BGM Academy
The Global Arts and Theology Experience is working to launch the Black Girl Magic Academy in 2024. This program will target Black girls between 13 and 17 years old for a one-year program in which they will encounter a curriculum based in womanist theology and thought. Over the course of the year the girls will participate in virtual and in-person workshops, lectures, and activities that center their experiences and expose them to the historical and current impact that Black women are having globally.
The program design will have monthly modules address issues related to entrepreneurship, professional development, self-agency, social-emotional wellness, post-traumatic slave syndrome, rest as resistance, physical wellness and a host of other topics that attempt disrupt generational cycles of systemic societal abuse that have created risk factors for Black women.
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After each virtual monthly meeting that will gather all girls in the cohort from around the world, the girls will meet throughout the month with young adult, female mentors who will coordinate local activities for the girls so that they can see how these issues take shape in their local communities. The activities will be experiential in ways that allow the girls to embody new and healthy patterns of being.
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In order to pilot the program effectively, we would like to develop a cohort from four to six different cities. We would start the program with five to seven girls in each city with three to four mentors per city. Two to three cities would be in the United States, with potential pilot cities including, New York City, San Francisco, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Seattle. In order to have an effective program the other cities would be outside of the United States, with potential pilot cities being Cape Town, South Africa; Lisbon, Portugal; Porto, Portugal; and São Paulo, Brazil. This model gives Black girls access to a global context and network of people who have similar experiences from different cultures. As such, it gives them space to explore a broader world view.
The program will culminate with a retreat that gathers all the girls from around the world into one location, allowing them to experience travel at a younger age and giving them access to experiences that many Black girls are not afforded. The goal of the Black Girl Magic Academy is to shrink the world that has too often been placed outside the reach of Black girls.
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