Grandmothering While Black A Twenty-First-Century Story of Love, Coercion, and Survival

"Original in its depth of investigation and in its analysis of the ideological, legal, and administrative structures that shape experiences of caregiving, Grandmothering While Black is a significant contribution to sociology, social work, Black studies, and gender studies."—Dorothy Roberts, author of Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World

"This is the go-to, must-read book on the topic of skipped-generation households. It belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who cares about the well-being of families and children. Beautifully rendered, Grandmothering While Black is a landmark contribution that will change the way you think about the American family."—Kathryn Edin, coauthor of Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage

"A brilliant ethnography of the complexities of foster care that wraps your head around the hearts and souls of Black grandmothers, mothers, and children whose lives are entwined in the shrinking welfare state. LaShawnDa Pittman illuminates the anguish of decision-making through the politics of the foster care system and the dynamics of mothering in poverty."—Carol B. Stack, author of All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community

"Pittman distinguishes the challenges Black grandmothers face today from those previously experienced by their mothers and grandmothers, illustrating the complexity of real family life and the consequences of structural inequalities and our fragmented and narrowly focused public policies. Grandmothering While Black is an important contribution to scholarly literature on grandparent caregiving, kinship care, family functioning, public policies, and services intended to support families."—James P. Gleeson, Associate Professor Emeritus, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago

In Grandmothering While Black, sociologist LaShawnDa L. Pittman explores the complex lives of Black grandmothers raising their grandchildren in skipped-generation households (consisting only of grandparents and grandchildren). She prioritizes the voices of Black grandmothers through in-depth interviews and ethnographic research at various sites—doctor's visits, welfare offices, school and day care center appointments, caseworker meetings, and more. Through careful examination, she explores the various forces that compel, constrain, and support Black grandmothers' caregiving.

Pittman showcases a fundamental change in the relationship between grandmother and grandchild as grandmothers confront the paradox of fulfilling the social and legal functions of motherhood without the legal rights of the role. Grandmothering While Black illuminates the strategies used by grandmothers to manage their legal marginalization vis-à-vis parents and the state across a range of caregiving arrangements. In doing so, it reveals the overwhelming and painful decisions Black grandmothers must make to ensure the safety and well-being of the next generation.