West Haven Black Coalition Hosts Tea Party

The West Haven Black Coalition treated this year’s Young Divas On the Move to an afternoon tea party with their mothers at the Grass Hill Country Club in Orange on May 13.

The afternoon was a way for the girls and their mothers to feel “classy and elegant,” said Carroll E Brown, the founder of the coalition, which aside from organizing social events, gives several $1000 scholarships each year to West Haven students enrolled in college.

The attendees said their favorite parts were when everyone introduced themselves and told their moms what they love and appreciate about them.

The event featured a great variety of fruits, finger food, pastries, juices, and tea of course. While everyone ate, motivational speaker Zanetta Addams gave a keynote address about her life story based on the famous quote, “The world is your oyster.”

She spoke about five “pearls” she collected throughout her life, which represented all the good opportunities and experiences she had. She also spoke about what she did with those pearls saying, “service is the rent we pay for being on this earth.”

Ms. Addams told the girls how to be remembered, how to make a difference and how not to let the color of your skin stop you from doing anything. Ms. Addams told the audience how she handled discrimination when she traveled internationally.

To end the afternoon, junior Divine Belcher read a poem she wrote entitled “Mothers,” representing how they each feel about their mothers and how much they appreciate them.

“Mothers… Often get taken for granted and not often appreciated for the seeds in which they planted,” Belcher wrote.