Tag: african-american

#WhatSheNeeds: Parental Support

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#WhatSheNeeds will provide insights into the experiences of black women in college. From the freshman transition to the affects of social media, these women have a lot to say! Black women are out enrolling every other group in college, but not experiencing the same high levels of success 4 years later in their careers. Through #WhatSheNeeds, we hope to learn a little more about what she needs to succeed–what did their institutions have and what were they lacking?

9f7c22d95fc8216af3dc1c340fa76760#WhatSheNeeds continues with our first topic…Parental Support! For all of our interviewees, parents have been incredible supports during the college experience. But sometimes, things got a little sticky. Parents always wants what is best for their children, but sometimes this causes tension for college students. As summer is quickly passing, all you parents are getting ready to send your daughters off to college–some for the first time! We want you to know how to best support your daughters in their academic career! Here is some advice from our lovely college women…

Anessa Trask said in her interview, “Your parent’s dream career for you, may not be YOUR dream career for you.”

This is exactly what Sadariah experienced…

Sadariah Harrel is majoring in Business Management, but her dream lies in the arts:

“I’m not in school for what I want to be in school for. Me, I’m more of the creative type; I’m more of the art time. I love to write…Anything that deals with my imagination, I love to do it. And I feel like it’s such a big thing in society being an African American female, being a female period. Its like you have to be in a field where it’s like business or computer science just so you can be competitive because you are a female. And my mother she’s a computer analyst so she’s like,  “You have to do that, you have to do this.” And I’m like “No, I love English and I love reading and I want to write”. And she’s like “No. If I’m paying then you’re going for what i want you to go for”…I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do. It wasn’t fun for me. It felt like I was being forced to do something.”

On the other hand, is Sydney Tyler:

“My family supports my major 100%. A lot of my family is health professionals, so it was pretty normal when I told them I was going into the health field. They’re loving it”

This isn’t to say one family is better or more supportive than another, but parenting style does affect the college experience. It can either drive a woman to success or make her feel a little lackluster about her future.

But don’t pity Sadariah. While pursuing her business major, she knows she can express her creativity in other ways. As she told me, “I can always publish books on the side”.

Mostly, these women just want to make their families proud:proud-to-be-the-first-blog-header

“I am first generation in my family. I am the only child of a single parent. It was my first college experience with applying to colleges and getting into college. And I did it. All with the support of my mom, and it was a wonderful experience.” –Sydney Tyler

“I’m the first to go so far away. I’m far away from my family. I’m out there on my own. I’m the first person to go to an HBCU, the first person to pledge a sorority, the first person to become a nursing major. Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure because I am doing so many firsts! And I don’t want to let anyone down, or disappoint anybody. So, I’m kind of harder on myself.” –Jasmine Hosley

“Throughout my entire life I kind of felt the most pressure because I’m the only child. I’ve always been, like the ‘brain’. My cousins would always call me that and say I was a nerd. And so, I always felt like I had to live up to that, you know, title of what was given to me. Because I knew, like, no one else was fitting that at the time” –Brittany Colvin

Terri Floyd summed up the role of the parent perfectly:

“I had my family, my parents are encouragers.”

To all you parents out there with daughters headed off to college, “Be encouragers!” Your daughters want and need your support for a successful college transition and experience. Remember, you both have the same priority; to succeed! 

#WhatSheNeeds: Meet the Women

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Last week we introduced our series, #WhatSheNeeds. #WhatSheNeeds will provide insights into the experiences of black women in college. From the freshman transition to the affects of social media, these women have a lot to say! Black women are out enrolling every other group in college, but not experiencing the same high levels of success 4 years later in their careers. Through #WhatSheNeeds, we hope to learn a little more about what she needs to succeed–what did their institutions have and what were they lacking?

Before we start sharing these women’s thoughts, let’s meet them! Click on the photo to pull up their info!

Introducing…#WhatSheNeedsIs

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Recently, Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program has been turning our attention to college students. We have shared a collegebit about Polished Pebbles: College Edition and what the media has to say about African American women students. And now, we want you to hear from these very women! #WhatSheNeedsIs will provide insights into the experiences of black women in college. Although they are topping the charts in college enrollment, black women are not necessarily seeing the results of their hard work post graduation. We want to know why! From the freshman transition to the affects of social media, these women have a lot to say! Through #WhatSheNeedsIs, we hope to learn a little more about what she needs to succeed–what did their institutions have and what were they lacking?

As an introduction to the #WhatSheNeedsIs series, we will give you some brief snippets that capture the confusion, excitement, and challenge of the college experience.

“[College] was just like a whole new experience for me. So I had questions, you know, about how it was different from high school.” –Terri Floyd

While high school was beneficial, it was not a proper preparation for college:

“While I was ready, I was also not ready. Because I felt like, while they were getting us ready for college, there was a lot of ways for us to get around in high school. Like if you didn’t want to do your homework…you could have wrote anything down and not actually do your homework.” –Sadariah Harrell

“As far as maturity, academics from high school to college was a challenge. But I’m glad my school was able to help mold me into what I was supposed to be at the institution.” –Courtney Neal

There is always some lingering hesitations before starting the college track:

“When I first began college my constant thought was am I going to be good enough for the institution, you know? When I apply to these schools, will they accept me? And that was definitely something I was most nervous about because I am a first generation, black college student in my family.” –Brittany Colvin

And a final piece of advice:

“Get involved. Don’t forget the purpose you’re going for…find that balance. You gotta have a little bit of fun, but remember your ultimate goal. And make sure you enjoy it while it lasts. Because when they say time flies by, it really does” –Jasmine Hosley

Thriving or Just Surviving?

