Girl power! Event celebrates, elevates Black teens, girls

By Starla Muhammad -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Oct 25, 2012 - 9:15:50 AM

Chicago area girls met for an evening of dialogue and fun Oct. 11 to celebrate International Day of the Girl. Photos: Starla Muhammad

CHICAGO – Whether living in Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Serbia or the South Side of Chicago, girls often face challenges no one, especially the young and vulnerable should be forced to deal with.

In many cases they just need to know there is a safe haven with a chance to get together with peers and talk about concerns, without fear of being judged, condemned or rejected.

Young women and girls talked about common problems faced globally and locally.

It is this type of environment Chicago activist La’Keisha Gray-Sewell fostered at the recent event, Chicago Day of the Girl: Moving Beyond the Block.

Dozens of local area girls and teens ranging from elementary through college age met for an evening of fun, food and dialogue in observance of International Day of the Girl, which was proclaimed by the United Nations on October 11.

The gathering allowed the young women a venue to discuss a wide range of issues like peer pressure, sex, abusive relationships, battles with self-esteem and other challenges. Ms. Gray-Sewell in a loving way talked to the room full of girls like a big sister or aunt but was very blunt, pulling no punches and also shared her personal life experiences with them.

“I know how I came into womanhood and I know the challenges that I faced. I know that a lot of the advocacy and empowerment that’s going on globally is because of some of the same issues that I faced,” Ms. Gray-Sewell told The Final Call.

La’Keisha Gray-Sewell (far right), founder of the Girls Like Me Project hosted and facilitated the evenings activities.

“Poverty, having to deal with hopelessness and feeling like I wasn’t good enough, those were the things I had to deal with. Being part of an education system that’s not best to bring out my best gifts, I know what that’s like, and I have a daughter,” said Ms. Gray-Sewell when asked what inspired her to host a local gathering targeting Black females for Day of the Girl. Empowering girls to think beyond their current condition and to advocate for themselves is what the former school teacher does on a daily basis.

Black girls must think more critically about the misogyny in song lyrics, hyper-sexualized music videos and media exploitation of their images and the subsequent impact on their own self-image she explained.

Ms. Gray-Sewell, a former school teacher and Chicago native has mentored girls since 2001 and started a non-profit, the Girls Like Me Project, Inc. which hosted the free event at the Africa International House.

“I wanted it to be a day that lifted them up and celebrated them and connected Black girls from the hood in the city of Chicago to let them know that we care about them too. This movement cannot move without you (girls) being a part of it. And that’s why we did this,” she said.

Practical advice and solutions were shared with participants. For the girls that attended, many felt spending a few hours of their time meeting new friends and talking about real issues was worth the time.

“I think that events like this are important because many girls they don’t have another option if they’re in a bad situation. Many times they don’t know that there’s another way to get out of that situation,” said Miya Taylor a 15-year-old junior at Providence St. Mel.

Aizyia Muhammad, a 16-year-old junior at Muhammad University of Islam said the event was eye-opening and empowering. “It’s good to see and be around youth who are not just Muslims because I’m mostly around Muslim girls. So it’s good to see the point of view of other women and females who are not in the same lifestyle that I live,” she told The Final Call.

Girls of all ages discussed their issues and concerns

“It’s good to see different views because some things you wouldn’t think people would go through because I didn’t have to go through it or didn’t know people who went through it,” she added.

Ms. Gray-Sewell said it is important that responsible adults become involved in mentoring Black girls and remember what it was like when they were growing up. Volunteering at schools and being a constant presence in the neighborhood are just a few ways, adults can give back she explained.

Ms. Gray-Sewell also serves as chair of the Chicago branch of the National CARES Mentoring Movement founded by Susan L. Taylor, former editor of Essence Magazine.

Through the Girls Like Me Project, future workshops and efforts to mentor young women in juvenile detention centers and collaborating with other groups and organizations that work with girls are all in the works.

At the conclusion of the October 11 event, each girl received a gift bag with school supplies and personal items like perfume and nail polish to take home.

“If our young girls do not see us as successful, as whole, healed, as givers and servants. If they don’t see us as being peace keepers, if they don’t see us model that for them and not only model that but they don’t feel us doing it to them, how can we expect that from them? So I don’t think we can hope for anything for our girls’ future that we’re not giving to them directly” said Ms. Gray-Sewell.

For more information about the Girls Like Me Project, visit http://facebook.com/GirlsLikeMeProject.

The Final Call