The Invisible Black girl and ‘miss’ representation of ‘her story’

Theme III: Girlhood Interrupted Chapter 22

The life experiences of Black (1) girls within various school communities continues to be the focus of concern among Black parents as their needs are often ignored which impacts upon their sense of identity and citizen participation (2). This chapter draws on the narrative of the Black girls from birth to 13 years, focussing particularly on the development of girls’ identity and social processes in traditional African-Caribbean family roles; handling mythological structures, media representation of females and the restricted nature of the world towards girlhood. The methodology for conducting this study consists of visual images and narrative first-person observations from discussions with Black girls and Black parents (3) living in the Urban Midlands locality. The findings revealed how Black girls are in the struggle not only for their personal rights as individuals to be acknowledged and respected in British society, but also for their legal rights as children. In particular, Black girls felt marginalised. As a consequence, there is a call for initiatives to provide specialist girls’ services to address exclusion and emotional resilience issues.

Introduction

Black girls have been engaged in a struggle to secure their human rights and are consistently the subject of exclusions, their needs often ignored which impacts upon their personal growth and learning opportunities. Historically, the Black female positioning has shown a multitude of barriers, they suffer in an environment cultivated from racism, sexism and exploitation and greater social disadvantages when compared to other social groups. They are frequently the target of the music industry and marketable trends (hooks 1981; Lewis 1988; McCooty 2001; Grey-Elsharif 2010). In spite of their willingness to embrace the notion of children’s rights, their living conditions inevitably are influenced by barriers to the future they deserve. Hazardous signs of physical barriers and mental inferiority are all but a few significant differences in the value system and growth of young Black girls which allow them to be vulnerable in today’s society (Lewis 1988; Pennie & Best 1990; Wright et al 2000; Grey-Elsharif 2010).

Within the poorest societies, Black girls are by nature, subject to greater risk of malnutrition and their rights are often systematically violated. A strong recognition for girls’ needs is a pressing concern from individuals working within international development organisations for children and the African- Caribbean community which are, unfortunately, less visible within the agenda for every child that matters (UNESCO 1994; Grey-Elsharif 2010). There have been a number of studies on inequality of girls, however limited studies capture the Black girl’s voices and imagination on these issues. All these factors contribute to a Black girl’s invisibility (Skeggs 1995; Blair 1997; Wright et al 2000; Grey-Elsharif 2010; Amnesty International 2011).

As Black female practitioners involved with young people within their homes, communities, on local, national and international levels, we provide some insight into girls’ lives. The narratives shared in this chapter, portray how the conditions surrounding the Black girl’s lives alter in response to their changing circumstances, especially for those in external instructional practices. The Black girls we talk to are often vocal, vibrant and full of laughter. As well, they are sometimes embarrassed, unprepared about the growing up changes occurring to their bodies, expectations in response to these changes and often feeling unprotected and alone. To help us examine the Black girls’ experiences of invisibility, we have drawn together four themes as follows: a) girl’s identity and developmental stages; b) social structures and processes in traditional female roles; c) emotions, feelings, fears and challenges from popular media representation and attitude and d) pastoral care. All the above themes are inter-related.

Girls’ Identity formation: What comes to mind?

We recognise from our own dynamic perspectives of girlhood that the reader’s knowledge about Black girls in Britain, their lives growing up, images and media representation may vary. In that case, the first discussion in the chapter is a descriptive one, but may allow for further questions to be raised about the Black girl’s objective existence of reality. A good starting point is to consider what first comes to mind, when we ask you to visually define a) a British girl, and b) a British Black girl? Here are some visual pictures of young girls we have come across in our discussions with a diverse group of people:

Figure 1. Model images of different young girls

Did you have any of the above images in your mind? As it has been seen the girls are all unique individuals. However, there is a percentage of the population who assume, without questioning, that except for skin colour a British Black girl’s identity is the same as a British White girl, who just happens to be coloured Black. The Black British girl would benefit by close replica and development measurement standards of her White counterpart especially from middle-class background as her needs often represent all that is superior. The outcome of such reasoning is the Black girl will achieve the same social wealth and equality when grown in the same way. However, this has proven not to be the case as the attempt to treat all girls the same has failed to reduce the gaps between the rich and poor in respects to the family resources available.

