01/14/2023
Our Farewell Message
Thank you to all the folks that have struggled tirelessly to make education better for African-American children. Thank you to those who have supported our efforts as well as supported others’ efforts who are trying to move the needle toward equity, health, and justice.
Despite our vision, dedication, passion, and conviction, and after 5 years of swimming upstream with very slow forward progress, we have come to accept that our exhaustion requires us to take a respite. We are saddened by the apparent defeat. However, as with all energy, ours is not lost but simply transformed.
I am reminded by one of our board members that the battle of this work has always been uphill. Structural racism in society, in philanthropy, and in the educational system in general play outsized roles in who controls the conversation around what the educational harms are and what needs to be done to repair them. There is not a critical number yet of those who want to change the status quo. We are not politicians, lawmakers, fundraisers, or members of the elite who shape policy. We are simply concerned with community members who want to make a change.
There are also layers of historical pain and internalized oppression in our larger community making it all the more difficult for our schools and organizations to simply thrive in the ways that they should and could. Even those among us who are well connected to powerful and wealthy networks struggle to find funding for the education of Black youth. We, a group of average community members, without such connections certainly found this to be even more true. As with everything, this journey was made even more challenging through the effects of the COVID pandemic.
Although our ultimate goal of opening an independent school that serves Black youth (SILE), and creating an institution of higher learning that could foster and further develop all of the reparative ideals needed to transform and revolutionize education for our children (AFRE), was not fully realized, we were successful in sprinkling a little water on the seeds already planted by those before us. This included among other things,
Hosting multiple community listening sessions to find out what community members found important in the education of their children
Learning from Black educators why they chose the independent school model over Charter School (and vice versa). Understanding the perceived benefits and limitations of each.
Hosting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) sessions for the youth in the community for free
Hosted a pilot teacher training session to test principles of restorative education with seasoned educators
Created a tutor training curriculum for community teens to be able to develop skills to both earn income and help younger children in need of academic assistance
Shared free home science videos on our social media platforms for children and their families.
Our inaugural fellow completed an oral history project interviewing community members about their experiences in education as children
Created multiple community partnerships to further the conversation about how we improve education for our community (including faith groups, other independent Black schools, tutoring specialists, philanthropists, educators, marketing specialists, fundraisers, parents, financial advisors, accountants, journalists and community allies among others.
Raised funds using various platforms to ensure fiscal sustainability of our efforts.
If you are following us on our social media platforms, you will notice a pause in activity. You will no longer be able to leave voicemail messages nor emails.
If you are a donor, the funds we have raised thus far will be donated to a local independent Black school of our Board’s choosing and you will receive updates accordingly.
If you are a parent that was hoping to send your child or children to our institution, please consider contacting other independent Black schools in the Bay Area including Ile Omode and Umoja House in Oakland and the Meadows Livingstone School in San Francisco.,
Thank you for all of your support!
The AFRE/SILE Founders:
Awana Black
Falating Nwagwu
Imani Nwagwu
Dr. Lasha Pierce
