Aaron Johnson – General Assignment Reporter
The normally loud and busy halls of Engleman Hall were quieter as students attending evening classes walked up and down the halls. But for Jeanette Sykes, those halls are being used to help mold the minds of young African American women.
“Our mission at Perfect Blend is to foster leadership by becoming an integral part of the whole village needed to effectively raise our children,” said Sykes.
During the meeting, several guest speakers, including SCSU alumni Toni Ligon, came to speak with the girls about the importance of being a strong African American woman in this society.
“I think to for them to see successful black women is a tremendous help and I think it’s a help in ways you cannot measure today,” said Genevive Walker, the director of programs at Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology. “There are things that they won’t know are of value until they’re of value. I think that we are each able to de-compartmentalize this idea of working and finding a career path. It’s really a message that’s hard to find in schools at that age.”
Ligon, Walker and fellow guest speaker Shukriyyah Hasan said that they relish the fact that they were able to be called in to speak with the young women – high school seniors from around the New Haven/Hamden area – and give them the guidance that can help them down the path they are on.
“I think that nowadays people look at the media and Hollywood as these role models and I think
when you can look within your own community and see successful woman of color it gets them to a place of understanding that they came from here so I can do that too,” said Ligon, who graduated from Southern in 1987.
Senior Tamara Wilfong said that she has been in the program all four years she has been in high school and that the each year she has learned something new from the program.
“I enjoy it because I get to meet new ladies which helps me to network. Every year we do something different every year we do something different for the community,” said Wilfong.
Along with Wilfong, senior Daisha McPherson said that even though it is only her first year she enjoys the program and would tell others about it.
“I think this program is great. It helps out a lot of young women and I would recommend it to others. It has helped me to have a different look on things,” said McPherson.
Ligon said that she feels that the purpose of the program is to not only give exposure and guidance to young African American women, but to also be available to the young women along this journey.
“The idea of accessibility for young black women to see other see other successful older black women and just the idea of mentoring and being there to ask and answer questions, as simple as it is, is just genius,” said Ligon.
Hasan said she agrees with Ligon that being able to help shape the young women is amazing and is something that she loves to do.
“I think it is awesome. It’s even more now because I have experience as a senior citizen to give the best of myself and be honest about it,” said Hasan. “You cannot be a good role model unless you’re honest. I love being a role model. I am an instructor and I am a role model. Everyday I am a role model, I cannot be anything less than a role model.”
