Member-only story
These Activists-in-Training Are Scouting for Social Justice
The Radical Monarchs earn their badges by fighting for people of color
Anayvette Martinez wanted to start a different kind of girl scout troop after her then fourth-grade daughter expressed her desire to join one. What Martinez found, however, was that her daughter Lupita would have been one out of two Brown girls to join. She knew this statistic had to change.
“The traditional scouting model wouldn’t center her experience as a woman of color, and it would have been a watered-down version of what she could be exposed to,” says Martinez (who identifies herself as Queer) of the idea of starting the Radical Monarchs. She wanted the troop to truly center women of color’s identity.
While the political climate has drastically changed since the Radical Monarchs were founded in 2014, the organization’s mission has not. The Monarchs have continued to create a space for young women of color to develop not only a sisterhood, but also a sense of purpose in navigating what goes on politically and with social justice efforts that affect their local community in Oakland.
“The traditional scouting model wouldn’t center [my daughter’s] experience as a woman of color, and it would…
