Group Champions Policies Empowering ‘Mamas Of Color'

Michigan Advance

April 2, 2022

A video flashed on the screen being streamed Thursday evening by Mothering Justice, a Detroit-based racial and gender justice advocacy organization. In it, a woman leaned into the frame and spoke casually into the camera. Her words were a deluge of familiarity and gravity, turns of phrases that included terms like “Big Bang P” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a rapid-fire explanation of the war in Ukraine.

It is, Mothering Justice’s Arianna Wolfe said, a powerful video — not just because of the topics discussed but because of the way they are discussed.

A.B. Burns — a third-year law student from California who regularly racks up hundreds of thousands of views for her videos delving into everything from Russia attacking Ukraine to the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson — breaks down current events in a way that Wolfe said amplifies “African American vernacular English” and appeals to Black viewers who can feel alienated by mainstream media.

“A.B. uses her platform to educate her audience about current events using our language, African American vernacular English,” Wolfe said Thursday for Mothering Justice’s livestreamed series, “Mamas of Color Deserve Better.”

During the livestream, Wolfe interviewed Burns for a series that centers and amplifies women and mothers of color. It was a conversation that spanned a gamut of topics, pivoting from the war in Ukraine to navigating life as a mother and eliminating student loan debt.

“Why is it powerful to use African-American vernacular English?” Wolfe asked Burns, who has a 4-year-old son, earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and criminal justice, and has a master’s degree in criminology, law and society.

“I think the power in it is that it makes us feel included in the conversation because it’s a conversation that we understand and we can get into it a little differently,” Burns said. “When you have people throwing out all these legal terms and political terms, it’s easy to go over your head and you’re like, ‘This has nothing to do with me.’ I think the power in that is now people will feel connected to the information coming in.”

Burns’ mission to connect viewers with modern day politics in a way that’s accessible is much like what Mothering Justice wants to do with the organization’s videos: Show women of color in Detroit and elsewhere that policymaking and advocacy is not something relegated to older, white men in suits but should be for everyone.

Now, those from Mothering Justice said, is a time when women of color are leading the push for inclusive policies that are designed by, and for, women of color.

“Mothering Justice is here to work and empower you, our community, our mamas, our elected officials, and partner organizations to advocate for U.S. policies that aim to end injustices that people of color face as a result of systemic racism and misogyny,” said Mothering Justice Communications and Research Director Jayye Elishia Johnson said.

“Our work is centered on a set of policy issues that impact mothers of color,” Johnson continued. “These issues include access to quality and affordable childcare, reproductive justice — which includes quality and maternal health care and abortion rights — equitable paid and sick time policies, and equitable basic needs policies.”

During Thursday’s conversation, Burns focused in part on the fact that President Joe Biden’s $5.8 trillion budget proposal does not include student loan forgiveness — which some Democratic lawmakers and activists have pressed the president to do. The Brookings Institute, a centrist Washington, D.C.-based think tank, recently noted that the majority of student debt holders reported canceling student debt would allow them to purchase homes, have children, pay down other debts and save for emergencies.

“Biden’s 2023 proposal just came out, and we saw more money going to police and things like that,” Burns said. “And it’s like, what about us?”

“I think what we need to do now is create this fund to help with student loans, to get rid of that debt,” she continued. “We have to get there as a nation, which means we have to have representatives who understand our situation enough to come up with a reasonable plan on how to attack the student loan deficit. And we just ain’t got that yet. So, you know, Great Lakes gonna keep calling, and I ain’t got it right now.”

In response, Wolfe told viewers that they need to “hit up your legislators, Congress and everybody else because we really gotta figure this student loan thing out.”

In addition to the conversation with Burns, Wolfe and Johnson navigated a wide spectrum of topics throughout the evening, from noting that Thursday was Transgender Day of Visibility (“remember, trans women are women and trans men are men and nonbinary people are nonbinary,” Johnson said) to Jackson’s Supreme Court hearings and the push for national paid family leave.

“Remember, representation matters, and we are excited to finally see a Black woman hopefully on the Supreme Court for the first time in America,” Johnson said.

Not long before Thursday’s live stream ended, Wolfe asked Burns a question that seemed to center around an idea that dominated much of the conversation: How, as a mother, do you make all of this work? How do you go to law school, run multiple social media accounts, and, generally, keep it all together?

Burns responded that she has found something she loves.

“There are a lot of challenges, right?” she said. “But it’s like, would you rather work hard, do something you love or work hard doing something that is just mediocre? That’s not fulfilling, right? As a mother, there are ups and downs. … Be patient with yourself and just know you’re working hard to do your thing.”

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