Black History

COMMENTARY: A Reflection on Motherhood

mothers are brave, courageous, and will stand by their children through thick and thin, regardless of whether they are successful, or even those who have fallen by the wayside. Christian mothers have a strong belief in God – somehow, God will make a way out of no way. Even when going through trials and tribulations Christian mothers will be singing – “Troubles don’t last always.”

Published

4 years ago

May 9, 2022

Oakland Post

Rev. Dr. Martha C. Taylor

Mother’s Day is a very special day in all communities.

It’s that time of year when the sale of Hallmark cards quadruples, teleflorists spike the price of flowers and See’s Candies hires extra workers. Even with a reservation, restaurants make you wait in long lines.

Mother’s Day is a time set aside to show the one you call ‘mother’ special appreciation with gestures of love.

African Americans embrace motherhood in unique ways. There are biological mothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, and guardians. We have enduring terms for ‘mother’ such as Madea and Mama. The strength of mothers comes in all sizes. Big Mama can be short, 4’5” and is still be called Big Mama. Lil’ Mama can be 5’9”, and still be called Little Mama. It is not unusual, for grandmothers to be first responders and caregivers for their grandchildren.

For the most part, mothers are brave, courageous, and will stand by their children through thick and thin, regardless of whether they are successful, or even those who have fallen by the wayside. Christian mothers have a strong belief in God – somehow, God will make a way out of no way. Even when going through trials and tribulations Christian mothers will be singing – “Troubles don’t last always.”

Mother’s Day also brings a mixture of happy and hurt feelings. For many, Mother’s Day is a reminder that mother is no longer here. In some cases, a mother’s only child has died. One mother told me this would be the first year without her son who passed away last year from COVID-19. The death of a child does not mean you are not a mother anymore.

Some mothers are doing double duty raising their grandchildren. Some men, as single parents, have assumed the role of both father and mother. All mothers are not “mothers of the church” wearing white dresses, big hats with special reserved seats.

Still others have assumed the role of mother through adoption or by extended family.

The population of homeless mothers has significantly increased. Some are living with children in broken down automobiles trying to make ends meet for their family while the system professes to be doing a study of their plight. Some mothers are in convalescent homes, many tucked away out of eyesight of the family. Still others are blessed to have family visits.

Our hearts grieve especially for mothers who are imprisoned; they decorate their prison walls with pictures of their children.

Songwriter-rapper Tupac Shakur wrote musical lyrics about his mother who struggled to raise him through poverty. Shirley Caesar, a famous gospel singer, wrote the song “No Charge” in response to the little boy who was going to charge his mother for doing chores around the house.

The lyrics to the song “I’ll Always Love My Mama,” by the R&B group The Intruders, is a Black man’s testimony on the love of Mother.

“She’s my favorite girl, (You only get one, you only get one, yeah)

She brought me in this world.

She taught me little things like ‘Say hello’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ while scrubbing those floors on her bended knees.”

A walk back in history is a reminder of the horrific experiences Black mothers endured that started in the Middle Passage during the Transatlantic Slave Trade era and continues in many ways.

The auction block, a place where enslaved African people were treated as material where families were torn apart and sold to the highest bidder. Black women were forced to be slave breeders to keep the slave industry alive. Children grew up motherless while being forced to toil and labor under the yoke of slavery.

But through it all, there is a strong belief within most Black mothers that God has not abandoned them. The hand of God elevated Black mothers from slave pits to the White House when Michelle Obama, became First Lady of America.

The bond and love between Michelle and her mother was so strong that Marian Shields Robinson retired early to live in the White House to be close to her grandchildren. Michelle and Mother Robinson wanted the sense of normalcy a genuine Black grandma could bring to the everyday life of her grandchildren.

One thing we do know, the only earthly DNA connected to Jesus came from an unwed teenager, whom God chose to be the mother of Jesus. Thirty-three years later, Mary stood at the foot of the Cross and watched the crucifixion of her son, Jesus.

And lastly, Mary is not the only one to see the light go out of her child’s eyes. Thousands of Black mothers have endured the crucifixion of their young sons and daughters through police brutality. Every Mother is special in some way.

Happy Mother’s Day.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

5 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

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Black History

Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises. Photo courtesy of Wright Enterprises.

By Carla Thomas

Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.

As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.

The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.

“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.

That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.

Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.

“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.

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Black History

BOOK REVIEW: Every Inch of a Lady

“Born, bred, toasted, buttered, jellied, and honeyed in Harlem” in 1937, Audrey Smaltz was a force to be reckoned with almost from the time she could walk. Her parents imbued confidence in her; they nurtured her creativity and sent her to charm school, but they never allowed her to create a stir.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Audrey Smaltz' latest book "Every Inch a Lady" with Alina Mitchell, is a colorful autobiographical story following a young Black model's pursuit to become a fashion designer in New York City during the pre-Civil Rights era.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: Audrey Smaltz with Alina Mitchell, foreword by Michael Kors, Copyright: c.2026, Publisher: Amistad, SRP: $27.99, Page Count: 256 Pages, Snaps, zippers, buttons, ties.

Toss that garment on, pull it up, wrap it around; you know what you like and how to wear it. The color is perfect for your skin tone, and the fabric enhances your figure. Yep, you always look your best and, as in the new book “Every Inch a Lady” by Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell), that best is fabulous.

“That,” says Smaltz, “is not what ladies did.”

By the time she was a teenager, Smaltz was modeling for New York City designers. Shortly thereafter, she started working for a married man with whom she had an affair, and whom she loved very much. She broke up with him, attended college, and worked a series of jobs that taught her about fashion and jobs that didn’t seem to fit her. An ill-fated marriage took her to Chicago, where she ultimately landed a position that sent her to work in Ebony magazine’s New York office.

Working at Ebony was a career-changer, in a way. Smaltz traveled the world and learned more about fashion, but she didn’t exactly get along with her boss.

Finally, seizing an opportunity, Smaltz decided to launch her own company, Audrey Smaltz, Inc., a “fashion production business,” but she couldn’t get any designers to take a chance on her. Undaunted, she reorganized, re-branded, hit the streets, and knocked on doors until she finally found one client, which led to many others.

Through it all, her personal life was a whirlwind. She dated “more men than you can shake a book at,” settling down occasionally, briefly. Fashion had always been her first love, but she accidentally found real love, “the love of a woman,” at a leadership course…

There’s an old saying that writers need to add lots of “color” into their stories. Read a little of “Every Inch a Lady,” and you’ll notice immediately that author Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell) quite literally takes that to heart by mentioning nearly every color of the spectrum here. Hmm.

That oddity aside, Smaltz is a wonderfully lively storyteller, speaking with the energy of a woman much younger to the heart of anyone who loves fashion. That glee extends to collectors of vintage clothing, who will be delighted to read about the industry long ago and the way things worked then. Smaltz says she experienced racism, which is not unusual for pre-Civil Rights America, but doors were surprisingly closed for other reasons that will astound anyone who’s savvy about the fashion industry, even today.

There’s quite a bit of name-dropping in this book, but most of it belongs in the anecdotes, so you likely won’t mind. If you’re a fashionista, too, find “Every Inch a Lady,” and snap it up.