Ashenda is Black Girl Magic on steroids. The tradition of honoring girls and young women has deep roots in Tigrian culture. In Tigray, the girls prepare by braiding their hair in traditional styles and by wearing beautifully embroidered dresses. Then wearing grassy-skirts to represent the upcoming harvest season and carrying a drum, the girls spend the day going from door-to-door, village to village singing praises for their community who in turn gives them gifts.
In Colorado, we use Ashenda to honor our girls and young women and help them achieve their goals.
The City and County of Denver has passed a proclamation (Proclamation No. 23-1332) honoring the celebration of Ashenda in Colorado. We worked hard with The Denver-Axum Sister Cities to get this recognition and achievement.
The City Council of Denver has recognized our incredible contributions to the city, our commitment to our community and our efforts to build stronger global connections.