Here & Now

Noon Wednesday with guest Dr. Jasmine Zapata

Marisa Wojcik:

Welcome to Noon Wednesday. I’m Marisa Wojcik, a multimedia journalist with Here & Now on Wisconsin Public Television. Joining me today is Dr. Jasmine Zapata, she’s the author of the book Beyond Beautiful, and she’s launched the International Girls Empowerment Movement. Jasmine thanks so much for being here today.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Marisa Wojcik:

So, Beyond Beautiful International Girls Empowerment Movement.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes.

Marisa Wojcik:

What is that?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, thank you so much for asking about that. The Beyond Beautiful International Girls Empowerment Movement is something that I started a few years ago, but it’s just recently, over the last two years, really started to really grow and expand. And what it is, is it’s a movement that spreads the message of Beyond Beautiful. And what that means is that young girls are more than just their outside appearances; their true beauty is within, and so it’s based on the concept that young girls are courageous, resilient, confident, creative, talented, intelligent, unique, innovative. Basically, it’s a poem that I wrote that I turned into a book, and a song, and live events, and a whole movement. So, that’s a little bit about what it is.

Marisa Wojcik:

So you’re currently taking that message on tour.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes.

Marisa Wojcik:

Where are your stops, and what has been the reception so far?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yeah, so it’s been so amazing so far, we’re on a seven city mid-west tour. And so the stops are Hammond Indiana, which we did this past Saturday. Madison, Wisconsin, which we did on Monday. Then tomorrow we’ll be in Beloit, Wisconsin, Saturday, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Then next Thursday we’ll be in Racine, and then September 15th we’ll be in Detroit, Michigan. Then October 27th we’ll be in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Marisa Wojcik:

Very ambitious.

Jasmine Zapata:

So seven city mid-west tour.

Marisa Wojcik:

What can attendees expect if they show up?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, the attendees can expect to have a time filled with empowerment, where they’ll walk out just feeling loved, empowered, believing in themselves. Knowing that, even though the world- there are so many different pressures that society places on young women, that they are supported and loved just the way they are. They can hear live musical performances, they’ll even get to see my hidden talents of singing and rapping, the Beyond Beautiful song. Then they’ll have breakout sessions where we break them into small groups, where I have a dynamic team that really pours into them about a variety of different topics. And then, free books. I’m giving away my books on the tour to all the girls that are attending.

Marisa Wojcik:

All right, who is this team? Who’s the network? Who are the people that you are bringing in?

Jasmine Zapata:

I have a dynamic team, some of the key players on the team — So it’s me, I’m a pediatrician and preventive health doctor. So I have the medical background but what I’ve realized is health outcomes are way more than what happens in the hospital walls and clinic walls. You have so much more of an impact when you look at the social determinates of health and other aspects, rather than just the medical piece. So I’ve teamed up with Trilogy. Trilogy is a teen Hip-Hop R&B group. They’re a recording artist that- they also travel nationally and they sing songs with a positive message. They are so amazing and they’re two of my mentees. So they’re part of the tour, they perform, and then they also help lead breakout sessions. Then another key player on the tour is my own mother. We call her Mama Jules, and she designed and created this beautiful treasure box that all those different things in my poem: courage, resilience, confidence, creativity, she actually made those into– they’re not real gold coins. Made them into gold coins in a treasure box, and she does this dynamic activity teaching young girls about healthy relationships and their self-worth. She also wrote a fairy tale version of the book for elementary school kids. So, she’s on the tour. I’m traveling with a wonderful team, another mother-daughter team who are the authors of the book called Meet Willow. They lead a breakout session on being unique just the way you are, and they actually have hands-on activities, a live doll that they have. And they are just amazing on the tour. I also have on my team Ms. Erica Vincent, she’s a pastor’s wife but has a lot of background in emotional wellness and youth leadership. So she’s on the team too and she helps lead breakout sessions on youth leadership. I also have teamed up with many, many other — I know you said we have limited time, many, many others that are on the team as well that are just dynamic leaders in the community and role models, from social workers, mental health therapists, counselors, other leaders in the community that work with me to support the girls, so a lot.

Marisa Wojcik:

Yeah, as a pediatrician

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes.

