Tending to Our Garden: Reshaping Black Motherhood in Popular Culture and Philanthropy
Representations of Black motherhood have always been a site of contestation in popular culture, with the most detrimental depictions tangibly shaping policies that have affected our communities for generations.
From the Jezebel trope—originating during chattel slavery to justify the sexual and reproductive exploitation of Black women—to the 1980s Reagan-era Welfare Queen stereotype that demonized Black mothers in service of economic exploitation, and the myriad portrayals of Black mothers pushing back against these harmful stereotypes, representations of Black motherhood in the public sphere remain a tumultuous topic.
However, contemporary popular depictions continue the Black feminist genealogy of humanizing and rewriting the narrative surrounding Black women and the way they mother. In Sinners, Wunmi Mosaku offers a powerful, multi-faceted depiction of motherhood that transcends the secular world. On her Cowboy Carter Tour, Beyoncé displays a very compassionate and nurturing motherhood on a global stage with her daughters Blue and Rumi, directly confronting past allegations and criticisms of not being a “real mom.” Likewise, Xosha Roquemore in Netflix’s Forever represents another dimension of motherhood, portraying a very dedicated and loving mother, further confronting perpetual harmful narratives.
While these visual depictions are useful for the discursive considerations of Black motherhood, I also turn my attention to nonprofit organizations that not only rewrite the narrative of Black motherhood in the philanthropic space but also make tangible differences in the lives of Black women and their children. Organizations such as Mamatoto Village, Loving Black Single Mothers, Black Supermamas, Black Mom Ish Foundation, and Black Mamas Village are tending to the gardens of Black motherhood in their daily work and contributing to the growing space in philanthropy that addresses several factors that make Black motherhood, in particular, a challenging task. This blog examines the intersection of popular culture and nonprofit organizations to explore how these two are reshaping Black motherhood in philanthropy.
A New Visual Language: Black Motherhood Across Realms and Realities
2025 represented a transformational year for cinematic representations of Black motherhood that were complemented by the ongoing efforts of Black-led nonprofits to support, champion, and protect this sacred space. Most notably, Wunmi Mosaku delivered a powerful representation of a Black mother’s (Annie) protective love and endurance across time and space in Ryan Coogler’s history-making film Sinners. At the end of the film, when her lover Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) is dying, she appears in the spirit realm holding their late child, helping him transition to the afterlife—embodying a pure and enticing image of Black motherhood that directly contrasts the historic pejorative representations of Black motherhood in media. Upon seeing Annie and their child, Smoke reaches for the baby, confirming his crossover into the afterlife and emphasizing the transformative power and protection of Black motherhood as something that is divine and liberating.
This cinematic representation helps to create a new visual language for Black motherhood and set forth a lens that honors Black women as the moral and spiritual architects of their families. With Sinners emerging as a history-making film and global phenomenon since its April 18 premiere, Mosaku’s representation wields the power to paradoxically challenge long-standing portrayals that cast Black motherhood as synonymous with a death ur-text, as Jennifer C. Nash argues, and instead casts them as powerful agents of love, continuity, and transcendence. In doing so, Mosaku’s character expands both the cinematic and broader visual language of Black motherhood—inviting audiences to see it not as burden or contestation, but as a site of memory and divine restoration that reclaims both Black family history and Black maternal humanity.
From Screen to Community: Black Motherhood Beyond the Frame
This cinematic reclamation mirrors a broader cultural shift—one led by Black women themselves. In communities across the U.S., major Black-led nonprofits are embodying this new narrative, centering Black mothers as the architects of thriving families and the moral core of community wellness.
Major Black-led nonprofits are driving a cultural transformation in how we perceive and attend to Black motherhood. One powerful example is Mamatoto Village, a Washington D.C.–based nonprofit grounded in the principle that mothers and babies are one interconnected unit. At the core of their work is a model of radical collective care—supporting Black women not only through pregnancy and childbirth, but also throughout the postpartum journey, parenting phase, and professional advancement in maternal health careers. Programs like Mothers Rising (a home-visiting initiative) and the Mamatoto Academy (training perinatal community health workers) embed care within Black communities by offering services that address all of the social determinants of health, not just clinical prenatal care.
In doing so, Mamatoto Village does more than respond to disparities—it redefines them. It reimagines Black motherhood as a site of empowerment, community care, and generational transformation. By centering Black mothers as creative agents of their lives and communities, Mamatoto Village shifts the cultural perception from vulnerability and neglect to autonomy, dignity, and belonging.
More Black Motherhood Orgs on the Rise
Likewise, Loving Black Single Mothers, Black Supermamas, Black Mom Ish Foundation, and Black Mamas Village are also tending to the gardens of Black motherhood through their daily work, cultivating spaces of care, power, and possibility. Each organization is helping to redefine how society perceives and supports Black mothers—transforming isolation into connection, scarcity into abundance, and survival into joy.
Loving Black Single Mothers creates what it calls “ecosystems of care,” developing programs that center single mothers as community leaders and change agents. Similarly, Black Supermamas fosters spaces where Black mothers can be seen, heard, and deeply supported—offering emotional, mental, and physical wellness programs that challenge the societal expectation that Black mothers must always be strong without rest or care.
The Black Mom Ish Foundation builds on this movement by framing Black motherhood as both a cultural and political act. Through education, advocacy, and economic empowerment, the foundation works to dismantle the systemic inequities that make Black motherhood disproportionately difficult. Meanwhile, Black Mamas Village in Austin nurtures a thriving network of more than 3,000 mothers, offering holistic wellness, economic empowerment, and spaces for intergenerational connection. What began as a virtual village has blossomed into a dynamic system that sustains mothers across every stage of life—from early parenthood to seasoned motherhood—demonstrating the power of mutual aid and shared resilience.
These organizations are reshaping the philanthropic and cultural landscape around Black motherhood. They remind us that supporting Black mothers requires more than addressing deficits; it means nurturing systems of care where Black women can rest, heal, and be assured in their humanity. In tending to these gardens, they are not only meeting immediate needs but also planting the seeds for generational change and collective liberation.
Sustaining the Soil and Tending the Garden: A Collective Responsibility for What Blossoms Next
As we witness this reshaping of Black motherhood—on screen, in communities, and within philanthropy—it becomes clear that the work ahead is both sacred and shared. The garden has been planted by those who came before us, but gardens do not flourish on intention alone, they thrive through care. Now it is our collective duty as philanthropists, artists, advocates, and kin to nurture these roots of care, power, and possibility by continuing to invest in Black-led organizations, amplify authentic narratives, and cultivate systems where Black motherhood can blossom without constraint.
When we tend to our gardens, we tend to our future — and in doing so, we honor the divine lineage of Black motherhood that has always sustained us.