BLACK 4 CHARITIES
Using the Principles of Kwanzaa to Build, Restore, and Celebrate our Cultural Creative Genius and Ingenuity
Fairwood (King Co.)
YOUTH-LED
Unincorporated Community Council (UCC)
Calling youth of all ages to discover their potential to positively impact their local community and leave it more beautiful and beneficial than they inherited it!! Join us and bring a friend! Paid youth participation stipends are limited. We will explore the process of forming an unincorporated community council (UCC). The entire community is invited!
Why We Do What We Do
Our Mission
BLACK 4 CHARITIES is Using the Principles of Kwanzaa to Build, Restore, and Celebrate our Cultural Creative Genius and Ingenuity. We exist to create, produce, and provide education that fosters family connection, personal development, and community benefit. We have intentionally centered our work around historically marginalized people, including Black/African-American and BIPOC youth and families.
Our Vision
BLACK 4 CHARITES remain committed to centering historically marginalized people and communities in every story we share and our programming. When we make room for everyone to share their stories, collective history, and creative cultural contributions, we experience the humanity of our community. We are utilizing all seven principles of Kwanzaa to connect with culture, heritage, and reason to celebrate:
- Umoja (Unity)
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
- Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility)
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
- Nia (Purpose)
- Kuumba (Creativity)
- Imani (Faith)
Strategic Priority
Education & Arts Integration
We partner with other community organizations to deliver culturally responsive environments end-to-end, racially equitable learning spaces, and arts integration (i.e., graphic illustration, writing, poetry, spoken word, music, sculpting, painting, etc.).
Strategic Priority
Family Connection
We prioritize the African-American family unit across all dimensions, from individual members to extended family and fictive kin networks. This involves fostering intimate focus groups for needs assessment and ensuring equitable and sustainable resource distribution. Through initiatives like internships and inclusive creative opportunities, developed in partnership with local organizations and schools, we aim to strengthen familial bonds and uplift our communities.
Our Current Projects
Using the Principles of Kwanzaa to Build, Restore, and Celebrate our Cultural Creative Genius and Ingenuity
Kwanzaa Awards
Acknowledgement & Celebration
We acknowledge and celebrate individuals and organizations who embody each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. This has been a live virtual event and a wonderful celebration for all of us, especially for our 16 award recipients.
Kujichagulia Experience
Finding Your Own Voice
We take the participants through exercises, including music, arts, spoken word, poetry, writing, etc., that help them define themselves, name themselves, create for themselves, and speak for themselves. We invite stand-out artists to collaborate beyond the workshop series and incorporate their final piece(s) into a community celebration.
Ujima Solution Incubator
Solving Our Problems Together
Participants determine the most pressing issues in their local, regional, national, or global community. They then engage in a solution-finding exercise to develop a formal plan, proposal, or recommendation for further action. We engage all ages, and no solution is off-limits!
Nia Project
Access & Exposure to Industries
We provide full access to an industry beyond reach for many African-American and BIPOC youth. We guide and facilitate the workshop participants toward connecting with how they fit into the world, either directly or indirectly, through this work. Our current partners are in Culinary Science (an $805 billion industry worldwide), Film & Video Production (a $283 billion industry worldwide), Fine Arts (a $67.8 billion industry worldwide), and Mental Health (a $383 billion industry worldwide).
Kuumba Effect
Beautification & Invention
We support community members of all ages as they engage their local, regional, and global world in ways that leave it more beautiful and beneficial than they inherited it. We encourage formal and informal processes that lead to improving our world, one community project, innovation, and invention at a time.
iMANI iMMERSION
Our Community. Our Stories.
We create a shared space for intergenerational storytelling, incorporating Arts Education, Social Connection & Belonging, Media, Journalism & Storytelling, and Mental Health & Healing.
Want to get involved?
Send us a Message
H A R A M B E E ! !
(Let’s all pull together!)
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