Group gives Hunts Point women a voice

flava1 — A speaker addresses the women of Female Flava.

Female Flava meets at The Point

Last summer, 17-year-old Jocelyn Smith had sex for the first time. Not long afterward, she found she was pregnant. Her angry parents beat her. Within a few months, she had broken up with her boyfriend.

“I needed people I could talk to that I could trust,” she recalled. A friend told her about The Point, where a volunteer from City Year told her where she could go for an abortion.

Now Smith attends meetings of The Point’s Women’s Empowerment Group, started by the Garrison avenue community center a year ago to provide information and a place to talk for young women in need of both.

Female Flava’ explores issues

By Jolisa Beavers
The women at The Point’s Third Annual Female Flava Women’s Health Conference passed a blue beach ball from hand to hand. Written on it were the words “LGBTQ,” “sex,” “nigger,” “friend,” “mother,” “sexual abuse” and “mental abuse.”

Passing the ball was an exercises designed to lead the participants in the May 14 conference to think about stereotypes, said ,” Samantha Serrano, 17, who led a workshop on reproductive rights in communities of color. Serrano spoke about the impact of racial stereotyping, saying many people will condemn an entire “color or race” for the negative actions of one person, “as if you are gonna do the same thing.”

The theme of this year’s conference was “A Holistic Approach to Women’s Health,” but Sharon De La Cruz, program coordinator of The Point’s Women’s Empowerment Group, emphasized that its goal was “more about women and art and just people expressing themselves.”

The day-long conference included art performances and informational workshops on a wide range of topics.

The event, which was funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Advocates for Youth and the New York Foundation, honored the influence of female artists and activists in the Bronx and ended with music and a dance party.
p>

“HIV and teen pregnancy are a major issue in the Black and Latino community,” said Sharon De La cruz, who directs the Women’s Empowerment Group.

The group offers sex education, healing discussions and role playing, as well as creative writing classes, and poetry for women between the ages of 15-24.

“My mom teaches me some sex stuff, but there’s a time when I need more, and we get that here,” said Janet Johnson. The group taught her about numerous sexually transmitted diseases, and how to use birth control. Without these lessons, the 16-year-old said she doesn’t know where she would be.

According to Kellie Terry-Sepulveda, The Point’s executive director, too many young people don’t have the information they need—or they think they know the facts when they don’t.

“The largest issue is just not knowing the truth from the false,” she said, explaining why The Point decided to revamp its programs for adolescents.

HIV/AIDS “is pretty much a crisis in Hunts Point,” and “teen pregnancy is huge, too,” she said in answer to questions from The Express last fall.
Young people are having sex at younger ages, and with numerous sex partners, participants in the Women’s Empowerment Group agree.

The South Bronx has some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the city according to the health department. In 2008, the last year for which figures have been released, 2,680 girls in the South Bronx between the ages of 15-19 gave birth.

The empowerment group encourages its members to share their experiences, so they recognize that they’re not alone. Julissa Martinez, 17, is especially known for creating a welcoming atmosphere. Because, she says, she and one other girl are the only openly-gay women at The Point, she understands how it feels to be an outsider.

On a recent meeting night, a dozen or so young women sat at a rectangular table passing out plates and then pans of rice and beans, chicken and salad for dinner. They turned their heads when they heard footsteps on the stairs. “Hey! Grab a seat and tell us your name,” said Julissa with her arms spread as if preparing for a hug.

Two high school students interested to know what the group was about smiled and sat. “You guys want some food? There’s plenty of food,” Julissa offered.

The group had a brief discussion before watching Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls,” the movie about how a group of women deal with life’s obstacles that swept the 2011 NAACP Image Awards.

Movies that portray difficult challenges women face help make the group more comfortable. They can move from discussing their feelings about the movie to discussing their own lives, according to De La Cruz.

“Every session you learn something new and I can relate it back to my life,” said Andrea Jones, 17, who has participarted in programs at The Point for seven years.

Andrea has been drawn to a woman. She uses the group as a sounding board for her questions and concerns. Who is more likely to transmit a disease? Will I hurt my boyfriend?

The weekly meetings offer a “safe space to talk,” said Janet Johnson. “In this society we don’t have anyone to talk to and we have that here.”

Editor’s note: The names of the women in the Empowerment Group have been changed to protect their privacy.

A version of this story appeared in the July 2011 issue of The Hunts Point Express.

Facebook0 Tweet0 Email0