Radical Mothering as a Pathway to Liberation
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| Author | Mai’a Williams |
| DOI | 10.1177/0305829819852418 |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Reflections |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829819852418
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies
2019, Vol. 47(3) 497 –512
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0305829819852418
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Radical Mothering as
a Pathway to Liberation
Mai’a Williams
Independent journalist and artist, USA
Abstract
I weave several threads in this essay, including the history of obstetrics and traditional Black
midwifery, the devastating statistics of Black infant and maternal mortality rates, the experiences
of eastern Congolese mama activists, the written and lived testimonies of Black North American
mama activists, and my personal narratives to illustrate that the practice of mothering is
fundamental to creating co-liberatory revolutionary movements and societies. This essay shows
how mama activists, in particular Black mama activists, are taking great risks to their lives in the
face of white patriarchal structures and in the midst of the ‘afterlife of slavery’ in order to honour
the fallen and create a more just future. It also questions scholar-activists as to how they, whose
scholarship is built off of the work of these mama activists, redistribute the life and death risk that
mama activists shoulder to create the just world scholar-activists claim to desire.
Keywords
revolution, liberation, mothering
La maternidad radical como un camino hacia la liberación
Resumen
Para componer el presente trabajo se han utilizado diferentes tramas tales como la historia
de la obstetricia y la partería negra tradicional, las demoledoras estadísticas de la mortalidad
maternoinfantil en la población negra, experiencias de “mamás” activistas del Congo oriental,
testimonios escritos y vividos de “mamás” activistas afronorteamericanas así como mi propia
historia personal para ilustrar que la práctica de la maternidad es esencial para generar movimientos
y sociedades revolucionarios co-liberadores. Este ensayo muestra cómo las madres activistas, en
concreto las “mamás” activistas negras, están asumiendo grandes riesgos para sus vidas frente a
las estructuras patriarcales blancas y en el contexto de la «vida posterior a la esclavitud» con el
fin de honrar a los caídos y crear un futuro más justo. Además, cuestiona la forma en la que los
activistas académicos, cuya labor académica se centra en el estudio del trabajo de estas mamás
Corresponding author:
Mai’a Williams, Independent journalist and artist, USA.
Email: maiamedicine@gmail.com
852418MIL0010.1177/0305829819852418Millennium: Journal of International StudiesWilliams
research-article2019
Reflections
498 Millennium: Journal of International Studies 47(3)
1. Rob Haskell, ‘Serena Williams on Motherhood, Marriage, and Making Her Comeback’,
Vogue, February 2018. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue
-cover-interview-february-2018. Last accessed May 6, 2019.
activistas, redistribuyen el riesgo de vida y de muerte que las mamás activistas asumen para crear
el mundo justo que los académicos activistas afirman desear.
Palabras clave
revolución, liberación, maternidad
Le maternage radical comme moyen de libération
Résumé
Dans cet essai, je tisse plusieurs fils conducteurs, notamment l’histoire de l’obstétrique et de la
profession traditionnelle de sage-femme noire, les statistiques dévastatrices des taux de mortalité
infantile et maternelle chez les Noirs, les expériences des mères militantes de l’est du Congo,
les témoignages écrits et vécus de mères militantes nord-américaines noires ainsi que mes récits
personnels, pour démontrer que la pratique du maternage est fondamentale pour créer des
mouvements et sociétés révolutionnaires colibertaires. Cet essai montre comment les mères
militantes, en particulier les militantes noires, prennent des risques considérables dans leur vie
face aux structures patriarcales blanches et dans « l’après-vie de l’esclavage » afin d’honorer les
morts et de créer un avenir plus juste. Cet essai interroge également les militantes érudites, ces
personnes dont l’érudition provient du travail de ces mères militantes, sur la façon dont elles
redistribuent le risque de vie ou de mort qu’elles assument pour créer le monde juste qu’elles
prétendent désirer.
Mots clés
révolution, libération, maternage
Serena Williams has been at the top of her game for so long; it is almost miraculous. Not
only has she won 23 Grand Slam titles, ten of which she has earned since turning 30
years old, she has also earned the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed
doubles. A Black girl from Compton, California, who has been playing tennis since she
was three years old, she has won a major tournament in each of the past three decades
and is the only person in women’s tennis to have done so. She has conquered the world
of tennis time and time again.
In early 2017, Williams won the Australian Open for a record-setting seventh time,
returning her ranking to number one. A couple of months later, she announced she was
20 weeks pregnant, which meant she would have been eight to nine weeks pregnant
when she won the Australian Open. Her baby, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., was born in
September 2017. Later, in an interview with Vogue magazine, Williams recalled ‘I almost
died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia’.1 The day after her child’s birth via
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