YNGBLKPGH ambassadors — beacons of African-American excellence in Pittsburgh — have written letters to the black girls who shared their personal stories with the city through PublicSource. The letters are meant to provide these thoughtful young ladies with insight gained over the years and hope for the future.
I encourage you to constantly challenge yourself and abandon your comforts...
My identity as a mixed-race person is probably called into question more than any other parts of my intersectionality.
Your ultimate goal is to say this is where I am from, and this will not define me. I will be great.
You have demonstrated resilience, and hard work will always lead you to a better tomorrow.
You will push through. You will be a great mother. You will be an educated black woman.
While you can’t change the way a person thinks or feels, I believe you can prove their thoughts and feelings wrong. That can be done by simply being you.
Although you may not see very many young black people around you now, you are still in good company.
Black girls are now able to research and find the answers for themselves instead of having to rely on a single authority for information about sex.
As a young black woman, throughout your life you will have an energy that even if you wanted to deny it, you couldn’t. It will intimidate people…
A lot of people haven’t had the chance to travel across the world like you have, so hearing your experiences may be their only chance to be taught.
You are going to do many amazing things in your lifetime, and it will be your differences that will be your strengths.
YNGBLKPGH’s ambassadors wrote letters directly to the young women who participated in the I am a black girl and… project. The girls will have the opportunity to meet their mentors during a special event from 5–7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at Repair the World in East Liberty.
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