Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 | 10:40 a.m.
Daria Riley got the idea for the group from watching Oprah and the money to support it from listening to the radio on a drive to the grocery store.
But her motivation was personal.
Riley, a 27-year-old new mother, wanted to find other Las Vegas women of color who were also scaling back on work to stay at home with their children.
Recently, she helped found the local chapter of Mocha Moms, a nationwide support group specifically for mothers of color. And now, buoyed by a $3,000 grant from Clark County's small-projects fund, which will be awarded to her group on Saturday, Riley has the means to reach out to more women in her situation.
For all mothers and fathers, the decision to stay at home is often complicated by economic considerations. But for black women like Riley, these considerations are tied up in a history of racial discrimination that encourages professional-class women to work, she said.
Fewer women of color make the choice to stay at home because they think working will help them overcome whatever limitations were imposed on their mothers and grandmothers, she said.
A former Clark County schoolteacher who now works part-time as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Southern Nevada, Riley helped form the local chapter of Mocha Moms in an effort to untangle some of the issues mothers like her confront.
With the cooperation of three other young mothers with professional educations -- Tiesha Moore, 27, Tamika Gay, 28, and Zakeisha Jones, 29 -- Riley submitted a charter application to the national umbrella group. When it was accepted, Mocha Moms of Las Vegas became one of more than 100 chapters across the country.
Several months ago the national organization was featured on an episode of Oprah. Riley and Gay said they both saw the show and that it encouraged them to get the local chapter going.
"How nice would it be to do that," Gay said she remembered thinking.
Historically, Riley said, black women and other minority women have had to work either to supplement their spouses' salary or to support their families on their own.
For those women today -- who do not have to work for financial reasons -- the desire to do so remains strong, Riley said. Working and succeeding professionally is often seen as a tribute to Civil Rights-era pioneers who made those achievements possible, she said.
"Because we haven't historically been able to achieve a lot of our goals, we feel we owe those people who stepped forward for us so that we could get an education and take these jobs they could only dream about," Riley said.
The idea of stepping back and learning to balance a family budget on one income instead of two frustrates some women, Riley added.
"But it's important for those moms that do decide to leave work to tell them that it's OK," Riley said.
Jones, who continues to teach seventh grade English at Marvin Sedway Middle School in North Las Vegas, said the organization is important because very few support groups exist for stay-at-home mothers of color.
"We don't see (staying at home) promoted in our society," Jones, who is black, said.
But all mothers and fathers are welcome to participate in the group's activities, she said. They include family outings to local restaurants, discussion groups and bowling trips, Riley said.
With the grant from Clark County's small-projects fund, the group plans to have two free family fairs at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave., on April 23 and June 4, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Currently, Mocha Moms of Las Vegas has about 10 members, but the group is hoping to pull more participants out of the woodwork.
"I don't often see stay-at-home mothers of color," Gay said. "I used to think 'Hmm, am I the only one?' "
More information on the group is available at www.mochamoms.org.
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