Podcast Recommendations Celebrating Motherhood
Featuring Black Mothers: A Special Mother’s Day Curation
By Julie Neale
Each week at EarBuds Podcast Collective, we send a weekly themed list of podcast picks. Each week’s picks are curated by a different person. And anyone can curate a list. Sometimes, we put out those lists as blog posts. Curator Julie Neale wanted to shine a light on podcasts featuring Black mothers in honor of Mother’s Day.
CURATOR: Julie Neale, Mother’s Quest Podcast
WHY THIS THEME? This theme was inspired by a recent interview on the Mother’s Quest Podcast! This Mother’s Day, I had the honor of interviewing author Anna Malaika Tubbs in an episode that shines a light on the untold stories and far-reaching impact of mothers, and in particular Black mothers.
In addition to being a mother to a one year old boy and is pregnant with another child, Anna is an author, advocate, educator, scholar and Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Throughout all her work and writing, she draws on her personal experience and extensive research to examine relevant gender and race issues in the US, especially the pervasive erasure of Black women.
Anna is the brilliant biographer of the groundbreaking book The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. In this incredible debut book, Anna celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America’s most pivotal civil rights leaders. Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin were all born at the beginning of the 20th century, all were forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women, and all forged their own unique paths, using their beliefs and talents to shape their children and their communities. Despite the incredible impact they had on those around them, very little has been documented about their own lives.
As I got ready to curate a list of Mother’s Day-inspired episodes for EarBuds, I thought about the challenge Anna offered to me and my listeners, to advance our understanding of Black motherhood, which can bring healing for everybody. I decided to commit myself this week to listen to the voices and perspectives of Black mothers, drawing on podcast episodes recorded by and featuring members of the Mother’s Quest Community.
I invite you to commit along with me, to find time and space to slow down and listen to these different kinds of conversations, all centering on Black mothers, each with a unique story, message, and point of view relevant for the times we are living in.
EPISODES:
Mother’s Quest Podcast hosted by Julie Neale / 33 minutes
Listen to author Anna Malaika Tubbs discuss the importance of uncovering the untold stories of Black women and mothers, especially through the lens of her research on the mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin. Learn from the lessons Anna uncovered from the mothers across the Mother’s Quest E.P.I.C. Guideposts: (E) Engaging mindfully with their children (E), (P) Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), (I) Investing in themselves, and (C) Connecting to a strong support network.
Finding Your Resilience Amidst the Pandemic
Raising Equity Podcast hosted by Dr. Kira Banks / 39 mins
In this episode of Raising Equity, host Dr. Kira Banks sits down with Nkem Ndefo, the creator of The Resilience Toolkit and founder of Lumos Transforms. Ndefo shares her thoughts on the pandemic, and highlights the importance of honoring the wisdom in our responses rather than focusing on trying to change them.
Raising Equity- We can create an equitable society. It will take intentional work and deep community and learning. It will take being adults who cultivate an equity mindset in themselves and kids. – Dr. Kira Banks
The Introduction
Hello Seven Podcast hosted by Rachel Rodgers / 39 mins
Host Rachel Rodgers is a business coach, mother, intellectual property lawyer, and CEO of Hello Seven, a company she founded to help women hit 7-figures without sacrificing their families or their sanity. In this episode, she narrates the first chapter of her new book, “We Should All Be Millionaires,” unapologetically laying out her vision for why women and especially women of color, should grow their wealth and their impact. She also discusses how the first female Black millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker, inspired her.
The Hello Seven Podcast addresses one simple question: how can women make more money? On the show, Rachel Rodgers talks with women who decided they wanted to become millionaires and actually did it and shares her own coaching tips and inspiration.
Dear Family Podcast hosted by Rachel Steinman / 36 min
When a young Black man living in an affluent, mostly White neighborhood believed he was Jesus because of his schizoaffective disorder, his mother Taun Hall, called for help. The Walnut Creek Police responded with lethal force making no effort to deescalate the situation. Miles was not a criminal. He was mentally ill. As a result, Taun, her family, and their community rose up to fight for change in Mile’s name. They founded the Miles Hall Lifeline Act, a new 3-digit phone line for suicide prevention and immediate emergency response for individuals in mental health crisis.
Dear Family is a podcast about our complicated families and achieving mental wellness meant to stop us from writing ourselves and our loved ones off.
Larissa Maloney: How Racism in College Sports Shaped An Activist
The Shameless Mom Academy with Sara Dean / 57 mins
In this #sharethemic-inspired conversation, Larissa Maloney opens up about her journey from playing professional beach volleyball player to creating Active Kids 2.0, which specializes in kids classes (boxing, karate, yoga, cheer, gymnastics, ballet, jazz, hip-hop dance, toddler time, strength, cardio, and many more!) Maloney discusses the ways in which she practices self-care as a Black female leader, advocate, and mom during this time, how she has experienced racism throughout her life, often as the only Black child and young woman in white spaces, and specific steps she recommends for becoming a better ally.
Shameless Mom Academy - Motherhood is a challenge. Daily. Being shameless is required if you want to build a life and a legacy you love. The Shameless Mom Academy is here to give you the tools to bridge the gap between motherhood and living the life of your dreams.
For Mother’s Quest: In honor of Mother’s Day each year, I invite mothers to participate in a free challenge to craft their own manifesto for living their E.P.I.C. life. In a podcast interview I recorded three years ago with Graeme Seabrooke of The Mom Center, that sparked this annual tradition, we discuss the inspiration behind the challenge and why “We need these manifestos. We need each other. And we need each other’s stories.” — Graeme Seabrook Reclaiming Ourselves in Motherhood: Revisited with Graeme Seabrook. Listen to this episode and then come along on this year’s challenge.
Hey, readers! Did you enjoy this blog post? We wanted to combine two of our favorite things: podcast listening and guest contributions. Do you have an idea for a blog post that combines podcasts with your favorite things? Let us know! We’d love for you to write a guest blog post for us.