A close examination of the experiences of different communities indicates that the Black community are often at the mercy of negative connotations and responses in Britain and other Western societies. The responses are seen when we critically examine economical power positions, social interaction and socialization (Wilson 1978; hooks 1981; Dob- son 1993; UNESCO 1994; Majors 2001; Cork 2005; Gus John 2006; Grey-Elsharif 2010). In the following sections we describe those issues which were found to be essential for exploring social structures, resulting gender differences and expectations for Black girls.

Gender differences and expectations

Simply by the very nature of being born a Black girl can create mixed feelings for many new parents who repeatedly hear the following statements during the celebration of her birth:

“Congratulations, on your daughter, you have to start saving your money for her wedding….”

“A girl, at least you will be cared for when you get older…”

Hearing the above statements, it would be interesting to explore whether they are, in reality, accepted or denied, and to which extent they influence the Black girl’s social, psychological, cultural, intellectual, emotional and spiritual being. Despite many equality issues raised in the 21st century around the impact of gender and race distinctions, there is still at core, a shared set of expectations, that girls are geared towards care giving roles, often preparing for their wedding day and becoming a mother as part of her life cycle. Could this assumed expectation be ‘a princess waiting for her prince charming storyline’ perhaps?

We are aware of how Black girls might be groomed into young mothers and caring for the elderly from an early age, their role of caregivers cannot be ignored as the Black community has a percentage of working females in various social care sectors that brings many benefits to the British welfare system. Many young girls are encouraged to enter many academic areas of social care, the medical sector being one, demonstrating they can become nurses, doctors or carer assistants perceived as caring professions. This decision may reflect their parents’ choice or their own experience of seeing others’ need of support, and imagining one day this may be part of girls’ development and her career path (hooks 1981; Wells 1998; McCooty 2001).

This developmental path brings us to examine girls’ identity formation which can be described as the process that takes place on all mental functioning and understood in the context of the cultural identity being formed. This may indicate the appreciation that the Black girl’s identity is exposed to various influences and development stages which can be studied and importantly evaluated, with equal emphasis given to relevant variables. It is important to look closely at factors such as race and gender dimensions, social directives, cultural values and family life styles in the assessment of the female self-image and the society in which she lives (Wilson 1978; Erikson 1982; Baber & Gay 1987; Dobson 1993; Gillborn et al 1996; Collins 2000; Grey-Elsharif, 2010).

From experience, parents want their daughters to engage in meaningful events in society with the probability that she will develop an identity that is fulfilling, productive and socially acceptable. Unfortunately, something has failed, resulting in many Black girls today feel wholly invisible. To assist in the understanding of the Black girls’ experience and appreciate some of the difficulties encountered, we examine her many developing selves.

Developmental stages and social learning

Although there are no absolute boundaries between the Black girls’ developmental stages, we have identified specifically three transitional stages to discuss their experiences: Early childhood, also known as pre-school, which usually covers between a new born and the age of four/five years; mid-childhood, also known as primary, which usually begin between the ages of five to ten, and early adolescence, also known as pre-adolescence, which may begin between the age of ten and end about aged 13 years.

There are overlapping features within each of the developmental stages and these features can be the turning point which runs across different cultures and changing generations, which cannot offer a fixed definition of all Black girls development. Additionally, we are aware that a specific expression given as appropriate development for one girl in a particular environment may be ineffective under another set of circumstances when applied by the same girl (i.e. home or school interactions). What we want to introduce is some issues of relevance to her identity, provide insight into her world and the notion of ‘purchasing power’ and symbolic interaction, which has significant impact on child development. An example would be a Black African-Caribbean parent furnishing her Black daughter with ‘normalised’ gifts, a Cindy or Barbie doll portraying White European features, long blonde straight hair, blue eyes and a pink dolls house. Are there hidden symbolised messages in these purchases or just encouraging innocent girls’ play? Does the same assumed expectation apply when a doll portraying Black African features, curly black hair and brown eyes is purchased by a White European parent for her White European daughter or son as a toy for play? There have been well-known studies about the impact of the ethnicity of dolls identity and play preference. Clark & Clark (1947) found Black children, although aware of racial differences from pre-school age, expressed some inability to identify with Black dolls and chose White dolls (4). (Clark & Clark 1947; Wilson 1978; Grey 1996).

