Jennifer Hudson opened up about being a Black mother raising a teenage son in today’s political climate.
Hudson told PEOPLE she’s careful about the guidance she gives her 13-year-old son David Otunga Jr. and his friends.
Hudson said she took David, his cousins and friends to the White House where she performed at the first Juneteenth ceremony recently.
“I want my son to be a part of those things — and his cousins and friends. Little David has a really big heart, and he always wants to include them. So I said, ‘I’ll sing, but I have to bring my boys.'”
Hudson frets about the challenges of raising a Black son who is beginning to express his bold personality.
“My son goes to a predominantly white school, and he has giant hair, a whole afro. He loves to walk in there with the big old ‘fro and the pick in his hair. And I’m like, ‘Do you realize the statement you’re making? Know that just wearing your hair like that is a statement alone.'”
She added:
“Being a mom of a Black son, you have to make him conscious of and aware of certain things — who he is within the world. And there’s so many layers he has to learn! But he’s at an age where he can fully understand it. And he’s so evolved beyond what I could ever imagine.”
“It used to be I’d hold your hand and take you to the park. Now it’s like, how do I mother you? Figuring that out. And how do we exist in this new space?”
Hudson shares David with former WWE wrestler David Otunga Sr. The couple split in 2017 after dating for 9 years.
