Girls Club Girls with Guest Artist Speaker, Tova

The Hue-Man bookstore is a beautiful space in the heart of Harlem, housing books that reflect the soul, history, and spirit of the neighborhood's rich legacy. It is one of the few bookstores in the United States that is dedicated to the African-American community, welcoming authors, speakers, and influential leaders to spark dialogue and inspiration for the people of Harlem and beyond.

For these reasons, we found it to be the perfect place to hold our Girls Club meetings, inviting our girls from Polo Grounds, as well as brand new girls to join in. It was beautiful to watch the Polo Grounds girls, our veterans, welcome the new participants in. I witnessed firsthand the way they blossomed, their confidence and demeanor much more certain and open compared to our first meeting exactly one year ago.

One of the newer participants, Crystal, is thirteen years old, the baby of the group. Immediately, the older girls ensured her that they would take care of her, staying true to our mission of sisterhood. I was inspired by their openness, their eagerness to belong to a new community, and most of all, their words. Their words are wise but curious at the same time, willing to offer stories, but take in new knowledge.

We have an exciting few weeks ahead, filled with exciting guest authors and powerful female leaders coming in to speak with us. I can't wait to share the upcoming stories from Harlem this summer as the new group of girls find the common passion for books, words, and stories in each other.

-Ruby