Detroit program explores what it means to be beautiful inside and out

Khaalida English creates after-school program called Pretty Positive Girls

DETROIT – Young girls are bombarded each day with unrealistic images of what it means to be perfect, and often these images have a lasting effect.

Khaalida English is on a crusade to help girls combat those pressures.

"(The goal is) teaching them how to use positive affirmations, be positive toward other people, be positive about themselves," English said.

English created an after-school program called Pretty Positive Girls, which encourages third-, fourth- and fifth-graders to explore what it means to be beautiful inside and out.

"The program promotes that self-esteem and being positive about yourself, and a lot of the exposure that they get from that can be an impact," said English.

The girls learn everything from sewing to nutrition to yoga. English pushes the arts the most, with trips to the opera and ballet, as she had as a child.

"We have gone to the 'Swan Lake' ballet, we've been to the young orchestra concert," English said. "The parents are welcome to come too, and a lot of them have never been as adults or as children, and they all come out with that same kind of, 'Wow, you know, that was amazing. I want to go back.'"

Pretty Positive Girls is now operating in five Detroit-area schools. English hopes to expand her reach in the future, but for now is pleased with the impact that her program has had.

"I think that just the power of positive affirmation and the power of positive thinking is what was instilled in me as a child, so I try my best to put that message to anybody I come in contact with," English said.

Beauty is not skin deep. Khaalida English and Pretty Positive Girls are celebrating the power of positive thinking inside the heart of Detroit.

Heart of Detroit