Jurnee Smollett opens up on the challenge of raising Black sons in America as We Grown Now premieres [Video]

In Jurnee Smollett’s new film, We Grown Now, she plays a loving mother who lives in the Cabrini Green housing complex in Chicago in the 1990s. 

Smollett’s character, Dolores, is raising her son, Malik, and daughter as their environment becomes more turbulent, plagued by police brutality and gang violence. Dolores wants to preserve Malik’s innocence but also needs to protect him and teach him about being a young, Black boy in America. Smollett fully understands the challenge as the mother of a 7-year-old son, Hunter. 

“I could relate to that struggle of raising a Black son,” the actress tells theGrio in an exclusive interview. “I want you to have your freedom. I want you to have your joy and I want to protect that energy. But how do I help you channel that energy? How do I not beat your spirit down? How do I not make you so obedient that you’re no longer a leader?

“But …