Dr. Boyce Video -- 'Raised by The Mistress,' A New Look at Black Love, Part 1

One of the most interesting things about black people is that we are able to build love in some of the strangest situations. Learn more about one such story below.

I had a friend who introduced me to her "grandmother." Now, although I thought this woman was actually a relative, she was not. She never married or had a child with my friend's actual grandfather. Instead, she'd had a long-term affair with my friend's grandfather and simply took care of his kids as her own. The man had a relationship with his wife and an even more meaningful relationship with the mistress, and everyone accepted this as a default state of being.

While the adults might be comfortable with what some would define to be an uncomfortable situation, no one ever really asks the kids what they think. The parents do their dirt for years, thinking that the kids are too young to understand what's going on, then two decades later, the questions start coming. That's when parents either find out that their kids understood more than they were letting on, or that their children's perception of reality was quite different from that of either parent.

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Jamilah Creekmur is one of those children. Creekmur is the author of the book, "Raised by the Mistress," in which she discusses her experience as the child of a woman who had a long-term relationship with a married man. The book is a telling and intriguing account of how she, as a little girl, processed the presence of the man who had no legitimate reason to be in her mother's home. She also talks about how she confronted her mother on these matters years down the road.

Please enjoy the interview above, which is part one of a two part series, and leave your comments on this phenomenon below.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.