Empowering Black Gymnasts: Diversity & Mentorship with Brown Girls Do Gymnastics

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:00:05) – I think brilliance mode is being able to be authentically you in the spaces that you love, for you’re passionate about being able to live your truth.

**Derrin Moore** (00:00:16) – I think that wherever whatever you feel like wakes you up in the morning and makes you happy is where your brilliance is. gymnastics can be a part of that. It can be a way to get to it. But whatever gets you going is is your brilliance mode.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:00:34) – Welcome to the Black Gymnast Olympic Dreams edition of the Resilience to Brilliance podcast, where you’ll be inspired by the history and eye opening accounts from Olympians who lived the dream. I’m your host, Kim Hamilton Anthony.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:00:49) – Here we go.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:00:54) – The Black Gymnast Olympic Dream edition of Resilience to Brilliance is a short podcast series dedicated to the young black gymnasts and their families out there who have the Olympic dream. In the 2024 Olympic Trials, you will likely see more black gymnasts competing at this level than ever before. So I thought I would bring on some individuals who could provide some encouragement and advice for these young athletes who are watching and their families on how to navigate this sport of gymnastics while still embracing the skin they’re in.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:01:25) – I also wanted to bring on those who can help us learn a bit about black gymnasts in history and those who can, of course, share their own resilience stories on what it took to achieve their Olympic dreams. On this episode, we have Darrin Moore and Melanie Sinclair from Brown Girls Do Gymnastics. Melanie Sinclair was a five time US National team member and nine time All-American at the University of Florida, and she performed as an acrobat for Cirque du Soleil for almost eight years. Currently, Melanie is the CEO of Miss Fitness and the Director of Youth Performance for Brown Girls Do Gymnastics. Darrin Moore has coached gymnastics for over 25 years, and some of her athletes have actually gone on to become state, regional and national champions. She is the owner of Flight Gymnastics and Circus in Decatur, Georgia, and the founder of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, where she is helping to guide Brown and black gymnast through their acrobatic careers. I had a moving conversation with Melanie and Darrin about their journeys and how they are actually enhancing what the gymnastics community looks like.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:02:40) – Let’s listen. Hi Darrin and Melanie. Welcome to resilience to Brilliance. I am so happy to have you on today.

**Derrin Moore** (00:02:52) – Thank you. Thanks for having us.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:02:54) – You’re welcome. Darrin. You’re the founder of Brown Girls do Gymnastics. Now, I’ve been following you for years now and just cheering you on from afar. So tell me, what led you to start the organization?

**Derrin Moore** (00:03:10) – Well, first of all, that makes me feel amazing because of course, I’ve heard of you and had no idea that you were watching. So thank you for watching us. when people ask me that question, there’s so many answers because I think as time went and like my journey in gymnastics, there was always a want for something like this. But specifically what happened was, I saw Brown Girls do Ballet one day just well, I was following them, but one day saw, a post from Brown Girls Do Ballet and they asked what should they do this year? And I said, start a gymnastics one. And so she reached out to me and I was like, you should do it yourself.

**Derrin Moore** (00:03:46) – So I wasn’t going to do it because I owned a gym and I was busy and, you know, doing my own thing. And I think I was pregnant, too. and, she told me to get the domain. And so I just went and got the domain. And once I started, like, thinking about, you know what? This is something that you’ve really kind of wanted to do. It’s just packaged in a different way. So just do it. So we started posting on Instagram and that wasn’t enough. And then we came up with the idea to do this conference. So every step has been a little bit of we need this too. So we add something else. We need this too and we add something else. so that was the specific, reason why we started gymnastics. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:04:26) – So what was the conference. Tell me about that. So that was that the first event that you did? Not necessarily a camp, but a conference?

**Derrin Moore** (00:04:34) Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:04:35) What type of resources did you provide?

