Afro-Samstagschule (Afro Saturday School)

In recent years, more and more Africans moved to the district Wedding. Many of them have low formal education and, unlike other migrant communities, have little support for inclusion and participation.

„Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.“ Malcolm X

The target group of the Afro Saturday School are Berlin students aged 9-15 with family roots in African countries. The selected participants will be taught together in a two-week cycle in History, Languages, Culture and Identity, Racism, Performing Arts and Sports. In addition, they receive individual advice to promote their skills (family counseling).

The aim is that these young Black people achieve a healthy self-esteem. As part of the Afro-diasporic Saturday School, Black students are being helped to gain new perspectives on the path to their identity formation. Together, strategies are being developed to confidently and consciously move in public, despite everyday, structural and institutional racist perceptions and experiences.

Precisely because Black children are confronted with so many prejudices and stereotypes and traumatized by racism and discrimination, it is particularly important not to simply acquire general social skills, but to learn them in an environment that is conceived and moderated by Black people. Such a learning arrangement consciously opposes the omnipresent negative African images, which are also reproduced at school and brought to the children.

Classes at the Afro Saturday School are for example:
Healthy Self-Confidence, Body Language and Communication, Action Strategies against Racism and Discrimination, Dealing with Media (part I-III), Rhetoric as Action Strategy (Speeches like Obama), Introduction to African Languages (Language Geography and Language Biography), Introduction to the Geez / ግዕዝ Alphabet, Introduction to Pre-Colonial African History, European Colonialism, Introduction to Capoeira Angola

Black Youth for Empowerment and Leadership

The second section of the Black Adult Education Center is dedicated to young people aged 16 and over with regard to empowerment and leadership. Here the young people deal with history, politics and the functioning of different, for example democratic, institutions. They learn to make films themselves and how to make music. The handling of media is a priority topic. It also helps to improve their school-based and academic performance.

„Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.“ James Baldwin

African Women on the Winning Side

The third section is dedicated to the empowerment of African women, who are supported by the offers and events of the Black Adult Education Center to improve their social, professional and social position.

The SVHS networks with other women’s organizations for this purpose.

Parenting in the Diaspora

The fourth section is called parenting in the diaspora. With the increasing migration from Africa, especially in the district of Wedding, there are families who often do not know the requirements of the German school and encounter many difficulties in integrating into society, in school and in the professional world. Black educators and education experts should strengthen this parenting ability to solve their problems independently and self-determined.

Aging in the Diaspora

The fifth and most recent section of the Africa Academy / Black Adult Education Center is called Aging in the Diaspora.This section deals with the complex of topics concerning black people and people of African descent of old er age. Essential aspects are the imparting of specialist knowledge on the subjects of health, nutrition, pension, etc., but also networking and exchange with one another. Furthermore, it is about joint activities and the transfer of knowledge and experiences to the next generation. The most important component is the regular discussion in an African-framed atmosphere.People of older age.