When was the last time you made use of our African ancestors’ wisdom? Do you currently use this knowledge whenever you join family engagement activities? If this happened a long time ago or not at all, we invite you to read our article.
As parents and as African-Americans, we have a responsibility to provide our children with the most culturally accurate information. This will ultimately end up serving them during their adulthood. The Village Method is dedicated to this endeavor.
What happens when we, as their parents and educators, stop or fail to be in tune with the very core of our African ancestry? We end up raising culturally unaware children who ignore their history and fail to learn anything from it. Regular after school activities are simply not sufficient. That’s why, we must tend to our children’s needs attentively and continuously through ongoing family engagement.
In this article, we’ll show you the meaning of an old, African proverb and how it continues to apply to our community today. Keep on reading!
The Wisdom of Our Ancestors Impacts Modern Family Engagement
The proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.” is the core of African philosophy when it comes to the education of our youth. Like many other things that belong to our community, this profound, African saying has been appropriated by the culture at large, which fails to acknowledge its initial meaning and context, as well as its impact on our current community outreach efforts.
Unique African perspectives can only be inculcated through community outreach programs. We, at The Village Method, have identified the need for culturally responsive programs that will enable our youth to get into college and become well-rounded adults.
The reality is that many organizations, such as The Village Method, are often overlooked. This happens because our people are not fully aware of the importance of building and nurturing communities. Connecting with like-minded individuals who share your history, struggles, and ambitions is an essential component when it comes to raising our children in today’s America.
Parents Must Prioritize Family Engagement
Family engagement is still a sadly overlooked concept. Educators continue to have a deficit-based view of our families and insist on providing our young ones with an education that is in no way empowering and accurate.
Have you ever heard of Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III? He was an African-American scholar who dedicated most of his life to the restoration of historical balance. He was a pioneer of liberation whose main belief was that our rich African heritage should be intensively taught in schools.
He was also a traveler, visiting Africa countless times in order to study our ancestors’ ways of living. He was also an esteemed Egyptologist who sought the knowledge of Nile Valley civilizations. Dr. Hilliard believed that the real history of African-Americans must become a part of the curriculum.
People like Dr. Asa Hilliard are the reason why we do what we do. We believe that the only way to stop systemic racism in the classroom is to take a look at the undeniable richness of our culture. Tolerating an agenda that enables our youth to be systematically discredited and belittled is a disgrace to the African pioneers who fought for our emancipation.
We must use parental engagement as a liberatory strategy. With the help of open-minded educators, we can collaborate and create a safe space for equity-based learning. With the help of after school activities, we can encourage our children to become part of a ‘village’ that supports and motivates them to achieve their innermost dreams.
Joining the Collective Efforts of The Village Method
It goes without saying that first-generation college students face many obstacles throughout their academic journeys. It suffices to say that without constant, early-on family engagement activities and empowering after school programs, our youth faces the world without a safety net. Community outreach programs are vital for them.
We are fully responsible for our children’s long-term well-being. We must come together and invest in the building of ‘villages’. This is what The Village Method is all about. We believe that we can build one with your help. According to the Afterschool Alliance, after school programs keep children out of trouble, help them build necessary skills, give working parents peace of mind, and could also ensure that our youth gets into college much more easily.
We’re not just offering regular after school activities. What we do goes beyond the limitations of the curriculum and allows our youth and their parents to soar higher than ever before. We are committed to academic excellence and nurture it from the earliest stages. This is how we raise the strong men and women of tomorrow, by prioritizing parental engagement. We need your help. We cannot do this by ourselves.
The Conclusion Is…
The Village Method is a Black-owned, community-based grassroots organization that specializes in providing culturally responsive programs that revolve around parental engagement, youth development, and community outreach programs. We don’t provide after school programs without substance. Instead, we’re all about providing a safe space where our children can evolve.
It is our mission to watch our youth prosper today and years from now. However, we need your help in order to achieve our grand mission. How exactly can you help us? You can do three things — either donate by sponsoring a child, volunteer, or simply share our cause with your friends and family! Support The Village Method now!