**Derrin Moore** (00:04:37) – Yeah, a lot actually.

**Derrin Moore** (00:04:39) – It ended up being really cool. we were in College Park, a suburb of Atlanta. We wanted to bring together the parents and the gymnast, and so we had about 45 girls that first year. We had, the first black judge in Georgia who came. her name is Lisa Wheaton. She came out and did a workshop. Brittany McCullough did a workshop. Her dad came and did a workshop all about scholarships. And back then, of course, there was no NIL. And so he talks a lot about like, what to stay away from so your gymnasts can get a scholarship or what, you know, wouldn’t be denied scholarship. as far as,

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:05:17) – Compliance.

**Derrin Moore** (00:05:18) – Thank you. Oh my goodness. Yes. Compliance. I couldn’t think of the word. So that was his workshop. We had a parent who talks about her daughter was a level ten. Well, she had graduated but had been a level ten. And talks about, when your daughter goes through puberty and what you do as a, as a mom or as a parent.

**Derrin Moore** (00:05:37) – So I guess there’s some dads out there that have that too. We had medical doctors talk about injury prevention or when to take your gymnasts to the E.R.. We had about eight different workshops, the one that was everybody’s favorite. We started naming it Brown Table Talk. and it was all these, moms who had, gymnasts who either were like older club gymnasts or had graduated and now collegiate gymnasts. It was like a round table. And parents just ask them all the questions that they, you know, wanted to know from a veteran mom. And then we had the girls were there to train.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:06:13) – So you said that was a favorite.

**Derrin Moore** (00:06:15) – That definitely was a favorite. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:06:17) – The brown table talk. Where did you find all of these people? How did how how did you recruit them to come to your event?

**Derrin Moore** (00:06:25) – You know, I think once we put it out, we just, people just started reaching out to us. It was something that was really needed. I knew we needed it from, like, my gym and my girls.

**Derrin Moore** (00:06:37) – But I didn’t realize how impactful it would be. I knew it would be impactful and I didn’t know how impactful. So there was a group of girls who came from Florida altogether. and that’s where Darion’s mom came from. There was a group who came from Texas, the mom who reached out, who did the workshop on, like, going through puberty. Her daughter actually found us because we were campaigning for HBCU gymnastics at the time, and her daughter wanted to compete for an HBCU and realized that there were no gymnastics. Yeah. So her mom got involved that way. Lisa Wheaton, the judge we had coached together for years. I call her, call her one of my gym mamas. And so she was the judge who came so just from me coaching for years. And once we put it out, people just started reaching out to us. So. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:07:25) – Nice. Now, Melanie, how did you end up connecting with Darren?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:07:29) – Funny enough, I was in Atlanta for a hour. I was in Cirque and we were in Atlanta and we were performing in Atlanta, and Darrin reached out to me probably, I think in the beginning, we were in the beginning of the city run, and she knew that the show was in town.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:07:47) – She, she, I believe she knew we were following each other on social media. And so she knew I was a part of the show. And she reached out and she owned a gym locally, and it was called…

**Derrin Moore** (00:08:00) In Flight

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:08:00) In Flight. And she had, gymnast and circus artists that she was training in a amazing little suit, not studio, but gym. And, I don’t even know the area out of Atlanta and…

**Derrin Moore** (00:08:17) – It’s studio. You’re right. Because it’s tiny. It was tiny.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:08:21) – She had reached out and she had asked if I could come and speak with her athletes and just talk about. Talk about the journey. Talk about the journey. Talk about where we are. Talk about after. Talk about life and search. Talk about my career. Talk about all of the things. And that is kind of what propelled this relationship between the two of us. I went. It was an awesome opportunity. I was able to speak with them, and then it was a cool time for Darrin and I to just, I guess, build this relationship.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:08:55) – And then she started Brown Girls Gymnastics, and it was only natural at that point. I felt when she reached out to me to see if I wanted to be a part of it or have some kind of involvement in it, to be a part of it, and to, to see how I can continue to make an impact on girls who look like myself.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:09:16) – Yeah. So you were in on it right at the beginning. At the very beginning.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:09:21) – I was going to say, was it the beginning?