Early childhood (also known as pre- school) which usually covers between new born and 5 years?

Purchasing power can have a great impact on identity formation and this is born out in the young Black girl aged between newborn and five years old. A girl of this age has no power over what her parents purchase for her or the type of stimulation received during this critical stage of developmental psychology. Her personality is developed from birth along with understanding her parents’ code of honour. The formation of the Black girls’ identity passes through her parents and extended family, often a mother’s input and the female family linage plays a key role as part of the matriarchal system, despite the dialogue about it being ‘a man’s world’. The family input forms the bases of any formative identity in relation to developing a belief system, moral standard, health education, traditions and cultural care. The cultural capital (5), therefore, becomes another important issue. In addition to the economic factors impacting on her identity, cultural habits and dispositions inherited from the family are paramount to her education and learning development. The Black girl will not be growing up in a vacuum but influenced by her parents’ cultural habits, life style, religious thinking along with societies influence such as the official institutions, pre-school, dominant group norms, media and subliminal messaging. The messages generally portrayed, usually by the female family linage, what is acceptable behaviour within the confines of the young Black girls’ surroundings (Wilson 1978; Lewis 1988; Wells 1998).

Mid-childhood (primary), which might take place between five and ten

At age five to ten, the Black girl begins to develop her own characteristics, becoming more confident as she embarks on attending school officially and socializing with other children as oppose to being with her parents constantly. At this developmental stage, the Black girl will be formulating her opinions about many of her limited life events, focusing on self-interests, personalising aspect of her character and friendship structures to add to her self-concept. Generally speaking, it takes a lot of strength, usually from her mother and other significant females to stimulate daily learning interests and battling with development of a positive self-image in a rather daunting and intimidating environment.

There is a growth in the Black girl’s acknowledgement of cultural care as her caregivers encourage her to be more independent with personal care, basic chores and responsibility. We may also see an overt indoctrination of religious or cultural belief dependant on parental behaviour. If her parents are religious, she would have already participated in a religious belief system from birth, Sunday school attendance, praying, readings focusing on the bible scripture, for instance. We will see the Black girl moving from being wholly dependent to partially independent, gaining a modicum of trust from parents and others in authority, enough for her to explore her social position, peer classification, environmental hierarchical structures and its influences.

From a learning perspective, the Black girl at this development stage begins to recognise diplomacy, start to make sense of the world and act in the way she is expected to behave, sometimes through stereotypical assumptions and restrictions in self-expression. Acknowledging consciousness and belief systems that sometimes go against the grain of others, it is at this stage Black girls are becoming vulnerable to the reflections of society and getting caught up in a cycle of unrest. Her behaviour may appear more challenging, while she assumes it is her way to maintain self-respect. Her language expression can be misconstrued as ‘rudeness’ or ‘over assertive’ to the point of ‘aggression’, and the steady momentum towards the prospect of stereotypical behaviour become more apparent. She is likely to become negatively labelled especially within some school environments, where her abilities are now challenged and confidence begins to waiver preventing her from reaching her full learning potential. The Black girl may thus shrink away, become quieter, withdrawn and invisible or may become loud, the centre of attention, sometimes negatively following social directives and assumed expectations. This period is also a transitional phase for testing themselves on compatibility, individuality, environmental hierarchical structures such as school playground rules, team working and social acceptance (Lewis 1988; Dobson 1993; Grey-Elsharif 2010).

The Black girl tends to explore the female linage and group bonding, often a mother’s input is paramount, seek to be associated with her image, clothing, walk, hair and develop the same rhythm in her voice. She also reflects more on her aunt’s advice, grand-mother’s narrative and teacher’s interaction to make her more conscious of ‘gender-specific behaviour’ and how other females in her life behave. She moves from the individual phase of her development and starts the initiation into women hood, verging on a mini female ‘rites of passage’ (6).

