HAVE YOUR SAY: 02071930174
As part of the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence’s 10th Anniversary celebrations this year, a ground breaking education conference is due to take place on Saturday April 29th. The event, titled Preparing Our Children For Excellence aims to push forward and features a range of practitioners & experts who have been instrumental in developing educational theory & practice – towards fulfilling a vision of Excellence including Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka, Bro. David Simon, Sis. Amitiye Lumumba and Bro. ShakaRa.
The conference aims to explore themes such as: State of Emergency: Survival Strategies; 60yr Impact of British Schools on Black Children; Effective Tools for Home Schooling and Black Youth, the media & the 21st Century: Defining Success. The event runs from 12pm-6pm and takes place at Trinity Methodist Church Hall, 274 High Road Leyton, E10 5PW. Admission is :£5 (https://www.alkebulan.org/preparingourchildrenforexcellence/)
Internationally respected scholar, educator, institution builder and author Baba Kwame Agyei Akoto defines Afrikan centered education as:
”The codification or systematic expression of Afrikan people’s will to recover, recreate and perpetuate our cultural heritage. As a dynamic enterprise, it enriches that culture as it acts to illuminate it, as it attempts enculturate the people whose collective and historical experiences are shaped by that culture.” (1)
The fruits of the more than five decades of grappling with the UK education system have, not surprisingly, delivered results far short of this ideal, even if the current narrative purports to be one of success, albeit limited. So when The Voice Online reported: “African Pupils Excel While Their Caribbean Counterparts Sink,” the article goes on to reveal that “African” (56.8%) pupils are performing above the national average (56.6%) for A*-C grades, including maths and English while “Caribbean” students are languishing nearly ten percentage points behind at 47%. (2)
Then again it is arguable that Akoto’s assertion applies to each culture as part of what Mama Marimba Ani would call it’s Asili, or its cultural seed. (3) Therefore, the objective of the UK education system would be to “recover, recreate and perpetuate” European cultural heritage. In this conception, Afrikan success is only valid insofar that it achieves the primary objective – maintenance of the European status quo.
The apparent absence of a collective vision for Afrikan education in the UK context has meant that European culture has resolutely filled this vacuum and in the process stymied the very idea, let alone the practice of establishing viable, self-sustaining Afrikan centered education institutions. Indeed as Dr Kehinde Andrews, one of the leading Afrikan-Centered scholars in the UK, lamented:
“The ultimate Black radical goal of Black independent schools being nowhere on the horizon…” (4)
In this sense the key issue is given that it is highly unlikely that such a vision can be created from within the confines of the UK system what would need to happen outside of this for it to be developed and is that possible.
(1) Kwame Agyei Akoto (04/04/17) Nationbuilding: Theory and Practice in Afrikan Centered Education. Pan Afrikan World Institute. p. 94. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Gov-t-to-set-up–10-m-trust-for-survivors-of-1963-Coral-Gardens-incident
(2) Elizabeth Pears (07/02/2015) African Pupils Excel While Their Caribbean Counterparts Sink. http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/african-pupils-excel-while-their-caribbean-counterparts-sink.
(3) Ani, Marimba (1994) Yurugu: An African-centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior. Africa World Press. p. xxv.
(4) Kehinde N. Andrews (2010) Back to Black: Black Radicalism and the Supplementary School Movement. PhD Thesis. p. 137
So tonight we ask the question:
Do we have a vision of Excellence for our children’s education?
1. Will you be attending the Preparing Our Children For Excellence conference?
2. Has our education agenda substantively advanced in the last 50 years?
3. Are there any existing examples that can be used to develop the vision?
4. Do too many of us have too much faith in the UK system even it’s taken more than 50 years to be ”average”?
5. Is an Afrikan-Centered paradigm even conceivable in the current climate?
Our very special guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwindnewspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Guide To Excellence.
Dr Keith Davidson: is an Education Consultant, Leadership Coach and Mentor. He has been a management and leadership practitioner for over 30 years, operating in both the private and public sectors. He has also served on a number of boards and committees and has worked as an Ofsted School Inspector.
He was Principal of John Loughborough School in London from 1985 until 1993. He later served Education Director and Communication Director for the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and then the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists until 2010. Dr Davidson was awarded a Doctorate in Education (EdD) in 2003.
In 1990 Dr Davidson received the Scarlet Ibis Award for outstanding and meritorious service from the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission. In 1992 he was awarded Educator of the Decade (for service to the black community) by the Voice Newspaper. Dr Davidson was the London winner of the Department for Education and Skills award for Governor of the Year, and national runner up, in 2006. Most recently, he was awarded Outstanding Contribution to Parenting Symposium 2008, by the Kingston Restoration Company, Kingston, Jamaica.
Bro. David Simon: is an award winning author, educationalist and originator of the Simon Education Method, and founder of the Ebony Saturday Schools. He is author of How to Unlock Your Child’s Genius(and seven workbooks in the series), How to Unlock Your Family’s Genius, How To Homeschool Your Child (a definitive guide assisting the growing number of Black Home Schooling families in the UK) and the novels Garvey’s Last Soldier and Railton Blues.
Sis. Amitiye Lumumba: is the Co-Ordinator of the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence and is a veteran community historian and educator that has lent her immense talents to establishing numerous community education institutions. Sis. Amitiye was the recipient of the Community Activism prize at the PowerSis 2015 Women Of Substance Awards.
Hear weekly discussions and lively debate on all issues affecting the Afrikan community, at home and abroad. We talk it straight and make it plain!
ASwA Hosted by Sis Kai Ouagadou-Mbandaka and Bro ShakaRa
CLICK HERE to view latest AFRIKA SPEAKS show details. Leave a comment and contribute to the discussion.
Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan
Galaxy Radio | 102.5fm | http://www.galaxyafiwe.com (To listen live)
HAVE YOUR SAY: 02071930174
MONDAY 8pm-10pm
International Listeners:
4-6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time
12-2 pm Pacific Standard Time
1-3 pm Mountain Standard Time
2-4 pm Central Standard Time
3-4 pm Eastern Standard Time