**Derrin Moore** (00:09:23) – Pretty close to the beginning.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:09:25) – Okay. Now, what do the two of you and your team wish to accomplish with Brown Girls do Gymnastics. What’s your mission?

**Derrin Moore** (00:09:31) – Our mission is to advocate for brown girls, just generally for the sport of gymnastics and anything acrobatic. So even circus, I was involved in circus too. Like, well, not like Mel, but, because of course, we know Mel is amazing.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:09:45) – She is.

**Derrin Moore** (00:09:46) – But as far as… Doing contemporary circus, circus, like, changed my life.

**Derrin Moore** (00:09:50) – So I definitely wanted to incorporate that. To advocate for them is our general mission. What I’d love to see is obviously more HBCUs, more brown girls, more brown girls doing gymnastics, but also more coaches, more owners, more judges, just more black and brown folks involved in the sport as a whole. Because I don’t think things are going to change. The impact that you won’t feel the impacts until you see more black and brown people in the sport holistically. So that’s my personal goal. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:10:21) – I agree with what you said. By opening up the playing field, providing opportunities, providing encouragement, you’re going to see the sport change. Because I came from an era where I had one person to look up to, and there were very few of us, and I think I absolutely know there are so many kids out there with such a gift, and we’re starting to see that more and more now because of what you do. So I am excited about your mission, and I also want you to talk about some practical ways you’ve been able to advocate and support black gymnasts.

**Derrin Moore** (00:11:01) – Yeah. I think the biggest way that we advocate is through our conference, honestly, we are educating our parents and our girls to be able to advocate for themselves. So you see a lot of our gymnasts who make themselves smaller and a lot of parents who make themselves smaller because they don’t want to be looked at as either the only one or the angry black mom, or the kid who causes problems because she’s not fitting in. So I think our our advocacy happens by existing, honestly. There’s also a bit of our, advocacy through, we have a program called Become a Judge where, Jasmine Swyningan, she’s one of our she’s on our board. She’s, director of judging, where she is educating folks, about the process of being a judge. So being able to for for the parents and the girls to see that there are brown and black judges, who are there for being able to come into gyms or talk to gyms and explain to them in a way that they’re not saying that they’re being discriminated against only because of skin color, but because there is a difference in who they are.

**Derrin Moore** (00:12:06) – and these microaggressions, you might not be just the full out racist, I don’t want to make, you know, make it seem like we’re calling folks out, but the microaggressions are there. And so for us, being able to be the voice for them and them not having to go into their gyms themselves, and feel like all the pressure will be on them, I think that helps a lot and is impactful in a lot of ways.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:12:29) – What are some examples of those microaggressions that you are hearing about?

**Derrin Moore** (00:12:34) – Currently, Dominique Dawes just did an interview with NBC all about her experience of being a black girl in gymnastics, a brown girl in gymnastics, and when they published the article, they used a picture of Betty Okino. So that in itself like,

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:12:48) No!

**Derrin Moore** (00:12:49) – It’s huge. It’s like, yeah,

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:12:50) – Oh my goodness.

**Derrin Moore** (00:12:53) – They look nothing alike.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:12:55) No.

**Derrin Moore** (00:12:56) – Their body types are different. They you know, they just look totally different. And so

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:13:03) – This is NBC.

**Derrin Moore** (00:13:05) – Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:13:07) – Oh, my goodness.

**Derrin Moore** (00:13:09) – So again, is that micro-aggression or is that macro at this point. Because that’s that’s kind of big, you know.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:13:15) – That’s, that is very big because there are she is all over the internet. All you have to do is Google and you can find the right picture of her.

