“Kamil Ville Is a Good, Calm Place”: Holistically Healing, Empowering and Educating Urban African Youth

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Building Holistic Communities With the Disadvantaged

Abstract

Public schools in the United States are often academically, socially and mentally crippling for students—particularly Latinos and Africans . Many educational reforms have proven, insufficient and marginal because of their inability to connect with urban communities to form a cohesive understanding of the expansive and collective history and experiences of African people. This research studied an after-school, holistic African-centered program called Kamili Ville, created for urban students of African descent. The data revealed that explicitly nurturing the whole self is critical to the overall success of urban youth who deal with persistent trauma. Having a liberating space conducive to self-expressiveness enhanced students’ self and group esteem and created success on multiple levels.

Author

• Tabora A. Johnson, Medger Evers College - CUNY