On Topic: America at 250 — Motherhood in America with Jamilah Lemieux (“Black. Single. Mother.”)

Photo Courtesy: Jamilah Lemieux.

No one ever said parenthood is easy (and meant it), but racial, gender, and societal dynamics have made it clear that some caretakers will hit more roadblocks than others. Many new mothers have the privilege of admiration from wider society, but author and celebrated cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux is here to say this is not the case for everyone—particularly not for single Black mothers. 

With her signature candid, humorous, and sometimes biting takes, Jamilah suffers no fools while also courageously revealing the scars of her own parenting journey and search for self-acceptance in a world that hates “baby mamas.” With a particular verve and relatability—honed in her many years among Black Twitter’s most prominent voices—she centers the complex reality of Black single motherhood.

“[Black. Single. Mother.] is funny and beautiful and insightful and sentimental and sharp and soft and will teach you things…If you’re the kind of person who reads books or…has a mother, you’ll love this book.”—Michael Harriot, New York Times bestselling author of Black AF History

Black. Single. Mother. combines riveting personal essays, infused with whip-smart cultural and historical analysis, with 21 intimate first-person testimonies from a spectrum of Black single mothers. A long-overdue offering in celebration of the American matriarch most often maligned, Black. Single. Mother. sets out to inspire a new cultural and community dialogue about this powerful figure as one profoundly deserving of love, support, and respect.

You can purchase a copy of Jamilah’s book, Black. Single. Mother., at City of Asylum Bookstore.

This program will be followed by a public reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks for all artists and attendees.

All four programs in City of Asylum’s limited On Topic: America at 250 series include a FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY. The first 25 pre-registered attendees who arrive at each program will receive a free copy of the book. The remaining five copies will be given out based on live audience participation at the program, and a chance drawing through social media. 

About the Author:

A renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and motherhood, Jamilah Lemieux is a leading millennial feminist thinker, social influencer, and game-changing media maverick. Lemieux’s written work has been featured via a host of print and digital platforms, including the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Essence, Playboy, The Cut, The Guardian, Colorlines, The Washington Post, Wired, Self, Inverse, Refinery 29, the Columbia Journalism Review, and Vanity Fair. She penned the foreword for the 2015 anniversary of Michele Wallace’s Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and the 2017 re-release of Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories. She was also featured in the 2019 anthology How We Fight White Supremacy. Her first book, Black. Single. Mother.: Real-Life Tales of Longing and Belonging (Roc Lit 101/Penguin Random House) was released on March 10, 2026. Currently, she pens a weekly advice column for Slate‘s ‘Care and Feeding’ parenting section. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Still Here, a special single-issue magazine about Black women and HIV/AIDS, which was released in December 2025.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.