My Solution for "No Wedding, No Womb"

Author Christelyn D. Karazin has caused quite a stir with her recent campaign “No Wedding, No Womb.” 72% of African American children are born out of wedlock. “NWNW” seeks to inspire women to consider their bodies and future children before the sperm meets the egg. They are now seeking solutions. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but here is my solution:

I was raised in the church. My mother made me go to church. We were there every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. A few years ago I realized that I was ready to make Christianity my own. This was no longer my mother’s religion thrown upon me. I was making a conscious decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Having a strong sense of faith has helped my self esteem and caused me to know my worth. God created sex and it is a beautiful thing. It is so beautiful that He put a fence around it to protect it. That fence is marriage. That fenced was meant to protect us from becoming a single parent, diseases, etc. The first institution that God created was marriage and family. I personally believe that more marriages in the Black community can heal a lot of issues that we face today. I’m speaking of REAL marriages where the mother and father are totally committed to each other, their children, and their community.

My solution is that women and men actively get in touch with their Creator and find out what is required of them. I don’t believe that this solution will solve the problem of African American children being born out of wedlock, but I can testify that it most definitely helped me. My grandmother had my mom when she was 17 years old, out of wedlock. My mother was pregnant with me at the age of 20. When I turned 21 I was so happy that I had broken a generational curse.

I work in a housing project in Chicago. I witness a lot of things that grieve me. Since when is it okay to blast “You Gone Think I Invented Sex” with your little children in the car singing along? With the help of the media we are subconsciously planting seeds in our child that has major effects on them. I challenged my students to pay attention to the music they listen to, and how all of them have the same theme of relationships, drinking, or getting money. I want more music that talks about abstinence, marriage, going to college, loving your family, respect for others, etc.

God didn’t create us to simply be someone’s “Baby Mama”. We were made for more. We deserve to be in a committed marriage and our children deserve to have parents that considered them over temptation. The Black family has been broken ever since Master separated us during slavery. I come from a broken family and I find myself shocked when I meet people whose parents are still together. This should not be. I am ready to see our families healed and put back together. No wedding, no womb.