I just wanted to promote one of the best podcasts I've heard on urban radio…the Michael Baisden show.

This podcast is amazing because Michael Baisden keeps it honest with regard to having kids. He affirms the choice to remain childfree and specifically tells women to shun the pressure from men to have babies if they don't want them. He knows how prevalent it is for women to have children simply to please a man and strongly encourages against it.

Maybe this is a cultural thing but I have to be honest. As a Black woman, it is HARD to find Black men who identify with the notion of being permanently childfree. There are plenty of men who already have kids who are cool with not having any more but most of the childless Black men I have dated are not keen on staying that way. Sure, they find it "hot" when they meet a woman with no kids but when the conversation of having children arises, they make it wholly clear that any woman they would be with long-term would HAVE to bear their children. It isn't optional or up for debate. And maybe this is just MY lowly opinion but from my POV, a lot Black men see children as proof of their virility and masculinity, as well as a validation for their ego. Whether they take care of them or not is a whole other issue.

With that said though, Childfreedom is not a popular movement in ANY ethnic community so I'm not just calling Black people out here.

Statistically, no ethnic group has higher levels of childlessness or childfreedom than Caucasians. The most recent census information I could find states "White never-married women have childless levels more than twice as high as Black women. Regardless of marital status, Hispanic women had lower levels of childlessness than non-Hispanic women."

So it's safe to say that childfreedom is not as prevalent among Blacks or Hispanics as it is among Whites. That's why when I hear a Black man encouraging women to remain childfree in a public forum, I get ridiculously excited.

At one point in the show, he takes a call from a woman who says that while she loves her child, if she had it to do over, she would be childfree! Whew if I had a quarter for every time I heard that…

He addresses the double standard of this statement and lets the caller know that it's perfectly OK to feel that way. He also encourages parents not to pressure their daughters to have children. How awesome is that!

Overall, really a great podcast for all sexes and races to listen to.

Listen here.