The National Coalition of 100 Black Women Delaware Chapter (NC100BW-DE) recently released the results of a year-long study, “The State of Our Union: Black Girls in Delaware,” which focused on the lived experiences of Black girls in Delaware.
“It is the importance of this ground-breaking work that positions the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Delaware Chapter to advocate for and develop implementation strategies to fight for the eradication of all that wage war against our Black girls,” Melanie Daniels, president of the Delaware Chapter, said in a press release. “We intent to let our Black girls’ voices be heard and help to elevate their concerns as they challenge the status quo.”
In January 2020, the Delaware Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NC100BW-DE) partnered with the University of Delaware’s (UD) Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC) and the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to initiate a study about Black girls in Delaware. The Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) at UD was contracted to conduct the study. The NC100BW-DE sought Delaware State University (DSU) Women and Gender Studies as a contributor of personal narrative papers written by undergraduate students.
The year-long study received additional support from the Delaware Clinical and Translational Research ACCEL Program through the ACCEL Strategic Initiative Partnership program as the Delaware Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) Research Practice Partnership. The partnership was led by Sue Giancola, UD, DE-CTR ACCEL; Cassandra Codes- Johnson, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS); Katrina Morrison and Tia Barnes, UD CRESP; Raye Jones Avery and Sherese Brewington-Carr, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, DE Chapter; and, Rita Landgraf, UD Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC).
Black girls between the ages of 10-19 answered questions on the topics of health, self-esteem, relationships, racism, school experiences, resilience, and social media use in individual and group interviews between August and December 2020. The participants’ answers are intended to inform discussions on policies impacting Black girls in the state, according to the press release.
The purpose of the partnership was to better understand the issues impacting the identity, health, economic wellbeing, and educational outcomes of Black girls in Delaware, to improve community-based programs to support this population. The evaluation will help to inform interventions that positively impact the identity, health, economic wellbeing, and educational outcomes of Black girls in Delaware, the press release stated.