Cupcake Brown.
Those were the first words the teens blurted out when asked to
describe their experience at a female empowerment summit staged by
the national organization Girls For a Change.
Gilroy – Cupcake Brown.
Those were the first words the teens blurted out when asked to describe their experience at a female empowerment summit staged by the national organization Girls For a Change.
Cupcake Brown – yes, that’s her real name – a San Francisco-based lawyer and author talked to the students about her struggles as a young woman and how she left behind a life of drugs and prostitution.
And she obviously inspired the Brownell Middle School girls who listened to guest speakers and attended workshops at the San Jose summit Thursday.
Martha Diaz was struck by Brown’s comment that she “learned the difference about homies and friends.”
Homies, the 14-year-old eighth-grader learned, won’t be there for the hard times, friends will.
“I think it was amazing that (after) all the stuff she went through she still went on,” Martha said.
Girls from schools throughout the Bay Area, including Gilroy’s Ascencion Solorsano and El Portal charter school, attended the day-long summit. After listening to the guest speakers, the teens and preteens headed to workshops based on a variety of girlish themes from self-esteem and body image to sexual assault and community involvement.
“It was a wonderful event that helped the girls learn about self-esteem, empowerment and education,” said Francisca Garcia, a counselor at Solorsano.
Counselors hand-picked the girls, selecting students from a diverse mix of cliques and backgrounds. The idea is to bring a group together who may not necessarily hang out with or even know one another and break the ice.
Spending the day with students, who may have seemed unapproachable or even “scary” before really changed the girls’ attitudes.
Jessie Vasquez, 12, learned that “you need to get a chance a know them before you judge them.”
The girls also walked out of the summit armed with a healthy dose of confidence and a new view on the pressures and challenges women face in society. And since all the students nodded their heads in quick succession when asked if they think the expectations women face are fair greater than that of men, it’s obviously a serious issue.
“People want you to look perfect and if you don’t they make fun of you,” Jessie said.
Destiny Vaca, 13, also learned the power of self-worth. Treating others with respect is important, but you also need to love and respect yourself, she said.
In addition, Destiny picked up some political cues from the seminar. The girls were all given the addresses of state and federal politicians and reminded that they can use their voices to propel change.
Destiny is already planning to write a letter to President George W. Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and tell them what she thinks about their policies.
“I personally don’t think it’s right how we’re spending billions of dollars on building the equipment to go kill people,” she said. Instead the cash should have gone to the Hurricane Katrina victims.
