From Girls to Young Women

I often joke that my development of social graces was by accident. As I recount my childhood, my mother was too busy working two jobs and squarely focused on me doing well in school (because she was damn sure – before I was – that I was going to college)!

This is not to suggest my mother didn’t teach me basic manners and the golden rule. But which fork to use for your salad was less important than say, putting food on the table. We weren’t the Jack and Jill type family.

Proof that God smiles on babies and fools, I haphazardly began to figure it out (can you say mimmick?). My Godmother and pledging a sorority also helped.

But even still, etiquette, social graces, when to send a note, and proper rules of “gift-giving” aren’t easy. At best, no one notices. At worst, its a gaffe.

So it was refreshing to hear about Sunday Girl International. The Clarion Ledger reports:

It was a routine established by her mother, who spent Sundays teaching her daughters that they were intelligent, powerful, divine beings with a special purpose in life.

“My mother wanted to instill in her daughters a sense of strong faith and belief in themselves that they had the power to do whatever they wanted in this world,” said Boykin, 51.

Today, Boykin is sharing those lessons as founder of Sunday Girls International, an organization that aims to give African-American girls the foundation they need to achieve academically and personally.

Boykin said she grew up in “the good, the bad and the ugly of Mississippi” when racial tensions were high, but Sunday was always a happy day when you could put aside challenges and be with people who loved and adored you.

“The people of our community taught us that when you go out into the world, you are not just representing yourself alone; you are representing them. You learned love for yourself, your family and your country, and that’s what we want to share through the Sunday Girls International.”

Sign me up!

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