(Black Enterprise) — Through the years, the Girl Scouts of America has had many exemplary black women among their membership ranks who have learned courage, confidence, leadership, and civic responsibility and taken those skills to the achieve success at the top of their industries. From science to entertainment to media to politics to sports, the impact is undeniable: Jackie Joyner Kersee, Queen Latifah, Condoleezza Rice, Venus Williams, Keke Palmer, Tatyanna Ali, Mariah Carey, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee, Marian Anderson, Glenda Hatchett … the list goes on and on. Check out more on the history of the organization as well as seven top business leaders who turned Girl Scouts badge earning into industry bankability.

Read the rest at Black Enterprise.com 

This photo, taken in the late 1930s, is of the first African-American troop in the Dixie Region, which covered the Southern states. Source: Girlscouts.org

Isn’t it fitting that the one hundredth anniversary of the Girl Scouts, which is today, falls during Women’s Appreciation month? How kismet! If you were never a part of a Girl Scout Troop, do know that the organization has made significant strides throughout its 100 year history to include girls of various races and backgrounds (including disabled girls, girls with mothers in prison and most recently a transgender girl). The Girl Scouts has also sought to empower young girls to eventually become well rounded, self sufficient women. Even when the organization was started in 1912, girls around the country had the opportunity to explore arenas that had previously been “off limits” to us double X types.

Barbara B. Wilborn, pictured here as a Girl Scout troop leader in a parade… Source:chicagotribune.com

Seeing that organization got it’s start at a time when our country was still largely segregated, the first Girl Scout Troops were made up of white girls only. But in 1917, five years after its inception, the first troop of African American girls was formed. From there Native American girls formed a troop in New York in 1921, Mexican-American girls formed a troop in Texas. By the 1950s, the organization made a national push to desegregate its troops, eliciting praise from Martin Luther King Jr for helping to end segregation in other organizations across the nation.

By 1975, the Girl Scouts had elected their first African American woman, Dr. Gloria D. Scott, to serve as the National President for the organization.

In honor of a great organization and its 100th anniversary, find your local girl scout and buy a box of cookies or three. You can rationalize that it’s going to a worthy cause.

Source

More on Madame Noire!

• How Tweet It Is: Folks Who Need A Twitter Take Down!
• No Ordinary Love: Weird Things That Are Good For Your Relationship
• Double Take! Celebs’ Who Look Just Like Their Parents
• Golden Girls! Gorgeous Gold Accessories – EDITOR PICKS
• Jojoba Oil: A Nourishing and Natural Friend For Your Hair
• Black Celebrity Twins Besides Tia & Tamera
• Puurrfectly Poised: Style Icon Eartha Kitt
• Sisters In Hiding: Not So Famous Sisters of Famous Celebs Part II