The rites of passage has a significant role in marking transitions and a cycle of life change often passed down from elders in a society, ensuring that citizens knew their identity, positioning, and what was expected of them growing up. A number of African-Caribbean families perceive the rites of passage series as important symbols, consciously and unconsciously affecting the mind, milestones or personal transitions which solidify a new identity. They are aimed at helping young girls (and boys) to function appropriately in society as responsible participants (Baldwin 1976:1980; Lewis 1988; Karenga 1997; Majors 2000; McCooty 2001; Grey-Elsharif, 2010).

Pre-teen (between the ages of ten and end about aged 13 years)

The pre-teen Black girl at this stage in her development becomes more focussed on her physical changes which are quite understandable given what is now taking place to her body. Cultural care is quite significant and she becomes increasingly body conscious. In addition to the Black girls’ changing physical features, growth spurt, hair, developing curves and reproductive system, there are other changes relevant to her preparation for women hood. There are intellectual gestures taking place as she is beginning to think more abstractly, attempting to make connections between the decisions made and consequences, and becoming self-preoccupied and vulnerable. Her changing attitude towards what is interesting to her quickly move from one period to another, and wonders what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and ‘what would happen if …’ often testing boundaries and peers classification structures.

All those years of watching significant females in her life now start to be reinforced. Greater self- awareness on how she has been taught to acknowledge personal care, style of dress, hair care, cosmetics and other beauty products will have significance on her development and acceptance or rejection within various social circles. Her moral barometer is further challenged by a new found ‘perceived freedom’ and friendships, which will challenge more boundaries as she begins to engage with people outside of her family and school. As the Black girl moves away from the family circle and redefining relationship patterns, she may seem less accepting of family relationships, more eagerly challenging her parent’s standards, family protocol and becoming self-centred. However, she is still in need of some reassurance and family guidance given her maturity.

The pre-adolescence stage is often a period of which restrictions are tested, and the traditional cultural guidelines and internal family mechanisms no longer seem to have as greater bearing on the decisions made. Some adults say girls today appear more eager to challenge parent’s boundaries and authority figures when compared to young girls this age in the past (Dobson 1993; McCooty 2001; Grey- Elsharif 2010).

Reflecting on our own narratives, many girls are moving rapidly toward adolescence, and subsequently womanhood, despite being pre-teens. Universally, current trends are making it more acceptable today for young Black girls (and White girls) to demonstrate their physical changes and femaleness more overtly, acknowledging their forming sexuality(7). Their social environment complete with blaring ‘multi-faceted subliminal messages of aggressive sex appeal’, domination, material wealth, social forces, and often uncontrolled violence demand that young girls become women now, if they are to accept the rate at which society generally tells them to behave. This startling experience and universal trend of women hood altered girls’ rites of passage in the 21st century and educating young people through cultural family knowledge.

Changing patterns of girl’s development and girlhood

A question frequently asked by practitioners is ‘what has changed in society resulting in greater barriers between young people and adults in authority’. Our response is that social rules appeared much tighter and rigorous in the past with clearer boundaries for boys and girls. Additionally, a greater working pattern of behaviour was observed between the parent, child, youth worker and school community. Modern day living and convenience contribute towards the changing attitude between parents nurturing their children and social competencies. The boundaries set by Black parents in the past and societal expectations of children allowed parents to take the stronger lead in the family household which often demonstrate greater respect for family boundaries.

Having a secure base (8), young girls (and boys) develop social competence and get involved in family activities and household chores. Reflecting on our own childhood experiences, this action was a common occurrence among many young people each Saturday morning. There was less likelihood of young people challenging their parents’ authority and decision making to allocate basic chores. Furthermore, the weekly chores did not seem like a punishment but a sense of belonging including shared responsibility and alliance, because a majority of peers were doing similar tasks. The boundaries appeared clearer between family members and society. Today we often wonder what would have occurred if we had said ‘No’ to our parents and refused to participate in the family chores and support the development of a secure home base.

