A review by lauren_endnotes
At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White by April Ryan

3.0

I heard Ms. Ryan speak this past summer at a book festival. She was such a compassionate speaker. Many of the stories she shared were also part of this book, so in that way, it rehashed several things I'd already heard and learned from her. While she largely stays with the theme of motherhood and raising children in the black community, she also combines stories surrounding the spring/summer 2015 riots in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

I particularly liked this quote about the strength of her community as a single mother:
[That is] a state of consciousness, and a label people put on you to hold you to their standards and criteria...I never called myself a single mother. Ever. I was never a single mother and you know why? I had other women in my community help me raise my children. I had a grandmother who was there for me. I wasn't single - I was unpartnered. That is a different definition.