Like many parents, I’m entering this new year anxious about having my children return to school. Feelings of anxiety and stress have been at fever pitch over the past year and a half. All too often, as parents we feel like we face challenges alone rather than in communities of support. It has been heartening to witness the growth of mutual-aid organizations and activists who are advocating for community care in the face of our public-health crisis. There are also lessons to be learned from the past to weather this moment.
As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, I’ve been reading Florence Tate’s posthumously published memoir, Sometimes Farmgirls become Revolutionaries, which documents her personal journey through the Freedom Movement, the rise in Black electoral political leadership, and international movements for Black liberation. She was an unsung and important organizer and activist. This book restores her place in history. In it she depicts, along with her political work, how she raised a family and struggled with depression.