By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
One Thursday every month, Black women at Baylor meet at My Sister, Myself — a support group dedicated to building community and providing a safe space for vulnerability.
Courtney Streat attended My Sister, Myself as an undergraduate student at Baylor. Now, she works as assistant resident hall director at University Parks Apartments and co-facilitates the support group.
“We just want to feed you something and show you some support, see how your last couple of weeks have been going,” Streat said. “Our mission is just to support Black women on campus.”
Streat said My Sister, Myself has a couple overarching goals.
“We want them to be connected to one another,” Streat said. “We want them to feel confident and empowered.”
Baton Rouge, La., junior Brooklyn Joseph has been attending My Sister, Myself since she was a freshman at Baylor. She said she discovered the support group when she was walking in the Bill Daniel Student Center and smelled food. The women inside were excited to see her and immediately invited her to join, and she has attended ever since.
“It’s definitely one of those moments where you show up, it’s like, ‘This is so much fun,’” Joseph said. “It’s so welcoming, especially being a freshman. It was definitely refreshing to see.”
Streat said My Sister, Myself began when Black female faculty and staff at Baylor began to notice lower retention rates for Black female students. They started the support group to give Black women a place to be around others like them.
“We have to implement infrastructure to help them to feel seen and valued — like they belong inside and outside of the classroom — to be able to persist toward graduation,” Streat said.
Houston graduate student Forche Bridges has been attending meetings since her senior year at Baylor. She said she had to step outside of her comfort zone to begin attending, but since then, she has seen the value in being around women like her.
“One of the main things that I value about My Sister, Myself is just the space to come authentically — as far as who you are and then [as far as] what’s going on in your life at the time,” Bridges said.
Streat, Joseph and Bridges said one of the most important aspects of the group is that there is no expectation to be active in the conversation, but nothing is off the table when it comes to the conversation either.
“It’s comforting to sit in a space where you don’t have to question being understood or question being identified in the room,” Joseph said.
Streat said the group also allows women to network, occasionally bringing in panels to give them the opportunity to meet women who have been successful in different fields.
“We want students across disciplines, across majors, across different classifications, because that provides opportunities for mentorship with other students as well,” Streat said.
According to Streat, some of the other facilitators and attendants of the group work in the Counseling Center or with Baylor Athletics.
“[A] desire I have would be for students at the end of the year to feel more empowered about the ways to communicate with upper-level leadership, to be able to advocate for their needs and their desires,” Streat said.
Joseph and Bridges said they appreciate the ability to get to know students as well as faculty and staff.
“Sometimes you want to talk with your friends, but sometimes you know you need an adult’s opinion, and it doesn’t hurt at all because they’re so willing and so open and honest with us,” Joseph said. “Nothing is off the table.”
Streat said the history of Black women is woven into a lot of the conversation within My Sister, Myself, regardless of what month it is. However, they are taking Black History Month as an opportunity to talk more about their female identity in relation to their Black one.
“We’re focused more on their identity as women this particular month, but we’re doing it through the lens of being a woman who is also Black,” Streat said.
Bridges said the group is a space not only where Black women can unite and talk about their lives but also where everyone is heard, valued and seen.
“Everyone needs to feel like they’re being heard,” Bridges said. “Everyone needs to have at least one safe space that can be a community for them.”
