Nikkya Hargrove

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Jordan Rathkopf/The Rathkopfs

A close-up of Nikkya Hargrove.

Nikkya Hargrove

Just after graduating from college, Nikkya Hargrove was faced with a family tragedy: her mother, recently out of prison and struggling with substance abuse, died not long after giving birth to a son. Hargrove decided to petition for custody of her half-brother, a fight complicated by societal and family court misconceptions about her ability to be responsible for an infant as a young Black queer woman. The story is recounted in Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found, and Hargrove will discuss her new memoir with Women’s Medical Fund Wisconsin Executive Director Ali Muldrow in a webinar hosted by A Room of One’s Own; register at crowdcast.io.

media release: A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome Nikkya Hargrove and Ali Muldrow for a conversation on Nikkya's new book Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found. Join us for a moving conversation on queer motherhood, the prison system, and the fight for a better life.

This is a virtual event on Crowdcast hosted by A Room of One's Own

About the Book

In this searing and uplifting memoir, a young Black queer woman fresh out of college adopts her baby brother after their incarcerated mother dies, determined to create the kind of family she never had. Nikkya Hargrove spent a good portion of her childhood in prison visiting rooms. When her mother—addicted to cocaine and just out of prison—had a son and then died only a few months later, Nikkya was faced with an impossible choice. Although she had just graduated from college, she decided to fight for custody of her half brother, Jonathan. And fight she did. Nikkya vividly recounts how she is subjected to preconceived notions that she, a Black queer young woman, cannot be given such responsibility. Her honest portrayal of the shame she feels accepting food stamps, her family’s reaction to her coming out, and the joy she experiences when she meets the woman who will become her wife reveal her sheer determination. And whether she’s clashing with Jonathan’s biological father or battling for Jonathan’s education rights after he’s diagnosed with ADHD and autism, this is a woman who won’t give up. Nikkya’s moving story picks up where Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy left off, exploring generational trauma and pulling back the curtain on family court and poverty in America. Mama is an ode to motherhood and identity, and to finding strength in family and community, for readers of memoirs by Ashley C. Ford, Natasha Tretheway, and Dawn Turner.

Nikkya Hargrove is a graduate of Bard College and currently serves as a member of the school's Board of Governors and chair of the alumni/ae Diversity Committee. A LAMBDA Literary Nonfiction Fellow, she has written about adoption, marriage, motherhood, and the prison system for The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times, Scary Mommy, and Shondaland. She has worked for social impact nonprofits providing support to underserved communities throughout her professional career. She lives in Connecticut with her wife and three children.

Ali Muldrow (she/her/hers) is a parent, partner, MMSD Board of Education Treasurer, Tuesday host of A Public Affair on 89.9 FM WORT, and the Executive Director of the Women’s Medical Fund Wisconsin.