Marisa Wojcik:

You’re working with young girls every day. What are the issues that you’re seeing these girls face that is motivating you to spread your message?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, this is really interesting. So, over my training to become a pediatrician, we have to go through many different aspects of pediatrics, and some of the things that I saw during my training that really stuck with me, I’ll never forget the young girls that would come into the hospital after attempting suicide, but then they would wake up. And they did not complete it. And so we would be focusing on all the medical issues, I’ll never forget a young girl tried to hang herself, but her family found her seconds before she died and flew her on the Flight for Life in the air and brought her to the hospital. So we were doing emergency things to put in different medications, and life-saving things we were doing, and in my head all I could think about is, how could this have been prevented? If I would’ve met this young girl, a year or two years before, what are supports from the community we could’ve put in place to help? And then when I started to see similar situations like that happen over and over and over again, when we’re treating the medical aftermath of it, then I really knew that this is definitely- it was just confirmation that we really need to continue this work outside of the clinic walls.

Marisa Wojcik:

Those sound like really tough issues, how do you stay positive when you’re kind of dealing with some of that stuff every day?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yeah, so I am encouraged by the fact that we have a huge team within the hospital system medical field, and then outside of it that really cares about young girls, and are willing to help and find things we can do, so that encourages me. When I go to these events, and I just see the work being done, I see glimmers of hope and that’s what keeps me encouraged. Yeah, so, that’s what I do.

Marisa Wojcik:

How does motivational steps and being positive lead to better health outcomes?

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, that is a great question. So one of the things that I’m really passionate about in a lot of the work that I do when I’m acting as a medical physician, I mainly work in newborn nursery doing labor and deliveries, and as a pediatrician, we take care of new babies in the hospital. So a lot of people always ask me, what in the world does that have to do with going out and singing and rapping and talking to young girls? But I’ll explain it since you asked. So, Wisconsin is now — based on a recent report by the CDC that came out earlier in January, we’re now ranked number one in the nation for African-American infant mortality rates. That’s basically the rate of black babies dying before they reach age one. We have one of the worst rates in the entire nation for African-American infant mortality. And so a lot of people look at different things that contribute to that, and there are many things that contribute to that, but what we’re seeing is that it’s a life-course approach that we need to take. Not just taking care of black women while they’re pregnant, but the things that happen across the span of their entire life. While they’re teenagers, even while they’re kids, those things impact their birth outcomes and their reproductive potential later on in life. So how can we prevent when babies are dying, when moms are having babies too early and too soon? We need to support them while they’re pregnant, but also before they’re pregnant, but also when they’re teens and preteens as well, so that’s how a lot of my work is connected. I can’t give specific examples of patients that we see, but when girls have positive body image, when they know more about their bodies, when they have self-esteem, when they know how to combat adverse childhood experiences, which we know are linked to poor health outcomes, but having resilience and social support, and mentorship and relationships with positive and steady individuals in their life, that can combat some of the things- that poor health outcomes related to adverse childhood experiences if we provide support and teach them resilience. So that is how it’s connected. And then it can help them later on in life when they’re older. So it can help prevent infant mortality as well. (laughs)

Marisa Wojcik:

So you’re in it for the long haul.

Jasmine Zapata:

I am, it’s prevention at its finest.

Marisa Wojcik:

Now this is an international tour.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yeah.

Marisa Wojcik:

It truly is an international tour.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, let me explain it. So the movement is international. So I was so blessed to have partnered with — I met a lady named Lesley Sager, she actually works in the School of Human Ecology, but she has a foundation called the Merry-Go-Strong foundation that does a lot of work in Kenya, and so she was able to- she got my books and she was able to connect me with an organization called the Samburu Girls Foundation. And so they’re out of Kenya, and what they do is they rescue girls from childhood marriage, female genital mutilation, basically a female circumcision, and other practices that are just so hard on these young girls, and they rescue them and then they sponsor their education. So, long story short I was able to connect with the founder of the Samburu Girls Foundation, her name is Josephine, and her work has been recognized internationally even by former President Obama, so she was actually in Madison for an international women’s day event, and Lesley connected us, and so we came up with this amazing plan to get the Girls Empowerment books to Kenya so the books got translated into Swahili, and then a huge shipment just went over in May to all the girls there, and so- this book and this movement is their curriculum for their emotional health empowerment over there. And we have some upcoming opportunities to actually travel there and take this there. I’ve had requests, but we’re working on the funding and the sponsorships for getting my entire team over there, which we’re figuring out but I believe that it can happen.

Marisa Wojcik:

Do you see your work growing even bigger than kind of what it is now?

Jasmine Zapata:

Definitely, I have a huge vision for this. We’ve been invited to come other places, like different places all over the country, and then I just got an email the other day that they wanted- a lady from South Africa wanted us to come, but I’m like, okay, we’ll make it happen. (laughs) So I do have a huge vision for this. I’m working- it has been incorporated into different schools and churches’ small groups where they’re using it as a curriculum, because it’s- the way that the book is set up is discussion questions at the end of each chapter, so it can be used in small groups and as a curriculum, so my dream is to get it incorporated into actual curriculums, and then to be able to expand our conferences. And then travel with the message because it’s so important.

