The Winners Sankofa Culture-Based Prevention Program

of Avalon Carver Community Center

Our Challenge……to develop program models, interventions and curricula that reflect OUR perception of the problem(s) impacting OUR community and that are designed to meet the cultural needs of OUR youth and adults.

Dr. Wade Nobles“The Culture of Drugs in the Black Community”

“...given that the existing treatment and prevention modalities and the delivery of effective services are doubly laden by ‘cultural irrelevance’ and ‘structural constraints’ and that the problems experienced by black children and families are being exacerbated by the emerging drug culture and drug-related activities, bold new solutions must be sought out. The key to solving any problem is in accurately understanding the ‘nature of the problem’. The drug trafficking and drug-related behavior problem is neither exclusively a mental health problem nor a drug use problem. It is a problem of culture.”

Concept of Sankofa

• The concept of SANKOFA is derived from the Akan people of West Afrika. SANKOFA is expressed in the Akanlanguage as "se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenki."

• Literally translated it means "it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot".

• "Sankofa" teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.

Recurring Themes

• Cultural Traditions• Rituals• Family Life• Religion• Positive Self-Perceptions• Independent Thought• Images Like Ourselves• Appropriate Role Models• Positive Self-Image• Commitment to Race,

Family, Community & Nation

Recurring Themes

• Values Orientation• Community Involvement• Church Involvement• Racial Responsibility• Community Responsibility• Spirituality• Discipline• Service• African Frame of

Reference• Rites of Passage• Sankofa

Tom Bradley Elementary School –Getting There & Staying There

• School Recruitment –• Community Demographic &

Principal Philosophy• 1984 Principal Meeting • Teacher Recruitment• Sharing Program Data –staff

& community• Securing Control Groups• Becoming Institutionalized• 2014 New Principal

Classroom Activities• Target 4th & 5th Grade• Self-Identity-driven,

educational workshops designed to impact self-identity, leadership skills, social skills, ATOD awareness, community involvement and attitude towards school

• 50 minute workshops facilitated once a week for @ 40 weeks per class

• Pen Pal Program• Framing “No Use

Message” within cultural context

Classroom/Afterschool Space

After School Activities• Target 25 participants*• Monday – Thursday

2:30 – 4:30• Homework Assistance

Workshops Daily• Leadership Development

Workshops (once per week x 30 weeks)

• ATOD Prevention Workshops (once per week x 30 weeks)

• Pen Pal Writing Program

Community-Oriented Activities

• Days of Dialogue• Red Ribbon Week

Rally & Celebration• Community Signage

Campaign• Voter Registration

Campaign• Nuisance Work• Parent Workshops• Block Club Work

Sticker Shock ActivityNational surveys have shown that many underage drinkers access alcohol through adults over 21 who can purchase it legally for them. California law prohibits both providing alcohol to minors and allowing minors to consume in a place that is under your control, i.e. your home or car, even if you don’t supply the alcohol.

The Sticker Shock Campaign is designed to reach adults who might purchase alcohol legally and provide it to minors. Stickers warning about the penalties for furnishing alcohol to minors are placed on all multi-packs of beer, wine coolers, and other alcohol products that might appeal to underage drinkers. The impact of the stickers is increased by media coverage of the event and by longer-lasting signs to be displayed by participating retailers.

The activity represents a partnership between retailers and Avalon Carver Community Center with the goal of educating potential furnishers, raising public awareness about underage drinking, and strengthening the deterrent effect of the law against providing alcohol to minors

Evaluation Protocol/Results• Quasi-Experimental, Non-

Randomized, Pre/Post (August/May/June), Comparison Group Design

• Program Assessments -School Sentiment Index, Self-Appraisal Inventory, Rosenberg, Children Racial Identity Scale, AfricentricValues Scale, ATOD Awareness Assessment, and Youth Leadership Assessment

• Community Events Assessment

• 4th and 5th Grade Control Groups (Holy Name of Jesus)

Winners Classroom Curriculum: The Centerpiece of the Intervention• Assertiveness of Maxine

Waters• Blues of BB King• Creativity of Count William

Basie• Devotion of Fredrick Douglass• Eloquence of Jesse Jackson• Fearlessness of Desmond

Tutu• Glamour of Cleopatra VII• Humor of Bill Cosby• Kingliness of M.L. King• Magnificence of Marcus

Garvey• Nationalism of Malcolm X

• Opinions of Booker T. Washington

• Persistence of Ida B. Wells• Quest of Alex Haley, Jr.• Re-education of Carter G.

Woodson• Soul of James Brown• Triumphs of Muhammad Ali• Underground Railroad of

Harriet Tubman• Wisdom W.E.B. DuBois• Xcellence of Mary McCloud

Bethune• Yearnings of Whitney Young Jr• Zeal of Paul Robeson

Winners’ Sankofa After School Program

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

1. I Believe I Can Fly2. A Commitment to Contribute3. Get Up Out of That Seat4. Doing Your Best Work5. This Really Wasn’t My Idea6. Slow as a Snail’s Pace7. And In This Corner…..8. Cleaning Up Our Community9. Liquor Stores In The Community10. Liquor Advertisement

Winners’ Sankofa After School Program

• LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

• 01. A Change is Gonna Come• 02. A Real Pressure Cooker• 03. A Whole Lot of Responsibility• 04. Life’s Curveballs• 05. Know Thyself…Change The World• 06. Overcoming Life’s Challenges• 07. A Real Smart Man• 08. Write Your Own History• 09. Leaders are Born…Not Made• 10. Yea, I Know Better

Winners’ Sankofa After School Program

Substance Abuse Prevention

1. Speaking Up!

2. Taking Charge

3. You Can’t Do It Alone

4. Feeling Good About Doing Good

5. …Words Will Never Hurt Me

Winners’ Sankofa After School Program

Substance Abuse Prevention

1. Speaking Up!

2. Taking Charge

3. You Can’t Do It Alone

4. Feeling Good About Doing Good

5. …Words Will Never Hurt Me

Winners’ Sankofa After School Program

PRESCRIPTION AND O.T.C. MEDICATION DRUG ABUSE

PRINCE1. We All Have Our Secrets

2. A Giant Performer

3. A True, Caring Friend

4. Out of Sight…Out of Reach

5. A Cry for Help

Winners: Vol. 4Community-Role Models Curriculum

Winners: Vol. 6Latino-Centric Curricula: A Sample

1. Cesar Chavez2. Dolores Huertas3. Jaime Escalante4. Hector Lavoe5. Edward James Olmos6. Fidel Castro7. Celia Cruz8. Jerry Tello9. Sonia Sotomayor10. Freddie Printz11. Harry Belafonte12. Antonio Villaraigosa13. Pio Pico

This “Stuff”Works!

Implications&

What’s Next

Costs Associated With Intervention

CurriculumTraining

We Are Now Published-Black Child Journal- 2015 Fall Edition

Contact Information:

Darnell BellFor Square Pegs Only

1565 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Los Angeles, CA. 90011Kofikyini@sbcglobal.net

(323) 234-2350