Brick City: Jayda is My Homegirl

Anybody tuning in to “Brick City?” If not, you should be. If so then you know that lots of drama ensued on Tuesday night. Jayda got out of lock-up, got into a heated argument with her boyfriend over his faithfulness of lackthere of, kicked him out, and threatened to terminate her pregnancy. Yeah. So they made up (I could do an entire post on her friend, fellow Blood member Jiwe’s comment about cheating basically being a part of being a man, but I shan’t. Unless I can find the clip online) and moved into a new apartment.

In the latest episode, Jayda met with some advisors about starting a non-profit (and getting paid, as one advisor told her, for the work that she does in the community). She met with some of the girls who she wanted to be part of the “founding group,” of her nonprofit Nine (9) Strong Women. Here’s a video of that session-

Sounds amazing right? Well, I think so. She also had a sleepover for some of the girls that she mentors where they ate, danced, joked around and talked about what was going on in their lives. Jayda gave them some real advice about being careful of the people they let into their lives and choose to associate with and warned them of not being too trusting, saying to one girl in particular, “You want to know why I look at you? Because you have a beautiful heart and you are gullible as hell. You will believe anything. And that is the worst type of person to be in 2008 living in Newark, New Jersey.”

Let me tell you, that’s good advice at any age. Later, when Jayda leaves the room, the girls talk about how loved and cared for she makes them feel. One girl said (something like), “Jayda, that’s my homegirl, you know? I can talk to her about anything.” And then went on to say that she could call Jayda, at any time, to talk about anything, and that she knew Jayda would answer and be there for her. The girls seemed so amazed that Jayda could care so much about them and be willing to do so much for them, from the beginning, without even knowing them well. I loved that part.

Jayda is to those girls what I want this magazine to be to you- a homegirl- someone who gets you because they see part of themselves in you. Someone who cares for you and loves you dearly, without having any obligation to do so. Someone who wants to see you do your best and is willing to help you in any way that they can- including showing tough love. And being able to relate to someone in the way, having someone “get” it and “get” you,  like real homegirls can, is a beautiful thing. Don’t you agree?