Advice? Elections? How this Facebook group became a resource for Mansfield area moms

School board candidate Corinne Fiagome developed an entirely new appreciation for her city’s diversity after receiving a Facbook group invitation.

Fiagome was an early member of Black Mansfield Moms, a group that has grown to fill a void for mothers of color looking to share resources, get advice or get in the know.

Black residents accounted for nearly 19% of the city’s population in 2019 and over 30% of Mansfield school district, according to Census and MISD data. Fiagome said she knew the city and schools were diverse. However, the group’s membership conveyed Mansfield’s diversity in a new way.

“I did not know what I was missing until Black Mansfield Moms came out,” Fiagome said. “Not only now do I see that we have diversity, but with Black Mansfield Moms, it’s an appreciation that’s coming to a new level of engagement.”

Around 1,600 are now part of the group, which has not even made its year anniversary. The group played an active role in spring municipal elections, when members vetted, endorsed and supported candidates. Members told the Star-Telegram the group’s overall purpose is to lift up women, especially women of color.

Fiagome is one of seven candidates in Arlington and Mansfield to receive the group’s endorsement, and one of two who will advance to a June 5 runoff in their races.

However, the group’s resources and services span well beyond political advocacy, said Shawan Hagan-Cole, a group administrator.

“Never in our wildest imaginations could we have thought this group would be everything that it is to everybody who’s a member today,” she said. “Access to information is paramount.”

Black Mansfield moms and election season

The county subcourthouse in Mansfield looked and sounded more like a flea market than an early voting location the Saturday before Election Day.

Black Mansfield Moms founder and attorney Ebony Turner said she had never seen so much interest during an election, as canvassers mingled between tents. Supporters of congressional candidate and former WWE wrestler Dan Rodimer played music and waved signs at motorists.

“This is the most signs I’ve ever seen,” Turner said April 24. “I’m hoping that equals votes and engagements. I definitely know in our group, we’ve been very engaged.”

Several members cast their ballots as a group the last Saturday of early voting before mingling among candidates making their last cases to voters. Throughout election season, the group helped candidates canvass and held donation events for endorsed candidates.

Fiagome is one of seven candidates in Arlington and Mansfield to receive the moms’ endorsement and one of three to enter a runoff or win a race. Fiagome is headed into a runoff against Keziah Valdes Farrar, who received the most votes in the seven-person Place 4 race.

The group, Fiagome said, did not go easy on her because she was a member. Receiving the endorsement after answering the same questionnaire and speaking before the same panel as her opponents made the nod all the more satisfying.

Black Mansfield Moms has been creative with its donation and get out the vote events, Fiagome said, which has gone further than solely verbal support that may come with other groups’ endorsements.

“I think that some of us are just now realizing how important it is to signal our support for diverse candidates through giving and how that impacts whether or not other organizations or other people come in and support,” she said.

Place 2 candidate Yolanda E. McPherson will advance to a runoff against Desiree “Dez” Thomas, and Arlington City Council’s Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley won a second term to represent District 8. Both had the moms’ endorsement, as well as support from partner groups Black Mansfield Ambassadors for Change, Let’s Talk Mansfield and SAFER Mansfield ISD.

The election cycle has been the groups’ second foray into local elections and public service. In November, the group held a candidate forum. Black Mansfield Moms also partnered with Tarrant County Public Health in January for a town hall about COVID-19 vaccinations in Black communities.

Virtual community building

Borne out of early pandemic isolation, Black Mansfield Moms has outpaced group leaders’ expectations for growth and resources.

Hagan-Cole described the group as a “sisterhood.” Through the moms’ network, members have gotten help with everything from crowd-sourcing medical professionals and businesses owned by people of color to arranging carpools for others’ students after school.

“Whatever you need, we have it,” Hagan-Cole said. “You just have to ask.”

Della Sapp, who has lived in Mansfield since 1972, said she remembers a time when her brothers would sometimes have things thrown at them while walking. Years before Sapp and her family arrived, the school district became the last in Texas to desegregate following battles with the NAACP..

Sapp said the city has come a long way; however, municipal and school boards could stand to look more like the communities they represent.

“I feel like every entity of Mansfield, Texas needs Black people there,” Sapp said. “Everybody has a different view and everyone comes from a different walk of life, and it all needs to be respected and accepted. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”