'I am mama' movement is a call for mothers in the fight against systemic racism

By Genevieve Shaw Brown

Video by Elisa Tang

Kierra Henderson is the mom of four boys ages 7, 5, 3 and 2 months. The Richmond, Virginia, writer behind the Beloved Mama Facebook page penned a post about the fears of a mother raising black sons.

"After I watched the video of George Floyd being murdered on the street I was speechless like so many of us were," she told "Good Morning America." "But I knew it was time for me to start speaking out against the injustices happening to my people. So many of us wept and prayed. I did too. I prayed and said, 'God, I don't know what to say, but I want to say something.' Then I heard a quietness in my heart say, 'I’ll give you the words.'"

And so the "I am mama" movement was born.

"There is an instinctive and universal language of motherhood, and every mother felt the heartbeat of George’s cry for 'mama.' We knew exactly what it meant," Henderson said. "We sobbed because no one answered him. Now we are answering the call in the best way we know how, as mothers."

The feedback on the post, she said, "has been chilling."

"One by one they started standing -- it was in the comment section of the post, but I could feel it like we were all in the same room," she said.

Henderson believes this is a historic moment.

"I believe that we are one generation away from changing the world, and us mothers have a powerful role in that," she said. "This could be a turning point in history if we all do the necessary work that it takes to change ourselves, to influence the hearts of others and to do the strategic work that it takes to defeat systemic racism."

She hopes the I am mama movement will inspire people to take action.

"Every mother can’t go out and protest," she told "GMA." "But every mother can protest racism within her own spheres of influence. I hope that mothers are inspired to use their gifts, talents and instincts to finally bring victory to this long fought war against racism."