Today everything has changed with modern day convenience giving girls more freedom from house- hold duties, more choice in how they spend their time with greater social activities (music, sport, speech and drama) which has promoted their self-confidence. For example, microwave cooking, on line shopping, is more about speed and reduction in many pre-determined female roles. With the support from previous female generations, girls have become more liberated, a stronger voice with greater communicative avenues and evidence to base a constructive argument. Working mothers and fathers are also teaching their son’s to be self reliant. With the changing economic structures and wide unemployment a father could remain at home daily caring for their children with the mother of the household going to work and socializing alone with female peers, is not an uncommon feature today.

Many practitioners working with young girls (and boys) believe that there is something profoundly missing from support services for young people today – a call for greater social structures and family tasks for young people to develop positive values and self-worth. There is also a call to revisit some traditional parenting skills on boundary setting and provide further guidance to parents in need of family support. Furthermore, a stronger ‘united front’ among parents and practitioners may lead to less opportunity for young Black girls to fall into the net and feel invisible (Arnstein 1969; Grey 1993; Majors 2001).

Gaining a sense of visibility

When it comes to describing the Black girls’ invisibility it seems quite a challenge; what kind of invisibility experienced is often related to how a girl feels about herself in difference to others, which leads to her being accepted or rejected by others as a consequence.

This study confirms a need to expose some of the material power which may implicate the Black girl in the conquest of securing her visibility and the symbolic dimensions of colonization against Black communities’ exposure to ‘ongoing’ negative images. As the images involve features in the intersecting contexts of history, it raises a fundamental question about how we have contributed to the Black girls’ developmental process in the past. For instance, adults’ accountability on Black girls’ rights and the monitoring of social influences which impact on her identity formation, the media, respect for family traditions, boundary setting and official child care support systems.

Accordingly some of the Black girls we have spoken to felt their invisibility was a reflection of the environment they found themselves in, whether it was a secure base that allowed expression of positive values and was intellectually stimulating for example. Some Black girls stated they did not feel protected where a safety net existed because they are often marginalised from the official support systems that protect Black children and their families. Although Black pupils are only a small percentage of the British school population, they made up a large proportion of pupils excluded and labelled with special needs with limited support available to alter their circumstances. As the identity as a Black female was often felt ignored within many mainstream services and popular products, (girls/youth groups, accessible hair and skin care for example), many of their personal needs were ‘ill-met’ (Coard 1971; Tomlinson 1981; Irvin 1990; Wright et al 2000; Majors 2001; Grey- Elsharif 2010).

When reporting a feeling of visible and respect, some Black girls reported a position of self-awareness and discovery of shared cultural tradition, language, value and a sense of belonging. The experience is not inclusively that all young Black girls are feeling ‘invisible’ or ‘visible’, because each individual is unique.

We have identified the following case scenarios to provide examples of how invisibility may present itself for two Black girls, Joy and Angel (All names are changed to preserve anonymity).

Joy

Joy, aged 12, is a Black African-Caribbean girl whose parents are second generation African-Caribbean of Jamaican parentage. Her parents encouraged her from early childhood development the value of education. Joy progressed steadily in school and enjoyed attending many community learning activities. She was prepared to go to school, focus on her studies in order to become a doctor of medicine, and she created her own fashion with the support of her mother and grandmother. Joy uses her free time taking violin lessons, playing chess and contributing to community participation including helping young children to read. She managed her way through state school with a great deal of success. The cultural capital instilled by her family contributed to developing a positive approach to learning and achieving. However, she felt isolated from her peers at school, and perceived differently from girls of her age in her community. Joy often felt she did not really fit in with most of her peers and her progression into girlhood, therefore, saw her becoming the ‘invisible girl’. She felt, to become visible, she would have to follow the latest fashion trends irrespective of these not being to her liking, spend time communicating with peers about the latest phone, social media networking with less focus on her studies.

Generally speaking, Joy’s peers took exception to the fact that she went against the grain and adopted the persona of the gifted Black girl wanting to aspire. Joy became a target against individuals resentful of her self-development, going to the library, studying and being unwilling to accept the last youth trends. She felt that some of her peers see her as strange because she spoke with a strong English accent irrespective of being British born. Joy has not located herself in the negative myths of Black femaleness or following the latest fashion, hairstyle and music, these issues threw up a form of invisibility for Joy within the realms of girlhood and familiar youth culture.

