The Full Story
About
D.I.A.M.O.N.D.Z. Dancin was established by owner, Maranatha Hawkins in 2016. "I was a middle school teacher for a college prep school, when an 11 year student came to me with a question that changed my life." Jailyn Cooper (pictured right) asked her favorite teacher to create a dance team because she felt there was not an outlet for the African American students at the school. "I felt a series of emotions. I remember feeling so honored that this student believed in me. She believed I was able to take on such a great task! I felt I could not let her down. The rest is history."
Mission
Its mission is to cultivate a space that purposefully develops and equips young women leaders. We aim to instill characteristics of DIAMONDZ: dignity, integrity, accountability, nonconformity, discipline, and zestfulness as core values when approaching life.
Vision
There are two primary details connected to the vision we see today. "As a Mississippi native, I was able to create D.I.A.M.O.N.D.Z., a space where I could contribute a representation of a very rich beautiful culture for all of our students." This organization was created with Jailyn Cooper in mind. She needed more than to simply dance. She along with many other young women, needed guidance. We took the style of majorette dance and decided we could use this as a tool to help inspire our young ladies to see their ability to influence the world around them positively. Our members are exposed to mentorship, sisterhood and scholarship. They are given a space to develop the confidence required to truly soar!!
My experience of being on the D.I.A.M.O.N.D.Z. team is all positive and nothing negative. Yes we do have negative moments but those moments help us learn and grow into beautiful incredible independent women. All the girls are incredibly close due to team bonding which is something that we do to get have more intimacy with one another. Having so much trust in one another is key in sisterhood and in a team. My team has showed me how to be Confident, Honest, Independent and Dependent, Appreciation and Patience. My team has shown me how to be a team player. I love my team and always will.
Lizzeth Lezama