I grew up with all mothers, all women. I come from a long line

The words of Erykah Badu, “I grew up with all mothers, all women. I come from a long line of matriarchs, very strong women,” echo like a hymn to ancestry and resilience. They remind us that there is a lineage greater than crowns or empires: the lineage of mothers who hold the family, the community, and the spirit together. These matriarchs are pillars, and through them flows the wisdom of generations.

In ages past, many societies revered the mother as the heart of the tribe, the one whose endurance preserved life in times of famine, whose voice guided decisions when storms threatened, and whose love bound kin together. To be raised among strong women is to inherit not only their blood, but their courage, their endurance, and their clarity of vision. Badu’s words honor this inheritance, a reminder that true strength is not always shouted from thrones, but often whispered in kitchens, cradles, and the sacred places of home.

Consider the tale of Harriet Tubman, born into slavery yet guided by the fierce spirit of her foremothers. Though deprived of power in worldly terms, she became the “Moses” of her people, leading scores to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Her strength was not hers alone—it was the distilled spirit of countless matriarchs who endured chains but never surrendered their will. Through her, the world saw the might of women who carried nations on their backs.

To be raised by “all mothers” is to grow in a circle of unbroken strength, where no child is ever abandoned, for every woman becomes a guardian. This is the vision Badu paints: a tapestry woven of women’s wisdom, where resilience is not the exception but the tradition. In such a lineage, one learns that strength is not granted by kings, but inherited from the unyielding hearts of women who endure and prevail.

Let this truth be passed down: the greatness of a people is often safeguarded not in palaces but in the hands of their matriarchs. To honor them is to honor the roots from which we rise. And those who, like Badu, grow up surrounded by strong women, carry a flame that no storm can extinguish—a flame meant to light the way for generations yet to come.