Marcelle Haddix, dean’s associate professor in the Syracuse University School of Education has partnered with Building Women program at Danforth Middle School in Syracuse to offer a series of afterschool workshops, “Dark Girls: A Celebration of Black Girlhood,” for young women. The program will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from January 22 through April 14 at the Danforth School library, and is open to girls in grades 6-8.
Syracuse University women faculty, staff, and students of color will facilitate workshops on art, dance, writing, literature, and performance that focus on promoting positive representations of what it means to be Black and female in today’s society. Drawing on historical women’s narratives and texts, and through the critical examination of media and popular culture, Black adolescent girls who participate in the workshops will be guided through a process of redefining and reclaiming their own identities and celebrating their Black girlhood.
Haddix says that the program objectives are to, “support the identity and social development of Black adolescent girls through creative arts, book club discussions, and digital storytelling. We will also have several guest speakers and each girl will be paired with a SU undergraduate or graduate student as a mentor.”
The Dark Girls project is supported by a Joan N. Burstyn Collaborative Research Grant, awarded to Haddix and Cultural Foundations of Education doctoral student Blair Smith.