The Magnolia Mother’s Trust in Jackson, Mississippi, gives Black mothers $1,000 a month for one year with no strings attached.
The trust, which is an initiative of Springboard To Opportunities, was announced in 2018, designed to support low-income Black mothers living in affordable housing. The first cohort of women consisted of 20 women, and the second, third, and fourth cohorts financed about 100 mothers each.
“We want to change how our society talks about Black women and poverty — that it’s not a personal failing,” Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard To Opportunities, told the 19th News. “That there are systemic barriers that allow Black women to be the most vulnerable financially, even though they are the most highly invested in the labor market.”
According to the organization’s report on the third cohort, 82% of participants felt more hopeful about their children’s futures; 79% felt more hopeful about their own futures, and 76.2% said with this money, they were able to take their children on trips, pay for extracurricular activities, and afford school supplies.
It’s certainly not the only guaranteed income scheme in the U.S., which is a concept that has risen in popularity in recent years. But it is a pioneer for Black women.
The organization continues its work, but more importantly, hopes for systemic change that better supports all women of color.
“Our goal is simple: To provide these women with the breathing room they need by giving them the financial resources they need to dream a little bigger,” Nyandoro said in a TED Talk in October 2023. “It allows you to shift your reality: from scarcity to abundance, from tunneling to imagination, from scraping by to genuine opportunity.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2024 Gender Edition of the Goodnewspaper
Header image via Magnolia Mother’s Trust
