Sophomore seeks to lift up peers

Every Saturday, New Albany High School sophomore Ariana Wilson meets with a group of girls.

The eight of them talk about issues they face not just as females, but as young African-American women.

"A lot of girls go through different things that I wouldn't think that they would," Wilson said.

The 15-year-old Wilson and her peers are part of the Rise Sister Rise "think tank," a group born out of research conducted in partnership with the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services. Last month, Wilson and the other girls visited the White House with an invitation from the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Wilson said her Washington, D.C., trip from Nov. 15 to 16 began with a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

"That was nice, to go through the different history that my ancestors had been through," she said.

The second day, Wilson and the other girls visited the White House and met with the Council on Women and Girls, as well as White House staff and interns.

Knowing that the interns were relatively young was a nice thought, Wilson said.

"In a few years, that could be me sitting at the White House," she said.

Wilson said they met U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Jefferson Township), who showed them the train she and other Congress members use to go to their offices. The girls also sat in on a House of Representatives session.

Beatty serves the 3rd District, which represents 29 municipalities in Franklin County including Columbus, Bexley, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg and Whitehall.

Wilson's participation in government at the local level ultimately led her to seek out Rise Sister Rise.

She said she heard about the think tank while involved with the City Leaders Program for middle school children, when Michael B. Coleman was mayor of Columbus.

Rise Sister Rise, she said, struck her as a good opportunity to reach out to other African-American girls and learn their opinions.

Rise Sister Rise founder Fran Frazier said the think tank's name started out as the title for research she conducted with the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services surveying African-American girls in Columbus, Akron, Dayton and Lima. The study was completed in 2011.

The think tank was created out of a desire to create programming for the girls based on the research, Frazier said. Wilson and seven other girls regularly attended activities, and the think tank was formed in January.

"It teaches girls how to think critically," Frazier said. "It shows girls how to actually dialogue across communication barriers."

Frazier said the think tank's work is vital, because for the last decade attention primarily has been paid to African-American boys. The program gives the girls the opportunity for their voices to be heard.

"If you don't ask a black girl what's going on, you don't know, because they're silent," she said.

For the past eight months, the girls have been exploring topics including colorism (prejudice against those with a dark skin tone, usually within the same ethnic or racial group), bullying, family expectations of girls and what the future looks like for African-American girls. The group includes girls from Gahanna, New Albany, Canal Winchester, Columbus and Licking County ages 11 through 18.

Frazier described Wilson as smart and a critical thinker.

"She knows how to work with others who may not agree with her or she may not agree with," she said.

Wilson has a quiet strength and is very observant, said New Albany High School principal Dwight Carter.

"She doesn't say a whole lot," he said. "But when she does, it's very meaningful," he said.

Wilson's mother, Phyllis Waugh, said she didn't have the opportunity as a young black woman to participate in a program like the one her daughter is involved in.

Rise Sister Rise helps her daughter know she's strong, which is important for a teenager, Waugh said.

"I'd like to think everything she's involved in completes her in a way that she will be successful in the future," she said.

Wilson is involved in a variety of other extracurricular activities, including the Franklin County Youth Council and the Delta Gems, a junior group for the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

She moved to New Albany High School this school year from Westerville Central High School and is part of the leadership team for her high school house. The school's house system breaks students into eight groups, or houses, for leadership, service and academic activities.

Wilson said Rise Sister Rise ultimately helps her learn from other black girls and teaches her to have an open mind.

"You can always find a way to compromise with them," she said.


This article first appeared on This Week News' website on November 29, 2016.