I could be wrong and I apologize in advance if this comes across as wrong or incorrect but I feel like there’s this negative stigma around the phrase “single mom(s).”

I have been getting in the habit of instead saying, independent mom(s)/mother(s).

I lived it first hand and I see it first hand, the work of independent mothers.

And this is not to demean the work of mothers who are part of functional/thriving relationships, but independent mothers badass.

The baby my mom has been caring for has really grown on me, but more so her mother.

Who has two other kiddos to look out for.

She’s like a younger version of my mom in her prime, unfortunately slaving away at a monotonous job to keep a roof over her head and food on the table.

I’ve grown a liking to help my mom in caring after Ashley.

Her smile is pure, her heart is warm, and her stare... dares me to not look away; she wins, always.

And I wonder, how much more profound is the love of this child’s mother? Does she get to lounge in it as I have?

No.

Mom is always working.

Just like my mom did in her time, and just like the millions of other moms who do this on a generational basis because of inadequate childcare.

I always think about what I’ll be working for when I’m in office and it’s mother’s—mothers and kids.

As a former foster youth, as a low income first gen son of immigrants, as a brown boy from Pacoima California.

Mothers and the youth. That’s what keeps me up at night.

No kid should have to wait alone at a bus station at 5 AM just to get to school like I did.

No mother should be burdened by finances to a point that it affects her emotionally, psychologically, physically, and sociologically.

Thanks to covid? I’m close to my brother and my mom because we never had each other growing up. We’re estranged by the concept of privacy because

...we never had it. It was and for many still is, a luxury.

the proper funding of children’s education (good tasting food that is healthy but not trash, books with real history (fuck Columbus), proper wages for educators, higher standards for educators

...these should not be controversial ideas.

I’m going to go back to school because the suits won’t listen and if I can’t make a difference there, I vow to do it on my own terms.

Valley kids are no joke. Black and Brown kids are no joke.

I’m serious about running for Mayor of Los Angeles, I would do everything in my capacity to uplift and revitalize our communities.

But if the world decides it’s not me and the right person comes along, I’ll make sure to be the best damn conductor in the state of Cali.