A New Book
from a new author “Being vulnerable is hard. Being someone you’re not is harder.” These are the words that start off Cleveland native, Leah Berdysz’s, brand new book Conscious Empowerment: A Guide to Helping Girls Build Self-Esteem and Confidence. Her book is geared toward helping adults living and working with young women understand the unique challenges that race, culture, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status have on developing a young girl’s selfesteem and confidence. It provides suggestions on how to tailor an approach that works for the individuals in your life and offers reflection questions that can help you pause and consider how to implement the lessons with your girls. Leah realized through her years of working with youth, founding Empowered & Poised LLC – a girl’s wellness and empowerment program – and recently graduating with her master’s in social work from Case Western Reserve University, a one-size-fits-all approach to helping girls build self-esteem and confidence does not work. She believes we must take into consideration an individual’s unique background to best empowerHER. To illustrate, she dives into
intersectional feminism – initially coined by feminist law professor and researcher, critical race theorist, and social justice advocate Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw. This idea highlights how individuals are simultaneously shaped by their group memberships and identities. Crenshaw explains intersectionality by saying, “You can’t just take the experiences of a Black man and a white woman and put them together to describe a Black woman’s experience. A Black woman’s experience is not the sum total.” Leah’s book also helps you learn how to do the following, keeping in mind everyone is beautifully unique: be the adult that girls need in their life, expose them to opportunities that will help them grow and flourish, ensure representation is a part of your everyday life, affirm them, give them the power to be who they want to be, and encourage healthy habits such as physical activity. If you’re interested in supporting or learning more about Empowered & Poised and promoting our young women’s social, mental, and physical development, visit www. empoweredandpoised.com and follow @empoweredpoised. You can also learn more about how to get a copy of Conscious Empowerment on the website. SPRING | SUMMER 2021 | 29
