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From The Nation:

Bad black mothers are everywhere these days.

With Michelle Obama in the White House, consciously and conspicuously serving as mom-in-chief, I expected (even somewhat dreaded) a resurgence of Claire Huxtable images of black motherhood: effortless glamour, professional success, measured wit, firm guidance, loving partnership, and the calm reassurance that American women can, in fact, have it all.

Instead the news is currently dominated by horrifying images of African American mothers.

RELATED: “Precious” Breaks Box Office Records In Limited Release

Most ubiquitous is the near universally celebrated performance of Mo’Nique in the new film Precious. Critically and popularly acclaimed Precious is the film adaption of the novel Push. It is the story of an illiterate, obese, dark-skinned, teenager who is pregnant, for the second time, with her rapist father’s child. (Think The Color Purple in a 1980s inner-city rather than 1930s rural Georgia)

At the core of the film is Precious’ unimaginably brutal mother. She is an unredeemed monster who brutalizes her daughter verbally, emotionally, physically and sexually. This mother pimps both her daughter and the government. Stealing her daughter’s childhood and her welfare payments.

Just as Precious was opening to national audiences a real-life corollary emerged in the news cycle, when 5-year-old Shaniya Davis was found dead along a roadside in North Carolina. Her mother, a 25-year-old woman with a history of drug abuse, has been arrested on charges of child trafficking. The charges allege that this mother offered her 5-year-old daughter for sex with adult men.

RELATED: Mom Accused Of Selling Missing 5-Year-Old Into Prostitution

Yet another black mother made headlines in the past week, when U.S. soldier, Alexis Hutchinson, refused to report for deployment to Afghanistan. Hutchinson is a single mother of an infant, and was unable to find suitable care for her son before she was deployed. She had initially turned to her own mother who found it impossible to care for the child because of prior caregiver commitments. Stuck without reasonable accommodations, Hutchinson chose not to deploy. Hutchinson’s son was temporally placed in foster care. She faces charges and possible jail time.

RELATED: Single Mother Refuses To Be Deployed To Afghanistan

These stories are a reminder, that for African American women, reproduction has never been an entirely private matter.

Click here to read more.

Tags: Black Women, Single Mothers
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  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MR_NANASTROKER/ MR_NANASTROKER

    Take Note that all the News Articles that are displayed are from NEWSONE

    U cannot take A Handful of bulls**t articles you published and frivelously attempt 2 distort A phenomenon you are Creating.

    The ownership of NewsOne: Black Planet, is it truly black owned? Or just black formatted? w/a Black figure head, or ‘Puppet’?

    Love My People…Love 1 another and inform all of the misdeeds initiated upon us unknowingly, unwillingly & deceptively by your OWN

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/SoularFlarez/ SoularFlarez

    cant imagine having kids with someone? dont f*ck them !!!

    it aint that complicated….

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Nightowl358/ Nightowl358

    The writer is making a mountain out of a mole hill as far as this alleged “resurgence” goes; I’m not convinced.

    The real image of black mothers that we have to deal with is that of the baby mamma who’s never married with multiple illegitimate kids from multiple men.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Chocolate_Gul/ Chocolate_Gul

    You all need to put ALL of the details of the woman that didnt deploy. She is the ONLY person that is able to take care of her child. She is NOT an example of a bad black mother! She is the exact opposite.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/gren1shaw2/ gren1shaw2

    White mothers are killing their children at an alarming rate.but the white news media uses propaganda to make it seem that all black mothers are unfit.one black mother sells her child who is later raped and killed,but the focus for white people is a movie of the worst a mother can be.the white news mediq is purposely changing the facts,and that is that white mothers do things like drown their children in a bath tub,drive their children into lakes,poison them and are experts at maunchausen syndrome by proxy.they have so many syndromes that allow them to kill their children,post partem depression.you name it, and they have it[white mothers].so it seems assinine to talk about black mothers,who struggle from having no money to feed their families.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzwatch/ jazzwatch

