Girls Empowerment Brunch addresses stereotypes of Black women in media 
 | "Meet the Black Press" Breakfast at the Washington Post presentation |
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| 3rd Annual Black Press All Awards Winners presentation |
 | Podcast: Girls Empowerment Brunch |
Start your own Hip Hop blog or podcast: If more women get involved in writing about hip hop it might change the way Black women are treated and portrayed. Registration is underway for the "Start your own Hip Hop Publication Workshop on January 18, 2008 in Washington, DC. $25.00 per person up to 30 people. Register: https://www.acteva.com/go/blackpress. For one of three free fellowships, send resume, cover letter, samples, links to [email protected] by January 5, 2008. then attend the Black Press/Drahma Magazine After Party at the Spy Club in NYC
"Some people may remember the famous 1954 study by Dr. Kenneth Clark that asked young Black girls to pick out the doll that they wanted to be the most. What did they do? They picked out the White doll," said Dr. Diane Kern, a Washington, DC-based licensed psychologist who spoke at the Girls Empowerment Brunch that was held at Operation Hope in Washington, DC on Sept. 14-15, 2007. The theme of the workshop was, "Addressing the Stereotypes of Black Women in the Media."
The workshop discussed the negative images of Black women on TV which Dr. Kern says had damaging affects on the Black community's mental health.
"In my workshops, I try to bring mental health into the 21st Century," said Dr. Kern. "As a people, we have been ashamed to talk about anything that has to do with mental health. We get scared. If I'm in a social circle and someone asks me what I do, they get scared and say, 'Oh you're over there psycho-analyzing me,' People get on the defensive about that. "I try to promote awareness. Our minds, our bodies, our spirit are all apart of one package. It's all about part of us," Dr. Kern said.
The event, which was part of the 3rd Annual Black Press All Star Awards weekend, was moderated by New York City-based hip hop veejay Amelia Ismoore and attended by journalists, authors, parents and Darra "Like Dat" Boyd (left) of VH1's hit reality TV show, "Charm School."
Although you were being taught sisterhood, you were taught to conquer your sister at the same time," said moderator Ismoore. "Can you speak on that?"
"You have to understand I feel myself grown so I'm always going to help a sister," she said. "I saw a bunch of ladies that I never knew and I saw it as an opportunity to grow. VH1 got a lesson learned because they didn't really get what they wanted out of me, but they got something else even better. I know that everybody that watched saw me and everybody that is looking at me know see the same thing. Nothing is different. That's how I was raised."
As the questions got tougher about the stereotypes shown on the show, Boyd didn't flinch.
"I cannot say that someone enticed me into it.I did it .it was me. It was Darra Boyd's choice to go on the show. It was Darra Boyd's choice to say she was going to run down the runway," she said. "People are going to judge you no matter what; therefore, the best thing you can do for youself is to be yourself. It's always going to be there. It's been there since they made the television. Before that it was the radio and before that it was the written word. It's always going to be there," Boyd said.
To hear an exclusive excerpt from the Girls Empowerment Bunch, click the podcast icon at the topic of this page. To purchase the full version, go to the Black Press Store.
The brunch was so well received that a Girls Empowerment Winter Brunch has been scheduled as part of the Black Academic Olympics on Friday, February 15, 2008 at 11:00 at Operation Hope, located at 2509 Good Hope Road, SE in Washington, DC. To learn more see the Girls Empowerment Winter Brunch pdf. 
"Turn on the six-o'clock news," Dr. Kern challenged. "Do you know how we see ourselves? We see ourselves as the perpetrator of crime for the most part. Very seldom do we see the positive things that we do promoted at prime-time. Look at the TV shows, for that matter. We're kind of polarized. We're either the superhero cop or we're the criminal and very little in between," said Dr. Kern. "It doesn't present balance, it doesn't present a very realistic picture of who we are as a people. Therefore, it's not surprising when people of other cultures get a very distorted image of who we are," she said.
Black female journalists also attended the event and wore bandages over their faces and necks to indicate that Black women have been injured by the negative stereotypes of Black women on TV, in music videos and even on urban radio.
"I love the whole idea of the band-aids [to indicate] that Black women have been battered," said Karen Miller a Virginia based journalist who also conducts self-improvement workshops for Black women. "I think it's important to remember too that from the beginning of this country, Black women have been battered in one way or the other. We're really living out what was set for us a hundred years ago. Even at the founding of this country, Thomas Jefferson wrote stuff like, 'Black women made it with arrangatangs' and other crazy stuff. From science to religion, it's all set this course that the image of feminine behavior is not a Black woman. It's a white woman," Miller said.
The event was sponsored by Van McCoy Music, Inc., StopCussin.com, Sinfully Wright Catering, BlackPodcasts.com. Photo by T. Smith.
To see the full list of winners visit http://www.blackpressmagazine.com/bp3winners.htm
To hear podcast interviews with some of winners of the Black Press All Star Awards including Black Author of the Year, K'wan, Best New Publication winner, Drahma Magazine and others like Black Photographer of the Year Harlee Little, visit http://www.blackpressradio.com and use keywords like "WHO'S WHO," and "PUBLISHER." To get email updates, send an email to [email protected] Photo by T. Smith for Girls Empowerment Brunch and StopCussin.com.
Email us at Start your own Hip Hop blog or podcast: Registration is underway for the "Start your own Hip Hop Publication Workshop on Nov. 16 in DC and Dec. 8, 2007 in NYC. $25.00 per person up to 30 people. To be considered send resume, cover letter, work samples, web links and goals to [email protected]. To register visit https://www.acteva.com/go/blackpress.
