July 29, 2023
WGRZ Buffalo, New York
A new program dedicated to empowering young Black and brown girls in the Buffalo Public Schools is now up and running. It's called My Sister's Keeper.
There's a another program like this in place for young men called My Brother's Keeper, but now this new one focuses on young woman. It's designed to nurture, empower and mentor young Black and brown women.
School leaders with BPS say they saw a need for a program like this one for years and they finally got the green light to go for it. About 70 middle school students attended the launch on July 28.
The district brought nationally recognized speaker, Haley Taylor Schlitz to be the keynote speaker. She is the youngest Black woman to graduate from law school in the United States.
She shared her story about homeschooling, going to law school as a teenager and the discrimination she received as a young black college student and how she ultimately overcame it. She shares her story in hopes of inspiring the next generation of young woman.
She also talked about how women must be empowered to carry the world, that's a conversation this program will create.
"Look out for us. We will be everywhere because MSK is elevated and My Sister's Keeper addressing the needs of all Black, Latino, Indigenous and all communities in our district is critically important. You will see us everywhere and you will see our young ladies beginning to lead, beginning to lead around civils communities, community service, academic excellence, instructional excellence in the classroom. You will be able to see our female scholars now just like you do our male scholars," Dr. Fatima Morrell said. Dr. Morrell is the Chief of Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Initiatives for the district. She also help leads this program.
She says they are just getting started and they are looking to grow this program to over 100 students. This will be an eight month program from October to June.
Comments