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The Black Star Project

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The Black Star Project logo

Founded by Phillip Jackson in 1996, the Black Star Project is an educational nonprofit reform organization located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago.Its focus is on eliminating the racial academic achievement gap by improving the lives of those living in African American and Latino communities throughout the area. [1][2][3] The Black Star Project is working on mentoring and tutoring African American and Latino individuals. The Black Star Project provides educational services for students that are between pre-school through college in order to help them succeed academically and become productive citizens.[4][5] Jackson says that the reason he wanted to fund the Black Star Project was that he saw a need for young people to grow up successfully. "Black Star seeks to become the Pied Piper of academic excellence in the black community" said Jackson.[6]

The Black Star Project
Formation1996; 28 years ago (1996)
FounderPhillip Jackson
Typenon-profit organization
PurposeImproving the lives of young African American and Latinos in Chicago.
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Websiteblackstarproject.org

Mission

The Black Star Project started with a goal of eliminating the gap between race and education. This gap has been seen as an ongoing problem throughout the history of Chicago. This project strives to get parents involved so that they can have a positive influence on their children's education. Members of the Black Star Project specifically have seen that the more fathers that go out and help, the better the influence they have on their child.[7] They aim for connecting African American and Latino communities together. They connect those in the community together by providing educational tools for all ages, parent and mentoring programs, school outreach programs, special events, and national initiatives.[4]The ultimate goal for them is to get as many people from the community involved so no one is left behind in this fight for eliminating the racial academic achievement gap. [8]

Programs

The organization finds it important to promote responsible male engagement in the lives of their children. Their focus is closely related to the success of African American males and they have a selection of diverse programs for both the children and their parents. The academic programs they offer are Saturday University, Math Boot Camp, Private Tutoring and a reading academy. They also have parent programs like their Million Father's March, Father's Club and Parent University. The mentoring programs and special events are put in place in order to bring the African American and Latino communities together.[4]Most of the programs are listed on the Black Star Project's official website.

A grant will help further the process of promoting leadership and empowering young black males and the programs that are put in place for their use. In the end, the organization hopes to improve the lives of these young black men by focusing on education reform and fair discipline policies. [9] On June. 24th, 2017, Black Star Project started their fourth annual ceremony for black males’ graduation. At a Mass Black Male Graduation and a Transition to Manhood Ceremony, Philip Jackson says, "To improve violence in Chicago, the best way to improve our city, is to improve these young men." [10]

Academic Programs

The academic programs include Saturday University, Math Boot Camp, Private Tutoring and a reading academy.

Saturday University

Saturday University launched in the spring of 2011, focuses on leading African American youths to improve academical performance including free math, reading, and writing tutoring sessions. Moreover, Saturday University also teaches youths to increase self-esteem, study communities history and love other people. The program is based on a network of Saturday schools and completely free for children to join for 10 weeks.

Parent Programs

The parent programs include Million Father's March, Father's Club, and Parent University.

Million Father's March

Black Star Project started the Million Father's March to get more fathers involved with their children. This march brings fathers together with their kids by having them walk together to school on the first day of the school year. [11] This was launched in 2004 and in 2007 the first-day of school attendance went up from 86% to 93%. One of The Black Star Project's national initiative is the Million Father March. The march was started due to the need for father's to support their kids in order for them to have success in school. In this program, male figures such as fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and father figures accompany children on their first day of school.[12]

Fathers Club

This club strives to create affordable events for fathers to spend quality time with their children. Philip Jackson, the founder, and executive director created this program because of the recognition of the importance of a male figure in a child's life. [13] This club strives to have the male figure in the family participate in their kid's life. Black Star Project holds events around the Chicagoland area, to build a bonding experience. Events have been held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Pavilion, Brookfield Zoo, Shedd Aquarium and more.[14]

References

  1. ^ "The Black Star Project". Open Society Foundations. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  2. ^ "Initiative seeks mentors to reduce violence". ABC News. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  3. ^ "Ameyaw Debrah Appointed As Coptic's Manager For Ghana/Africa". PEACE FM Online. 2010-03-16. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Administrator. "The Black Star Project - About". www.blackstarproject.org. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  5. ^ "Chicago 2016 Olympics: Chicago's children deserve Olympian effort, too". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  6. ^ "Black Star Lights The Way". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  7. ^ "Newsviews: The Black Star Project (1)". ABC7 Chicago. 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  8. ^ "Summon 2.0". uichicago.summon.serialssolutions.com. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  9. ^ https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/us-programs/grantees/black-star-project-1
  10. ^ "Fourth Annual Mass Black Male Graduation". Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  11. ^ "Newsviews: The Black Star Project (1)". ABC7 Chicago. 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  12. ^ Molnar, Michele. "Million Father March: Dads To Take Kids to First Day of School". Education Week - K-12 Parents and the Public. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  13. ^ "Striving to get fathers involved". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  14. ^ Administrator. "The Black Star Project - Father's Club". www.blackstarproject.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.


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