Dear Reader,
Today marks four years of Raising Mothers. While it is worthy of celebration, let’s be honest: the world is on fire. There are so many shitty things happening to people who don’t deserve it. There are children separated from their families, there are over-policed swaths of society and families afraid of sending their children back to school not because of educational or social pressures, but because of mass shootings that make the idea of education an unsafe one. Women and girls and trans people of color are being murdered at alarming rates and it feels like only other people of color, particularly Black people, care to talk about it.
It is important to mark milestones. To celebrate. Even in shitty times. Especially then. Although Raising Mothers is now 4, we are really more like a 2 year old since the site was largely quiet for a while. I’ve come back to this space with a renewed spirit and focus. I am now working with some truly wonderful people to help grow the site. Our output has been consistent and we are growing.
It’s an achievement when one thinks of the internet as already over saturated. But we want to truly thrive. I think it’s incredibly important to read the work our contributors create. I take great pride in having a space for stories from BIPOC to tell their unique lived experience in their own voices. Race and gender and culture aren’t scary things. They aren’t hot topics.
As it has been for some time now, my first financial goal is being able to have a monthly budget funded by our readers to offer payment to our contributors and hire artists. If you find great value in the work that is shared here and the community we are building, consider funding our efforts to get even more quality work published.
We do not receive funding from any large corporation or outside benefactor and right now the money we make on Patreon covers a portion of the overhead costs.
In our fourth year, we hope you’ll include us in your giving by making a contribution to Raising Mothers today.
This quote by our newest literary ancestor, Toni Morrison holds a lot of the general ethos behind this magazine and community:
“The theme you choose may change or simply elude you but being your own story means you can always choose the tone. It also means that you can invent the language to say who you are and what you mean.” (Toni Morrison at the 2004 commencement address at Wellesley College.)
We invent the language. We determine how we’re defined. We tell our stories in the way that suits us best.
It is vital that we honor that. It is in this spirit that Raising Mothers has existed and must continue on.
It’s important to remember that support is not only financial. It’s returning to our site and reading the brilliant work we publish. It’s sharing our links online often. It’s engaging us on social media. It’s participating in activities we create. It’s submitting your work. It’s telling others about Raising Mothers and treating this space as a resource.
With deep gratitude,
Sherisa de Groot
Founding Editor, Raising Mothers