After-school program turns girls into sophisticated ladies

(AP) — Teenage girls in the new after-school program Young Divas on the Move are learning how to carry themselves "like ladies," put boys at the bottom of their priority list and at the same time, help the needy and fight for their rights.

The program is led and designed by community activist Carroll E. Brown, a powerhouse in the Greater New Haven civil rights community, who was raised by a strict mother in Washington state back when it was considered in bad taste to chomp on gum, sit with your legs apart and swig soda out of a bottle rather than a cup.

Some of those rules include: good posture, keeping legs crossed, drinking soda out of a cup only, no ripped jeans, no sweatshirts, no gum chewing, no slang talk and have a napkin when you eat.

[...] lest anyone think Brown's group is a superficial course just about etiquette or an old-fashioned finishing school — once considered an aide in landing a wealthy husband — that's not the case at all.

Brown takes every opportunity to emphasize the importance of higher education and brings in speakers to talk about subjects such as SATs, ACTs, voter registration, the workings of state government and helping the needy.

At some point during the group's cycle, they'll visit one another's churches or other places of worship as a lesson in embracing diversity.

Brown and the girls have already visited a site to pack Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless and have helped hand out coats to kids in need.

Brown, who is always meticulously groomed and dressed to the nines, is founder and longtime president of the West Haven Black Coalition — a group that has worked tirelessly for civil rights in the city.

Brown, who along with her husband, a retired police detective, raised her three sons with the same kind of rigorous discipline she was raised with, admits that she had to adjust some of her own standards, such as not allowing blue jeans to be worn at all.

At Hillhouse, her program was a huge success and girls there — even groomed to conduct tea parties — were often asked to host community events.