A Girl’s First Cheering Section-Her Dad

“It’s up to us to say to our daughters, don’t ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for those goals.
”

— Barack Obama

We talk so often about the importance of girls having role models to look to, to see that there are girls just like them following their dreams, that there are women who are kicking open doors every day so that they can follow them and hopefully kick some of their own doors open. 

 It is equally important for girls to know to their core that they have a cheering squad, the people who love them, who believe in them, and who always help them to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get right back in that race.  Sound familiar? If you are lucky enough this cheering section starts with your Dad.  A Dad for a girl can be a hero, but he is also her foundation. Her Dad can be her greatest ally, her mentor, the one who slays the dragons under the bed, and the one who instills a sense that there is nothing she cannot do. And when she falls, and she will, he is there to make sure she doesn’t quit.  A girl’s Dad is also her model, the model of what a man can and should be for her and to her-supporting, listening, encouraging, loving. Knowing she is safe and she feels grounded and nurtured can start with her Dad. Understanding the role a man can and should have in her life, that begins with her Dad too. The relationship a daughter has with her Dad helps her to gain a sense of empowerment from the love and the encouragement she receives. She will be rooted in the knowledge that she is strong, she is smart and she can do anything! She will carry the confidence to not only use her mind but speak her mind. She will grow to be independent and walk her own path without obstacles.  This can all start with a Dad.

“She did not stand alone, but what stood behind her, the most potent moral force in her life, was the love of her father.
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— Harper Lee

As a girl grows up the support from her Dad and the relationship she has with her Dad, impacts not only her sense of self but also her vision of what her life can be and the expectations for how the men in her life will and should treat her. A Dad is the one who leaves his daughter a gift to be opened whenever she needs it, long after he is gone...the gift that she is loved, the gift that there is always someone who believes in her, the gift that helps her stand on her own feet and take on the world. 

The term “Daddy’s Girl” very often has negative connotations, but it shouldn’t.  It doesn’t matter if you are your Dad’s Princess, that just means he has given you the power to be, to go forward with strength, and to believe that Yes! This Girl Can!...and she will! 

We love these great books to read with your Dad.  For more Father /Daughter Book Ideas Visit A Mighty Girl!

“Being a daddy’s girl is like having permanent armor for the rest of your life.”

”

— Marinela Reka

This Girl Can! Change the World...and She Did-Ruby Bridges

“Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail.
When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction,
the only thing that can stop you is you!”

— Ruby Bridges

Just imagine being only six years old and having the eyes of the entire world on you as you are simply trying to do what every six year old does each day, go to school. For Ruby Bridges,however, her entryway to the first grade and to school was literally blocked because of the color of her skin. 60 years ago this week Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to attend an all white school, the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. As Ruby walked to enter the school, along with her brave Mom Lucille, and escorted by white federal marshals, she was met with angry white crowds shouting racial slurs and throwing things at her. That day was of course captured in Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting “The Problem We All Live With” and Ruby Bridges became the face of school integration.

Ruby and her parents didn’t give up or give in to the hatred they endured despite threats and fear, her father losing his job and shops refusing to serve them. As soon as Ruby entered the school 500 students left and never came back while other children were literally hidden away from her. She would spend the entire school year all alone in a classroom with the only teacher who would teach her, Barbara Henry who came from Boston to work in the school. In a recent interview on NPR Ms. Bridges talked about her amazing teacher "Barbara came from Boston to teach me because teachers actually quit their jobs because they didn't want to teach black kids. I remember the first day meeting her, she looked exactly like the mob outside the classroom. So I really didn't know what to expect from her,…But I remember her graciously saying, you know, come in and take a seat — and there I was sitting in an empty classroom with her for the whole year, you know, she showed me her heart. Very early on, and I realized that she cared about me, she made school fun, and ultimately I felt safe in that classroom." It would be Barbara who finally persuaded the school principal, a member of the opposition, to allow the children to meet Ruby and come together.

