Please note that all times are Eastern Standard Time (EST).

UYS 2021 BASIC WEEKEND ITINERARY:

(weekend SCHEDULE & TIMES are SUBJECT TO CHANGE.)

UYS 2021 WILL BE HOSTED BY ALYSSA CHEATHAM

Saturday’s Full Group Sessions

Opening
Wellness & Black Girlhood
(with Jaynay Johnson, LMFT, joined by UYS Cover Girls Kendal Howell, Layla Ryans, Sierra Sedeno & Nashetah Thomas-El)
Joy Is My Birthright Art Session
(with Serena Saunders aka ‘Ms. Passion Art’)
Closing

Sunday’s full group sessions

Opening
Black Girl Body Love II
(with Dr. Rebekah Fenton, joined by Dr. Brandi Kenner-Bell, Dr. Maya Cloud & Dr. Natasha Ramsey)
Sisterhood Is Self-care
(with Eris Baker, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lyric Ross & Nia Sioux)
Closing & After Party

What is GXC?

UYS’s Girl Exchange segment, better known as “GXC,” is one of the most fundamental and impactful portions of the UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT for Girls experience. During and throughout the weekend, Black girls are appropriately grouped by grade & age so that the shared experiences among these groups can be discussed in a safe and intimate environment with peers.

We believe GXC conversations during the UYS Weekend help to eliminate the perceptions of isolation often experienced by Black girls in traditionally White spaces where they can feel unheard, unseen and un-honored.

Past UYS participants have described GXC as the place they have found healing and solace, made life-long sister-friends, and sometimes met a peer-mentor.

What is a full/large group session?

Created space for all 500 girls in attendance where UYS affirms and celebrates the unique experiences of Black girls that are regularly ignored or appropriated. We do this through a re-education of who Black people are, what Black people are, and the history of where Black people come from, so that it positively shapes the character, confidence and identity of the Black girls in attendance. (We invite phenomenal Black people to lead these sessions and deliver these important messages).

What does “MS” & “HS” stand for?

MS: Middle School [girls]

HS: High School [girls]

why hundreds of girls?

“There is power in numbers and there is power in unity.” The UYS platform influences social change in the communities where these girls live and go to school. They are the agents of change.