Our Friendsgiving confab this year was everything I love about TCI: joy, honest conversation, and full plates. We closed out the semester by diving into one of the three hurdles that negatively impact Black girls' experiences: adultification. We explored what it means to be treated as you’re older than you actually are, to be expected to be strong and mature before you even know who you are, what it's like to have your childhood traded in for responsibility.
We examined the school experience through that lens, where the consequences feel heavier. We talked about our developing bodies and what it felt like when they were policed both at home and in school. This includes being told to cover up by well-meaning family members who are often trying to protect us. As Jaden so beautifully said, "It feels like a target on our backs." We talked through all of that while eating good, because the food was blessing us right back: fried, smothered, and baked chicken from Dulan's with dirty rice, mac and cheese, greens, cabbage, mashed potatoes with gravy, candied yams, string beans, and of course cornbread… because is it really Friendsgiving without cornbread?
