The journey toward womanhood is wonderful one that can be filled with positive experiences, as well as confusion and chaos. The A Journey Toward Womanhood Curriculum Guide and Student Manual, based the African rites of passage tradition, can help you with this remarkable transition to understand and appreciate the glory of Black Womanhood.

Sisterhood Agenda Parent Kits are also available through Sisterhood Agenda's Sister Store.

A quest towards an ultimate goal.
Job interview techniques (do's and don'ts)
Open minds to new information/ideas
Use good home training and good manners
Respect yourself and others will too
Never allow drugs to enter your body
Exercise regularly
You must deal with the consequences of your
decisions

Think big
Older "sisters" offer much wisdom
Why some women lack self-respect
Abstinence is the best way to prevent obstacles
Right and proper way of answering the phone
Daily food groups are essential

What to believe and not to believe
Options and choices are always available
Many issues among young teenager's
African American heritage and self-awareness
Never stop learning
Having a healthy body is important
Opportunities exist in the world
Obstacles that occur when making wrong choices
Dating and the associated dangers

That's what we talk about!

A sister is a friend for life, one who supports you, cares about you, tells you the truth, and is not jealous of you. She wants the best for you. A sister also discourages your participation in risky behavior that is not good for you.

Self-esteem can be positive or negative, high or low because it is a measure. It is the way you feel about yourself; the degree to which you possess self-love, self-respect and self-acceptance;

it is your sense of personal worth and competence.

• What you think is positive or negative about the video?
• Is there anything sexual about the video?
• How are females portrayed?
• Is the video good for self-esteem?

Hello.                                                              Hello (in reply).
Jambo. (jah-mboh)                                           Jambo. (jah-mboh)

How are you?                                                   Speak slowly.
Habrari yako? (hah-bah-ree yah-koh)                 Sema pole pole.  (seh-mah poh-leh poh-leh)

Yes.                                                                No.
La. (lah)                                                           Ndiyo. (ndee-yoh)

 Thank you.                                                      You are welcome.
Asante. (ah-sah-nteh)                                        Si kitu. (see kee-too)

I understand.                                                    I do not understand.
Naelewa. (nah-eh-leh-wah)                                Sielewi. (see-eh-leh-wee)

My name is…
Jina langu… (jee-nah lah-ngoo)

As a young woman of African descent, I have the right:

• To look people in the eye when I talk to them.
• To express my own feelings, belief, and opinions.
• To speak up if I feel like I am being mistreated.
• To ask for help or emotional support.
• To make mistakes.
• To defend myself if others try to hurt me physically or emotionally.
• To say no to peer pressure.
• To take a stand against racism and sexism in all forms.

Mary McLeod Bethune

I leave you love.  Love builds.  It is positive and helpful.  It is more beneficial than hate.  Injuries quickly forgotten quickly pass away.  Our aim must be to create a world of fellowship and justice. “Love thy neighbor” is a precept which could transform the world if it were universally practiced.

I leave you faith.  Without faith, nothing is possible.  With it, nothing is impossible.  Faith in God is the greatest power, but great too is faith in oneself.  Our ancestors struggled for liberty in conditions far more onerous than those we now face, but they never forget their sufferings and their sacrifices, for they were the foundations of the progress of our people.

I leave you racial dignity.  We must recognize that we are the custodians as well as the heirs of a great civilization.  We have given something to the world as a race and for this we are proud and fully conscious of our place in the total picture of mankind’s development.  I have never been sensitive about my complexion.  My color has never destroyed my self-respect nor has it ever caused me to conduct myself in such a manner as to merit the disrespect of any person. 

I leave you fully a responsibility to our young people.  The world around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future management.  Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world.  They must never be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness for they are to be leaders of tomorrow.  Nor must they forget that the masses of our people are still underprivileged, ill-housed, impoverished, and victimized by discrimination.  We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct the power toward good ends.

By Sojourner Truth

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?

That man over there says women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place. And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-when I could get it-and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [Intellect, someone whispers.] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negro’s rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my half-measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ came from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.

Ashley, Age 15
In my eyes, Sisterhood Agenda has opened doors toward my sisterhood that I don’t think I could have opened by myself. So, for that, I thank you. I thank you for making me see things I never saw before. In that, I mean making me see things from a different point of view. Thank you for making me believe in myself. Thank you for making me see that it is not who I am on the outside, but who I am on the inside that makes me. Thank you for allowing me to see that my skin color is not a mistake but it is a code of honor. Thank you for making me see that my skin symbolizes who I am and where I come from. Thank you for making me realize that where I come from is a beautiful place despite what people say or think. And last but not least, thank you for making me realize African culture is who I am and who I am is African culture. To Sisterhood Agenda, thank you.

