The Radical Brownies are a community group based in the Oakland for young girls of color. This group of girls, ages eight to 12, are not affiliated with the Girl Scouts. Instead, they are a troop influenced by Brown Berets, a group that organized demonstrations against police brutality in Los Angeles.
Instead of selling cookies, these girls learn about social injustice and the troops mission is to, "empower young girls of color so that they step into their collective power, brilliance and leadership in order to make the world a more radical place."
The Radical Brownies wear brown berets to celebrate groups such as, the Brown Berets and Black Panthers. They also wear brown vests similar to those of the Brownie's with their own unique badge system. The Radical Brownies can receive badges for many different things. They can receive badges for being a LGBT ally, a Food Justice badge, a "Radical Beauty" badge, and a "Black Lives Matter" badge that many of them earned after attending a civil rights march.
Not only do the Radical Brownie's attend different events relating to social injustice, they also discuss different ideas like how the media defines girls idea of beauty and how that influences their self-image.
According to their Facebook page, the Radical Brownies also, "have a lot of creative ideas around different things they'd like to create, and contribute to their community." This group helps empower young girls to become leaders and have a space to discuss and act on different ideas.
The Radical Brownies have 12 members, currently, they are focusing on girls within their neighborhood, but someday hope to expand. Co-Founder, Anayvette Martinez, created this group when her 4th grade daughter showed interest in joining a troop for young girls.
Martinez began to think about a different kind of troop, one that focused on social justice, or in her words, "a group that centered and affirmed her experiences as a beautiful and brilliant brown girl against so many societal pressures to conform to mainstream ideals of girlhood". She then reached out to her dear friend, Marilyn Hollinquest, and together they formed the Radical Brownies.
The Radical Brownies have a curriculum and upon completing different areas, they earn badges. The co-founders each have over 15 years of experience with development and programming backgrounds with LGBTQ and youth of color and aim to create a strong structure for the girls group. They are currently in the process of renaming the group, due to an issue with confusion between them and the Girl Scouts of USA. Although they are sad to see their name go, they look forward to the "opportunity to solidify our unique identity." Stay updated on the process of their name change by liking their Facebook page.
If you are interested in learning more about the Radical Brownies check out their Facebook or Website. You can also help support them by sharing their Facebook page or by checking out their wishlist and donating!
