S2E11: “Discovering My Truth” x Raye Thomas

“Kids live with people who are not their parents and it’s fine until it’s actually not.” – Raye

“Am I adopted???” That’s the question Raye grappled with when she stumbled across her first Black to the Beginning Instagram post. The content and stories from podcast guests resonated, but she wasn’t adopted. Until she realized that she was. 

Informally.

Raye was raised believing her grandmother was her mother. Meanwhile, the woman who came around simply known as Tasha was, in fact, her biological mother. The revelation opened up a Pandora’s box of confusion. While many adoptees are told a story of being chosen, Raye has struggled with feeling like she wasn’t chosen. 

Is ignorance bliss? Not quite, but life for Raye was emotionally simpler before the truth was revealed. 

This conversation is more than another Black kinship care story; this is a conversation that explores the layers of Black adoption. What makes someone “adopted”? Who should identify themselves as an adoptee? If you’re raised with and by family, are you adopted enough?

It feels good to finally find Tribe! May this conversation be your soft place to land, too.

Take a listen and check the Recommended Resources in the Show Notes!

SHOW NOTES

CONNECT WITH US!

• Black to the Beginning on Instagram
  
• Black to the Beginning on Facebook
  
• Black to the Beginning on Youtube        
  
• Raye on Instagram @everydaywithraye
  

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

• VISIT: Raye the Doula Official Website
  
• READ: “Time to Come Off the Porch: Journey of Healing from the Wounds of Kinship Care in the Black Family” by Dr. Kimberley Hundley
  
• LISTEN: Black to the Beginning: The Black Adoption Podcast Season 1 & 2      
  
• REQUIRED READING: Black to the Beginning Reads Bookshop  – A carefully curated list of #BTTBreads…for the culture!

SUPPORT BLACK TO THE BEGINNING: THE BLACK ADOPTION PODCAST

• Zelle: info@blacktothebeginning.com
• PayPal:info@blacktothebeginning.com
• SHOP Black to the Beginning         
  

SHARE YOUR BLACK ADOPTION STORY

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