EBONY magazine has named moms Micaela and JaChel Redmond and their daughter Taylor the most recent “Coolest Black Family in America” in their ongoing series.
The moms are both from Tennessee, but met online when Micaela was living in Spain, had a legal wedding in Washington, D.C., followed it with a ceremony in BucerÃas, Mexico, and now reside in Dallas, Texas, where Taylor’s dad, JaChel’s ex-husband, is active in her life. Go visit EBONY to read more about this well-traveled couple and hear both moms’ perspectives on the challenges of their blended and extended family. (Thanks to Elixher for first posting about it.)
ABC Family’s new drama The Fosters may be exploring a fictional blended family on television, but fiction is following reality. And it’s not just the Redmonds—according to demographer Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute, “individuals in same-sex couples who were previously married are much more likely to have biological or stepchildren than those who were never married (23.5% compared to 9.5% respectively).”
And greater recognition and acceptance of our real and fictional families in the media, from magazines to television? Cool indeed.