Black Girl MATHgic Aims to Increase Math Confidence in Black Girls

I want to live in a world where it is not socially acceptable to say you are not a math person,” says Brittany Rhodes, founder of Black Girl MATHgic, a monthly subscription box designed to increase math confidence and decrease math anxiety in black girls.

With a degree in mathematics and years of tutoring experience, Rhodes is committed to bringing math to the forefront. Each month, girls will receive a box containing a math lesson with an activity booklet based around a theme and dedicated to math activities along with writing reflection.

Rhodes says, “We are conditioned to believe you have to be good at writing or math, not both.” Three to five math-related items will bring the theme further to life along with a profile of a black woman mathematician. The parent guide helps the adult in her life with tips and an answer explanation key.

Lessons are of a third-to-eighth grade level, when girls are building their math foundation in school. Rhodes says, “These are the ages where they disengage in math.” The box tackles multiplication, division, symmetry, unit rate, budgeting, subtraction, angles, fractions, decimals and more, all for $39.95.

“I chose to focus on math, especially,” she says. “I applaud the STEM effort, but I think the effort treats math as the appetizer when it should be the entree.” Rhodes wants to eventually take the subscription box international, and a Black Boy MATHgic box is also in the works.