Mommy Talk Show Candid Conversation with a TV Mom
As the parents of a Black son, we are guarded and careful to make sure that he behaves. Not just because good behavior makes it easier on us, but because one day A.J. will go out into the world as a young Black man. He’ll be stereotyped and judged and racially profiled. It’s just the reality. Even though we have a Black president and I’ve had a successful career as a Black journalist, we don’t put our heads in the sand. Neither do Trayvon Martin or Mike Brown’s parents. So when I saw the Baltimore Mom who grabbed her son from the streets and tried to slap some sense into him because he was throwing rocks at cop cars, I applauded her. And I sympathized with her. And I understood her. I would rather spank A.J. now to keep him in line, than for a school district or police officer to get involved in disciplining him. Watch my video in support of the Baltimore Mom, then read even more about how I was raised to be scared to death of my parents.
Video:
In Support of The Baltimore Mom
Who Grabbed Her Son at the Riots
It pains me to have to write topics like “He’s Cute at 4, But Will You Call Him a Criminal When He’s 14? about our son. Or to remind folks that our son is not automatically a suspect as I did with this Essence Magazine campaign, #HeIsNotASuspect in 2013 after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. It also pains me to know that my husband has changed the way he drives. He no longer puts his wallet in his car’s glove box – out of fear that a police officer would misinterpret him reaching for his ID, as him reaching for a weapon.
When my husband and I were growing up, we were far more afraid of our parents than we were of the police.
My Mother was quick to warn us, “I’ll slap you so hard – your head will be rolling down the street saying `I ain’t got no body!'” Now if that’s not a threat, I don’t know what is.
Our son will be raised with the old school discipline we hated at the time, but embrace wholeheartedly now that we’re parents. Most of the Mommy Talk Show Facebook fans agreed with me in support of the Baltimore Mom, except I’d be praying for Jesus to withhold my strength to keep me from killing him for putting himself in danger.
I DO NOT believe in child abuse. But if I ever saw/heard/felt like A.J. was out committing a crime, I’d do the exact same thing as this Baltimore Mom (without the profanity) who saw her son on TV rioting!
Posted by Mommy Talk Show on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
In fact, there’s a movement on social media to award the Baltimore Mother, #MotherofTheYear.
This mother is giving me LIFE. https://t.co/ScLToyLZbC
— Steve Osunsami (@SteveOsunsami) April 28, 2015
No matter the race of the mom, no matter the event her son was at – I can only hope to be as strong as a mother as her. And, obviously she raised him well – minus one mean little look he listened to her , trusted her. Maybe all mothers, even the ones that proudly say they never spanked their kids will take note!
While I agree that blacks may be in some cities more targeted, honestly I am of the mind it has become very much a class issue. I hate to go all anti-establishment, but I think that a HUGE issue happening all over. I am gonna rant, but since the Homeland Security Act gave more powers and stripped more rights, it makes shooting citizens much easier. I am also going to rant, that putting these pschopaths on PAID leave while investigating is rewarding them (heck they get a paid vacation) Your husband isnt the only one not putting a wallet in the glovebox, I coould tell some stories about that- and it is both black and white.
Our town is going wild right now…. and it isnt black nor is it white, it is in areas that are socio economically depreessed,
Last week there was a 4 year old boy shot (he happened to be black) the bullet went through the side of the house and he got hit. Luckily, he is fine. The week before that, there was more gunshots, 3 white boys were hit. None seriously, None of theese children were doing anything to deserve this. A week before a white man was shot and killed. What got him killed? He was mentally unstable, he had a TABLE KNIFE and was under his kitchen table. He was afraid and hallucinating and not on drugs. He was shot 17 times because the police felt ‘threatened’ by a table knife I guess. He was one of my husbands friends. No one made a big deal of it- the officers did though get a vacation. A couple years ago another friend was shot and killed after being beaten in his own driveway because he wouldnt identify himself. No weapons, no drugs, tazed, beaten then shot right in front of his children.
As to the woman who slapped her son, she has my respect. She recognized him, slapped the mess out of him and got him the heck out of there. As far as I am concerned she saved his life, He could have been killed, or later been recognized on camera and spent serious jail time. The profanity didnt bother me- she was outraged, she was scared, and she was doing the right thing. Better he be embarassed and have a Mom that loved him enough than later be a statistic.
Things need to get under control and things need to change and soon.
Great video and you are so right. I’m 26 and my dad was a single parent to me and later I was raised by my sister. It took a village to raise me, and respect and good behavior were a minimum. I’ve inly ever been whipped once in my life, but that was because I did respect and fear, in a sense, my elders. I was also raised in the church so you know how that goes. I don’t have children, but I did just ask my boyfriend who is white, if he fears potentially having a black son. These are scary times and as a black woman, having a son is such a scary thought right now. But thank God for God, because when all else fails He is there.
I love the idea if the “cute at 4, criminal at 14?” Campaign you started. It’s eye opening.
If only more parents would stand up for what’s right…but it does start when they are 2,3,4, etc not 14,16,18…hopefully instilling in your child when they are young you won’t have to have a viral video of trying to get your son back in shape at a later age…maybe he will be the one standing by what’s right and making a difference. That would make me even more proud!
You are a 1000% right! We need to start teaching children young and not when they are already in their teens. I do not have to worry about the same things as you by any stretch of the imagination and I still worry about my daughter and how she behaves that is what good parent do. This mother is a great example of how to parent. I would have been out there retrieving my child too! Great video!