Error processing SSI file
Error processing SSI file
Error processing SSI fileAuthor helps teens face tough experiences
'Chicken Soup for the African American Soul' provides a recipe for emotional support.
Lisa Nichols' popularity on the lecture circuit led to the offer to create "Chicken Soup for the African American Soul."
Comment on this story
It was a desperate call in the middle of the night.
A high school senior, who had heard Lisa Nichols deliver a motivational speech to a group of 400 teenage girls, was making a last cry for help.
"I am class president, on the honor roll, a student peer counselor, and I have been accepted to six universities," the girl on the phone told Nichols. "But I don't plan to attend any of them because I am looking at my suicide letter right now."
Nichols, the co-author of "Chicken Soup for the African American Soul," talked the girl out of committing suicide. And after the girl received further counseling, Nichols hired her as the first teen facilitator to work for her company, Motivating the Teen Spirit, an empowerment skills program designed to address the challenging issues of the teen experience.
Life is complicated for teens. And while few teenagers are so isolated that they contemplate suicide, many feel overwhelmed, Nichols says.
"We haven't equipped our teen-agers to handle society's pressures," she says. "They are disconnected from their parents, living in the same homes but on separate pages. We aren't allowing them to say, 'I'm scared, I'm frustrated, I'm hurt.' We haven't given them that safe space."
It is that emotional support that is missing in too many of today's homes, says Nichols.
"We have been taught how to do English, math, science and geography in high school, but nowhere do we have to learn how to be emotionally healthy," she says. "Nowhere in our lives are teens taught how to deal with the absence of a father, or how to deal with being touched inappropriately or how to react to being told to shut up.
"Parents and teens are constantly reacting to each other, and no one stops to say, 'Wow, is this how you feel? Is this what you are dealing with?' "
"Chicken Soup for the African American Soul" includes stories by and about Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Aretha Franklin and Wally Amos, among others. Nichols says she's proud to present stories that celebrate African-American culture, tragedies and triumphs, in the largest book series in history, with 101 titles and 100 million copies sold.
Error processing SSI file
Copyright © 2005
The Detroit News.
Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated 12/19/2002).