Gwinnett County Public Library

The mamas, what I learned about kids, class, and race from moms not like me, Helena Andrews-Dyer

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-213)

contains biographical information

no index present

non fiction

The mamas

bibliography

1304833419

Helena Andrews-Dyer

what I learned about kids, class, and race from moms not like me

"A Washington Post culture writer chronicles the challenges she faces as a Black mother in a mostly white mommy group in a time of gentrification, racial reckoning, and a global pandemic. Helena Andrews-Dyer lives in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., a picturesque collection of rowhouses near the center of the city that has become increasingly gentrified in the last decade. After having her first child a few years ago, she joined the local motherhood support group-"the Mamas"-and was surprised to find she was one of the only Black mothers. The racial, cultural, and socio-economic differences were made clear almost immediately. Then George Floyd happened. A man was murdered. A man who called out for his mama. And suddenly, the Mamas felt even more different. Though they were alike in some ways-they want their kids to be safe, they think their husbands are lazy, they work too much and they feel guilty about it-Helena realized she had an entirely different set of problems her neighborhood mom friends could never truly understand. In The Mamas, Helena chronicles the particular challenges she faces in a group where a reading list is the first step to solving systemic racism and where she, a Black, professional, Ivy League-educated mom, is overcompensating with every move. And Helena grapples with her own inner tensions like, "Why do I never leave the house with the baby and, Provided by publisher

Group -- Drinking the cognac -- Secret white meetings -- Super cool moms -- Ain't I a gentrifier? -- The invisible mom -- Your mom's vagina -- Those fucking girls -- That other talk -- What's in a name

adult