“All the time that I thought I was saving my nephew, he was saving me…” – Theresa Thames
She get it from her mama. And her mama’s mama. Theresa Thames (Rev. Dr. Theresa Thames, put some respek on her name!) comes from a lineage of Black women deeply rooted in Biloxi, Mississippi who modeled taking care of our own. In this Season 2 launch episode, Theresa takes us back to the roots of Black Adoption, weaving with grace the interconnected beauty and complexity of three generations of kinship care.
Theresa’s mother took pride in being an adoptive mother, legally adopting her niece. For Theresa, they were sisters first and not first cousins. “It wasn’t until I was older that I learned that she was adopted, but because she was my uncle’s daughter, it didn’t even seem like adoption.” Granny Ruby (and the small, honeysuckle-scented Biloxi community where she lived) raised Theresa and her older sister after their beautiful, vibrant mother battled drug addiction. And when Theresa’s sister unexpectedly passed at the age of 40, Theresa – at age 32 and newly divorced – raised her grieving nephew as a single parent through legal kinship guardianship. Or rather, they raised each other.
“I didn’t know that parenthood and motherhood would look like this.” Theresa made her motherhood and womanhood journeys her own and found strength in the women who came before her, whose legacies she celebrates in “In Our Mothers’ Gardens,” a new documentary now streaming on Netflix.
Theresa is a self-proclaimed joy enthusiast and you’ll hear it all throughout her story, even the hard parts. Welcome to Season 2, take a listen!
SHOW NOTES
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
- Soul Joy Coaching & Yoga with Theresa S. Thames
- WATCH: “In Our Mothers’ Gardens” documentary featuring Theresa Thames (Netflix)
- GIRLTREK – Join the movement of 1 Million+ Black women walking as a revolutionary act of self care
- Good Grief – Support and resources for grieving children
- LISTEN: Black to the Beginning: The Black Adoption Podcast Season 1
- Black to the Beginning Reads Bookshop – A carefully curated list of #BTTBreads…for the culture!
SUPPORT BLACK TO THE BEGINNING: THE BLACK ADOPTION PODCAST
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