AVENUE NEWS: AVENUE PINK STOPS BY MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS' "SALON DE SHINE"

Avenue Pink recently attended the monthly event “Salon de Shine,” a mentorship and sisterhood-themed get together hosted by Michaela Angela Davis. Ms. Davis is constantly visible in the community and is well known for her contributions as well as commentary regarding urban style, race, gender relations and Hip-Hop culture. Education administrator and IVY NYC founder Nadia Lopez also facilitated the event, putting the Salon ladies in contact with several middle school students. The students attended in large numbers and filled the venue completely.

Each month has a theme that is relevant to young women who are usually professional 20-somethings. But this month, the Salon ladies reached out to those who are even younger to have a real talk about domestic violence.

There is an obvious timely factor to this discussion when the Chris Brown and Rihanna drama is considered, but the pre-teen students surprisingly rolled their eyes in annoyance when magazine reporter Elizabeth Mendez Berry introduced her very gripping personal story in dealing with physical abuse from a former boyfriend. They recognize the overexposure and tactless attempts from the media to sensationalize the situation—to the point where we lose sensitivity to a very important discussion. She also elaborated on how some of her violent work environments posed a serious ethical conflict as a journalist.

Domestic violence is far more common than many of us would like to assume. Not to put people’s business out on front street, but the Salon ladies all admitted forms of exposure to domestic abuse at some point in their lives. Sharing that information opened up the floodgates for conversation amongst the middle school students. Many raised their hands to either tell their understanding of the topic, their own personal exposures to violence at home and more importantly how they saw signs in partners of loved ones.

Some notable quotes at the “Salon de Shine” event include:

- “At least 1000 women are killed per year from domestic abuse” (Elizabeth Mendez-Berry)

- “I hate hating” (Michaela Angela Davis)

- “May one million battered women emerge from their graves” (spoken world artist Aja Monet)

The event not only made the “Salon” ladies feel empowered, but it also helped everyone in the room realize that in order to fight the evils of physical, verbal, emotional or any other abuse, we have to stop abusing each other. Cannot wait for the next salon!

Posted By: Lande