Councilmember Althea Stevens celebrated her 2nd Annual Black Lady Magic Day Brunch on the Bronx Music Corridor, honoring Black girls leaders and group members. This yr’s theme was “Wealth in Well being.”
Stevens handed a decision in 2023, designating Feb. 15 as Black Lady Magic Day in New York Metropolis. The primary occasion was held at Metropolis Corridor. This yr, Stevens pushed again the brunch to coincide with Girls’s Historical past Month and particularly to honor Black and Brown girls of the Bronx, she mentioned.
“Black girls within the Bronx aren’t essentially [always] highlighted,” mentioned Stevens. “That is necessary to only convey girls collectively. To have fun the work that we’re doing, and the contributions that we’re making, and to only actually uplift one another. These occasions give me a lot power and a lot life. It’s actually a spot the place we will community and proceed to develop and construct. This yr, the theme is wealth and well being, and actually about how we use this time and second to deal with ourselves and have self-care.”
The brunch featured rooster and waffle plates, native distributors promoting distinctive objects, dances and poetry performances; and self care actions like facials, massages, and a therapeutic circle have been obtainable to attendees.
Ariama C. Lengthy pictures
Stevens was joined by Assemblymember Chantel Jackson, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assemblymember Landon Dais, a consultant for Councilmember Kevin Riley, and Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams. Every elected official awarded Black girls leaders in group areas that they selected with a proclamation or quotation.
“It’s at all times a blessing to be a Black woman and we’re positively magic,” mentioned Jackson. “However typically you get discouraged once you really feel like nobody’s watching you, nobody’s taking a look at you. A number of the highlight is on the elected officers, however the reality is that we all know our group companions are those doing the onerous work each single day. And so it’s necessary that we allow them to know they’re seen, they’re heard, and we need to honor them, make certain they really feel particular.”
There have been 18 honorees: former Assemblymember Latoya Joyner, Lanita Jones, Justina Boateng, Mary Lawson, Leah Richardson, Dionne Ahart, Seleste Burns, Althea Matthews, Gwendolyn Kamara, Edriona Saija Stroud, Miriam Tabb, Eloise Bennett, Jeina Carmen Ettricks, Nichaela Slaven, Felicia Renay White, Future Wesby, Eva McFadden, and Lucille White.
Dais, a self-proclaimed member of the “males who get it” membership, selected to honor public housing activist Lucille White.
“I take into consideration my mama from Brownsville, Brooklyn, from Van Dyke Homes. My grandmother, Lillian, was the organizer in her constructing, much like my awardee,” mentioned Dais. “She has a job that’s robust and he or she doesn’t receives a commission for it. What I do know is that she offers daily, each second, each minute, each hour to verify these younger folks in that group have a pacesetter inside Sedgwick Homes. And with out extra folks like her all through our group, I don’t know the place we might be within the Bronx. My job could be not possible.”
White, like most of the honorees, mentioned she was actually nervous to talk. She recounted attending the Million Girls’s March in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1997. “It was a strong feeling, seeing all the gorgeous girls there, and I’ve the identical feeling now,” mentioned White.
Adams, who’s working for mayor this yr, was excited to discuss town’s various, majority-women metropolis council who’ve prioritized ending the maternal mortality disaster and its persistent racial disparities, amongst different key points.
“Our queens, we acknowledge you, we see you, we love you, we’re you,” mentioned Adams. “We go no place with out you, and I’m going to digress only a minute as a result of I’m so proud to be a Black lady I don’t know what to do. I’m embarking on sure new plateaus and new increased heights in my life proper now, and I’m so proud to be a Black lady. We’ve got to make sure that we’re paving the best way for our sisters, our cousins, our aunties, our moms, our grandmothers, and talking right here with you right now as the primary grandmother, the primary mom to guide town council, I can let you know that nothing feels higher than to be a task mannequin to your individual folks. Nothing.”
