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. ∆∆∆ 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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).

In our third installment of the mater mea podcast, we are joined by beauty entrepreneur Karen Tappin and Estée Lauder VP Trenesa Stanford-Danuser to talk about the role their husbands play in their work-life balance juggle and why the idea of the "ride-or-die" woman is so damaging. mater mea is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. The podcast is edited by Tyrell Worley.

Joining me in this episode is author Ylonda Gault and Afro-Latina textile artist Roachelle Negron. We talk about the labels women place on themselves—and more often than not, have society place on them. Like why are white women calling themselves mama now? And should single mothers start calling themselves independent mothers like Roachelle does to sidestep any stigma and stereotypes? Visit http://bit.ly/1St2kbz for the shownotes and links to what we talk about in the episode! mater mea is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. The podcast is edited by Tyrell Worley.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... Hi! I'm Anthonia Akitunde, the founder of mater mea (www.matermea.com) a website that celebrates Black women at the intersection of career and family. Our first episode is me shooting the breeze with the lovely Ylonda Gault, author of "Child, Please: How Mama's Old-School Lessons Helped Me Check Myself Before I Wrecked Myself." We're talking about hot nannies and the challenges of being a working Black mom. Though some of the references may be a little dated, the conversation is on point—get into it! mater mea is executive produced by Anthonia Akitunde, O. Valerie Nicolas, and Kimson Albert. The podcast is edited by Tyrell Worley.