Never too late to celebrate mothers

In 2022, I became seriously ill for the first time in my life. I could’ve stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself. I could’ve asked, “Why me, Lord?” There was still so much ahead of me I wanted to do, and giving up was not one of the choices Mother had taught me.

Like many Black women, she worked all her life to give her nine children the best she could — even during times when it was obvious she was ill. My father had the luxury of being able to walk away when times were hard, but Mother stayed the course and took care of us. She had nine children, with none of us old enough to go out and get a job to help her with the bills.

We never missed a meal. We never stayed out of school more than a day for something she needed us to do. We walked miles in the rain, sleet and snow until Mother figured out how to get a bus to pick up children in our area.

We lived so far back in the woods that I didn’t even know the real name of the place where we lived. All I knew then was that we lived on Little River. I later learned the place was called Melrose, Louisiana.

My mother worked every single day except Sunday. That was always church day. I never heard her complain. She never allowed us to say negative things about anybody — including my father, who walked out on us when I was only 11 years old.

We always had to assist our neighbors, who often didn’t seem to have the same work ethic Mother required of us. So when our neighbors needed help, we helped them do whatever needed to be done.

We could never say “bad words” to anybody — including our sisters. Our two brothers were much younger by the time several of us girls were already leaving home for marriage, college or jobs, so we had to learn what some today would call boys’ jobs, too.

You probably won’t read my article before Mother’s Day, but that’s okay. Whenever you read what I am saying about mothers, they should be recognized every day. My mother went to heaven right at 100 years old. My friend Dick Gregory always said that once somebody reached 99 and a few months, you could say they made 100 because you have to count the nine months they spent in their mother’s womb.

I began this note to say that even if you didn’t get a chance to spend Mother’s Day with your mom, don’t forget to do something for her if she is still on this earth. Thank her. And if she has gone on to be with the Lord, then do something every day that would have made her proud of you. It’s never too late to show appreciation, and mothers always deserve it.

Those lessons from my mother are why I continue to admire women who respond to difficult times not with despair, but with action.

My sisters — meaning Jotaka Eaddy, Donna Brazile, Sherrilyn Ifill, Stacey Abrams, Janaia Nelson, Latasha Brown and the women of Win With Black Women — were already preparing to guide us on what we should be doing to preserve our voting rights after the troubling Louisiana v. Callais case that threatened our right to be represented by people who have our best interests at heart.

Just like mothers, they didn’t sit around and moan and groan about how terrible the case was regarding our voting rights. They reminded us of our responsibility to register people to vote, teach them the issues and never forget our responsibility to vote ourselves.

Just like mothers, they went right to work to give us guidance by spelling out what we can do to make positive things happen for us despite the negatives.

E. Faye Williams is president of The Dick Gregory Society, which preserves the legacy of the late comedian, civil rights activist, health advocate and St. Louis native.

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