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Sisters Speak Out workshop

Posted on22. Jan, 2010 by admin.

City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture presents Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment workshop series for Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy Afterschool Program.

What does respect mean to you? That’s what City of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture Administrator Missy Crutchfield, Cultural Arts Specialist Dorothea Richardson, and Communications Director Melissa Turner asked 9^th grade students at the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy to think about during the first Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment workshop last week.

Over the course of the six week workshop series, the girls will be writing essay projects, designing quilt squares, producing Public Service Announcement messages, and performing in a spoken word theater piece in February.

To introduce the Sisters Speak Out workshop we asked the girls what respect means to them and we recorded this for the Voices segment on Speak Out with Missy Crutchfield. As Missy went around the room and asked the girls to stand up and introduce themselves, there were some interesting responses. Some girls laughed and teased each other. Some girls didn’t want to stand up. Some did stand up but mumbled their names under their breath. And then there were a couple who stood up proudly and said their names clearly and audibly.

The Sisters Speak Out workshop series is a growing opportunity for young women, and over the course of six weeks their self-introductions will change dramatically. Missy spoke with the girls about how the way they present themselves is one of the first things she looks for when she is hiring someone or referring someone for a job opportunity. One of the goals of the Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment workshop is to inspire self-esteem and respect and empowerment that will ripple out into all areas of life.

As Melissa asked the girls what respect means to them, it took them a while to find the words to say what they meant. Some of them went to the dictionary to find a literal meaning, and others began looking to other words like “leadership” to help guide them. But the prevailing theme the girls shared was: “Treat other people the way you want to be treated.”

As Dorothea spoke with the girls about empowerment and respect, she talked with them about the way women are portrayed in the media and how this impacts women’s self-esteem and respect, but that ultimately all women have a choice.

From the CGLA students: Respect means…

Respect means treat other people the way you want to be treated—and when you treat other people the way you want to be treated, it makes you a better person.
Aneshia

Respect means when other people are talking to you, you should show respect to them. If you want respect you have to give it to get it. So respect means you should treat others the way you want to be treated.
Marshania

Respect means treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Miranda

Respect means never putting anyone down, always thinking good and positive things, and having a respectful attitude.
Keera

Respect means to be a leader and take a stand and do the right thing.
April

As the girls prepared to take their words of respect and empowerment and share those visually through painting quilt squares, veteran stage actor Ikeko Bass spoke with the girls about what respect truly means and what actions we take and what words we say when we respect others.

Listen to the CGLA students comments on respect and some of the conversations that came out of the Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment workshop, including the “Shut Up and DRIVE!!” PSA message they wrote and produced:

Dorothea followed up by sharing some thoughts with the girls on respect and choices. Dorothea’s younger sister once told her the reason she didn’t get pregnant at a young age was because Dorothea didn’t. Dorothea shared with the girls, “To have your sister tell you ‘The reason why I didn’t do this was because of you…’ had an impact on my life.”

Dorothea went on to say, “If any of you all fail it’s your own fault now, it’s not circumstances. I am an artist because I wanted to be, and I love what I do, and I love working with kids, and I love teaching art. I didn’t listen to those people who said, ‘Well, you came from the Westside and you can’t be an artist.’ I made it up in my mind at 14 that I wasn’t going to be a statistic. And I made that up in my mind.”

The girls also worked on writing and producing a Public Service Announcement, speaking out and challenging teens to safe driving.

Sisters Speak Out workshop 2010 at Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy: Designing a Sisters Speak Out in Empowerment Quilt

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