This fun and festive gathering will bring together our volunteers, allied organizations, donors and supporters - everyone who is, was, or wants to be part of the Backline community. Come meet our board, staff and advocates, enjoy great food and drink, and maybe even win a fabulous prize in our raffle!  

This blog post was part of a Mama's Day Series by the Strong Families Initiative.

I never wanted to become a statistic, another young, single black woman with a baby. The same day I found out I was pregnant with my firstborn son at 20 years old, I found out his father was incarcerated and would be for many years after that. I felt doomed and pigeonholed into being labeled unworthy of this new status in womanhood called motherhood. My family did not let me forget either, that I was unworthy of this choice and parenthood was simply not for me. I worked part-time, was a freshman at a community college and living on my own with roommates, barely supporting myself.

Our ideas of who should be a mother and who should not is shaped by what society tells us is right. Many women are haunted by the one prototype of what being a family and mother is supposed to be: a married parental unit, homeowners and careers established. This is so unrealistic and difficult for many families to uphold, let alone me.

In the Resource Corner we introduce, explore, and highlight organizations that are working to transform the conversations around abortion, adoption, parenting, and across the spectrum of pregnancy experiences. This edition focuses on Parenting. 

At Backline, we find that many women who are uncertain about a pregnancy begin weighing their options by considering whether or not they ever wish to be a parent. This question is not one that our society encourages people to reflect on; there is still a pervasive assumption that, of course, everyone wants to raise children. Women, especially, are considered suspect if they do not want to be mothers. Yet, despite this pressure, our society does not provide real support or resources for mothers and families, especially those who dare to challenge the status quo in any way.

And so, in honor of Mother's Day and mothers everywhere, Backline celebrates some of our fierce allies who are demanding dignity and justice for all pregnant women, mothers, and families!

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) works to secure the human and civil rights, health and welfare of all women, focusing particularly on pregnant and parenting women, and those who are most vulnerable - low income women, women of color, and drug-using women. They actively work on a variety of levels including litigation, litigation support and legal advocacy; local and national organizing; public policy development, public education and outreach. Learn more about NAPW at www.advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/ 

Strong Families is a 10-year national initiative of Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ), designed to change the way people think, feel and act in support of families. Along with this culture shift, Strong Families seeks to build broad public support for local, state and national policies that enable families of all kinds to thrive. Strong Families focuses on families who have the least amount of resources and are most under attack: families of color, low-income families, immigrant families, LGBT families and single parent families. Learn more at www.reproductivejustice.org/strong-families 

Please contact us if you would like to recommend other resources on parenting, or if you have suggestions for future Resource Corner highlights!