Girls Unity Squad Seeks To Inspire Next Gen of Girls
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Girls Unity Squad has been cultivating a safe, inclusive space for young minority girls for nearly two years and it is looking for new members.
Originally, the group was specific for girls of color. However, it has expanded to include all girls between ages 5 and 11 that want to express their voice in the community or experience things they may not encounter in their daily lives, said Shanekia Richmond, lead facilitator.
Once a month, the girls gather to participate in activities that help them build identity, resilience and community.
"Knowing, as a teacher, the younger you learn something, the most effective it will be. So instilling these important aspects of life into young women early would allow them to have the power they need to go forward into the world," Richmond said.
The program collaborates with local businesses to create opportunities for the girls. This year's activities include a tour of a minor operating room at Berkshire Eye Center led by one of the doctors and a hands-on learning experience at the Berkshire Museum, among several other activities.
Kaylani Wells, age 12, has been with GUS since its inception, and said she has learned a lot from her experiences there.
"It's had a really big impact on me, because it helps me learn stuff that I didn't know before," she said.
Wells highlighted one of the experiences where a natural hair specialist demonstrated how to care for their hair and showcased the beauty of natural curls.
"Before, I knew how to do my hair, but it helps a lot more because there was people with curly hair, like my hair, giving me examples and ways to do my hair. So it was validating," Wells said.
During that activity the students learned about Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mumbet, who was the first enslaved African-American to file a lawsuit to win her freedom in Massachusetts, Wells said.
The program is a partnership with Berkshire Community College funded with a grant provided by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.
"Early on, the grant was looking at what populations would need support, really focusing on substance-use prevention in adulthood and so they wanted to establish a girls group for 5- to 11-year-olds to come together and address some of those resilience factors and those protective factors, so building community, building self esteem and self awareness, seeing a career path or a choice for your future," said Alicia Ginsberg, faculty facilitator.
All the activities focus on achieving those goals to promote emotional regulation and healthy life skills, Ginsberg said.
"I've learned that I'll be able to express myself and like, share my thoughts and feelings wherever I go, and I should just be myself," said Henrietta Owusu, age 12, who has been with the program since October 2024.
Sometimes people do not have the confidence to pursue their heart's desires. This group helps build confidence so the girls can follow their dreams, Owusu said.
"I love to stay here forever, maybe, be a leader, and maybe continue this to eternity," she said.
Berkshire Community College facilitating these experiences demonstrates to the girls that there is a supportive community behind them, Grant said.
It is important for youth in the community to have the opportunities to grow and to instill this healthy environment in them going forward so that there's more focus on prevention and less focus on intervention in our society, Ginsberg said.
"I think there is so much stress in our children right now, and they're asked to do and be so much and so any ways that we can build and strengthen them and prevent any bad things from happening are so much more important than intervening once something bad happens," she said.
This may inspire the girls to develop similar programs in the future, continuing the cycle of inspiring the next generation of leaders, she said.
"I believe representation matters," said Claudette Grant, supporting facilitator
A girls group that is predominantly minority based is a good resource to the community because it provides a safe space where they can connect with others who share similar experiences, Grant said.
Richmond expressed that growing up, she didn't feel seen or heard, which is why it is important to her that children have that opportunity.
"A lot of times, children in general are told there's so many rules all around. We want to make sure that their voice is heard and seen in an appropriate way, and so not shut out from the world and not shut out from society, giving them these frames that they need to stay in, you can come out and you can do that in a positive and you can do that in a respectful way," she said.
Richmond hopes that this program expands and that she sees its girls recruiting other girls or starting their own group using everything they've learned to pay it forward.
"We hope that they all become leaders and advocates for young women and show them how to grow up and that a lot of experiences is normal and natural developmental growth and building a positive mindset and positive relationships is what I hope and that it just keeps rippling," Ginsberg said.
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