Notes From Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels: DW McKinney

"[R]etelling our stories is a practice in the precision required to better define our full selves."

There is a longing in me to read about the fullness of Black women. To read about our romance, our queerness, our motherhood, and our struggles alongside our joy. Our fullness isn’t written about enough; it isn’t advertised enough. Popular media is still content uplifting our caricatures, while honest depictions are smothered. This longing is why I chose to contribute to the anthology Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels: Myths, Legends, and Other Lies You’ve Been Told about Black Women (Black Lawrence, 2024). I had hope in what this anthology could add to the narratives about Black womanhood.

[R]etelling our stories is a practice in the precision required to better define our full selves.

At the time that I saw the call for contributors, I was regularly rereading “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies are in a Life-or-Death Crisis.” An article in the New York Times written by Linda Villarosa, the former executive editor of Essence magazine, explored the national crisis of Black maternal morta…