Black History

`Sweetheart Gang’ Honors the Essential Black Mother

THE AFRO — There would be no Black Girl Magic without the Black Mommas who birthed them.

Published

6 years ago

January 24, 2019

By Sean Yoes

“Black Girl Magic” is a phrase that captures the undeniable power of Black women. But, there would be no Black Girl Magic without the Black Mommas who birthed them.

Tales from the Sweetheart Gang is a lovely series of love letters celebrating miraculous Black motherhood, from the hearts of daughters to their mothers.

“The book is simply a collection of chapters where each writer writes a story about her own mother; who she is, the kind of woman she was, how she helped them become the woman she is,” said the Rev. Dorothy Scott Boulware, the book’s author/editor and the managing editor of the AFRO.

[/media-credit] “Tales from the Sweetheart Gang” Book Cover.

“Some of it is funny stories, some of it makes you want to cry, some of it feels real familiar. They embrace the fact that often they find themselves saying some of the same stuff they use to hate to hear their mothers say,” added Boulware, who is the mother of four, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of two. The authors of the individual chapters are all personal friends of Boulware and three of them have also been AFRO editors.

“Talibah Chikwendu hired me at the AFRO as a novice general assignment editor,” Boulware stated. “Dorothy Rowley became the Washington, D.C. editor in 2007 and Tiffany Ginyard came as an intern around 2005 and also worked her way up to managing editor before she left to teach English.”

According to Boulware, each author was given only 30 days notice before they had to present the chapter with photos of their mothers and themselves.

“One of the writers and I have been friends for…55 years. So, these are friends I’ve gathered along the way, from school, from the neighborhood,” said Boulware who penned the ninth chapter about her mother Magruder Dorothy Scott.

Boulware said the name “Sweetheart Gang” is the manifestation of an enduring memory from her own childhood.

“This is real unique,” said Boulware with a laugh. “I was a foster child…when I was six my grandmother died and I was then raised by her best friend. The house that I went to was very different from the original house; there wasn’t a lot of touching and hugging and that kind of stuff there. (But), I was in a community with a lot of older people and the older ladies called me sweetheart and that always made me feel so much love,” Boulware added. “My thought as a child was that at some point when you got to a certain age you got so full of love…that you could spill it out on other people by calling them sweetheart…the older ladies at my church, in my neighborhood, they called me and all the other children sweetheart.”

Boulware is also the author of four other books: Keep Walking in Prayer…Until You Can’t Come Back; Mustard Seed Mondayz: Weekly Faithbytes For a Year; Have You Heard of the Holy Ghost and Mustard Seed Mondayz Too.

“This (Sweetheart Gang) is a total departure from everything else I’ve written,” Boulware admitted.

“I’m not even sure how I got the idea to do it. But, as it has evolved I began to understand how important it is, because people who always wanted to be published authors are now published authors.”

You can meet the Sweetheart Gang at a book signing event, 2-4 p.m., Feb. 13 at Nancy by SNAC, 131 W. North Ave. Tales From the Sweetheart Gang, can be purchased on Amazon, or on walkingworthynow.com

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

Published

4 days ago

March 28, 2025

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Report Offers Policies, Ideas to Improve the Workplace Experiences of Black Women in California

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2025

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By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Backed by data, a report released last month details the numerous hurdles Black women in the Golden State must overcome to effectively contribute and succeed in the workplace.

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

CBWCEI President and CEO Kellie Todd Griffin said Black women have been the backbone of communities, industries, and movements but are still overlooked, underpaid, and undervalued at work.

“The data is clear,” she explained. “Systemic racism and sexism are not just historical injustices. They are active forces shaping the workplace experiences of Black women today. This report is a call to action. it demands intentional polices, corporate accountability, and systemic changes.”

The 16-page study, conducted by the public opinion research and strategic consulting firm EVITARUS, showcases the lived workplace experiences of Black women, many who say they are stuck in the crosshairs of discrimination based on gender and race which hinders their work opportunities, advancements, and aspirations, according to the report’s authors, Todd Griffin and CBWCEI researcher Dr. Sharon Uche.

