Courtesy of BlackEnterprise.com
I love speaking to and relating with youth. From adolescents still finding their way to teens heading to college to 20-somethings looking to spark career and entrepreneurial revolutions, I find myself very passionate about being a resource to them. I’m happy that I’ve had a platform via media to do so and am always looking for other ways to be of help.
However, I’ve come across a sad pattern of young women of color and their stories of low self esteem. In a world where women are often demoralized, abused and seen as second-class, beat-down mentalities have become super-prevalent after consistently being told “you can’t” or “you won’t.” I’ve even heard stories of girls being discouraged to succeed by their own family members and peers, who promote stifling environments where girls are limited to poverty and teen pregnancy and doomed to lives of perpetual unfulfillment.
I find this to be both disheartening and infuriating. I grew up with women who were strong and confident. My Granny, who did not attend college herself and raised 5 children, has always been the very popular matriarch of her family and her community. She would always tell me: “Keep your head up, shoulders back and face forward with confidence. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel less than what you are.” She, along with my mother and aunts, were very big on girl power and would often instill those values not only in my sister and I, but in the men of the family as well.
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