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Do you want to learn how to swim? Black Girl Magic swimming lessons start in January

Writer's picture: Madison 365Madison 365

By Issac Trussoni Published: December 30th 2022


Young African-American girl jumps into a pool off of a diving board.
Young African-American girl jumps into a pool off of a diving board.


As the days get longer some folks are already looking ahead to spring and summer, and Black Girl Magic (BGM) is no different as they gear up for the new year with free swimming lessons offered through the YMCA in January. Rosa Thompson, founder and executive director of Black Girl Magic Educational Services Inc., reflected on a past year full of wonderful connections and services for Black girls around the Madison area.


“We’ve ended strong with all of our programs. We’ve successfully turned our Melanated Mindfulness Camp into a full-day camp for a week, we continued with Black Girl Magic Saturdays, and we hosted our first in-person Black Girl Magic conference since 2019, which was amazing,” Thompson told Madison365. ” It felt really good to be back in person. We’ve been creating new connections with other community-based organizations. We’re just really proud of the work that we’re doing. We added four youth employees, and that’s something that was very important to me, that our programs were youth-led and youth-planned. For the younger girls to see our high schoolers and our eighth graders as leaders and employees is important to me, and it feels good to put a little bit of money in their pocket.”


In a year that has been full of expansion and success, perhaps one of the biggest areas of growth has been the consistent participation BGM has had in UW-Madison women’s athletics. While these opportunities have been great for the girls, it has also been a great opportunity for the athletes, some of whom have been able to connect and participate in BGM. With sports like volleyball and basketball being a hit last year, it is appropriate that one of the first BGM services for the new year will be providing an opportunity for Black girls to participate in something fun and active. Thompson saw swimming lessons as a need that she could help fulfill and knew it fit perfectly with other BGM activities that involve water.  


“I get everything that goes into swimming,” Thompson said. “Body image of wearing swimsuits, our hair and ways to keep that nice while swimming, but then still wanting to have fun in the water. It’s 90 degrees, you want to get in the water. I get everything that goes along with it, and why people in our community don’t always learn how to swim, but it’s a life skill that’s necessary in my opinion. You don’t have to learn how to swim like an Olympic swimmer or to be on a swim team, but I believe that everyone should learn to swim enough to save their own life.”


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