“We wanted to look at how Black women are experiencing the workplace where there are systematic barriers,” Todd Griffin told the media during a press conference co-hosted by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media. “This report is focused on the invisible labor struggles of Black women throughout California.”

The aspects of the workplace most important to Black women, according to those surveyed, are salary or wage, benefits, and job security.

However, only 21% of the survey’s respondents felt they had strong chances for career advancement into the executive or senior leadership ranks in California’s job market; 49% felt passed over, excluded from, or marginalized at work; and 48% felt their accomplishments at work were undervalued. Thirty-eight percent said they had been thought of as the stereotypical “angry Black woman” at work, and 42% said workplace racism or discrimination effected their physical or mental health.

“These sentiments play a factor in contributing to a workplace that is unsafe and not equitable for Black women in California,” the report reads.

Most Black women said providing for their families and personal fulfillment motivated them to show up to work daily, while 38% said they were dissatisfied in their current job with salary, supervisors, and work environment being the top sources of their discontent.

When asked if they agree or disagree with a statement about their workplace 58% of Black women said they feel supported at work, while 52% said their contributions are acknowledged. Forty-nine percent said they felt empowered.

Uche said Black women are paid $54,000 annually on average — including Black single mothers, who averaged $50,000 — while White men earn an average of $90,000 each year.

“More than half of Black families in California are led by single Black women,” said Uche, who added that the pay gap between Black women and White men isn’t forecasted to close until 2121.

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Alameda County

Trump Order Slashes Federal Agencies Supporting Minority Business and Neighborhood Development

The latest executive order targeted several federal agencies, including the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, ordering that their programs and staff be reduced “to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The executive order targeted more agencies that Trump “has determined are unnecessary,” the order stated.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Brandon Patterson

On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order slashing the operations of two federal agencies supporting growth in minority business and neighborhoods as he continued his attacks on programs supporting people of color and on the size of the federal bureaucracy.

The MBDA’s mission is to “promote the growth and global competitiveness” of minority business enterprises, or MBEs. In 2023, according to its website, the agency helped MBEs access $1.5 billion in capital and facilitated nearly $3.8 billion in contracts awarded to minority business enterprises. It also helped MBEs create or sustain more than 19,000 jobs nationwide. Similarly, the CDFI Fund supports economic growth in under-invested communities by providing funding and technical assistance to local CDFIs, including banks, loan funds, and credit unions, that support community development projects in cities across the country. In 2023, the fund supported more than 1,400 local CDFIs across the country, including more than 80 in California — among the highest number for any state in the country.

The MBDA has local satellite business centers operated by organizations that support minority clients with services such as business consulting, contract bid preparation, loan packaging, and accessing capital funding. The San Francisco Bay Area business center is San Jose, operated by San Francisco-based organization Asian, Inc. Meanwhile, local Oakland CDFIs supported by the federal CDFI fund since 2021 include Habitat Community Capital, TMC Community Capital, Gateway Bank Federal Savings Bank, Beneficial State Bancorp, Inc., and Main Street Launch.

“It is clear that the hollowing out of the CDFI Fund and MBDA is not being ordered because those programs have failed in their mission,” the CEO of Small Business Majority John Arensmeyer, a national organization that advocates for small businesses, said in a statement on Saturday. “Instead, it is yet another case of President Trump using DEI as a club to eviscerate programs that seek to level our economic playing field.”

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon also slammed the decision in a statement to the Oakland Post. “As a member of the House Small Business Committee who represents multiple CDFIs in CA-12, I believe Trump’s gutting of operations at the Minority Business Development Agency and at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is a direct attack on small businesses, communities of color and other underserved communities,” Rep. Simon said. “Both the MBDA and the CDFI Fund were created with bipartisan support to help historically underserved communities and small businesses — and both programs have helped to dramatically change the material realities of people and bolster entrepreneurship in the U.S. There is no logic to this decision. The point is discrimination and cruelty.”