    There are bad mothers of all races, but the White ones are not really getting the criticism that Black mothers are getting, which is out of proportin…at least I haven’t seen that many bad Black mothers on the Steve Wilcos show…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/bluejewlz73/ bluejewlz73

    what i see is ihis. white people use mental illness as an excuse to abuse and kill! and black people refuse to get mental help when its clearly needed! because alot dont believe in seeing head doctorers. both races are using one extreme or another to harm themselves,or harm loved ones.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/IWalkAlone247/ IWalkAlone247

    So let me get this straight….just because we have ONE black woman in the white house, that’s suppose to mean that ALL black chicks with kids are good mothers and should be seen as such?….KISS MY AZZ!!!!

    I’m tired of chicks…especially black chicks…..getting pumped up to be more than what they are….why? Because black FATHERS are always getting sh*tted on in this sorry azz country BECAUSE OF these broads….

    You wanna know why an unbelieveable amount of black kids don’t have fathers in their lives….LOOK AT THE MOTHERS!!!!…..You wanna know why a large number of our black children grow up screwed in the head….LOOK AT THE MOTHERS FIRST!!!….fathers don’t do that sh*t! The cases of fathers molesting and killing their children are rare, contrary to what you see on TV, compared to the cases of these broads scaring away willing fathers, doing everything to keep a willing father away from his kids, bringing NEW DUDES around their kids trying to play the daddy role while the real father is trying to be with his kids, having said dudes slap them around IN FRONT OF their kids then turning that aggression on the kids, allowing these dudes to molest their children and STAY WITH THESE DUDES!!……kizz my fu*cking azz…FATHERS DON’T SKREW KIDS UP LIKE THAT!!!

    Yes, there are deadbeat fathers out there, but compare that to the number of fathers trying to be there and these sorry azz broads keeping them away….knock off the bullsh*t. There’s no epidemic of deadbeats in our community….there’s an epidemic of chicks keeping willing fathers away, and the sad part is EVERYBODY KNOWS IT!! Even this pathetic azz president we have, making these insulting “be a father today” commercials. I have no respect for this cornball….but I digress…

    If they wanna show the image of bad black mothers, then BRAVO TO THEM!! It’s about time SOMEBODY brought the true reality to everybody’s eyes. Yes, there are some good ones out there….but like I said…SOME!! We only enable the bad ones by INSTANTLY defending them and not wondering WHY the father isn’t there, or WHY our kids are f*cked in the head until something really bad happens…..

    Knock off the politically correct bullsh*t just because these chicks are black and start doing something worthwhile….RAISE AWARENESS!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/IWalkAlone247/ IWalkAlone247

    OH, AND MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ACTIVITY FROM BLACK PEOPLE THESE DAYS IS ALREADY BEING BROUGHT INTO THE DEBATE!!!!!!!

    Point the finger to white people and look at what THEY’RE doing….lol….pathetic….as time goes by, we STILL refuse to take responsibility for OUR f*ck-ups…

    Ridiculous….how do you people NOT shave with your eyes closed….

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/_A_/ _A_

    @Nanastroker, I too, have had the same concern for quite sometime. The articles chosen seem to have a hidden agenda to them. It is very rare that TRULY positive articles are presented here, its always articles trying to pass off as positive, if they aren’t straight up negative. The best way to keep a people thinking negative is to continue feeding them negativity. I’m in total and full agreement with your concern!

