Bridge Over Troubled Waters

The influence of African-American Othermothers on the stability of children in their care has been documented in research as a long-standing tradition since slavery. When families were separated at auction, Othermothers would become "fictive kin" to the orphaned children. This tradition continues in the Black community today. Using semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study documents the advocacy behaviors of 12 African-American Othermothers and their quest to ensure that the children in their care receive a quality education. Using Critical Race Theory and Black feminist thought as a lens through which to view the findings, the author explicitly recounts the experiences of the Othermothers through counter-storytelling, which yield several emergent themes such as identification of prevalent advocacy behaviors among the women, the impact of racism on their advocacy efforts, and the need to construct metaphorical bridges with the school to meet their child's educational needs. These Othermothers share their struggle and overwhelmingly cite their dependence on their network of professionals and faith for support.