Ms. Meltingpot’s 5 Favorite Parenting Blogs That Aren’t Written by White Women

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Last week, The Washington Post published an article lamenting the death of the gritty, realistic mommy blogs and the rise of the product sponsored, immaculate world of Instagram motherhood. If 2017 was the year of “fake news,” it apparently was also the year of “fake motherhood,” where all the mommies on the world wide web have perfect kids who pose with shiny products in white kitchens and staged living rooms. There’s no mess, no tantrums, no problems…and no color. And by color, I don’t just mean on the walls.

As I saw this article shared a bajillion times via my social media feeds, I noticed some pushback by women of color who were basically saying two things. 1) Yes, it’s true that a lot of formerly “realistic” mommy bloggers have “sold out” to get advertisers to pay them buckets of money to prostitute their families for cash. But mostly advertisers are only looking at White families to do that. Apparently mommy bloggers of color haven’t had the same types of opportunities to sell out, even if they wanted to. (Please note, Ms. Meltingpot doesn’t condemn anybody for making money. Ms. Meltingpot loves money.)

Which leads me to thing number two. Because of the aforementioned lack of buckets of money being thrown at them, there are still a lot of great mommy bloggers out there creating the same realistic, timely, funny, sweet, useful and inspirational content that they’ve been creating for years. They just happen to be not white. So, if you are looking for some great mommy blogs because you’re sick of “fake motherhood,” check out Ms. Meltingpot’s five favorite Parenting Blogs that aren’t Written by White Women. And FYI, you can be White and still enjoy these blogs. You’re welcome.

1. MyBrownBaby.com I have to give Denene Milner a HUGE shout out because this woman has been blogging about brown babies forEVAH. And she always keeps her content fresh and her blog is cute too. Plus, if you’ve been reading MyBrownBaby for as long as I have, then you’ve gotten to see Denene’s beautiful brown girls grow up and fly.

2. Mater Mea: This is a beautiful, carefully curated website that centers its content on the “intersection of motherhood and career” for women of color. They’ve been around since 2012 and their content is diverse and inspiring.

3. HapaMama.com: Written by Asian-American journalist, Grace Hwang-Lynch, HapaMama.com covers Asian food, family life and pop culture. Sources say Grace may be changing up her blog in the near future, but you can still go check out her blog and read all of her really great content, which also contains some awesome recipes.

4. Top Flight Family: This is a new luxury travel and lifestyle blog written by Carmen Sognonvi, one of the original founders of the blog Racialicious (RIP). Carmen is Asian/European and her husband is Black. They have two adorable Mixie daughters with great hair and they take luxury vacations all over the world. There is a lot of sponsored content on the blog, but I just like looking at all of the pretty pictures of a colorful family in colorful destinations. And there are great tips for traveling with kids.

5. Very Smart Brothas: Okay. This is not a parenting blog, but the two main writers of Very Smart Brothas, Damon Young and Panama Jackson both have young kids and therefore they can’t help but sneak some parenting commentary into their snarky and always on-point cultural commentary. And they are just so funny. Parents need that. I need that. So, sue me if you don’t think this belongs in this list, but it’s my list, so I’m keeping it.

What about you Meltingpot readers? What blogs do you turn to for parenting inspiration and information. Let me know and add the URLs in your comments so others can enjoy them too.

Thanks!