Adiba Nelson on Muck Rack

Adiba Nelson

(She/Her)
Tucson
As seen in: MSN, HuffPost, The Washington Post, YourTango, The Kitchn, Familia By Parents, Kindred by Parents, Parents, MYSA, The Good Men Project and
Covers:  parenting, social justice, disability rights, womanhood
Doesn't Cover: politics, sports (though I'd really love to), travel, business, money
Debut memoir AIN'T THAT A MOTHER out NOW! | muckrack.com/adibanelson | Bylines w/@parents, @huffpost, @washingtonpost, etc | Repped by @helmliterary

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Adiba Nelson’s Biography

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Adiba Nelson is the author of the memoir that Essence, Bustle, and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, Ain’t That A Mother and subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson. She is also a retired performer, disability rights advocate/activist, freelance journalist and very tired mom!

In 2013 she wrote and self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a children’s book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled…

Adiba Nelson’s Journalist Portfolio

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Perspective | For me, giving birth was traumatic. Other Black moms deserve better.

Perspective | For me, giving birth was traumatic. Other Black moms deserve better.

In 2009, when I was giving birth to my first (and only) child, there was a moment I was certain I was going t…

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My Disabled Daughter Will Face New Struggles With the End of Roe v. Wade

My Disabled Daughter Will Face New Struggles With the End of Roe v. Wade

My daughter, the beautiful and effervescent Miss E, turned 13 years old in May. I wasn't home for her birthda…

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'Alma's Way' Creator, Sonia Manzano, Says Grandparents Are The Culture Keepers

'Alma's Way' Creator, Sonia Manzano, Says Grandparents Are The Culture Keepers

If you are a child of the eighties, odds are you grew up watching Sesame Street, and know who "Maria" is. Whi…

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What will it take for America to understand the pain of black women?

What will it take for America to understand the pain of black women?

I wonder if this is it. I wonder if this will be the murder that finally forces America to take a good hard l…

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My Daughter's Speech Therapy Is Breaking My Heart

My Daughter's Speech Therapy Is Breaking My Heart

Pat on the lap + eye rub = I'm sleepy and I'm ready to cuddle. Mouth open wide + finger inserted = I'm hungry…

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Perspective | My daughter's tween 'tude is a welcome reminder that she's so much more than her di...

Perspective | My daughter's tween 'tude is a welcome reminder that she's so much more than her di...

"You're impossible!" Two words. Two words that showed up on the screen of her communication device were all i…

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Articles

Black Girl Loading: These Sisters Discuss Why Blackness Is Not A Monolith

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By Adiba Nelson
| MadameNoire Verified
MadameNoire Featured Video I am a die-hard Gen-Xer. I grew up in the age of NWA, Cross Colours, Africa medallions and Malcolm X caps. Rap was rivaling grunge to be the music of the day. Ebonics, now referred to as AAVE, was becoming more of a thing in Tucson, Arizona and dances like the butterfly and tootsie roll had replaced the wop, running man and cabbage patch. I was about my Blackness. And my mom was having none of it. She subscribed heavily to the notion of respectability politics.
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Dunbar Pavilion: Tucson’s Living Legacy

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By Adiba Nelson
| Tucson Lifestyle Magazine Verified
Marian Anderson. Jackie Robinson. Satchel Paige. Langston Hughes. Larry Doby. Louis Armstrong. These Black celebrities not only passed through Tucson but made it their business to visit the halls of the Paul Laurence Dunbar School. As a matter of fact, Langston Hughes is the reason the Dunbar School ever received proper heating and cooling.
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Conversation With First Black Women To Cover The Super Bowl

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By Adiba Nelson
| MadameNoire Verified
MadameNoire Featured Video What does Black Excellence look like when it slides from Black History Month right into Women’s History Month? It looks like MJ Acosta-Ruiz and Cari Champion being the first Afro-Latin and Black women—respectively—to report on the Super Bowl, live from the sidelines.
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Interview

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Why did you become a journalist?

I've always been curious about people's stories, and how the world-at-large influences them/has an effect on their stories.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

My recent piece for Parents magazine about the effects of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v Wade on the disabled community.

What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?

Be respectful but don't be afraid to ask the tough questions.
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