At Mama's Knee

Mothers and Race in Black and White

By: April Ryan

Narrated by: Mia Ellis

In her first book, The Presidency in Black and White, journalist April Ryan examined race in America through her experience as a White House reporter. In this book, she shifts the conversation from the White House to every home in America. At Mama's Knee looks at race and race relations through the lessons that mothers transmit to their children.

As a single African American mother in Baltimore, Ryan has struggled with each gut-wrenching, race-related news story to find the words to convey the right lessons to her daughters. To better understand how mothers transfer to their children wisdom on race and race relations, she reached out to other mothers - prominent political leaders like Hillary Clinton and Valerie Jarrett, celebrities like Cindy Williams, and others like Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, whose lives have been impacted by prominent race-related events.

At a time when Americans still struggle to address racial division and prejudice, their stories remind us that attitudes change from one generation to the next and one child at a time.

©2017 Rowman & Littlefield (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Ryan's emotionally-rich exploration of the influences race, identity and family have on our life experiences reminds us just how powerful an imprint mothers make on us all." (Vanessa De Luca, Editor-in-Chief, Essence)

Phenomenal topics for discussion.

This book contains a vast number of essential information and discussion points regarding race and generational engagements with racism. I didn't leave this reading with an overview of race through motherhood as much as through generations with references to motherhood. A worthy offering of the continuous battle with racism. A call to action for personal resiliency, community reclamation and building and a movement towards civil rights era social action.

Enjoyed it.

Very educational about Black mothers raising their children & taking care of the family history.