mater mea mater mea

Trigger warning: This essay includes descriptions of hospitalization and attempted suicides.

Can you imagine waking up to see your 9-year-old standing over you with a knife? Or having to move into a hotel room because they’ve tried to jump out of their second-story bedroom window?

Those aren’t bad dreams or scary hypotheticals for Natasha Robinson. The 33-year-old mom has experienced this and more while raising her son Isaiah.

Isaiah is a bright, loving boy who suffers from a number of mental health issues.

In an essay originally written for Michigan’s MLive.com when Isaiah was 8, Natasha shares what it’s like to be a single parent of a child with severe mental illnesses navigating a broken health care system.

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Story Update: http://bit.ly/333UX6b
Natasha and Isaiah's GoFundMe Page: www.gofundme.com/f/shineonisaiah

Amazon Wish List: amzn.to/2CYCJIR
Email Natasha at n.robinson8@gmail.com

For more stories of Black motherhood in all its shades, visit matermea.com or follow us on Instagram (instagram.com/matermea) and Facebook (facebook.com/matermea).

In this episode, Anthonia talks to brand strategist Neffy Anderson and creative director Piper Hickman about their thoughts on finding the right person to start a family with, and what it means to have a child later in life.

You can find show notes at http://bit.ly/2daOC0g. And don't forget to tell your friends and leave a 5-star review!

In this episode, Anthonia pops open a bottle of prosecco to talk about self-care and side hustles with Erica Nichole Harris, freelance writer and creator of 2014 Black Weblog Award winning personal blog EverythingENJ.com, and Kweli Wright, parenting editor for Madame Noire and creator of a forthcoming interior design project.

For more conversations about work and life from Black women's perspectives, visit www.matermea.com. Follow mater mea on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @matermea. If you have a topic idea you’d like us to discuss, email us at podcast@matermea.com.

The mater mea podcast is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. Our associate producer is Isaro Carter and the podcast is edited by Ty Worell.

While we usually talk to working moms or single women who want to have children one day, in this episode we talk to two women about their decision to not have children and how that's shaped their personal and romantic lives. And since it's summer time, we also discuss the social media gender wars that pop up when the weather heats up: specifically fixing our men's plates.

For more conversations about work and life from Black women's perspectives, visit www.matermea.com. Follow mater mea on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @matermea. If you have a topic idea you’d like us to discuss, email us at podcast@matermea.com.

The mater mea podcast is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. Our associate producer is Isaro Carter and the podcast is edited by Ty Worell.

Anthonia talks to blogger and vlogger Anika Lani about the stigma older women face when they have children later in life and about her 13 years of coparenting experience.

The mater mea podcast is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. Our associate producer is Isaro Carter, and the podcast is edited by Ty Worell.

With us on the show today are brand strategist Antonia Dean and African Health Now nonprofit founder Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo to discuss the need for diversity in media for their kids, and how their lives changed from being single to getting married to having kids.

The mater mea podcast is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. Our associate producer is Isaro Carter, and the podcast is edited by Tyrell Worley.

Visit matermea.com to see more stories celebrating Black women at the intersection of career and family. Follow us on Soundcloud (http://bit.ly/277Zh2p) and subscribe on iTunes (http://apple.co/1rBRGZH).