What is Blak motherhood?
Blak motherhood is strength, resilience, honesty, wisdom, culture and maternal intuition.
Blak motherhood is worry, stress, fear, struggle, observation, organisation and concern.
Blak Motherhood is discipline, critique, transparency and direction.
Blak motherhood is love, shelter, safety, tenderness, affection and growth.
Blak motherhood is a cup of tea after a hot shower at the end of the day. Encapsulating you in warmth and reassurance that you’ve done everything you possibly could today for your children, and tomorrow you will do it again, and get through it just as well.
Raising Blak children is such a multifaceted experience, one where we create this perfect balance and environment that allow our children to thrive, grow and expand into themselves while simultaneously growing into ourselves as mothers.
Kija/Bardi model, influencer and mother of two, Fallon Gregory on Blak motherhood. Source: Supplied
We lead by example, hoping that our children, who are already so intuitive, follow and take our experiences and wisdom and somewhat apply it within their own lives - as we have done with those before us.
Coming from such a maternal culture where we refer to the women in our families as “Mum” and those not related to us as “Aunty”, we acknowledge it takes all women within our culture to raise our children. And we do so without hesitation
I’m lucky to come from a family where were are over seven mother figures that raised me, including my own mother. This gave me a well-rounded and versatile outlook on Blak motherhood and how Blak children were raised.
I’ve drawn so much strength, wisdom and understanding from these women. All of which I now apply to my own parenting in raising my two beautiful children, my son Nathaniel and my daughter, Vienna.
Growing up our households were strict – which we resented as children. But we have come to understand in our adult life that came from the trauma of their experiences.
Nevertheless, we were given the freedom to make our own decisions and navigate our own pathways through life. They always supported and encouraged us - but not without some hefty Aunty advice first.
We weren’t coddled but were instead presented with genuine life experiences and opportunities that encouraged us to take the initiative into our own hands and offer assistance and support to our community/ communities and friends.
A young Fallon. Source: Supplied
This taught us to take on and step into roles, or at least understand what was expected of us, from a young age. Meaning when they left, they held comfort knowing we were more than capable.
My own journey with motherhood has not been an easy one, there has been many times where I’ve been up against a wall and had to make difficult decisions or have gone without.
But the hope I hold for my children is what drives me to strive and continue to apply myself each and every day. To strive and continue for the betterment of them and our quality of life together.
I wake up every day not only blessed but truly favoured that these two little spirits chose me to be their mother.
If Blak motherhood is nothing else, it’s guiding and bringing the little spirits that choose us earthside, nurturing them into their own, and leaving knowing that they are now part of a cycle that will and has continued since time itself.
Fallon Gregory is a Kija/Bardi woman living in Boorloo. She is a model, activist, mother and influencer. With over 12-years of experience in the influencer industry, Fallon is also the name behind 'Influence Blak' , an Indigenous Australian Influencer Resource.
