In a September cover interview for Real Simple, 41-year-old Jennifer Hudson opens up about raising a black teenage son.
In her interview, the EGOT winner talks of how as the mother of a Black young man, she has to guide him and most importantly, make him “aware”.
“Being a mom of a Black son, you have to make him conscious of and aware of certain things—who he is within the world. And there’s so many layers he has to learn! But he’s at an age where he can fully understand it. And he’s so evolved beyond what I could ever imagine.”
Hudson notes in her interview, one teachable moment had to do with her son’s “giant hair”. The soon-to-be 14-year-old didn’t realize just his locks make a statement.
“My son goes to a predominantly white school, and he has giant hair, a whole afro. He loves to walk in there with the big old ’fro and the pick in his hair. And I’m like, ‘Do you realize the statement you’re making? Know that just wearing your hair like that is a statement alone.'”
The multi-hyphenated entertainer said that her son is “very rooted in who he is and OK with that.”
This summer, Hudson is making sure that her son, cousins, and his friends have those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that they will never forget. She took the boys to the first Juneteenth ceremony at the White House.
“I want my son to be a part of those things—and his cousins and friends. Little David has a really big heart, and he always wants to include them. So I said, ‘I’ll sing, but I have to bring my boys,’ ” she shares. “And I told the guys, ‘When you all get old and you have children, you’re going to say, ‘I was there for the first Juneteenth.’ And to be able to sing for it—that’s something I will never forget.”
Soon, Hudson and her son will embark upon another stage of their journey…high school. And, they are both trying to figure out just how to navigate it all.
“David and I joke that we’re both starting a new school year! My son has a busy schedule, and I love to be there for him, so I’m learning how to juggle this newness,” Hudson commented.
She continued, “It used to be I’d hold your hand and take you to the park. Now it’s like, how do I mother you? Figuring that out. And how do we exist in this new space?”
Hudson shares David Daniel Otunga Jr with ex-husband David Otunga. After a decade together, the pair split in November of 2017.
Photo Credit(s)/Featured Image: Jennifer Hudson Instagram