Angel

Angel, aged ten, is a Black girl of mixed parentage who lives with her parents born in Britain, her mother is African-Caribbean with family originating from Barbados and her father is White European Irish origin. Angel is tall and slim, often mistaken as much older than her age. She has short straight burgundy coloured dyed hair, light-skinned in appearance. Her relationship with her parents and teachers is often strained. At school she is popular and funny to be around, often at the centre of attention, talkative, perceived louder than her peers and sometimes dominating. Her grades are just below average for her age, she is diagnosed as having special needs generally because of her behaviour and lack of concentration. Angel was not keen on attending school apart from when she attended subjects she really enjoyed – English, performing arts and design technology.

Angel is very good at fashion imagery and wants to be a designer. Her parents allowed her to make her own decision about completing homework and are happy for school to take the lead with her educational progress. They do not share much information about their family origin and there were no cultural arte- facts or pictures in the home that represent her family origin. Angel feels detached from her Caribbean heritage and is not comfortable within her own familiar socio-cultural circle. She has little knowledge of her father’s background or grandparents in Barbados, often rejecting her duel cultural heritage in place of feeling she is solely of White European origin.

Angel experiences identity conflict ‘in between’ two cultures which made her feel invisible. At school, although she is perceived as very popular, she feels she has few real friends, apart from those she messes about with which causes the teacher to exclude her from class, or when she brings in the last fashion trends and has something to talk about with girls her age. Detachment from her African-Caribbean background often leaves her feeling unsure of relationship patterns with individuals from the Black community, including many female family members. Angel takes the lead from the mainstream fashion trends, famous icons and images in the media, yet felt invisible.

Female representation and girlhood

When examining the images portrayed in the television media industry it could be argued that there has not been much improvement over the years concerning how the female gender is perceived to the public eye. Sexuality is often acted out in television soaps, women are often seen as props for the contentment of others, and stereotypes are now the norms in society. Pre-conceived ideas are triggered by the media and programme storylines are designed to capture the girl’s attention, imagination, and performing arts has a way of being played out in real life.

On the contrary, young Black girls today often choose the music industry as representation as it portrays what they want to succeed too, not knowing or understanding the music industry may build them but also devalue them. Given the power of the music industry on young girls, it is important to encourage the positive aspects to music and arts by encouraging creative workshops that encourage others to think more critically what would help all young girls (and boys) who are embellished in the daily features of fashion and music culture. Additionally there are extremely limited positive storylines in the media about Black girls in Britain successfully achieving, and Black actors moving slower to embracing Black British talent. Limited processes enhance the Black girls’ visibility and teach them how to feel positive about their identity and be comfortable in their skin (Grey-Elsharif 2010). This lack of visibility and positive role models often leaves Black girls feeling left out in the public eye, rarely seeing other Black girls or Black women doing what they do, or looking how they want to look as a Black female, the alternative often follows the norm of the dominant girls’ group culture (hooks 1981; Lipsky 1992; Grey 1993; McCooty 2001).

A new image is required that challenges the norm but also gives acceptance to how young Black females would like to be portrayed in light of positive role models and female representation. The media, including television, radio, and the music industry will need to take a proportionate blame as to how the female images portrayed have a great impact on the lives of many confused youth today. To consider what impact this image portrayed has in the past, today and what young girls face in the future, in support of developing inclusion.

Reaching social inclusion and a safety net

In terms of a support mechanism, many Black girls are growing up in an environment that often fails to support them when things go wrong, with their community often perceived more harshly with negative reinforcements and a lack of official school pastoral support systems when compared to other non-Black communities in Britain. Evidently, many Black girls (and boys) have felt excluded, marginalised and invisible (Wright 1987; Blair 1997; Majors 2001; Collins 2000; Grey-Elsharif 2010).

