An after school and summer program aimed at encouraging and supporting Black girls and gender-expansive youth through reading and writing is looking for participants. Black Girls Stay Lit is the brainchild of Tiffany Noelle, Ph.D., a local educator specializing in Africana women’s literary and cultural studies. She aims to enroll 15 girls in grades 9 through 12.
"The goal (is) to immerse them in culturally responsive texts specifically written by Black women, and also to have them exercise their own writing voices in order to amplify and help them shape those voices for publication," Noelle tells WVXU. "The overall goal of the program is to give the girls a forum to speak about issues that are important to them, to build community among each other, and to encourage excellence as a matter of course."
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The idea behind the program is that Black students are more likely to do better in school and be more engaged when they see themselves reflected positively in the work they're studying. Noelle notes many states are limiting books and discussions about Black history, gender and more. She wants participants to have the opportunity to have "real discussions about real issues they are facing."
She also wants people to know the program is meant to be fun, not additional work.
"It's nothing like an English class because there's no grading, first and foremost, (and) because the texts we're reading all speak to Black girls about what it is to be Black and female; be Black and gendered as a woman. So, it's not schoolwork in that sense. It's personal work. It's personal. It really should dig into their own personal interests."
Black Girls Stay Lit will meet for one hour each week at the United Way on Reading Road. Meetings will be held in-person and online during the school year and during the summer.
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"We deep-dive into select African American women’s literature and texts — print, images, video, social media posts, lyrics, music, and other online media — and create some of our own," Noelle states.
The program is an outgrowth of Noelle's work with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Black Empowerment Works initiative. She's working now to get the word out and reach those she says could benefit the most.
"I'm very concerned to reach beyond the choir, if you know what I mean. I'm very concerned to reach the girls that, I say, need the program, but don't necessarily have parents who are aware and necessarily able to afford the program. In the future, that's a real goal of mine is to make the cost of the program — it's already as affordable as it can be — but my goal in the future is to be able to subsidize program fees for students who can't afford it."
