Teen girls from the Matthews and Anderson Clubs shared their stories—some totally innovative fictional stories and some deeply moving and personal stories—at a special Griot Girls Club Summer Showcase on July 7.
Griot Girls Club derives its name from the “griots” of West Africa – a class of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history. The pilot program launched this summer at the A. W. “Tony” Matthews Boys & Girls Club with virtual participation from James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club members.
“I am so very proud of each girl who stepped into the Griot Girls Club workshop over these past four weeks and was brave enough to share their stories in front of their peers at our Griot Girls Club Summer Showcase,” said BGCMA Vice President of Marketing Shernā “Dr. Nae” Phillips, PhD, a former Spelman College English instructor and creator of the Griot Girls Club storytelling program. “The Griot Girls Club is all about giving girls a platform to hone their voices, take up space and share their stories. I am forever grateful for the BGCMA Innovation Grant that made this program possible.”
In April, candidates for the first-ever BGCMA Innovation Grant presented their innovative ideas to a committee of judges (consisting of select members of BGCMA leadership, board and trustees), who then selected five grant recipients. Grantees will receive up to $10,000 in one-time funding to implement innovative ideas at a Club(s) and attract new members, especially tweens and teens.
The Griot Girls Club Summer Showcase was a culminating celebration of the summer workshop, where members learned about the art of storytelling via the genres of free verse & form poetry, as well as narrative fiction and nonfiction. In the fall, Griot Girls Club members will continue to polish their stories (and with the help of our BGCMA Marketing Team and Champions Club for GIRLS volunteers); they will publish their work in a literary magazine. In late fall, the published authors will hold a book signing. Event date, time and details are forthcoming.
THANK YOUS: The following individuals truly made the implementation of the program possible: Matthews Club Executive Director Michael Mells, Matthews Club Teen Director Anna Smith, Anderson Club Teen Director Haddijatou Drammeh, Anderson Club Program Director Aukejshia Boyce-Gaskins, BGCMA’s Marketing Team members Adoris Gibbs, Alex Cunningham and Christin Jackson; Senior Director of Individual Giving Melody Watson, Director of Individual Giving Whitney Brown, members of BGCMA’s women’s giving society Champions Club for GIRLS; as well as Vice President of Safety & Facility Operations Kim Lucas and Facility & Fleet Operations Manager Chris Robinson who made sure members were safely transported to their field trip to True Colors Theater.