Women Rock!: Madame Noire and Girls Write Now

March 31st, 2011 - By madamenoire

Girls Write Now founder Maya Nussbaum and  Girls Write Now mentee Tina Gao in 2009, receiving the Coming Up Taller Award from First Lady Michelle Obama.

 

We just posted about First Lady Michelle Obama’s call for more mentoring. Well,  Madame Noire is listening!

Madame Noire’s Senior Editor, Demetria Irwin and her super talented mentee Idamaris Perez recently performed their original poem called ” Detroit and the Dominican Republic,” a piece about their respective native lands.  The two ladies put their talents on display for almost 200 invitees as part of the Girls Write Now reading series.

Girls Write Now is a mentoring organization that pairs professional women writers with high school girls who are aspiring writers. Check below for a video of the performance! Ida is one talented young lady!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNg7t2qaCvQ

 

Are you part of a mentoring program? Shout it out!

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  • Cuz

    I read this and was compelled to respond. One of the goals in mentoring young girls is to guide them into a positive womanhood. A woman cannot teach a boy to be a man any more than a man can teach a girl how to be a woman or a lady. It is my belief that men were created to be our strength and providers, men are natural hunters and protectors. They are dominant physically/ biologically. Therefore if you have identified a need in our community or society, as a man provide a solution or be the solution . women complain or bash men because they feel that the mens responsibility is often shifted to them. Why should women have to create a mentoring program for young boys, shouldn't a man take on this responsibility? You strike me as someone who's passionate about your beliefs and somewhat socially conscience. It also appears that like to write. If you channel the energy and passion (that's in this blog ) into creating your own program (for young boys ) I am confident you would be successful.

  • awwwsnap

    80 percent of the Writers Guild of America, which ALL television and film writers have to join when they have had work produced is male. 91 percent of the writers are white. The numbers are similar for directors. The Secret Life of Bees was 3 years ago. Halle Berry has a bit part in New Years Eve and Tyler Perry comes out with 2-3 movies a year. Hollywood comes out with hundreds of films a year. This is a clear minority. Again, I work in the industry so I know the reality not simply random examples. However, if you choose stay angry about this, as others have mentioned, you should channel it into something postive. This was a positive article and I applaud both fabulous artists. Please continue to bring us articles about Girls Write Now, Madame Noire.

    • menissance

      you know good and damn well im talkin about black boys and other minority young boys…white folks been had their millions of dollars and opportunites throughout generations…i dont give a fucc about those who already have that sh!t…im askin, why is it that young black boys aren't encouraged or supported as young black women…why isn't the energy/time used in bashing black men not used towards uplifting them by women like so many have and still do for women…i dont care about what white folks are doing, im already aware, as i am aware of what black women are doing for young black girls, im just wondering why does it seem to always stop there and the same isn't being done for young black boys when these women organizations do things such as "Girls Write Now" whats with the sexism…they couldn't find any boys with a passion for writing at all…i just want to know why is anything positive with black ppl so one sided and seems only beneficial to the women and not equally to the men

      • menissance

        *why isn't the energy/time used in bashing black men not used towards uplifting them by women like so many MEN have and still do for women*

  • ayannadjenaba

    are you serious…what are you doing?

    • menissance

      oh yeah, lets ask one individual who isn't in the position of power such as women organizations with the media connections and financial funding to show these young black boys they can be somethin other than a rapper, athelete or a drug dealer, lets ask him what ME, ONE PERSON is doing instead of those with a fuccin small army…thats such a genius question…i've done plenty, donated money to mens rights organizations, written and contacted legislation about the laws & mistreatment of fathers who want to be apart of their kids lives, that get denied and get the run around until they go broke goin thru court proceedings, how about you? have u ever assisted with any mens rights in this country, men dont even have the power to save our own child if the mother has an abortion cuz men have no reproductive rights at all in this country…how many men stood up and fought and still do fight for womens rights and equalities but y'all wanna talk down on me for asking for the same support towards mens issues that men had for women…thx a lot, u got ur rights and now want to oppress mens or just say fucc them all together smh

  • menissance

    and why couldn't it be "Girls & Boys Write Now" must of not felt like anything the boys could of wrote would be worth sh1t smh

  • Megan Redding

    Love it! 2 talented artists. Bravo!

  • Krissy

    Menissance, I love that you feel so strongly about this issue (men/boys being left out of this empowerment movement) but I don't think you are to be taken very seriously with that sort of approach. Do you perhaps have your own blog dedicated to uplifting Black men and boys where we can go to read more about your views and what you are doing to advance Black males in this country?

    • menissance

      i mean come on…i see essence constantly talkin about/reporting about "The Women In Hollywood Luncheon" and other awards specifically for ONLY WOMEN…how many awards shows/ceremonies are strictly for men…barely any cuz women are included in some shape form or fashion in anything we do but like i said, cant say the same for women as much if not at all

      • Krissy

        Isn't Essence a women's magazine? And isn't Madame Noire a women's website? I totally think you have a valid point, you are just saying it in the wrong place. This would be like writing into GQ or Men's Health magazine about how unfair it is that they don't have fitness information for women. The bias exists in these mediums because of the target audience. Ebony magazine regularly has features about prominent Black men.

        You also might want to consider sending in a few of those male empowerment blogs to Madame Noire asking that they be featured in a special article on this very subject. I think you would be surprised to find that not all women are as one-sided and egotistical as you suggest.

        • menissance

          i wasn't talking about the magazine…i was talking about the events they throw such as women in hollywood as an example, i was referring to the event, essences has multiple formats…i know its a female magazine and us men have ours…im talking about the bigger picture of things like equality but when i think about it, black men dont have a male verison of essence that uplifts & inspires, not that i know of that gets as much or any attention at all like essence and other ones out their for women…all i want to know is how can so many black women claim to be so powerful and high up the corporate ladder and claim to be the backbone of the community but do so little for their counter parts and bash them on a consistant basis and ask why do men have a problem with us…its like women just uplift themselves and do nothing for the young men to open doors for them as well

  • menissance

    too bad all these women organizations/groups are soooo bias and barely do anything to uplift both girls and BOYS…just spend most the time ridiculing them, babying them or slandering & bashing them for being men smh…first u had blk girls rock on tv, then my blk is beautiful which is for women, all these blogsites geared towards women and bash men…whats the point of claiming/obtaining all this media driven power if ur gonna keep it one sided…guess u ladies forgot all about equality huh and been on a power trip non stop leaving ur lil boys, sons and nephews behind in favortism to ur girls who end up in high positions crying about being single and having no man on their level smh…its whatever tho