Joquetta Wright did not set out to build a nonprofit. She set out to be honest. A simple hashtag shared on her personal social media turned into a community of mothers who recognized themselves in her words, and Free Mama Movement was born from that moment.
Wright serves as founder and executive director of the Charleston, South Carolina-based organization, which centers on helping mothers hold onto their identity while raising their children. Through events, storytelling, and its signature fashion platform, the Poised and Proper Free Mama Fashion Show, Wright has built something that started as a feeling and grew into a full movement.
A hashtag that became a community
Wright says the idea grew out of a personal tension she could not ignore after becoming a mother.
“Before motherhood, I felt like myself. I was an individual, I had my own things, I did my own things,” she said. “There were moments where I’m like, I want people to ask about me, I want to talk about me, I don’t want to just be identified as his mom.”…