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Recently, Kelly Fair and Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program have been pushing college mentoring. This isn’t only because we are developing our College Edition mentoring program, it is important! The media is filled with mixed messages about African-American women, especially college students.

What is the college experience for black women? According to HuffPost: College, black students have, are, and will continue to experience discrimination and microaggressions on campus.

A student at Duke University hung a noose from a tree in Durham, North Carolina, campus on April 1. This came about a week after the university began investigating reports that a group of white men had harassed a black female. The men were reportedly singing the same racist chant…

According to one student, “Institutionalized racism has created spaces for Duke–and for colleges nationally…”.

Despite the negative and harmful experiences, black women are leading all groups in college enrollment! That is independent-black-womensomething to celebrate! But, how can we expect to keep African American women in college if their experiences on campus are not supportive or downright violent?

According to the data, 9.7 percent of Black women are enrolled in college. Asian women are second, with 8.7 percent working toward degrees, followed by Asian men at 8.4 percent, White women at 7.1 percent, Black men at 7.0 percent, Hispanic women at 6.6 percent, White men at 6.1 percent, and Hispanic men at 5.9 percent.

Despite the high enrollment rates, our women are not seeing success in the work force. ThinkProgress writes about a study conducted by Black Women’s Roundtable, the women’s initiative of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. In their research, they found that although African American women are excelling in education and careers, they are not being equally compensated! While many people know the 77 cents to a dollar, few know that this is for white women when compared to white men. Black women make 64 cents to a dollar when compared to white men!

Race and gender bias intersect to limit access to traditional capital for Black women.

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So, what is the African American women’s experience in college? Are they thriving or simply surviving? Is their community supportive in their future success? Next week we will be sharing insights from our interviews with current college students! Check back then!

Looking Beyond Dolezal

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By now, most people have heard of the curious case of Rachel Dolezal. Her story has brought intrigue into issuesafrican-american-girls-experience-the-same-violence-as-boys of race, gender, and systemic oppressions. While her story has shed light on modern day racism, it is important that we look beyond Dolezal, beyond this media frenzy.

Arnesha Bowers. A lesser known name. Mic article by Darnell Moore criticizes media and society for being sucked into the world Dolezal has created. While many of us were eagerly following her twitter updates and news stories, Arnesha Bowers became a tragic victim to violence. In his words:

“What concerns me most is the fact that the theoreticals and speculations on the assumed performance of race in [Dolezal’s] story trump our ability to see and respond to the tragic material realities of race and gender in the lives of everyday black girls and women…”

He is bringing attention to the “other side of the crisis”, which Polished Pebbles has been fighting for! We have said it time and again, black girls and women are predominantly ignored by society and media–they struggle in silence with few resources to support them.

Again, Moore so wonderfully sums up the crisis:

“If we are familiar with Dolezal’s name and story — a story about a white woman who self-identifies as a black woman and purports to fight on behalf of black people — we must remain aware of the plights of black women and girls who are the victims of violence — girls like Bowers.”

Only together will she shine!

Positive Men: Shayne Evans

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It’s Men’s Month! At KellyFairtheMentor.com we are highlighting positive male role models in the Chicago community…and you should meet them!

socialmention_shayne_evans_4553162Our first feature will be on Mr. Shayne Evans.  Mr. Evans is the CEO and Director of University of Chicago Charter Schools. “Through effective leadership, Evans works to strengthen the collaborations that exist among the four campuses and create new partnerships to leverage the expertise of teachers, leaders, counselors, social workers, tutors, and after-school providers.” This is apparent through his collaboration with Polished Pebbles. The Donoghue, NKO, and Woodlawn campuses host the Polished Pebbles mentoring program for their young ladies.

We had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. Evans on three important questions!

What lead you to start supporting Polished Pebbles?

From the beginning, Mr. Shayne Evans was a “huge believer in Kelly’s vision for young ladies.” Through conversations, he could tell that Kelly see the potential, power, and futures of these girls. Her vision matched his for his young ladies at UC Charter Schools. He was heavily impressed by Kelly’s connections to entrepreneurial and well-rounded people, who became her network of mentors and role models for his young ladies. He says that, “her optimism and positive approach helps her to overcome obstacles”. Due to all of this, Mr. Evans had no other option, but to bring Polished Pebbles to some of his campuses.

Thank you Mr. Evans for seeing Polished Pebble’s potential! Because we see the same in your young ladies at UC Charters!

What is one crisis you see young, African-American girls facing? How can we intervene?

Mr. Evans finds that “often society presents stereotypical views of young African-American ladies”. Because of this, their exists a “belief gap of what black and brown young ladies…are capable of”. This can be detrimental to the way we treat these young ladies in the school system. He sees the UC Charter Schools and Polished Pebbles Mentoring Program as positive interventions. They help to create “counter narratives” of young African-American ladies. Together, they “reestablish a vision” of these young ladies as “leaders, problem-solvers, innovators, engineers, and role models”.

His response reminds us of a previous article on KellyFairtheMentor.com. Click here to listen to Chimamanda Adichie speak about stereotypes and how they affect self-development.

What advice do you have for other male mentors?

His advice for male role models is to develop positive, professional relationships youth, especially young ladies. Mr. Evans believes this can be done by being both warm and demanding. You want to establish and maintain high expectations–“academically, behaviorally, socially”. These supportive relationships can truly help girls as they grow. He wants men to come together and work as a community to create positive opportunities for youth–“it is a joint effort”!

At KellyFairtheMentor.com and Polished Pebbles, we want to thank Mr. Shayne Evans for both taking the time to speak with us and for believing in our girls! Thank you for being such a positive male role model for young African American ladies, keep spreading your message!