Teen Pregnancy

"Too many black women can say that they're mothers, but can't say that their wives."
-Common

"...like teenage pregnancy wasn't becoming synonymous with being black and woman."
-Jill Scott

In my Intro. to Magazine Journalism class, we are often given sporadic assignments that we have to write about within a couple of minutes and hand in. Last week, the topic was teen pregnancy. As journalists, it is our job to make the issue relevant to us in some way, shape or form, but also make it relevant to our readers. This topic was too easy for me... just thought I'd share it with ya'll.

I’ll never forget sitting in my English class senior year and hearing the teacher say, after my pregnant best friend left the room, “You may all think pregnancy and little babies are so cute, but it’s not something easy to deal with. These girls are ruining their lives.” I could only assume that the “they” she was referring to also consisted of my other best friend who had graduated earlier that year and walked across the stage with a swollen belly.

In no way am I the walking blimp for teen pregnancy. In no way am I a true advocate or supporter of the term. However, I am a proud Godmother of 3 blessed children, and a best friend to 3 single, teenage mothers. Though I am not in their shoes, I believe I have the right to speak for all of them when I say that they never thought, for one moment, that raising a child at a young age would be easy. What they did believe is that they were capable of doing it. Why? We all firmly believe that “God don’t make no mistakes”.

All 3 of my best friends have stood firm by this belief, and today, all 3 of them own their own houses, have full time jobs, and 2 of them still manage to attend college full time. I am not saying that they got this far by faith, but I am saying that optimism and positive thinking contributed a lot to their success. It’s easy to be down-trodden. It takes a larger person to stand up in the face of their disbelievers and strive, not only to prove them wrong, but to prove their believers right.

Some people like to think that they are doomed, and though it may be a pleasant beginning, the “ending” is far off and unpredictable. Despite the nay-sayers, I am not one of those people. I’ve witnessed the stress of teen pregnancy first hand. As a Godmother, I have even been an active and sometimes not-so-willing participant of that stress. What I have never been is doubtful. Grown-ups are always telling children they can do anything they put their mind to. Why shouldn’t being a successful teenage mother be a part of that equation?

Damn Right,
B