|
|
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Be Yourself! (A Poem)
Be yourself, you won’t
ever have to hate,
just be yourself and you won’t ever have to change.
Be yourself, don’t ever change who you are,
just be yourself and you’ll go far.
When you are yourself,
people will look up
to you and will start doing the same.
Be yourself,
you won’t ever have to hate,
just be yourself and you won’t ever have to change.
If you be yourself, people will love you for who you are,
just be yourself
and you will go far. When everybody is themselves, everyone is different in their own way,
just be yourself and you’ll
go a long way!
© 2012 "Debutante" Tyeast Hathaway All
rights reserved.
Monday, April 30, 2012
UntitledWe have to learn to respect and love ourselves. We can't let others say that we are worthless,
not loveable, and that we are not going to amount to anything. We are smart, educated Black girls. We can amount to anything
we choose, so we have to stick together and learn to love ourselves. We are Black girls.
© 2012 "Debutante" Amari Evans All rights reserved.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Negative Effects of Girl Bullying
Imagine planning what you are wearing to school EVERY weekday morning, just so that you will not get teased because your mom
cannot afford to buy you expensive clothes. Imagine walking down a different hallway at your school just so that you will
not run into that tall “mean girl” bully that harasses you about your weight at least 2-3 times a week. Imagine
logging onto your Facebook account only to discover that some girl at your school has posted a comment teasing you about your
“nerdy friends” under your latest status update about your upcoming birthday party/slumber party. These scenarios
are happening every day in schools, in girls’ lives, across this country. As a result, the self-esteem of these same
girls is SO low that they cannot even face themselves in their mirrors and repeat the words, “I love ME!” Wow!
Self-esteem is the core of our being. If we don’t even have that, we don’t have ourselves. If young girls are
being reduced to so-called “losers” by other girls, of course, there comes a point when... Those words are internalized
and digested, sometimes causing lifetime damage or life-threatening behaviors. We cannot allow our girls to be subjected to
this kind of nonsense. So many of them have their whole lives ahead of them and are so incredibly talented, intelligent, creative,
and beautiful.
It is time to band together in our communities and hold educators,
clergy, community leaders, parents, and bullies accountable for the societal ill of bullying and its worsening effects on
our youth, specifically our young girls. It is also time to embrace bullying victims and teach them survival skills/tactics,
as well as ways to boost their self-esteem. Parents, it is not enough for your positive affirmations to be heard in your homes
if your children hear the exact opposite for several hours during the week, when they are not in your presence. Please have
a presence at the schools where your children attend. Do address problems immediately with your children’s teachers
if situations arise. We cannot sit idly by anymore and let our youth destroy each other with words and actions. Years ago,
we laughed off words, believing that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” In this
day and age, so many youth are killing themselves over words that taunt them daily. This cannot go on! Join me in the fight
against “bullying” before it is TOO late, and we have lost more youth who had potential that they will never realize.
© 2011 Vickie L. Hughes, J.D. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Some
Inspiration and Encouragement for Black Girls
In this Black History month, I must encourage all Black girls to expand your horizons and to know about/learn more
about women like First Lady Michelle Obama, TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey, poet Maya Angelou, former U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, and former college president Johnnetta Cole. They have all worn many hats and accomplished great things.
These are some powerful women, all still living! As young girls, it is imperative that you learn about all strong and
powerful women to model yourselves after, and not just those like Beyonce and others in the music industry.
Over the years, Black girls have grown into Black
women who function daily as businesswomen, lawyers, beauticians, doctors, scientists, teachers, astronauts, news anchors,
bankers, artists, and other professionals. The more you learn about these women, your own interests, passions, and strengths
will start to surface and you can begin to explore those things and strengthen them within yourselves. It is never too early
to dream and to think about what you would like to do and accomplish with the rest of your life.
Even though you may never meet most of the well-known
women you read about or listen to, you can find a role model who has done similar things. Your role model may even
be a relative, mentor, or family friend. Shadow that woman and learn all you can from her.
We all have unique gifts. Dream and discover them! What better
way to do that than to study what some women, who were once girls before you, have done. Dream big!
© 2011 Vickie L. Hughes, J.D. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
2012.08.01 |
2012.04.01 |
2011.04.01 |
2011.02.01
|
|
|
Our Theme Song
Every day we are forced
to deal with
the trials of life.
And so many other
kids' words
cut like a knife.
We must stay strong.
We must not cry.
We will survive!
These days,
it's a struggle to stay alive.
Chorus:
We are T-B-G-C DEBS! Determined...
Empowered...
Beautiful...
Successful...
Yes, we are!
And we will
always be. We have work to do,
preparing
for our futures.
Our destinies await us...
And one day,
we will step into them.
We must stay focused on
what lies ahead.
There are others depending on us,
to lead our generation
to the next level,
for sure.
To all the dysfunction
in the world today, strong leadership shall
be
our cure.
(repeat chorus)
We can't all rap or sing.
Some of us need to discover,
to explore, to create, to teach,
we
may even be called
to preach.
Based on humanities' history,
there are so many paths
we could take.
Our own futures
we shall make.
Don't rattle us,
we won't shake. We
stick together because
we've formed a bond.
We will always be
TBGC sisters, above and beyond.
(repeat chorus)
©
2012 Vickie L. Hughes, J.D.
All rights reserved.
Other special treasures near and dear to our hearts...
"It's
Your Voice!™" (created by
Miss Vickie) "My Two Causes™"
(created by
Miss Vickie) "My Fight For A Right™"
(created by
Miss Vickie) "What Do You Like About
Being Black?™"
(created by Miss Vickie) "Don't Carry Your Burdens...™" (created
by Miss Vickie)
"Mirror, Mirror...
An exercise on self-esteem™" (created by Miss Vickie) "Give Us Your Best Sexy,
Confident Strut™" (age-appropriate, of course) (created by Miss Vickie)
"If I...™" (created by Miss Vickie) Praise Line (introduced to us by
Ms. Adeola) Legacy Cord (introduced
to us by
Ms. Adeola) Memory Quilt (introduced to us by
Ms. Adeola)
|
|