Shaquitta, Age: 16
Sisterhood Agenda was a great program. In the future, I want to have a masters degree in computer technology. I just wanted to speak on my experience about participating in A Journey Toward Womanhood. I really liked the staff here. They made me laugh and they made me cry. I sometimes couldn’t wait until Tuesday’s so I could get here to see some of the girls and some of the staff members. I really liked the field trip that we recently went on and we had a wonderful time. All I’m trying to say is that I really had a lot of fun and I wouldn’t have done anything else over the summer but this.

Laquitta, Age: 12
What I liked about Sisterhood Agenda is that the girls here were fun and I learned a lot of things. My future plans are to finish high school, graduate from college and become a pediatrician."

Eardlene, Age: 15
"Sisterhood is a great program. I had fun and enjoyed it. My future plans are to go to college and be a teacher."

Satora, Age: 15
"Sisterhood Agenda is good for building self-esteem and learning what we need to know as teenagers. When I grow up, I might want to be a hair dresser or an artist with paintings or cartoons on TV."

Ashley, Age: 12
"What I liked about Sisterhood Agenda is that I learned so much about my African-American history that I did not know. My future plans are to go to college."

Christine, Age: 11
"What I like about Sisterhood Agenda is how people made me laugh. I would like to be a veterinarian when I grow up."

Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud!

Hello to all,

My name is Brittany S.S. Hardin and I am in the process of making a smooth transition from a child to an adult. At this stage in my life I am Childfree, STD free and drug free. I am a healthy and active seventeen-year-old who is involved in sports, clubs and employment. I maintain above a 3.0 GPA and have a goal of becoming a prestigious African-American woman that will make history. Sisterhood Agenda has helped me to stay focused on doing something with my life and my potential. The program itself taught me to be proud f my ethic group and of my culture. It has taught me to be cognizant of a person for their personality and talents not for their clothes, their money or their popularity. Sisterhood Agenda showed me that most of the famous black women began as I, a young eager teen with a goal and dream of one day becoming the next best thing. Sisterhood Agenda has helped me to understand that with focus, will power and time I too can stand next to Denzel Washington on the cover of Jet magazine. Due to the lessons learned at Sisterhood Agenda, I have matured more as a person and have acquired knowledge, which has helped me to understand myself as a person and t mentally grow stronger.

The women at Sisterhood Agenda make the program a great experience. They are the role models for the young females who have graduated and now participate in Sisters In Action. The women at Sisterhood Agenda are always open minded and willing to converse. They have the ability to be your friend but at the same time well respected adults. The goal of Sisterhood Agenda are reflected through the guidance and teaching of the women at Sisterhood Agenda. They practice what they preach and hold true their word. They along with other women of America are examples of how understanding yourself, your culture, and your potential you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The ability for these women to teach the goals of sisterhood, self-knowledge, self-development and self-esteem, and to exhibit them on a daily basis inspires young females like myself to go the extra mile even when the water is gone and the heat is unbearable. I hope that by following their examples and teachings I too can be a successful African American female and an epitome of Sisterhood Agenda.

As a young adult, I have goals and am active in school, sports and other activities with my community. Sometimes I have to go an extra mile seemed long, and rough and I felt like giving up. The thought of submission wasn’t a bad idea; I began to think of all the successful people who had given up when the road became rocky. I played pros and cons with a future after submission to the challenges that I was facing. As I juggled the thoughts and images through my mind, I relaxed on my bedroom floor where I began to let my eyes wonder around my decorated walls. I followed the line leading from my window to a poster I made in my tenth grade math class. After staring at my artwork, I noticed the card my mother had given me on my twelfth birthday hanging below it. I lazily looked it over at first noticing the exalted female drawn on the cover, then at once, my attention was transfixed on the sentence above the artistically drawn character it read: “Baby girl, I’m so proud of you.” I re-read the sentence and allowed it to echo over and over in my mind, bringing with each echo a vivid memory of someone who encouraged me to always go the distance even when I felt I couldn’t. At once I sat up and thought of all people who had invested time, money, and energy all because they believed that I have the potential to be successful. I knew if I submitted to the challenges life handed me that I would be a failure to myself and to those who believed in me. At that point I decided that if at anytime I felt like giving up I would look to that sentence on my birthday card for courage and strength to continue along the road to success, even if I have to go an extra mile.

• Look at the past.
• Take responsibility for making positive changes.
• Give yourself time to adjust to something or someone new.

• Keep calm and use self-control.
• Be aware of your body language and nonverbal communication.
• Acknowledge and understand what the problem is.
• Brainstorm to generate all possible solutions.
• Talk with the others to see if they are agreeable to the solutions.
• Remember to not use blaming language when speaking to the other person.
• Be honest and frank, yet respectful.
• Evaluate the best solution for the conflict.

Knowing how to effective resolve conflict can help increase your self-esteem by dealing with conflict in a mature, respectful manner. This is a lot to be proud about.