Meagan Henderson gave birth to her first child during the pandemic, and after the police killing of George Floyd was feeling overwhelmed by the idea of raising a young Black boy in America. At the time, the North Carolina mom says she felt isolated and struggled to navigate motherhood independently.
Emphasizing that she had to learn on her own without family in the area, Henderson told Mom.com that she turned to Instagram to seek out a community of mothers who looked like her. However, Henderson recalls being underwhelmed by the lack of representation on Instagram.
“I didn’t see anybody who looked like me,” Henderson, now a mom of two, said, adding that she later felt inspired to create a safe space for Black moms.
Henderson ultimately founded Black Supermamas, a growing platform for Black moms that has since become a community that hosts events in Charlotte, North Carolina. She uses the platform to post uplifting, relatable, empowering, and transparent content, but the seriousness of raising a Black son is not lost on her.
She told Mom.com that while she was pregnant with her first son, she had a conversation with her fiancé about having “the talk” with their son about being Black in America. Although her son was just a newborn at the time, thinking ahead to the future and discussing how he’s perceived in public was still at the top of her mind.
Health inequities for Black pregnant women were also at the top of her mind.
“I think the best thing that we can do, as a community of Black women, when we know that things are stacked against us, is to be as informed as possible,” she told Mom.com
She added that just knowing certain statistics around childbirthing for Black women can be “traumatizing” in itself.
And just as Black Supermamas is a resource for other moms, Henderson said it’s also been an outlet for her as well as an opportunity to connect with other women.
“Having a community of other mothers is what changed the game for me because no one understands like we do,” she said. “I still get messages where it’s like, ‘Are you like in my head?’ ‘Are you in my life?’ Or ‘I can relate so much.’ Or ‘I’ve never known how to say this. And now I can say it.’”
But overall, Henderson said Black Supermamas takes the place of being a resource for moms when everyone’s attention has pivoted to the baby. As for what’s next for Black Supermamas, Henderson said the sky is the limit, and she’s looking forward to continue creating a safe space for Black women.