Some people have argued that Black girls do not need a safety net if things go wrong because there is already one in place but this belief has left her needs being ‘ill-met’, often assimilated into a ‘one size fit all colour blind approach’. When Black girls feel invisible it is important they have somewhere to take those feelings and accept the support offered from someone who cares and help her to manage and understand what those feelings mean.

In relation to the two case scenarios discussed earlier, Joy obtained support and was able to improve her visibility and social development by learning how others saw her was different to how she felt about herself. Accepting her tone and accent is part of her uniqueness and is nothing to be embarrassed about because language was a key aspect of her identity. Joy further engaged in a Black girls’ support group which help her to meet other like minded achievers sharing similar characteristics, building confident and communication skills helped to reduce feelings of isolation and rejection. She also developed coping skills which contributed to managing the feelings of success and building a stronger relationship with her peer group and female role models in her community.

Angel, obtained support developing a positive self-concept, exploration of female self-images and duel racial identity promoted cultural enrichment. She learnt about her duel identity with an increased awareness of contributions made by the Black and Irish communities in the United Kingdom and interacted more positively with diverse communities. Angel also engaged in an emotional resilience nurture programme with her parents and pastoral support in school, which helped to improve communication skills with her parents, teachers and peers. Thus recognising how specific clothing and media representation can generate a level of consciousness in which girls become familiar with domination and devaluing the identity of some being Black and female. Angel’s behaviour and academic grade subsequently improved. She also developed a stronger relationship with her paternal grandparents who furnished her with cultural arts, crafts and understanding of her Caribbean heritage.

The girls’ group we spoke to about their personal needs requested further specialist project work focusing on female identity and the rites of passage, pastoral school support, social relationships and positive self-image. The Black girls also acknowledged the genuine love of one’s own Black ethnic group is the basis for the love of oneself, global awareness, the love of others and the basis for a loving balanced personality worldwide. Similarly to the establishment of the Scouts, they requested an International Black girls’ group and national forum for female (Black and White girls) agenda items. They requested development in adults understanding of youth culture, how young people really feel at home and in school, the social pressure and inequalities experienced, societal changes in Britain and its relationship with their parents and the Black Diaspora. They expressed a strong feeling to be ‘themselves’ and contribute to the development of positive visual and oral media representation of Black and female individuals. We asked one Black girl Ebony aged 10, why the need for a Black girls group and she replied:

‘To teach Black girls to build confidence and feel positive about being Black’

From this perspective, there is a need to support the process of initiation of girl into girlhood and female adolescence. We acknowledge that there is no single ‘one size fits all’ model for working with all Black girls but a series of interrelated rites of passage activities designed to support girls’ development and citizen participation (hooks 1981; Lewis 1988; Karenga 1997; Wright 1987; Collins 2000; McCooty 2001; Grey-Elsharif 2010).

Summary

This chapter has given examples of approaches to making a positive contribution in the struggle to combat Black girls’ invisibility and exclusion. There are benefits for a community to developing Black girls’ development as society needs female leaders, carers and supporters, with each girl holding their position in life and a positive contribution to the environment. Positive role models can be duplicated by all women working together with young girls and encouraging their effort to be viewed positively in the society they live. Encouraging girls through positive role modelling, positive female carers and motherhood, understanding that this can be achieved, and enhancing feelings of self-value and belonging all contribute to a healthy environment. Developing educational projects as Oprah Winfrey and the educational school for young girls in South Africa (9) and the first lady, Michelle Obama visiting the United Kingdom has contributed to forging academic links for young school girls in Britain (10).

Raising Black consciousness will support our experience in feeling real, valued and visible. There is a greater need to acknowledge Black and female inventors, the Black war hero who made contributions to state services, and the value of cultural traditions relating to families and proverbs using programmes that nurture self image and African-centred history (Karenga 1997; Henry & Williams 1999; Collins 2000; Grey-Elsharif 2010).

In terms of seeking new directions and Black girls’ participation, all communities need to take further responsibility for all young girls even acknowledging the old African proverb that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’; with greater unity, developing the role of youth and community workers, places of worship, home and school welfare systems concluding that we all work together to support the Black girls’ development and visibility.

Figure 2. Black dolls, soft toys and female cultural arts

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