Ruby Bridges has spent her life as a Civil Rights icon and activist, going into schools and speaking with kids about her experiences and about racism which she tells them is a “grown up disease”. “None of our babies are born into the world knowing anything about disliking one another, or disliking someone because of the color of their skin.” she says “Babies don't come into the world like that. And so if babies are not born that way, then we as adults are the ones who are passing it on to them, and we have kept racism alive.”

Ms. Bridges has just published her third book “This is Your Time” inspired by recent social justice activism by young people throughout the country and the world. In the book she tells her own story, speaks to her work through her Ruby Bridges Foundation, explores the parallels between the 1960s and this moment while sending out a call to action to this generation to act for change. The book was published on the same day she lost her Mom and in a social media post she paid tribute to her - “Today our country lost a hero. Brave, progressive, a champion for change. She helped alter the course of so many lives by setting me out on my path as a six-year-old little girl. Our nation lost a Mother of the Civil Rights Movement today. And I lost my mom. I love you, and am grateful for you. May you Rest In Peace. Lucille Bridges (August 12th, 1934 - November 10th, 2020),"

The short and iconic walk that Ruby Bridges took over 60 years ago changed so much for so many as schools became integrated. As powerful as those steps were, however, one small girl’s extraordinarily brave act remains a very powerful and necessary inspiration for us all to take steps to keep us all moving forward not backward for social justice and equity for all children.

This Girl Can! Read ALL Day

“In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to, and what I might dare to dream about my world and myself. ”

— Anna Quindlen

Do you remember the very first book you ever read all on your own? How about the very first time you got lost in the shelves of a bookshop or library? Do you love falling into the pages of a book so deep that everything around you just stops. A book is a magical place! The stories we read can not only transport us to other worlds, other times, other lives, but can also open us to understanding, tolerance, self discovery and the the real possibility of realizing our dreams. THAT is how powerful a book can be!

October is National Book Month, while many of us do not need a special month to celebrate our love of books and reading any excuse to reach for a book is welcome. Reading,however, is more than a joyful pastime.

For any girl growing up the characters they meet in a book can iinfluence their sense of self and help inform who they may want to be and the lives they want to aspire to. Be it Anne Shirley, Madeline, Jo March, Pippi, Elizabeth Bennet, Mary Lennox, Ramona, Hermione Granger, Meg Murry,Princess Magnolia, Matilda Wormwood, Enola Holmes, Harriet the Spy, Olivia…strong, determined, smart, driven characters who have their own brain and ther own plan allow gilrs to hold up a mirror and find their own power!

The critical importance of literacy and education for girls around the globe is palpable. When girls have literacy skills and access to education where they can learn and thrive it literally changes their world. Yet so many girls all over the globe don’t have access to books or formal education and right now more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school.

This Girl Can! encourages you to learn more and support two terrific organizations working to bring books and educational access to ALL!. First Book and Room to Read.

We know that 61% of kids from low-income families in this country do not even have a single children’s book at home. We also know that education is the magic wand for girls everywhere helping them to grow to become women with secure, healthy, impactful futures.

 In celebration of National Book Month, learn more and make a donation to these two great organizations. First Book will help bring a child the gift of books and reading-for many it may be the first book they get to call their own. Room to Read's Girls’ Education Program was founded with the belief that educated women can change the world! We know they can! .Learn More about the importance of Girls Literacy and Education at Room to Read

Let’s Celebrate #NationalBookMonth with Some of our Favorite Books that inspire us, move us, bring us joy, and confirm that Yes! ALL Girls Can! Find more great Book Ideas for EVERY Girl at A Mighty Girl

1. The Girl with the Louding Voice

2. Enola Holmes Series

3. Bun Heads

4. Little Women

5. Anne of Green Gables

6. Think Big Little One

7. A is for Awesome

8. I am Enough

9. Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls

10. Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History

11. Cece Loves Science

12. My Name is Not Isabella

13. Shaking Things Up : 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

14. A Wrinkle in Time

15. The Secret Garden

“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.”

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.
”

— -- Anna Quindlen