Published January 15, 2015 by WCIA, the CBS affiliate in Urbana .
The original article and video can be found here.

A University of Illinois organization is helping give a voice to young black girls. Leaders there are planning to share their stories with the community. The YWCA got a grant to help cover the costs. They were one of eight groups in the state to get $5,000 from Illinois Humanities. The name of their project is called “Hearing Black Girls’ Truths.”

Andrea Rundell, who is the executive director of the YWCA, says it’s a community reading project that focuses on what it means to be a black girl and woman. A University of Illinois professor wrote a book about it. Now people will get to share their stories during five different events next month. The YWCA’s motto is “eliminating racism and empowering women.”

Leaders say young black girls are sometimes overlooked, since focus is usually set on young black boys or young Hispanic boys. She says she hopes people get involved with those events, which include live readings, panel discussions and a concert.

February 1: Read My Lips, Hear Our Truths, an evening of live readings by, for, about black women and girls. 7-9 PM at the Urbana Free Library.

February 10: Black Girls Speak: More than Sass or Silence, BNAACC presents a panel discussion. 11AM-1PM at the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center in Champaign.

February 18: What We Do When We Believe Black Girls, YWCA and Urbana Free Library presents a panel discussion. 7-9 PM at the Urbana Free Library.

February 24: Hearing Black Girls’ Truths, keynote lecture by author, Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown. 7-9 PM at the University YMCA’s Latzer Hall.

February 27: Black Girl Genius, an interactive multimedia concert and celebration for middle and high school girls. 2-4 PM at Pizza M in Urbana.