To every woman being “…Every Woman”, changing and nurturing lives, this post is for you!

Happy Mother’s Day from The Polidayreport!

To Queen Nzingha, Queen Asantewaa, Phyllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Ida B. Wells…Happy Mother’s Day!

To every mother: loving ones, happy ones, kind ones, resourceful ones, and joyful ones…To the smart ones and working ones, the friendly ones and stern ones…Today is just for you!  Every mother!

To the proud ones, and fun ones, religious ones, and inspiring ones…Today is just for you!  Every mother!

To the thinking ones, and active ones, teaching ones, and praying ones, today is a celebration of you.

Some of you may be incarcerated and some of you may estranged from your children, but you have still contributed to our world by adding to it another person that has learned some valuable lessons about loving and living life courtesy of you!  Happy Mother’s Day to you!

MommaNAuntie

I have lived the “new normal” my entire life–my mother and aunt are identical twins–I have had two mothers my entire life–MommaNAuntie!

They’ve taught my sisters and cousins and me to be loving and God-fearing, strong and determined, open and honest, educated and direct, ambitious and hard-working, and human.  While we have not always been receptive to all of their teachings, my sisters and cousins and I have learned to appreciate them later in life.  Lessons like maintaining integrity, going to college, having standards, and being our own bosses are just few of the residual lessons they have provided for our lives. We know that our parents have not had the easiest lives–and neither have we, but for us they have attempted to provide us with the easiest means of accepting the plain old, honest truth about what this world is really all about from their vantage points and mostly, without any filters.

Grandma and the Grandkids

Early in our lives we experienced a terrible tragedy that somehow became the glue helping to hold us together.  And before this awful tragedy, we had always had a grand, maternal matriarch, Mary Peoples–Grandma–she was our bridge. After the death of Grandma, MommaNAuntie have relied on her teachings, wisdom, and spirit to guide their lives and ours, also.  Grandma was our first spiritual coach, English teacher and humanitarian example. And, MommaNAuntie have taught us the meaning of family.  While no family is devoid of its dysfunctions, we have still learned to endure and work through them as a family and to the best of our abilities. Thanks MommaNAuntie!  Today is for you!

To Zora Neale Hurston, Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Dorothy Height, Rosa Parks, Pearl Cleage, the Sisters of Masjid William Salaam…and Michelle Obama…

Happy Mother’s Day, Y’all!