Before I continue to write my experience around the ideas/ideals I have as a parent and partner, I believe I owe it to them to honor their beings. As I have mentioned, my name is Araceli Espinoza Mead; 32 years old, living in Oakland, California, doing community work. My husband works for an art nonprofit in San Francisco. We met in art school and drank a lot of beer, of course.
We recently got married, December 2019. It was great to have our loved ones come from across the country. We are not native to the Bay Area, coming from St. Louis and Los Angeles. And it is evident that we are parents being that this blog has momma in the title.
Our sweet little Ro is almost a year old. My child is the reason for this blog. My hope is to hold myself accountable through this vulnerable public learning to be the best mother I can be. This is the moment for me to put my ideals into practice – first with self, second with my family.
We are a multi-generational and biracial family. Damn, don’t look so surprised. Although I can come across as white-passing, I am not. Puro Mexicana! First-generation Xicana. My husband is half white, half Mexicano. He is on his own personal search around his cultural identity. We often talk about race, culture, and patriarchy to make sure we are creating a toxic-free household. Let me tell you, that shit is hard!
We are both dismantling our traumas, triggers, and inherent cultural biases because of our formative experience. This is hard work, especially in the first year of marriage during a pandemic (shall we not forget). As I am learning my voice online, I am also wanting to respect my family and honor their journeys. This page is a reflection of mine, not theirs.
I want to be able to share my learning to other Rad Mommas, who like me, can’t afford to go forth in our formal-institutional education.
Stay Rad Mommas