    @nightOwl, your comment lends some credence to the theory in this article. There are so many positive Black women in this world, yet you consciously or subconsciously, provided us with a commonly held stereotype as an “image we need to deal with.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those women don’t exist, but doesn’t that circ**stance apply to many women across the board, yet it doesn’t seem to be the “first thing” one thinks about when you think about other groups of women. Check yourself, sir!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/deshawn121/ deshawn121

    blue jewelz is 100% right. we as black people must recognize that we have a large part of our population with major mental issues, and until we can get many of these people help we will continue to have homeless people in our streets, young men going back and forth to jail and young mothers having more and more kids with out any sign of support.

    please lets not try to blame white people for this

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/under_construction09/ under_construction09

    It’s sad, but I have to agree with A and Nanastroker. Why do they put up these article this way? It’s like they are intentionally trying to get a rise out of people. I don’t believe that their is a resurgance on the angry black mother, and I find it harmful that on this “black” social network that one would spread such an idea. Why can’t we find positive stories and lift each other up? I really hate that some people read into these articles and post even more negative comments. Stop attacking each other, stop attacking white people and being worried about “white media.” Nobody can bring us up, but us. God bless.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/TiredMan/ TiredMan

    I agree IWalkAlone247. Its too bad that we live in a society that has become “feminized;” where only in the most extreme instances are we allowed to question a mother’s parenting skills. The truth is that it–aside from the imagery in the movie “Precious” and the Shaniya Davis incident in NC–the black community is rampant with bad parents, and we need to stop living in denial, and/or calling someone who tells the truth like it is a “hater.” Too many single mothers (who are single because we men have failed to take out rightful places as family heads) overindulge their kids with things/material possessions (like overpriced sneakers), don’t reinforce the importance of an education (or even attend their kids parent-teachers conferences), and allow BET to babysit their kids.

    http://beyond-The-Political-Spectrum.blogspot.com/

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/SirMoonlite2/ SirMoonlite2

    I totally agree with : IWalkAlone247……..and add this, When the Black Community stop promoting babies for bucks campain { You know what that means, (1)seek out a working man… (2)get him to skeet skeeter skeet, rawhide style by deception ….(3) run to the Family Courthouse for a child support order…(4) return to luv ‘n that thug, who on the down low, drug- dealer…(5) drain ecconomic resource from babies daddies by means of deception… (6) counterman any and all learned skills and behaviors from baby’s daddy (ies) (7)repeat step one after two 1/2 year stay!!} we will be able to re- build of a culture….like that of before, the WELFARE era!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/DaintyJen/ DaintyJen

    ahhh yes the things these blogs do to make us say ignorant crap. The funny part is is that many are willing to say such things:

    “its the black womans fault”

    “its the black mans fault”

    “black woman are always being dogged”

    “black men are always being dogged”

    True= yes
    is it one sided? = NO

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Mr_Spann/ Mr_Spann

    Do I think there is a resurgence of showing pitiful black mothers. No I don’t I think we have been getting a steady stream of it. But I don’t blame the media for it. I blame the mothers that give them the ammunition to show how trifling they are.

    Just like I don’t blame the media for there being pitiful black fathers. I blame the stupid niggas not handling their business.

    As far as Obama is concerned. If you are a father handling yours, I don’t think he was talking to you. Throw a rock into a pack of dogs, and the one that gets hit is going to bark.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/maatra/ maatra

    Watch MAAFA 21 on youtube. Witness the AFRICAN HOLOCAUST and see who all are involved then come back to this topic

    Phuck news one

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/msveevee1/ msveevee1

    Well all I know is that it is a stigma in the black community bcuz for one, there is not no REAL role model of how black families are suppose to be in this messed up world that we live in. Everyone should applaud Willie Lynch for a job well done and an even bigger applause for the black folks who still follow in that curse. Black ppl can’t get mad at nobody but themselves when it comes to the stereotyping and generalizations that we have been placed in. So nobody should be mad or ashamed or anything bcuz if you gonna let a stupid white man still control how black families are ran till this day from 4 or 500 yrs ago, then deal with it! I mean, it really doesn’t make any sense to keep rubbing salt in this wound of a conversation when generation after generation the same curse is passed down to the next generation instead of trying to change things. Black men are not men or fathers to their offsprings or the women that they consummate with. Leaving the black women to be the mother AND the father and not knowing how to raise boys to men, but to raise them on what they THINK a man should be like. Women are falling into self-degradation and not having any self-esteem or no self-worth or self-love and passing that same mental and emotional disease to the children. It’s sad and pathetic and blacks are gonna have to deal with or do something to change it. Stop whining and crying like b***hes and woman and man up! Then ppl won’t have nothing to say about us. Thank God, I am strong-minded and strong-spirited enough to not be a follower. I can only do the best I can and I know God will do the rest. That’s how I live.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/msveevee1/ msveevee1

