Philadelphia’s Afrocentric Schools Face Challenging Times

[two_third padding=”0 15px 0 0px”]Philadelphia’s Afrocentric Schools Face Challenging Times
BY WILFORD SHAMLIN III | STAFF WRITER, THE PHIL. TRIBUNE

Imani Education Circle Charter School will close permanently in June after local school district officials revoked its charter.
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[dropcap]A[/dropcap] farewell note posted on Imani charter school’s website Friday read: “We hope that they will always remember the Nguzo Saba, the Ma’at and all of the rich history that they have been taught. We also hope that they are kind, respectful, passionate and thoughtful citizens who value social action and a sense of community. These are some of things that we have tried to instill over the years.”
Imani Education Circle Charter School will close permanently in June after local school district officials revoked its charter.

It will soon join a growing list of shuttered local Afrocentric schools, including Wakesha Charter School and Walter Palmer Global Leadership Learning Academy.
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Philadelphia Charter Schools, Philadelphia Afrocentric Schools, American Negro Academy, Wakesha Charter School, Walter Palmer Global Leadership Learning Academy, Imani Education Circle Charter School

Jamaica Gilmer, #ITSBIGGERTHANAHEADWRAP, 2016, Archival Inkjet Print, The Beautiful Project

Jamaica Gilmer, TBP Black Girl Triptych (Selection), 2014, Archival Inkjet Print, The Beautiful Project

Delphine Fawundu, All Dressed Up, I Am Here (Selection), 2008, Monochrome Prints on Canvas

AMERICAN NEGRO ACADEMY
PHOTOGRAPHER – 20th Century
The American Negro Academy (ANA) was an intellectual organization that supported African-American scholarship. It was organized in Washington DC, in 1897. The organization was the first in the United States composed of African-American scholars, and it operated from 1897 to 1928.

Its founders were primarily composed of authors, scholars, and artists. of the organization included Alexander Crummell, an Episcopal priest and staunch Republican from New York City; John Wesley Cromwell; Paul Laurence Dunbar; Walter B. Hayson, and Kelly Miller. Reverend Doctor Alexander Crummell served as one the Academy’s core founders and first president before his death in 1898. The organization was formed to provide an alternative to Booker T. Washington’s approach to education and scholarship. Washington’s Tuskegee University was based on what was called the Atlanta compromise. He emphasized vocational and industrial training for southern blacks, who lived mostly in rural areas, and discouraged academic studies in the liberal arts.
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The city’s Afrocentric charter schools were once regarded as the best solution for strengthening the Black community, and in addition to educating Black students, instilling them with a sense of pride about their African heritage in a society that often downplays their achievements and contribution.
Supporters lauded Afrocentric schools for offering a curriculum, activities and incorporating African traditions along with studies on the African continent, and the contributions and heritage of Africans and African American extends beyond the single month of February. But school reports show academic performance in many Afrocentric schools isn’t any better than traditional schools.

From opening night, photo by Steve Hart.