A Politics of the Heart Toni Morrison’s Theory of Motherhood as a Site of Power and Motherwork as Concerned with the Empowerment of Children

she returns to time and time again in her many interviews and articles. In her reflections on motherhood, both inside and outside her fiction, Morrison articulates a fully developed theory of African American mothering that is central to her larger political and philosophical stance on black womanhood. Building upon black women’s experiences of, and perspectives on motherhood, Morrison develops a view of black motherhood that is, in terms of both maternal identity and role, radically different than the motherhood practised and prescribed in the dominant culture. Morrison defines and positions maternal identity as a site of power for black women. From this position of power black mothers engage in a maternal practice that has as its explicit goal the empowerment of children. This chapter will introduce Morrison’s theory of motherhood, what I have termed “A Politics of the Heart.” Drawing upon Patricia Hill Collins’s standpoint theory, I will detail how the traditions and practices of black mothering give rise to a distinct black maternal perspective on motherhood. The chapter will then examine how Morrison, building from this standpoint on black motherhood, defines black motherhood as a site of power for women. Next, borrowing from Sara Ruddick’s model of maternal practice, I will explore how and in which ways Morrison defines motherwork as a political enterprise that assumes as its central aim the empowerment of children. Motherwork, in Morrison, is concerned with how mothers, raising black children in a racist and sexist world, can best protect their children, instruct them in how to protect themselves, challenge racism, and, for daughters, the sexism that seeks to harm them.