GIRLS FOR CHANGE...

A new project by the Memphis Area Women's Council, the Center for Research on Women and the University of Memphis Women's Studies program is offering teen girls in Memphis and Shelby County a chance to work together across traditional barriers of class, race and geography, school, religion and neighborhood. Called "Girls for Change," the new group is modeled after the community conversation that led to the founding of the Memphis Area Women's Council and has a similar mission: collaborative action for change.

"Life as a teenage girl in this culture can be an isolated experience," says Women's Council Executive Director Deborah Clubb. "Despite e-mail, text-messaging, cell phones and waves of magazines and other media aimed at them and their spending money, teen girls today remain largely segregated in their neighborhoods, clubs and schools with little opportunity to join voices and concerns about issues they all share."

As the Center for Research on Women initiated a focus in the fall of 2005 on girls' reproductive health, the Memphis Area Women's Council proposed a project to empower local girls to take action on their own issues – Memphis Girls for Change. Soon, CROW and MAWC were joined by the Women's Studies program whose director, Dr. Nele Hempel, secured university public service grant support of an on-campus rally expected to draw 150-200 girls on April 1.

In January, an invitation for girls ages 13-17 to participate in planning and hosting the rally was flashed to members of the Women's Council, asking each of them to pass the word. As a result the initial email was forwarded to co-workers, church members, parents, teachers, youth organizers, book groups and friends across the city and county. For days, telephone calls and emails flowed in, suggesting names of girls, asking for more information

More than 30 girls from public, private and parochial schools and diverse backgrounds met regularly in February and March, becoming acquainted with each other and identifying issues on which they wanted to take action: self-esteem, sex education and sexual harassment. The girls shared intimate personal stories, their worries and fears. With guidance from UM graduate students in Women's Studies, they explored stories, films and websites of other girls who are making change and learned about how grassroots organizing works and how to take their concerns to the public and policy makers.

The girls are currently preparing for the April 1 rally - working on website and t-shirt designs, publicity and creation of other materials. To be held in the University Center, the Girls for Change Rally 2006 will feature Shelby Knox, who as a teen-ager in Lubbock, Texas, advocated for sex education and equity for homosexual students in the public schools despite opposition from her church as well as city and school officials.

Plans for the second phase of Girls for Change include additional exploration of girls' films and wider participation in a girls’ action agenda related to providing sex education to their peers, addressing negative media images of girls and combating sexual harassment in schools.

The Women's Council strives to unite women in one powerful collective voice to change local policies and practices related to women's health and health care, educational equity and reform and economic self-sufficiency. We link research with action by creating partnerships with researchers, community groups, activists and other organizations, across class and racial lines. MAWC is about action -- on the living wage campaign, our domestic violence court watch, new policy strategies on girl’s health and sex education and our Workforce Action Collaborative.