Ella R. Thompson, PhD
AUTHOR • SCHOLAR
FREE VIRTUAL GATHERING
When did caring mean carrying it all?
When your strength becomes an expectation and your care becomes an obligation, who decides what is yours to carry?
Thursday, November 19, 20267:00–8:15 PM ET | 4:00–5:15 PM PTCOMPLIMENTARY • Virtual • Registration Required
Join author and scholar Ella R. Thompson, PhD, and three distinguished guest facilitators for an engaging, interactive conversation inspired by I Am Not Your Mammy: Care, Expectation, and Invisible Labor.
Together, we'll examine the expectations we inherit, the invisible responsibilities we carry, and what it means to reclaim agency without abandoning care.
“The problem was never that we cared too much. It was that our care became something others believed they were entitled to.”
- Ella R. Thompson, PhD
Why This Conversation Matters
Somewhere along the way, being strong became being responsible. Being dependable became being available. And caring became something others expected rather than something we freely chose to give.For generations, Black women have navigated cultural and societal expectations that celebrate their strength while often overlooking the emotional, relational, and invisible labor required to sustain everyone around them.But these patterns extend beyond any one community. Wherever competence becomes obligation and care is taken for granted, the cost is often borne by the very people others depend upon most.This conversation matters because we cannot reconsider responsibilities we have never been encouraged to question.Together, we'll examine how these expectations take root, what they cost, and how we can reclaim the authority to decide what is truly ours to carry.
The Book Behind the Conversation
I Am Not Your Mammy
Care, Expectation, and Invisible Labor
What happens when a woman’s strength becomes an expectation, her care becomes an obligation, and the work she carries goes unseen?
In "I Am Not Your Mammy," Dr. Thompson, examines the historical and contemporary expectations placed upon Black women to nurture, support, and sustain others—often at considerable personal cost.
The book challenges readers to reconsider the difference between care freely given and care presumed to be owed.
The book inspired the gathering. The conversation invites us to examine what comes next.
Reading the book is not required to participate in the gathering.
Three Women. Three Perspectives. One Essential Conversation.
Three accomplished women bring distinct perspectives shaped by leadership, higher education, business, community engagement, and the work of caring for others.Together, they will examine how competence becomes expectation, service becomes obligation, and caring for others can come at an unseen personal cost.
Meet Our Guest Facilitators
Joy Brathwaite, MSA, MBA, Higher Education Executive
Explore the experiences, expectations, relationships, and systems that have influenced who you are and how you lead. Greater self-awareness creates the foundation for intentional growth.
The Woman Who Leads
Valda Claiborne, Founder & CEO, Behavioral Health Executive
Move beyond inherited expectations and limiting patterns. Strengthen your capacity to make conscious decisions, establish meaningful boundaries, and exercise authority over your own life.
The Woman Who Serves
Yvette Wilson, Barnes, M.Div., J.D., Ed.D., Scholar, Chaplain
Bring your values, identity, responsibilities, and choices into greater coherence. Cultivate a way of leading and living that reflects who you are and what matters most.
The Woman Who Cares
Some Conversations Are Too Important to Leave Unspoken.
We’ve learned to celebrate strength, admire resilience, and depend on those who always seem capable of carrying more. But perhaps it’s time to ask different questions.What have we come to accept as our responsibility? What expectations have we inherited without examining them? And what might change if we gave ourselves permission to reconsider?You don’t have to have all the answers. You simply have to be willing to join the conversation.Join us on November 19 for an engaging, thought-provoking gathering about care, expectation, invisible labor, and the choices that shape our lives.Thursday, November 19, 2026
7:00–8:15 PM ET | 4:00–5:15 PM PT
Virtual • Complimentary Registration
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