**Derrin Moore** (00:13:25) – Exactly. All you gotta do is Google.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:13:28) – Simple as that. Melanie, do you have any stories of some things that you’re hearing as well from black gymnasts and what they’re experiencing?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:13:37) – I have a specific situation with myself.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:13:41) – Okay. Yeah.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:13:42) – I remember specifically being at a an NCAA competition and doing I was in bar finals in Utah and doing my bar routine in finals up against some of the best gymnasts in the world, of course, and or an NCAA and it pretty much you can tell. As the routines go, you can tell like who the top contenders are and what their scores are, and kind of gauge competition and like, know, know, your competition. and it came up to me and another girl and I hit a solid routine which I knew was a ten. Hit my handstands, all the things and stuck my landing.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:14:26) – And I didn’t get a ten. And the young lady that went against me did. And come to find out, it was about my my body shape, my body, the way my body looked in handstands and I was, you know, I was curvy. I have, you know. Hips and all the things. And even though I hit straight lines to their eyes of judges, I did not get the execution that they thought I. Sorry, I did not get the execution I thought I deserved because they thought that because of my curves it was not. Straight lines. It was not, up to par in comparison to my competitor.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:15:14) – Now, when you say that they didn’t think the straight line, is that an assumption you’re making, or is that something you actually heard?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:15:22) – I heard it. And leave it at that.

**Derrin Moore** (00:15:28) – That’s one of the reasons why we brought, Lisa on for the conference. Because she she’s been around judges who she’s had to correct because of that. It’s one of the things that we are trying to educate other judges, like, look at the center line in the leotard.

**Derrin Moore** (00:15:45) – If that line is straight, their body is straight. If they have, just because they have a butt doesn’t mean that that the line isn’t there. So to Mel’s point like I didn’t hear it but I believe you 100%. It’s happening.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:16:01) – Yeah. Yeah. And Melanie I am so sorry that happened. And it goes on far too often even today. And you talk about the judging situation… back when I was living. I won’t even say the state I was living in because of the level I was able to reach as a U.S. National Team Member, I could automatically qualify to judge at the highest level. And when I went to do that, which I was excited about, the judges in my state would not allow me to. They said I would need to start at level four and work my way up, just like they had to do. And I don’t know….what that was about. I don’t know whether I was the only one discouraged, but there were others who competed during the same time that I competed, and they were allowed to do that.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:16:59) – And so it’s disheartening for sure.

**Derrin Moore** (00:17:03) – I know we can’t get into the specifics of where you were, but, one of our judges, judges in the whatever region Minnesota is in, I won’t say names, even though I think you could probably figure it out, but that region has two Brown judges. Okay. two in the entire region. So I just like you said, you can’t you can’t say for sure that that’s the reason why. But if this is the way that it’s been forever for them, and to have somebody come in and disrupt that in any way, it’s probably a problem for a lot of people. Right. And so we should just come down to Georgia and do it here.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:17:49) – Well, I remember, not too long before she passed away, Diane Durham called me and was trying to talk me into becoming a judge. She was like, Kimmy, we need you. And I was in a different phase of life where I wasn’t able to step into that space, but she was just talking about the need.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:18:10) – The two of us competed together and the 84 trials. So. Let’s talk about the HBCU scene. Back in, gosh, we just saw the first HBCU program started not too long ago with Corinne Wright Tarver as their head coach. Tell me what Brown Girls do Gymnastics is doing in that space.

**Derrin Moore** (00:18:37) – We are existing that in itself, and I know I said that before, is big for people. We’re in we’re in front of folks and we’re we’re loud about it in our way. So we are posting and talking and telling people that there aren’t well, at the time weren’t any HBCUs. With gymnastics programs. We’re talking to ADs and presidents. We’re talking to folks in the gymnastics community. We reached out to USA gymnastics to ask them to help us bring gymnastics to HBCUs. so we’re just making a lot of noise. and that translated to Fisk reaching out to us when they realized that there were no gymnastics programs at HBCUs, and they wanted to be the first. And so because we had made so much noise for a few years, they reached out for us to help them.

