Parenthood is something Kellie Bowman has always held close to her heart.
As the daughter of Alfredo Bowman, better known as Dr. Sebi, she still holds onto some of the things he taught her growing up, and now she’s passing those values down to her children. Now the founder and owner of Sebi’s Daughters, Bowman told rolling out what mothers mean to her.
What does Mother’s Day mean to you?
Well, I think for me, Mother’s Day has been every day. I have grandmothers, I had the pleasure of knowing both sides of my grandmother and I am a mom and my mom is still alive.
Being a mom is a very important job. If God gives us life, and we are the life giver, it’s such a beautiful position to have. I think that assignment for a woman is awesome. Being able to stand up tall and teach another individual how to love, how to enjoy life, but how to eat and teach others is my pleasure, because that’s the way I was taught. So being a mom of two children has been a pleasure. But this particular time of the year, what do I reflect on? It’s the fact that I’ve been taught by so many beautiful women, women who aren’t even my mother. I consider the mothering and nurturing from life experiences with women to be awesome. This is something that never leaves me. This is another day that I celebrate just women in general.
Do you think motherhood goes beyond genes? Can you be a mother and have no children?
Absolutely. If you have love in your heart, you [can] give encouragement to someone else, whether it be to your neighbor, [or] whether it be to the young child you see walking home from school [who’s] a latchkey kid, because her mom’s at work. I remember being that young, sometimes I would come home, and the lady on the block who was home all day, she was my mom and [would] tell me to get home and get in the house. Nurturing and love can come from anywhere.
Black maternal mortality is an issue right now. What are two health tips you would give to pregnant Black women?
Listen to what your body’s telling you when you experience food. We all have an experience, either it makes us tired, energetic or sleepy. Listen to your body, know what you’re eating, educate yourself, obey the laws of nature and then be blessed by what it gives you out of your life experience.
Go with things that are natural, it’ll benefit you every time. It seems like we get confused when we over inundate ourselves with ads about things that are not true food, and we don’t think about the education of why we’re eating. So when you are a life giver, you want to know that you love that baby, feed them the best.