Marisa Wojcik:

Can you share with us a little bit of your Beyond Beautiful rap?

Jasmine Zapata:

Sure! I’m a little nervous, because this is live, and everybody — okay, I’ll do it, but first, you have to take the Beyond Beautiful pledge.

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

So, I’m going to read you the poem.

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

Okay. Today will be a great day, you have to say it.

Marisa Wojcik:

Oh, I repeat after you?

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m going to do the rap if you take the pledge.

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay, so I repeat after you?

Jasmine Zapata:

Repeat after me, yes.

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

Today will be a great day.

Marisa Wojcik:

Today will be a great day.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’ll achieve all I set my mind to.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’ll achieve all I set my mind to.

Jasmine Zapata:

I cannot be stopped.

Marisa Wojcik:

I cannot be stopped.

Jasmine Zapata:

I can do anything I want to.

Marisa Wojcik:

I can do anything I want to.

Jasmine Zapata:

Because I’m beyond beautiful.

Marisa Wojcik:

Because I’m beyond beautiful.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m beyond beautiful.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m beyond beautiful.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m courageous.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m courageous.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m resilient.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m resilient.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m confident.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m confident.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m creative.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m creative.

Jasmine Zapata:

I am talented,

Marisa Wojcik:

I am talented,

Jasmine Zapata:

Intelligent,

Marisa Wojcik:

Intelligent,

Jasmine Zapata:

Unique,

Marisa Wojcik:

Unique,

Jasmine Zapata:

And innovative.

Marisa Wojcik:

And innovative.

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m worth it.

Marisa Wojcik:

I’m worth it

Jasmine Zapata:

I deserve it.

Marisa Wojcik:

I deserve it.

Jasmine Zapata:

I am treasured.

Marisa Wojcik:

I am treasured.

Jasmine Zapata:

I am loved.

Marisa Wojcik:

I am loved.

Jasmine Zapata:

I deserve

Marisa Wojcik:

I deserve

Jasmine Zapata:

Every blessing

Marisa Wojcik:

Every blessing

Jasmine Zapata:

That is coming from above.

Marisa Wojcik:

That is coming from above.

Jasmine Zapata:

Do you believe that?

Marisa Wojcik:

I do.

Jasmine Zapata:

You do believe that?

Marisa Wojcik:

I do.

Jasmine Zapata:

Alright, when everybody else in the world may talk about you, or say negative things about you, you have the power to speak life and positivity over yourself. I said I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was five years old. And I had people who believed in me, but I had a lot of people who said that I couldn’t make it and hard times that happened in my life, but I had to say declarations like these or even this exact one has helped me through a lot every single day. So that’s what I want you to think about as I do this, okay?

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

I don’t have my background track or music, so you gotta — will you help me keep the beat?

Marisa Wojcik:

Sure.

Jasmine Zapata:

Will you be my back-up person?

Marisa Wojcik:

Sure.

Jasmine Zapata:

My hype person? Okay, we can snap.

Marisa Wojcik:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

Okay.

Jasmine Zapata:

Today will be a great day.

I’ll achieve all I set my mind to.

I cannot be stopped.

I could do anything I want to.

Why? ’cause I’m beyond beautiful.

Ayy! I’m beyond beautiful.

I’m courageous.

I’m resilient.

I’m confident.

I’m creative.

I am talented, intelligent, unique, and innovative.

I’m worth it.

I deserve it.

I am treasured.

I am loved.

I deserve every blessing that is coming from above.

Jasmine Zapata:

Okay, I’m going to stop there.

Marisa Wojcik:

All right! (laughs)

Jasmine Zapata:

I’m going to stop there, but that’s just a little bit of it. But I have whole music and stuff behind it and I get really pumped up, but–

Marisa Wojcik:

And people will have to come to one of the conferences to see the full —

Jasmine Zapata:

Exactly, to see the full — (laughs)

Marisa Wojcik:

Well thank you so much for joining us, and telling us about your empowerment tour, and how it works, and we can provide a link so that people can get more information.

Jasmine Zapata:

Yes, that would be great!

Marisa Wojcik:

And if you like this interview, please share it and we want to hear your comments, we want to hear from you. For more from Here & Now and WPT, visit WPT.org and thanks for joining us on Noon Wednesday.