Three days ago we reposted the wonderful news of model Sasha Ellese's second pregnancy announcement. However, despite motherhood being a blessing, commenters were quick to condemn the expecting mother for falling pregnant despite claiming to be celibate for faith reasons.
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Sasha, who shares daughter Nala and childcare brand Nala's Baby with UK rapper Krept, has been very open with her followers about her love for her Christian faith, and has been taking her faith very seriously over the duration of the last year.

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This includes her choice to remain celibate. However, her pregnancy announcement sparked backlash, with commenters criticising Sasha's dedication to her faith, with one commenter suggesting she is an example of why people "don't take Christians seriously."

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TikTok user @reshapeyourmind shared his response to the comments on the pregnancy announcement, suggesting that whilst commenters may have been harsh towards the influencer, there is a common theme of single parenting amongst the Black British population.

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The TikToker discusses statistics surrounding single parenthood within the Black community, noting that Black people are twice as likely to have multiple baby mothers and fathers.

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He also cited data from a 2021 census conducted by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) in which people who identified as Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African were more likely to be lone parents than any other ethnic group.

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Statistics from The Independent Family Review in 2022 also reported 57% of Caribbean families and 44% of African families in the UK were single parents, which is a stark contrast to the 22% of white British families who are single-parent households.

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The TikToker continued to his point, which was his belief that there needs to be a change in the Black community, stating that Black individuals need to "stop putting lust over family", further adding that we should be aiming to create nuclear families.

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This has been a polarising debate within the Black community with the rise of rappers having multiple children with different women, as well as "baby mama" culture and stigma.

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We have seen debates beneath our comment sections relentlessly criticising single mothers (and fathers), but what we are yet to see are any positive and effective suggestions for change.

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The "keep it in your pants" argument is evidently ineffective, and if there really is a single parenting crisis, this should be addressed with compassion and empathy, rather than condemnation and shaming.

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