Black History Month: A Celebration of #BlackGirlMagic

 

To honor Black History Month this year, we’re celebrating the next generation of world-changers who are out there making history right now, embodying Black Girl Magic across the country!

While it’s important to recognize all year long the incredible talent, power, beauty, and resilience of Black women and girls everywhere—Black Girl Magic—February offers a special time to lift up the many important moments in history that have Black leaders at the center. Throughout the month, we’ll shine an extra bright spotlight on the voices and stories of Black girls who are making change—and history—across the Girl Scout Movement.

From taking civic action for social change, to expanding access to clean air and water, to championing STEM education for marginalized populations, to addressing food insecurity, there’s no limit to what Girl Scouts can do—because they show us just that. Below are a few examples of Girl Scouts who are impacting their corner of the world in major ways to create a better place for us all.

Let’s dive in and get inspired to shake things up—Girl Scout style. 

Libby and Charlotte

For their Girl Scout Silver Award and inspired by Little Free Diverse Libraries, Girl Scout Cadettes Libby and Charlotte built a little diverse library in their town and stocked it with books written by and about people of color. These Girl Scout sisters set up a book donation drive at their local elementary school and also reached out to publishers for contributions. So far they’ve collected over 200 books! Follow Libby’s and Charlotte’s project on Instagram to keep up with the library’s latest additions and get ideas for books to add to your family’s own library hold list! 

Kennedy

For her high school peers, National Gold Award Girl Scout Kennedy built a database of more than 50 groups and organizations that offer service-learning opportunities. She also equipped students at her school with guidance on how to match their interests to organizations that need support. Kennedy’s hard work meant that more service hours were logged per student than before she took action. And there’s more: this go-getting Girl Scout founded the World Changers Service Club, a group of young civic leaders like her who promote the true meaning of service learning and undertake projects to support their communities. Learn more about Kennedy’s Gold Award.

Kayla

Girl Scout Kayla believes that with a little effort, we can make a BIG difference for the environment. She earned her Gold Award by raising awareness about waste minimization, which refers to processes that reduce the amount and toxicity of hazardous waste that’s generated. Kayla even founded a nonprofit, Earth Savers Rock, and she continues to promote environmental sustainability by providing her social media followers with information and practical tips to help them reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Randi

Girl Scout Ambassador Randi is working to earn her Gold Award via a project she’s titled A Nation’s Guide to Diversity and Inclusion, which helps both kids and adults emphasize diversity and inclusion in everyday life. Randi’s work also supports people in incorporating four interrelated principles of social justice into their lives: equity, access, participation, and human rights. Next up for Randi is hosting virtual forums on these crucial topics. Check out her Social Justice Resource Center and watch her upcoming events page to join the conversation.

Temple

When she was just 9 years old, Girl Scout Cadette Temple launched a website dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Now 12 and an aspiring astrophysicist, in her words Temple “advocates for girls and minorities to gain exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related fields.” She offers free workshops, classes, and motivational talks to get more youth involved in STEM—and her STEM Girl Swag movement is growing by the week! 

Cydney

Last September, Gold Award Girl Scout Cydney was named Philadelphia’s youth poet laureate. (Whoa.) In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people were spending a good deal of time indoors, Cydney found she was able to really focus on writing—including for her Gold Award, Project GOOD (Girls Overcome Obstacles Daily), a virtual mentoring space where middle and high school girls can connect, work through issues, and talk about healthy relationships. With her project, Cydney hopes to “let young people know that we have the power to change things.” Get inspired by more of Cydney’s work at Cydtalks.

Kiara

National Gold Award Girl Scout Kiara created the Very Hungry Caterpillar Garden in her community, so that she could grow healthy food for distribution through the local food pantry. In her words, “When people who aren’t experiencing food insecurity think about people who are, they may assume that if a person has access to a food bank they’ll be OK. But food banks don’t always offer many fresh food options.” Read more about Kiara’s Gold Award project, which also addressed education and empowerment. 

Let’s keep the celebration going all year! On social media, share examples of Black Girl Magic in your troop, being sure to tag us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or send us a private message. We’ll be featuring stories all month (and year!) long, and we want to hear from you. Let’s show the world—over and over again—what #BlackGirlMagic can do!