Many of our Cinnamongirls find themselves to be the only girl of color at schools, teams, and clubs comprised mostly of white students. As they go on to college, this situation becomes even more likely. Some will find it easy to navigate white spaces; for others, it’s exhausting and frustrating. Here are a few tips to survive and thrive.

In next month’s newsletter: tips on how to handle racist behavior when it happens.            

 

For parents: Racism in the Classroom: What You Can Do About It

My name is Jolie Wilson and I'm currently a senior at Covian Community Charter in North Carolina. I love volunteering both within and outside of my community and participate in many clubs surrounding activism and awareness such as social justice club, Eco Club, Young Women in Leadership, Key club and of course Cinnamongirl. 

 

At the moment I am looking forward to majoring in political science or something along the lines of government and justice advocacy. I enjoy traveling, writing, listening to music and simply spending time with family and friends. 

We’d like to share one of the videos our Travelgirls created for her generous donors. Cinnamongirl Carly created a special thank you montage of key moments from our trip. 

Over 500 donors made this trip possible for our cohort and we are so very grateful.These experiences will certainly be forever etched in our girls’ hearts and spirits. We can only imagine all of the good that will spring forth from all of the experiences we are giving our Cinnamongirls.

Cinnamongirl is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated volunteers with great interpersonal and communication skills who want to make a difference in the lives of girls of color to be Cohort Liaisons for Write Your Story, Entrepreneurgirl, and Travelgirl. 

 

This facilitator will attend our phenomenal Write Your Story masterclasses, introduce our amazing instructors, record the meetings, manage virtual rooms, organize breaks, step in when necessary to keep the meetings moving, and send a written recap to participants.

 

Our cohort liaisons will correspond with girls and their families and coaches to ensure that the cohort is progressing as planned through deadlines and challenging periods.

Interested? Send us an email to: inspired@cinnamongirl.org and join the Cinnamongirl team today!

Know someone who fits one of the above descriptions? Please share this email with them, thank you!

Passport Book Club is growing! We have launched a new club for older girls, and we still have room for a few more. The upper grade cohort will read Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer deLeon, about a first generation Latinx girl from a diverse urban neighborhood who goes to a white suburban high school. She creates two identities, and builds mental and emotional walls to keep them separate until some hard truths about her family are revealed, and racial tensions rise at her school threaten to tear them down.

Our 4th-6th grade cohort is still going strong! This month, they will read Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Taylor Kay Mejia, a fast-paced adventure about a young girl who thinks her friend may have been taken by La Lorona, a woman ghost who wanders the banks of the river at night, crying.

After a Covid-year postponement, Travelgirl is planning a trip to Japan next June. This cohort is made up of mature, independent young women who are ready to take on the responsibilities of fundraising, researching, and planning for their voyages overseas, and whose passion for travel reaches beyond the excitement of new experiences to a passion for how they will use their experiences to change the world.

We will also take two very special spring trips:

 

Civil Rights Tour of the South (March 2023) A select group of Travelgirls will visit places and speak with people that played key roles in the Civil Rights Movement. We have taken this trip with the Commonwealth Club once before, and we look forward to the growth that our young women will experience on this deeply moving, emotional journey.

Washington, D.C. (April 2-6, 2023) Ten young women chosen for their leadership and strong desire to learn about our country’s history, government, and politics will meet with government leaders, visit important historical sites, and take a VIP tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. As always we hope this trip will lay the groundwork to develop the future leaders of our country!

Read Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Taylor Kay Mejia along with the Passport Book Club! Paola believes only in what you can prove scientifically. But her observations lead her to wonder if her friend may have been taken by La Lorona, a woman ghost who wanders the banks of the river at night, crying.This is a fast-paced adventure full of thrills and characters from Mexican folklore.

 

Beauty Woke by NoNequia Ramos (illustrated by Paolo Escobar) is about Beauty, a young girl who knows how beautiful she is as a Boricua of Taíno and African descent. But as she grows older, she sees how people who look like her are treated, and she forgets what makes her special. Her family and community come together to show her just how beautiful and special she is.

 

Reclaim the Stars is a collection of 17 short stories by acclaimed Latinx young adult authors including Lilliam Rivera, Daniel Jose Older, and Anna-Marie McLemore, edited by Zoraida Córdova, author of the adult novel The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina. Follow princesses warring in space, haunting ghost stories in Argentina, mermaids off the coast of the Caribbean, swamps that whisper secrets, and many more realms explored and unexplored; this stunning collection of seventeen short stories breaks borders and realms to prove that stories are truly universal.