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By Alexandra Brodsky • @azbrodsky • 9 years ago

Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah: Radical Brownies

These kids are going to be so cool.

Over at Fusion, Jorge Rivas has a great piece about the “Radical Brownies.” Back in my day, the original Brownies earned badges for developing skills like planting flowers. Members of this group, entirely composed of young girls of color, instead tackle challenges like learning to organize protests and fight back against white beauty standards. Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest created the first troop in Oakland last month, and hope the organization, which is not affiliated with the Girl Scouts of America, will expand to more chapters.

I love the model of treating young people like real people, sensitive to the world around them and capable of political insight. Martinez told Fusion that “[c]hildren are more aware than we think; it’s important to not shelter children from real issues that we’re living. It’s especially important for young girls of color to feel empowered.”

Want to support the Radical Brownies? Keep an eye on their Facebook for a chance to donate.

Post by Radical Brownies.
Header image via the Radical Brownies’ Facebook.

Washington, DC

Alexandra Brodsky was a senior editor at Feministing.com. During her four years at the site, she wrote about gender violence, reproductive justice, and education equity and ran the site's book review column. She is now a Skadden Fellow at the National Women's Law Center and also serves as the Board Chair of Know Your IX, a national student-led movement to end gender violence, which she co-founded and previously co-directed. Alexandra has written for publications including the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian, and the Nation, and she is the co-editor of The Feminist Utopia Project: 57 Visions of a Wildly Better Future. She has spoken about violence against women and reproductive justice at campuses across the country and on MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, ESPN, and NPR.

Alexandra Brodsky was a senior editor at Feministing.com.

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