2019-Naturalmente-Cacheadas

Naturally Curly Youth Club

Nominated by Genesco Geremias do Nascimento Street at Sumaré City, Sao Paulo, Brazil

All 2019 Children’s Peace Prize Nominees

Ana, Mércia and Isabelle live in a country where the black population is the majority (53%). Nonetheless, the condition of the black person is still far below of what is desired in terms of human rights. This does not prevent the girls from understanding the role they play when they help other black girls to accept themselves. They asked themselves the question: “Do black girls feel obliged to follow the beauty pattern of white girls?”. They conducted research with 317 students from college. They recognized a massive self-esteem issue and turned the project into a scientific initiation project. Dozens of girls started to participate in the meetings and many of them began to identify themselves as black. The students built partnerships with cultural places and expanded the research to four more schools in the city. The group created in 2018 the Naturally Curly Youth Club, which brings together about 30 black girls to discuss self-esteem and black empowerment.