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African American Mothers Meet in Johnson County

JoCo Mocha Moms show off the pipe cleaner rings they made at their meeting. Photo by Susan B. Wilson / KCUR.
JoCo Mocha Moms show off the pipe cleaner rings they made at their meeting. Photo by Susan B. Wilson / KCUR.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-941158.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Across the country, African American women tend to be more likely to be working mothers than white women, especially educated African American mothers.

Census data from 2005 shows that 84 percent of college-educated black mothers are in the labor force, compared to 74 percent of college-educated white mothers. And the women of color who choose to stay at home and raise families can face special barriers and isolation.

Enter Mocha Moms, a national organization that started in 1997 to provide support and advocacy for these mothers. Locally, some Johnson County women started a chapter in 2003.

What started as a small group of women, actually transplants from other states, meeting at a Burger King on West 151st street has blossomed into a group of some 30 moms, from different parts of the metro.

KCUR's Susan Wilson caught up with the JoCo Mocha Moms group during one of their Moms' Night Out events.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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