**Derrin Moore** (00:19:30) – and this was after Grambling reached out. Grambling reached out first. Grambling State University in Louisiana reached out first because they were interested. And they haven’t taken this the leap yet, but they are still wanting a gymnastics program.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:19:44) – Okay.

**Derrin Moore** (00:19:45) – We are helping recruit gymnasts, helping to recruit coaches, reaching out to community partners to help them. As far as training goes, we have a partner for apparel. Anything that’s needed from the HBCUs, we’re there to fill those gaps, where, you know, resources, they HBCU just don’t have those the same resources as the D1s And so we’re there to to fill that that for them. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:20:11) – Yeah that’s good I that was my next question. How is it funded. How are these new programs being funded. So basically you are going to businesses, individuals to find sponsorships for these teams. Yeah.

**Derrin Moore** (00:20:25) – Sponsorships and in-kind sponsorships, partnerships to help with, with anything that’s needed, even down to food sometimes because the, they’re not used to having to cater is the only word I can think of to a gymnast’s diet.

**Derrin Moore** (00:20:43) – So they’re going into the cafeteria and it’s like, oh, well, this is what the athletes eat. Well, yeah, because you have a football team or a basketball team. And we need to eat something different. So, yeah, anywhere, any way that we can, we’re there to, to help fill that.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:21:00) – I’m so excited about that.

**Derrin Moore** (00:21:03) – Thank you. We are too.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:21:05) – As you should be. I was actually a part of a group that was working or we were talking about trying to get gymnastics into HBCUs and to see that you are actually making it happen is beautiful. So thank you for your efforts. Thank you for just the hard work you’re putting in, the things that you’re doing to recognize the fact that we do need some extra support in those spaces, and you’re not afraid to try and you’re not afraid to be loud and you are being heard. It’s beautiful. I want to jump back into the US National Team. You know, you mentioned USA gymnastics. One of the things that we haven’t talked about was the fact that several years ago, USA gymnastics, I’m not sure if they still do this now, but they had a mentoring program and they would have former National Team Members mentor current National Team Members and they would we would fly in to Indianapolis, the headquarters, every year, and we’d meet and we talk about strategy and what we wanted to do to support the current team.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:22:12) – And I would be the only black gymnast in the room. Now, I got to share my personal story of what I experienced being a black gymnast at that high level. And you…could see the jaws drop. They could not believe some of the things that I had shared with them, and one privilege that I had as I was a mentor for USA gymnastics was being assigned to be Melanie’s mentor. So, Melanie, I want to ask you, what did it mean for you to have a mentor who looked like you?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:22:49) – The world. And I look back at it now as an adult, and I wish, I, I wish I held on to it a little bit longer, but just knowing that… I wasn’t the only one in that space. Was huge. And the the fact that at that moment we were in close proximity, I could drive to if I needed to. Our families bonded. It was deeper than just the the relationship, within the gym. And, it grew to like family.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:23:25) – I felt like you were family. And I think that was really valuable and really essential. And I do feel like at that point, I had this level of calmness in my career that I can now see, but I don’t know if I actually realized it at the moment. But I can now see like, yeah, like that when we had that relationship my gymnastics was was I felt like I felt all…avenues in my life were grounded, if that makes sense. and I think that’s that’s overlooked in a lot of, I don’t want to say gyms, but in a lot of families.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:24:09) – Yeah I mean you are it warms my heart to hear you reflect on that and what that meant to you. I didn’t have that and I wish that I had because gymnastics it’s a different sport. It’s it’s hard. There are a lot of things that we experience that we, you know, as black gymnast, can’t easily express to our coaches and to other athletes who may not look like us. And it’s you’re in a situation where sometimes you you feel like you have to explain yourself.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:24:44) – And, you know, we talk about the whole hair issue and traveling internationally and, and having to do your own hair when you know there’s so much to it. And, there’s so many different things that would seem so small to others that we as black gymnast, maybe have a challenge in doing. So, we think about gymnastics, and the title of this podcast is Resilience to Brilliance. What are some of the ways that you’ve seen black gymnasts be resilient in order to achieve their dreams?

