Having been a work-from-home parent most of my kids' lives—and even homeschooled them for a year—I've had a lot of opportunities to reflect on their personalities, parenthood, and the absolutely massive responsibility we truly have as mothers. In particular, helping my 6-year-old daughter—who had spent very little time away from me until starting kindergarten this year—grow up to be confident and empowered, is always heavy on my mind.
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She is pure magic to me, and I want her to know from the start that she is valuable and capable and important. How exactly to do that in a world in which Afro-Latinas have always been and still are underrepresented and undervalued? Well, that's the challenge. But it's a challenge I'm determined to tackle dead on, because if raising her to be an empowered woman is the one thing I succeed at as a mother, it will all be worth it.