Kayla Sims
Staff Writer
Feminism, colorism and sexism are words that have all been making its way into the mainstream media and unto Jackson State University’s campus within the last five years.
Founded on Nov. 15, 2015 on the campus of Jackson State. GIRL is an organization that combats social issues and inequalities that black women face on a day to day basis. The acronym stands for gathering information related to ladies.
Over the past week, GIRL hosted its third annual GIRL week which was themed after Megan Thee Stallion’s “Fever” album. The week was filled with laughter, joy and information for the betterment of men, women and college students.
Monday kicked off with “Cash Shh”, a forum held to increase financial literacy in college students.
The guest speakers spoke about the importance of budgeting and building credit as a young adult.
Jasmine Jones, a junior accounting major from Drew, Miss., spoke about the importance of budgeting and the impact the forum had on her.
“My first few years at Jackson State was hard because I blew through money, it wasn’t until last semester when I realized that every dollar counted and that having a weekly budget would be crucial to my financial success,” Jones said.
Tuesday began with “Simon Says” giving the students a chance to dive deeper into themselves and their peers. The girls were asked to write a series of agree or disagree questions anonymously and afterwards, they came together and split the room into two sections, right being agree and left being disagree.
Wednesday, was the “Hot Boy Pageant” and GIRL crowned Mr.Intersectionality and Miss GIRL for the 2019-2020 academic school year.
The contestants were Joshua Pagan, Ishmaiah Graham, and Rodney Hill Jr., which are all students of Jackson State University.
During the pageant, the boys were asked a series of questions surrounding feminism, womanism and intersectionality. They also had a chance to show off their talent, personality and best looks in swimwear and formalwear.
The winner of the pageant was contestant Rodney Hill Jr., a senior management major from Little Rock, Ark.
“I am thankful for the opportunity and being able to make this happen, I am glad to be the very first Mr. Intersectionality and I am looking forward to caring this title and putting in work for the remainder of the school year,” said Hill
Janaya Rice, a junior Mass Communication major from Chicago, Ill. was crowned Miss GIRL, she spoke about the position.
“I am blessed to hold this position because I know what it means, so far things have been coming along and I am excited to see what is in store for GIRL,” said Rice.
Thursday the roles were reversed with “Shake That,” the boys had a chance to walk a mile in the girls heels on the plaza.
The week finally ended with “Drive The Boat to Success,” where members of GIRL passed out encouraging messages to people on the plaza.
Rico Lewis, a freshman civil engineering major from Oakland Calif., talked about the impact the message had on him.
“I have been having a bad week overall and this was the encouragement I needed to continue on with school for the rest of the semester. I wish more organizations did this because that would have a lasting impact on people,” said Lewis
Taylor Foster, a senior education major from Denver, Colorado and President of GIRL explained the importance of this week.
“This week was a really big for GIRL and I am thankful for the people who helped put it together because everything came out better than I could’ve ever expected,” said Foster.
GIRL is not only a means for peer networking, but it is also an organization that places community first.
Be First to Comment