Africentric parenting in 2020

Is it relevant?

Why is African heritage programming still relevant for the positive socialization of Black children today?

The ACHA was founded in 1969 in response to a  lack of positive identity programming for children and parents of African descent.

There was a deliberate, intentional effort to include parents in the program to encourage parents to learn about African heritage alongside their children since this information was not readily available or taught in mainstream educational institutions.  

The ACHA was founded to ensure children of African descent saw themselves positively reflected in the curriculum they learned and  in the media and texts they interacted with. There is a direct correlation between positive racial identity and academic achievement. When children have a positive sense of self, confidence and the esteem in a world where they have been bombarded with negative images about African people, it will reflect in their output.

The curriculum is founded upon the Kwanzaa principles and Maat.

The ACHA has essentially provided a parallel curriculum for children of African heritage because of the exclusion of culturally relevant sensitive and appropriate programming for students. 

Given that mainstream educational institutions are still attempting to incorporate culturally relevant and responsive programming for African children, ACHA still stands as a beacon of learning for children whose history, culture, values have been sytemically omitted from mainstream society.