LYNN — A former Lynn woman is part of a movement that is empowering young girls of color to love their magic by practicing advocacy, self-love, and sisterhood.
Ivanna Solano grew up in Lynn after arriving here from the Dominican Republic at 7 years old. She attended Sewell Anderson Elementary School, Breed Middle School and Lynn Classical High School. According to her, life in the city is what drove her to become an advocate for young girls of color.
“Coming to this country at such a young age, I was scared and I was bullied because of my identity, my accent, and the way I looked,” said the former Lynner and now Boston resident. “7-year-old me would have appreciated having a teacher that made the time to have those important conversations and showed me to love and appreciate my culture.”
Solano first found comfort with her identity after being given the opportunity to join the Girls Inc. of Lynn after-school program in high school. There, she met Markyse Dorceus and Sheralyn Waithe, the two women who — little did she know back then — would inspire her career.
“I felt as though that was the first time I saw women who looked like me in a leadership role doing things for the community,” she said. “I had such a good experience there so when I began teaching I felt like there wasn’t anything like that for my girls so I wanted to create a space where I could give that to them.”
Solano became a teacher at UP Academy Holland in Dorchester where she met Esperancia ‘Espy’ Paul, Nohely Vargas, Chaylin Diaz, Selina Ruiz and Nyell Jeudy. Together, the women founded The Love Your Magic Conference which was established last year.
“At UP, they are really focused on culturally responsive teaching,” said Solano, who graduated from Boston University with a Masters in Education. “So a lot of the work we do in that school is really just thinking about students, getting to know their families and bringing their cultures into the classroom.”
The first conference, which was based on a book called, “Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” by Monique W. Morris, was put into place to give young girls the opportunity to learn about themselves and their cultures and embrace their identities while having an open discussion about the criminalization of girls of color in school.
“Criminalization, such as being suspended from school or being kicked out, happens predominantly with black and brown girls and we noticed that a lot of them were lacking the skills necessary to advocate for themselves in a way where they would actually be heard by their teachers or their peers,” said Solano.
Love Your Magic’s first conference last year was small-scale and self-funded by each of the founders, or event coordinators as they call themselves. The following school day after the conference, the women walked into UP Academy Holland and were welcomed with applause and support from both their students and peers.
“It’s powerful to see how much that conference impacted their lives,” said Paul, one of the founders of the conference and the special projects coordinator at UP. “We want to push our girls to love their magic, who they are, what they bring to the table, and to embrace their sisterhood.”
One girl in particular felt as though her life changed for the better after participating in the Love Your Magic Conference. Six-year-old Arianna Carias was a student at UP Academy Holland when the conference took place and ended up speaking to her fellow students at the event. She now lives in Philadelphia and will be flying back to Boston for the second conference in April.
“Loving your magic means to love who you are,” said the young advocate. “The conference taught me to not copy someone and to instead be myself and have the courage to speak up.
The second Love Your Magic Conference will be held on April 7 at the UP Academy Holland in Dorchester. Donations from local black-owned businesses, such as 50 jars of hair products, and the book, “Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History” by Vashti Harrison, will be distributed to the girls.
With less than a month to spare until the conference, Solano and her associates have received applications from students, organizations, and even small businesses from all over Boston who want to take part in it. The women want the conference to be bigger and better than last year’s event and they want all young girls of color to identify with every aspect of the gathering.
“Sometimes we underestimate the power of little people, these younger girls have voices that want to be heard and they are so powerful,” said Solano. “We just need to give them the tools and they can do anything.”