**Derrin Moore** (00:25:20) – As as a gymnast. There’s already…You’re already up against a lot. Like you said, it’s hard, but it’s also alienating. Like, everybody’s not doing gymnastics, so you’re already alone in a lot of ways. And then to add on that, you’re a black gymnast or a brown gymnast, it’s even more alienating. So when it comes to, the resilience to brilliance, I think that being a black gymnast, to be able to push through, being alone, and feeling alienated in a lot of ways, yes…

**Derrin Moore** (00:25:54) – ..the hair and people think that that’s just so surface, but it’s really not your skin and the contrast of your skin. You can wear tiger paws, but they have to be nude tiger paws. Well, they’re not nude on me. So, you know, pushing through all of those things, and whatever level you get to in gymnastics, I feel like we’re seeing that brilliance. We’re seeing the girls overcome so much just to be able to do the sport that they love. So as long as they’re for me, as long as they’re happy and they’ve pushed through to get to even one step closer to what their goal may have been… that’s that’s the brilliance to me.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:26:35) – Yeah, I love that. Now, for the gymnast and the parent watching or listening right now. And they are pursuing their dream in gymnastics, whatever that is, and they may be experiencing some racial bias that makes them feel discouraged, and they’re not sure if they want to keep doing this. You know, they’re maybe telling themselves, you know what? I shouldn’t have to put up with this.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:27:04) – I shouldn’t have to deal with this. Maybe a parent is just saying, I don’t know how long I want my child to be in this environment. What kind of encouragement could you give them to help them to be resilient and hang in there no matter what?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:27:17) – I feel like perspective is huge. I think for. I can only give personal, experiences, to back my argument. But I feel like if your perspective is whatever your end goal may be, or whatever your dream may be, and you allow yourself to walk into that space intentionally and true to yourself within that space, no matter what anybody else says, I feel like the microaggressions and the things, yes, it will. It’s still there. It’s still present. But you, because you are walking in your truth confidently. I feel like they have, less impact on your morale or your self-esteem, and you’re able to walk a little bit more confidently within the within those spaces. So I’d say, you know, be encouraging to build their self-esteem and their truth and not to be not to be afraid to be authentically them.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:28:21) – Because at the end of the day, that is who you are. And like you only have one you. So no matter where you are, you should you should be confident in that. And if you are confident in that, then like all the other stuff, doesn’t matter.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:28:34) – That’s really good advice. Anything you want to add to that, Darren?

**Derrin Moore** (00:28:38) – I would say, and to find your people wherever they are. and then there are so many people now for you to look up to. Kim, obviously, back in your day, it was harder to find those people. it was hard in my day, but for you, your tiny bit. I’m not calling you old, but a tiny bit older than me.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:28:58) – Oh, you know what? It’s okay. I’m old. It’s been 40 years since I was. So it’s okay, I embrace it.

**Derrin Moore** (00:29:09) – Well, you look amazing. So.

**Derrin Moore** (00:29:11) – Black don’t crack, they say. Right? But, yeah. It’s it. Now, you don’t have to look so far.

**Derrin Moore** (00:29:18) – So find your people and, you know, make sure that you… That you have at least some space to be who you are, like 100%, without having to change anything or think about anything. Because even if you don’t change, it’s still the thought, you know, that somebody may be looking at you differently, but if you’re with your people, then it, you know, kind of gives you a little refresher, so you can keep going. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:29:46) – That’s so good. And if they don’t have people locally, they can follow you. They can go to your social media and find other girls who are in the same situation. So you know that you’re not alone. Yes. What’s the biggest need of Brown Girls do Gymnastics?

**Derrin Moore** (00:30:07) – Our really big need is sponsorship. We want to be able to have as many girls come to Brown Girls as possible. We would love to be able to give more scholarships to our conference and our camps. so sponsorships, in-kind and monetary is. That’s huge for us right now.

