her 3rd mom

I had a student once who was born in San Francisco to an abusive alcoholic father and a drug addict mother. First she and her sister were adopted by a woman who over a period of time had earned her mother's trust. This woman, who was white, kept my student's sister, who was also light skinned, but after a couple of years passed my black student along to be raised by a black woman. She felt a black woman could better meet the needs of a black little girl. The little girl, my student, felt rejected. "I just thought she didn't want me", she said. "My third mom was crazy, but it kind of worked out."