In Her Arms: Love and Legacy of Black Mothers and Daughters Love and Legacy of Black Mothers and Daughters

In Her Arms is a powerful collection of nonfiction stories, essays, and poems that center the intimate, complex relationships between Black women and their mothers, grandmothers, and daughters. Through deeply personal reflections, this anthology reveals the beauty, tension, and transformation within these bonds— each shaped by the intersections of love, legacy, and survival. The contributors, Black women from diverse backgrounds, explore how they have been mothered and how they mother, often while navigating the clash between Western cultural norms and traditional African or Caribbean parenting values. The collection offers raw and tender portraits of Black girlhood and womanhood, threading together themes of joy, loss, resilience, resistance, and generational wisdom. At its heart, In Her Arms honors the layered truths of Black maternal relationships and the enduring power they hold in shaping identity, healing generational wounds, and passing on strength.

Eboni-Rai Mullings is a writer and editor raised primarily in Southern Ontario. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), her writing focuses on her experiences as a Black child and youth in white spaces and the personal evolution that took place as she moved to a culturally and racially diverse city. She hopes to affirm and uplift future generations of young Black readers by writing Afrocentric fiction that reflects and celebrates their identities. Olasumbo is an educator and author whose work lies at the intersection of leadership, policy, and public health. She holds a doctorate in Leadership and Policy and her work is rooted in purpose as reflected in her recent book which explores the global health crisis of skin bleaching and also celebrates 54 accomplished Black women. The book promotes self-acceptance and embracing one’ s natural identity. Olasumbo draws wisdom from lived experiences and academic study. Delores V. Mullings is a member of a large extended family, mother of two living Black queens, sister, friend, second daughter and caregiver of Maddah Mullings, her original feminist. She is an aspiring poet, consultant, speaker, educator and mentor. Delores is a Professor of Social Work, Memorial University’ s inaugural Vice Provost Equity Diversity Inclusion and Anti-Racism, and the only Black woman senior administrator. Her research includes human rights, racial justice, Africentricism, Black elders and migration.

1 Introduction Delores V. Mullings, Eboni-Rai Mullings and Olasumbo Adelakun 2 Dear Daughter, Love Mommy Nia Flowers 3 Dear Diary Anon 4 Dedicated to Black Mothers and Black Daughters: A Black Feminist Approach to Duoethnography Janelle Brady and Kisha McPherson 5 Bennie and the Jets Temeka Bradshaw 6 Black Mothers and Daughters: The Dance of Grief, Love, and Legacy Jennifer Nicole Bacon 7 Raised To Be Eboni-Rai Mullings 8 Cultural Transmissions: Black Mothers and Daughters Navigating Misogynoir in Education and Entrepreneurship Yvette C. Latunde, Omie M. Cormier and Monnay Shareece 9 Backstitch Jessica Wicks-Allen 10 Embracing Vulnerability: Navigating Grief and Loss as a Black Mother Keisha A.M Evans 11 An Epistle of Loss Shari U. Egbuchulem 12 Transitioning From Daughter To Mother: A visit Delores V. Mullings 13 Conclusion: A Word From The Editors Olasumbo Adelakun, Eboni-Rai Mullings and Delores V. Mullings Notes On Contribution