Chicago Day of the Girl builds leadership, confidence
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Photo: Courtesy of Girls Like Me Project Inc.
Hundreds of girls and young women will meet Saturday for Chicago Day of the Girl to learn leadership skills, celebrate one another and have fun.
The big picture: LaKeisha Gray-Sewell hosted the first Chicago Day of the Girl in 2012 as part of her organization Girls Like Me Project Inc., which was inspired in part by the United Nations declaring Oct. 11 "International Day of the Girl."
- The UN created that day to amplify girls' voices and focus attention on the most pressing issues, including action toward policies to improve education, health and leadership.
Flashback: About 15 years ago, Gray-Sewell was volunteering with her son's fourth grade class in Hyde Park when she noticed that girls in the class were mirroring some of the unsupportive and mean behavior they saw on reality TV.
- Gray-Sewell and another mom started eating lunch with the girls each week and taking them on field trips to offer a more positive behavioral example.
Reality check: As Gray-Sewell followed international stories about girls in countries like Cambodia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, she realized that Chicago girls were confronting their own version of trauma.
- "At that time, 54 schools had been closed, affecting largely Black and brown communities … the housing developments were coming down, and many families found themselves facing this homelessness epidemic. At that time, we found out that Chicago was one of the top global hubs for sex trafficking," Gray-Sewell told Axios.
Zoom in: Attendees to Saturday's Day of the Girl will practice yoga, learn hip hop dance and learn tips for how to advocate for better resources for public health and environmental justice, and dig into urban planning.
- Chicago Day of the Girl is at the Kehrein Center for the Arts in Austin and registration is still open.