Michelle Obama’s role in inspiring and influencing women and girls—especially black women and girls—can hardly be overstated. Now Lauren Christine Mims, who works to correct obstacles and inequalities faced by black girls and explores “how social environments influence how Black girls learn, interact, and define their identities in early adolescence” according to her website, is turning Obama's bestseller Becoming into an affirming, validating curriculum to support black girls. From representation to personal growth, the curriculum will nurture black girls in their learning and development. It will also include discussions and films featuring black girls in leading roles. Click through to read the full article on Black Enterprise, and see the syllabus here.
Lauren Christine Mims is a former assistant director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia. She’s also one of the many women inspired by Michelle Obama’s Becoming, a New York Times best-selling book that sold more than 1.4 million copies within the first seven days of its release. Now, Mims is turning Obama’s book into a curriculum for black girls to further their learning and development.
“Reading Becoming was like sitting on the couch with your best friend and having one of those soulful conversations about life,” said Mims.
“Reading about how Michelle Obama felt unchallenged in elementary school, teased for the way she spoke, and noticed a difference in how she was perceived during adolescence was affirming.”
Mims hopes the Becoming curriculum will make space for black girls to thrive in a world that often seems to try and deny their humanity. As part of her doctoral research at the University of Virginia, Mims explores what it means to be a young, gifted, black girl in school.
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Image credit: Black Enterprise