Celebrating Our Black Grandparents: Love, Legacy & the Village

16 hours ago

3 min read

Our grandparents hold a special place in our families.

They are often the storytellers, the helpers, the keepers of traditions, and the ones who remind us where we come from. In many of our families, grandparents and elders have helped care for children, support new moms, keep family traditions alive, and pass down strength from one generation to the next.

In honor of Grandparents’ Day on September 13 and Healthy Aging Month, CinnaMoms is celebrating the Black grandparents and elders who continue to pour love, wisdom, culture, and care into our families.

They Carry Our Stories

Our grandparents carry so much with them — the recipes, the music, the sayings, the family stories, the lessons, and the little traditions that somehow make their way from one generation to the next.

Sometimes legacy is a big family tradition.

Sometimes it is sitting at the kitchen table hearing a story you have heard a hundred times.

And sometimes it is simply:

“Come here, baby. Let me tell you about your family.”

Those moments help our children understand who they are, where they come from, and the love that existed long before they arrived.

Supporting Mom Is Supporting Baby

Our grandparents can also be an important part of the village during pregnancy and postpartum.

Support can look like bringing over a meal, helping with older children, holding baby while mom rests, running an errand, or checking in with one simple question:

“How are YOU doing?”

Because sometimes love looks like a hug.

And sometimes it looks like a plate of food and somebody saying:

“Go sit down. I got it.”

Grandma, Things Have Changed!

Our elders bring wisdom, experience, and plenty of stories about how things were done “back in the day.”

But we also know that recommendations around breastfeeding, safe sleep, car seats, infant feeding, and postpartum care continue to change.

Learning something new does not take away from the wisdom that has been passed down.

It gives us a chance to bring together what our families have taught us with what we continue to learn.

Pouring Back Into Them

September is also Healthy Aging Month, which gives us another reason to celebrate and care for the grandparents and elders in our lives.

They spend so much time pouring into everybody else. This month is a reminder to pour some of that same care back into them.

Encourage the grandparents in your family to make time for their health, rest, movement, connection, hobbies, and the things that bring them joy.

Because taking care of the village also means taking care of the people who have helped hold it together.

We Celebrate You

This Grandparents’ Day, we celebrate the Black grandparents and elders who have loved us, raised us, taught us, prayed for us, cooked for us, encouraged us, and helped shape the families we are building today.

To the grandparents sharing their wisdom, learning alongside today’s moms, keeping our traditions alive, and reminding our little ones where they come from:

We celebrate you.

The advice may change. The generations may change.

But the love, the lessons, and the legacy continue.

At CinnaMoms and PHFE WIC, we recognize that supporting healthy moms and babies also means recognizing the village surrounding them. Thank you to the grandparents and elders who continue to strengthen our families across generations.

CinnaMoms | PHFE WIC