    And one more thing…black ppl come from similar, but also different backgrounds too you know? If you were born into an incestuous family of alcholics and drug addicts while depending on them to guide and lead you down the right path and they don’t, who is actually responsible for how that person turns out to be and live their lives while making whatever decisions that they’ve made just to survive? This is what I’m talking about that sums it up to one word…DEMONS. I don’t care what nobody has to say about it. When you’re a sheep amongst wolves, the primary goal is to be devoured or seek safety. If you don’t know no better bcuz nobody taught you any better, then nature will have to take it’s course. The difference is are there any ppl on this earth that gives a damn enough to take the time to lead someone on the right path meaning lead them to Jesus? Is there anybody out there that is willing to think out of their self-centeredness to not try to deceive someone that is seeking help and naive enough to allow to trust somebody that might want to steer them in the right direction. Have any of you that talk about baby mama this and baby mama that ever think about how they might’ve became baby mamas in the first place? Yes, at some time and some point, ppl ARE responsible for their own lives and mistakes in their lives. But what I ask you again…if they have never learned what it felt to have someone be straight 100% with them and not find some way to be taken advantage of in some form of fashion, do you think that they would still be somebody’s baby mama with multiple illegitamte children? The only alternatives to being raped or molested and manipulated by a perversed man that impregnated a female is abortion or adoption. Which would you men perfer that a woman do when she is placed in those type of predicaments? Hmmmmm?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Toni_Anthony/ Toni_Anthony

    BAD Black Mothers? Well, I understand WHY we see WHAT we see on TV these day’s when it comes to a “Specific Menality,” of Black Women! I was ONCE an Investigator for Housing Discrimination and the 11 years of madness I encountered via Women who I’ll say are the product(s) of the Crack Cocaine Rage, now 3 going on 4 Generation’s of them & what they produced via, “Females who act like WILDE BEAST & Males who act like RABID ANIMALS their OFFSPRING, WHO IS NOTHING but MENACES TO SOCIETY,” is sick. (I’m waiting on them to cut a set of fangs, grow tails & pointed ears! That is all they are missing, which will really make them look like they act! Like ANIMALS) It’s something else, I could get 10 cases to investigate, which alleges discrimination in a housing sense but out of the 10 cases, “8 are Section-8, 1 is Public Housing and MAYBE the 1 left may be a Tax Paying U.S. Citizen who’s experienced Discrimination? The system seem’s to be tayored to cater to females by 85% & males 15% & out of that 15% a black man may get 3% of that? I experienced being exposed to mental illness I never knew of. You see black women get on TV consistantly DEFENDING every wrong under the sun when it comes to males who are obviously TROUBLED plus going down to whatever social agency they can get ANYTHING from/out of, NOT being qualified for S**t but feel’s they are ENTITLED to S**t, based on their bad decison making (They feel they should be REWARDED FOR IT)! I realize it’s NOT the Mother’s alone doing it, because a female can’t procreate without a male. I tell my Nephews all the time, “All Females ARE NOT meant to be MOTHERS,” So if necessary? This fact comes to play AFTER a relationship/marriage, IF need be! They need to be ready to step up to the plate & DO THE RIGHT THING, handle the agency who uphold BAD MOTHER’S bulls**t, overall system and the B**ch also to SAVE THAT CHILD(REN)! Thank God it’s a small percentage% of Black Women who are Animalistic like we see, shown splashed all over the Headline News! Those chick’s from the mother of that fool who is alleged to have murdered, “Jennifer Hudson’s Family in Chicago,” to the 3 Mommy’s (Grand/Birth/Baby(s), IS sick in their M*%&%%% Head’s for real. Those women who believe they can wear the paints & the men who LET THEM, “deserves the aftermaths,” but a sane society, hard working taxpaying citizens DO NOT! My grandmother, my mother & most of my aunt’s did not do the sick S**t I see a lot of the women who’s faces are smashed in front of TV/News Cameras and/or in print doing and/or saying the s**t they do! SO SAD ARE THESE TIMES!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Toni_Anthony/ Toni_Anthony

