisdom, knowledge, and authority evaporates.” she said in a candid speech in 2017. Looking back at my journey as a mother and judge. “My daughters made it very clear that as far as they were concerned, I knew nothing, and that I should not tell them anything, much less give them orders, if they spoke to me. I’m telling you.”