At Mamas Knee, April Ryan
At Mamas Knee, April Ryan
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At Mama's Knee
Mothers and Race in Black and White

Author: April Ryan, Chris Matthews

Narrator: Mia Ellis

Unabridged: 6 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/02/2017


Synopsis

In her first book, The Presidency in Black and White, journalist April Ryan examined race in America through her experience as a White House reporter. In this book, she shifts the conversation from the White House to every home in America. At Mama's Knee looks at race and race relations through the lessons that mothers transmit to their children. As a single African American mother in Baltimore, Ryan has struggled with each gut-wrenching, race-related news story to find the words to convey the right lessons to her daughters. To better understand how mothers transfer to their children wisdom on race and race relations, she reached out to other mothers—prominent political leaders like Hillary Clinton and Valerie Jarrett, celebrities like Cindy Williams, and others like Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, whose lives have been impacted by prominent race-related events. At a time when Americans still struggle to address racial division and prejudice, their stories remind us that attitudes change from one generation to the next and one child at a time.

About April Ryan

April Ryan, a thirty-year journalism veteran, has been the White House correspondent for twenty years for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN), covering three U.S. presidents who have called on her by name. She is also the Washington Bureau Chief. Along with her responsibilities at the White House, April hosts the daily feature, "The White House Report," which is broadcast to AURN's nearly 300 affiliated stations nationwide. She is regularly featured on political news shows and is a frequent speaker around the country. Her first book, The Presidency in Black and White, was published in 2015. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the proud mother of two girls.


Reviews

Goodreads review by James

I stand for social justice, racial equality, and anti-racism. I was carefully taught grace, charity, mercy, and reconciliation for everyone by my mom: post-graduate education, cultural savvy, and walking-the-walk in her life. April Ryan observes that "in some family settings a mother played a role i......more

She addressed the many elephants in the room . She talks about things that make us uncomfortable.......more

Goodreads review by Katy O.

Incredibly important nonfiction book on race and motherhood in America, leaning more heavily toward race. NOT a quick memoir or a light read. Ryan's acknowledgement and celebration of the importance of mothers is woven throughout the entire book, especially single mothers and especially Black mother......more

Goodreads review by Naomi

Ryan gives readers a window onto being an African-American mother dealing with racism - institutional, cultural, and personal - and the additional stresses on families and children this causes. Good book for small group discussions, book clubs, and parenting groups. Important to leave room to honor......more