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Scouts explore black culture
The new Trail of Courage badge from the Girl Scouts-Trillium Council will be awarded to Brownies and Junior scouts who participate in activities celebrating the contributions of black people to the region.
The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, in conjunction with Black History Month, will host about 300 girls today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will sample dishes made with yams -- common to many African countries -- tour the museum's Underground Railroad exhibit and learn the techniques of making an African mask. Other activities include a slide show and a dance and drum ensemble.
Scouts who complete three of the five activities will receive the Trail of Courage badge, named for the courage needed by blacks to break the bondage of slavery and travel north for freedom and opportunity, said Laverne Coxson, the council's program manager.
The goal, Coxson said, is to hammer home the historical significance of the work by blacks, from abolitionists to artists.
"We really want the young girls to develop an understanding of other cultures," said Coxson. "When young girls are exposed to these genres, the experience and information will carry through for the rest of their lives."
Scouts eligible for the badge are Brownies, ages 6 to 8 and Juniors, ages 8 to 11.
Those who can't participate today can fulfill the badge requirements on their own time.
Scout leader Elaine Effort commended the creation of the new badge. Two scouts in her Cadette troop, girls aged 11 to 14, will serve as volunteers to assist the younger scouts.
"I think it's a wonderful idea," Effort said. "It's going to be fun for the girls, and at the same time they are going to learn a lot of black history."
Coxson said the idea for the badge arose from a pilot program she launched two years ago at the Frick International Studies Academy in Oakland. Fifteen girls from the seventh and eighth grades shot video footage for a documentary about Helen Faison, the first black person and first woman to serve as a city high school principal.
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