Art by Mari Andrew.
If you are a person for whom Mother’s Day is less fraught, perhaps you spent it like I did: claiming “me-time” by buying flowers and cards at Target while your partner played with the kid at home, hosting a gluten free brunch for your mother and mother in law, getting a little tipsy on mimosas, and napping.
And then getting up with every intention of taking a shower and realizing that no, you need even more napping.
As my kid would say, “Night night!”
I acknowledge that I live and work on unceded Lumbee, Skaruhreh/Tuscarora, and Shakori land. I give respect and reverence to those who came before me. I thank Holisticism for the text of this land acknowledgement.
We must acknowledge that much of what we know of this country today, including its culture, economic growth, and development throughout history and across time, has been made possible by the labor of enslaved Africans and their ascendants who suffered the horror of the transatlantic trafficking of their people, chattel slavery, and Jim Crow. We are indebted to their labor and their sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the tremors of that violence throughout the generations and the resulting impact that can still be felt and witnessed today. I thank Dr. Terah ‘TJ’ Stewart for the text of this labor acknowledgement.