Have you ever heard of Dr. Asa Hilliard III? He was a highly esteemed teacher, psychologist, and historian of color. He chose to dedicate his life’s work to the betterment and enlightenment of our community. This incredible man’s work serves as a testament to the struggle that our people have had to endure throughout the centuries.
The Village Method is a community-based grassroots organization that draws its inspiration from scholars such as Dr. Asa Hilliard. We find ourselves resonating with his view on pushing an Afrocentric curriculum in schools. The Critical Race Theory is also fundamental in our eyes.
To put it shortly, Dr. Hilliard made it his mission to point out the intentional and therefore calculated alienation of our people. He believed that all people of African descent have been forced to accept European superiority through the deeply flawed educational system.
In this article, we’re going to take you through some of the main reasons why African-American communities should be built and nurtured. Are you ready to dig deeper in the topic?
Uncovering The Underrated Importance of Family Engagement
The curriculum in schools continues to underwhelm our youth. They are unaware of the historical achievements that we, as people of color, should be credited with. How do we counteract the lack of African education and tradition in schools? By fully embracing family engagement activities.
Because family engagement in schools is practically unheard of, we find ourselves in a position where we must actively seek out solutions for our children’s wellbeing. By signing up our young ones to wholesome, culturally empowering after-school activities, we’ll begin to notice plenty of positive changes. Our children’s behaviors and outlooks on their academic journeys will improve significantly.
It’s been proven that family engagement activities can help dismantle educational inequities. However, it’s important to mention that this is made possible only when they’re aimed at providing our children with historically accurate information. Too long have our people suffered at the hands of their oppressors. It’s time for a definitive reform.
Parental engagement should aim to bring our youth closer to the richness of our ancestral African culture. Since family engagement in schools is still an underrated concept, we highly encourage you to look into Black-owned after-school programs that aim for this type of collective awakening. The greater the fear and ignorance, the longer the battle with systemic racism.
Supporting Family Engagement Activities Based on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Social and Emotional Learning is one of the best educational frameworks currently available. It enables equity and excellence for all students, regardless of their economic backgrounds. Its main aim is to help bridge the gap between schools and families by creating a sense of community between the two.
Family engagement activities are largely based upon the Social and Emotional Learning framework. By nurturing healthy relationships between educators and parents, we’ll be able to finally face the rampant, systemic racism in schools. Our children deserve to be fully equipped with the tools that will enable them to pursue academic excellence.
The families’ expertise and cultural capital are hard to overlook. Every single parent is an expert when it comes to their children. Educators should be eager to understand and assimilate the parent’s expertise. Sadly, this is rarely the case. However, parental engagement activities based on Social and Emotional Learning manage to counteract this unfortunate reality.
Studying the Critical Race Theory (CRT)
The Critical Race Theory has been under attack in many states of our country. Why, you might wonder? Because silencing us is much more convenient than coming to terms with the irreparable damage caused by a consistently racist curriculum.
An academic concept that has been formulated nearly four decades ago, the Critical Race Theory aims to affirm the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of our people. Imagine a world where CRT is taught during one’s K-12 years. We like to think that racism would become endemic at that point.
The unabridged history of America is not a heroic one, as the curriculum might have us believe. In fact, it is imperious that we bring forth the truth with the help of the school curriculum. The earlier our children know the truth, the better it will be for people of color everywhere.
The Conclusion Is…
African-American communities can only be built and nurtured through equity-based activities. Family engagement is a crucial component, along with culturally affirming after-school activities that bring forth the real history of our people. The Critical Race Theory alongside Social and Emotional Learning will set the foundations for strong, indestructible communities.
The Village Method has always emphasized the vital importance of creating communities with like-minded individuals who are eager to give our incredibly rich cultural heritage its rightful credit. We invite you to explore our cause by visiting our website, volunteering, or simply making a donation. We thank you for your ongoing support and invite you to stay tuned for our next blog post!