Multi-award winning R&B singer Mary J. Blige is a big believer in giving chances to aspiring young women.
She recently teamed with the Urban League to present New Yorker Camry Rosario with a check that represented a $50,000, four-year scholarship. The check was handed out at halftime of the New York Urban League football game between Howard and Morgan State on Saturday and it comes from Blige’s charity, the Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now.
Rosario will use it to attend Mercy College and major in physical therapy.
For the 39-year-old Blige, it was a matter of giving girls a chance she never had.
“It’s important for me to give back because I never had the chance to get what I wanted out of the educational system,” said Blige, whose commitment to the Urban League included participation in a panel discussion for 150 young women in May. “It’s what I didn’t have. But what I did have was a second chance at life.”
“I am these young women,” Blige said. “A lot of women think they’re not smart enough or strong enough to get the life. I want to give them a second chance. That’s been my message since the beginning of my singing career. “
“That’s been my message, and it still stands as my message. When you’re educated, you know where you’re going, and you know you can go further.”
This was Blige’s first year of commitment to the Urban League, following other luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey and the late George Steinbrenner.