    PS. TO, “I Walk Alone247.’ Bravo & Claps to you my friend YOU NAILED IT!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/momono3/ momono3

    how many times has a black woman rolled her car into a river with her kids in it, so she can be with another man? how many black women have taken their kids to a deserted road and shot them all to death, so she can be with another man? How many black women have pushed their 18 month old into a hole because she realized she was too young to have children? How many black women put their kids up for adoption because they were by a man of another race? There probably are some, but my point is BAD MOTHER COME IN ALL COLORS. If we want to be treated like everyone else, we have to not be ashamed of the fact that WE ARE just like anyone else.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/momono3/ momono3

    walkalone, I see your point. painful to admit, but a lot of problem with the black community IS with our women. I said A LOT, not ALL. Women, when you allow your mother to dictate your children’s relationship with their father, YOU ARE WRONG. In most cases where I have seen this, the mother still has her man on her arm, but wants YOU to be alone. Where was she when you were first attracted to this man, dating this man, planning a family with this man. Now when there are children, she decides what a man should be and steps in and YOU LISTEN TO HER. A true mother would step back and allow her daughter to run her own marriage, good or bad, and then just BE THERE for support when her daughter needs it. HER DAUGHTER! Not her SON IN LAW’S DAUGHER. Don’t encourae your daughter to take the father out of the child’s life because she can’t control him, because the person you hurt most, is your child.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Sexy_Steph69/ Sexy_Steph69

    To walkalone247 and momono3 it sounds like you two have had some bad experiences with black woman. For you to say “look at the mothers” whenever theres something wrong.What type of mentality is that? Damn its so sad know one wants to be the bad guy so lets just point the fingers back and fourth…Its a lack of bad black mothers and fathers. walkalone you said there is no epidemic of deadbeats in your community…were the fu*k do you stay? Never-Land?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/momono3/ momono3

    But am I wrong, though. When I say to look at the mothers, am I lying. A woman will have a man herself, but start snatching kids back if the dad gets one. And when that boy turns into a young teen and really needs that male guidance, the child is told his dad is no good, which makes the child turn around and wonder “Then why were you with him”

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/trisha_369/ trisha_369

    Im piss that they even would try to call black mothers/women out as if other races don’t do the same thing-to there kids or someone elses child. Everything always have to be pointed at the blacks-if its bad and the only time its really something good they talk about is when it come to sports. What they should have said,in all fairness is that some women are bad mothers and left the race off. Because not every black woman or teen walking around is bad mothers. Its alot of good black mothers out here in this world and IM 1 of them…I work and take care of my son and he has never had to go without nor have I ever had to get or go get help from the system/government. I own my house/land car and truck-pay my bills and keep it moving and im single by choice and yes his sperm donor wanted to get mad because we didn’t spend enough time together because I worked all the time and if he had done his part instead of love making to the couch and the girl down the street-his a$$ should have got another job and help’d out instead he claim he wasn’t his son and blood test came back 99.99% his and he was 7months then and he is in college now and guess who put him there and he know-I did and his sperm donor is still doing the same thing to the girl down the street cheating on her/no job and I never ask for any childsupport or anything else. Why should I when he know its his child and he didn’t ask the state if he can help make him? So not all black women fit in the half a$$ rate that they come up-with. I notice that it was wrote after the movie and the lil girl geting killed-this topic pop up. If they cared so much and things was that bad-why not do something before now…why let a movie or a case like the Davis lil girl-open up your eyes to see the truth or open your mouth to speak as to say you care?(just my oppinion)

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