Jill Says It Ain't Easy: Love & Motherhood

One of the lyrics from one of my FAVORITE Jill Scott songs, Hate on Me says, "what if I gave you Diamonds out of my own womb...would you feel the love in that?  Or ask why not the moon?"

There is something about these lyrics that hits home and touches the soul of a single mother - right where it hurts.  It reminds you that you DID give someone Diamonds out of your own womb and for whatever reason, you and that person are no longer together.  Of course I realize that each situation is different and it's not always a bitter, "I hate you" kind of situation between a mother and the father of their child.  But, to know that Jill Scott is walking the path of "Single Motherhood" right along with us makes me feel like I can bare not just the burden of being a single mother, but I can tolerate being a single woman.

If you remember, back in 2007 the divorce between Ms Jill Scott and then husband Lyzel Williams was made final.  The couple had been married for six years but Jill stated in an interview with The Guardian that she knew the marriage was done when her husband stopped eating her food.  She stated,  
“One of the reasons my ex-husband and I broke up is that he stopped eating my food. He was pissed for other reasons, but the best way to show me was by leaving what I’d made for him uneaten for days on the kitchen counter. It was a smack in the face." 

It didn't take long for Jilly from Philly to bounce back.  Shortly after the divorce from Lyzel, she began dating and became engaged to her drummer, Lil Jon Roberts.  Together, they welcomed their first child back in 2009, Jett Hamilton Roberts.  But only months after giving birth she and Lil Jon Roberts called off the engagement and went their separate ways. 

During a 2009 interview with Essence Magazine, Jill spoke out on the break up and raising her then, 2 month old baby boy as a single mother. 

“….John and I are no longer together. When you have a baby you’re dealing with a lot of emotions and I don’t know how much of it had to do with us breaking up, but it happens,” Jill explains. “We definitely love our son and we are co-parenting and working on being friends. It is what it is. I have a lot of support, so I want for nothing as far as that’s concerned. I know some might criticize me or the fact that my son is being raised in a single-parent home, but I wasn’t raised in a two-parent home and I had a good relationship with my dad. I have hopes for him and I’m sure his father will do his part as well.”  She went on to say,  

“My heart and prayers go out to all single moms because it’s tough, and I can’t imagine any teenager dealing with a baby and all those hormones raging. I can afford to have this child at 37 because I have a support system and I can talk to my girls, Mo’Nique and Erykah [Badu], but I don’t understand how any mother does it alone. I don’t believe I suffered from postpartum because I didn’t feel depressed, but it was jarring and I can understand now how some mothers lose it. What he’s taught me is that I thought I was grown and patient but I was neither until now..."

Now, years later Jill is speaking out again on single parenting but this time she's being interviewed by Ebony Magazine on raising her now four year old--definitely not a two month old anymore as we can see from the cover of this month's issue of Ebony which is set to hit stands on April 16th.  I'll be reading...will you?