**Derrin Moore** (00:30:28) – We always… We’re always accepting volunteers, and then getting the word out, just more letting more people know or having more people know about brown girls, so. So they can find their people.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:30:38) – That’s good. So if someone wants to get involved with Brown girls do Gymnastics, whether it’s through sponsorship, volunteering or any of those things, how do they find you?

**Derrin Moore** (00:30:49) – BrownGirlsDoGymnastics.com. and we’re Brown Girls do Gymnastics everywhere. So whether it’s Instagram Facebook admin@BrownGirlsDoGymnastics.com is is the email to get in touch with us. You can find us anywhere by typing in Brown Girls do Gymnastics.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:31:05) – Wonderful. Thank you for that. Now, it’s time for me to ask you a question that I ask every single person I interview. And I’m going to make it a two part for this particular series. So the first question and I’ll have each of you take a turn answering, is what does living in brilliance mode look like for you?

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:31:25) – I think BrillianceMode is being able to be authentically you in the spaces that you love or you’re passionate about.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:31:35) – So, yeah, being able to live your truth.

**Derrin Moore** (00:31:39) – That’s good.

**Derrin Moore** (00:31:40) – BrillianceMode for me is, is being around, youth. It’s given back to the youth in ways that I didn’t have. And so when I’m allowed to work with youth and bring them any gifts that I may have gotten throughout the years, is where I feel like my power comes from. And the gift that God gave me, like my calling. I feel like it’s. I can feel it super strong when I’m around youth, who I can. Just feed, feed, feed. All of the gifts that have been around me. Yeah.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:32:22) – So do I. That’s powerful Derrin, it really is. And the final part of that question on brilliance mode is help the person listening, especially the gymnasts listening. What could living in BrillianceMode look like for her.

**Derrin Moore** (00:32:41) – When you wake up in the morning and. You think of the one thing that can make that will make you happy? That is your BrillianceMode. Like it could be.

**Derrin Moore** (00:32:53) – I want to be in the sun. And that’s where it’s going to start. It could be, I want to cook breakfast. That’s where it could be. I think that wherever, whatever you feel like, wakes you up in the morning and makes you happy is where your brilliance is. Gymnastics can be a part of that. It can be a way to get to it. But whatever gets you going is is your BrillianceMode.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:33:18) – That’s beautiful.

**Melanie Sinclair** (00:33:20) – I’m gonna let Derrin’s comment shine.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:33:24) – Okay. (Laughter) That was beautiful. That is something that I have not heard, and I think it is so applicable to life. It’s something easy. So when you get up in the morning, what makes you shine? What makes you feel like…shining for the rest of the day. Good stuff Derrin. Thank you very much. And I just want to thank you both for being on Resilience to Brilliance, especially this edition that is so dear to my heart. Thank you for everything that you’re doing to empower these young black gymnasts and their families to be resilient, whatever their journey is entailing, and wherever their journey may take them.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:34:04) – And also, the little girl in me thanks you. Because I didn’t have what you’re offering. And I’m just so grateful. I know what you do is likely not easy, but I’m so grateful for everything you’re doing to have an impact on these gymnasts and on this sport.

**Derrin Moore** (00:34:28) – Thank you so much. Thanks for having us. It means a lot to hear that. I’m sure for Mel, too. Y’all better stop crying in here. No. Thank you. You’re welcome.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:34:52) – Thank you so much for listening. If you want to learn more about Brown Girls do Gymnastics, check out our show notes on InBrillianceMode.com/podcast. And to connect with Brown Girls Do Gymnastics on Instagram. You can follow them @BrownGirlsDoGymnastics. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Resilience to Brilliance, please share it with others who may be encouraged by it. And to make sure you don’t miss future episodes, follow or subscribe to the Resilience to Brilliance podcast on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms. You can also follow me on Instagram @RealKimAnthony.

**Kim Hamilton Anthony** (00:35:30) – Any use of this podcast without the express written consent of BrillianceMode LLC is prohibited.