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. …

  On August 31, 3-5pm PST at the San Francisco Public Library Learning Studio, Raising Mothers will host its first live reading and craft conversation. Becoming a parent is a time of redefinition.  In partnership with the San Francisco Public Library and the Institute for Advanced Uncertainty, Raising Mothers will facilitate a reading with 3 Bay Area writers in person and include the voices of 3 writers who have been published online at Raising Mothers. Please include a link to your previously published work from Raising Mothers as proof.  This is your opportunity to have your voices heard!  Record your published piece from Raising Mothers!  All pieces will be included in the Raising Mothers Youtube Channel (with your permission).  Three pieces will be selected by the editor to be played at the San Francisco reading itself.  Those three (3) selected writers will each receive $50 for their participation in the San Francisco reading.  The full reading and craft discussion will be recorded and a video of the full event, including submitted videos, will be added to the …

Our Caribbean Heritage call is from June 5th to June 17th   GENERATIONS RAISING MOTHERS seeks fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and graphic narratives for our Generations column. This section will explore the unique space that is being a first generation parent. This can mean you and/or your parent(s) was an immigrant or you are a first born in your family in your country of birth. What are your cultural norms? How do they differ from society-at-large? What presents itself in your parenting? Do they differ from your partner if there is one?   THE POLITICAL BODY RAISING MOTHERS seeks fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and graphic narratives for The Political Body. What does it means to live in your body as a BIPOC with or without other marginal intersections? What does it mean to parent with this body? How are outside forces (society, our families, government, media) trying to dictate what it means to live how we do? This can also be viewed in shaping how we help our children view themselves. Especially interested in work …

We’re opening submissions for this special call from June 4th to June 17th   Raising Mothers is seeking submissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative and hybrid writing to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots. We will prioritize BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) trans women and children for this call. Length is up to you; most essays we publish fall between 1500-4000 words. Poetry should be at least 3-5 pieces. Read our submissions page for details and who to address work to for each department under DEPARTMENTS.  Deadline is June 17 for all submissions. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy Raising Mothers, please consider making a one-time or recurring contribution to help us remain ad-free. If even a fraction of subscribers signed up to contribute $1 per month, Raising Mothers could be self-sustaining!

This week Literary Mama published an interview with our EIC, Sherisa de Groot. They discussed the need for literary spaces specifically for BIPOC and how vital our role and platform is. From the interview: ”AJ: Raising Mothers looks not only at motherhood, but also the lack of literary publications that focus on women and mothers of color. Your site states that “There is an endless supply of websites targeted at how to raise children from birth until they leave the nest. Few, if any, focus on raising us. Fewer still pay any attention to mothers of color.” What role do you think a journal or magazine that focuses on mother writers of color can play in challenging the status quo of the literary community? The parenting community? SdG: I think literary journals like Raising Mothers play a vital role. We work diligently to make sure we see each other and to make sure everyone else does, too. There is a lack of representation across the board as to who and what is the motherhood ideal. …