Conversations at policy conferences often ask us to consider what is possible given the current political reality. A
conference
I attended a few months ago asked a different question:
What would reality look like given what is possible?
Specifically, the hosts of the event, National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) asked us to imagine the future we want for Black children. Taking inspiration from Afrofuturism, they challenged us to be less constrained by current realities— in other words, more science fiction, less research study.
Quoting Florence Okoye, “Afrofuturism is daring to suggest that not only will Black people exist in the future, but we will be makers, creators and shapers of it,” NBCDI’s President and CEO Dr. Leah Austin told the crowd of attendees, including members from the organization’s 24 community affiliates across the country and others committed to the success of Black children.
Reforming Systems and Empowering Communities
Growing out of the Civil Rights Movement and since its establishment in 1970, NBCDI’s work has focused on realizing a better future for Black children through education and advocacy. As the organization told us, “Our founders saw infinite possibilities for Black children, even though our world didn’t— a conviction that continues in NBCDI’s work today.”
NBCDI continues to be one of the only national organizations solely focused on the well-being of Black children, with a particular focus on the early childhood years. Bridging both direct service programs like its Read to Succeed Literacy program and systems change efforts, its work is informed by the lived experiences of Black families and implemented through its national volunteer-driven affiliate network. NBCDI’s national staff supports its grassroots network by providing strengths-based, culturally relevant and trauma-informed resources and trainings that empower Black families to use their voices to advocate for their needs in their communities.
Our founders saw infinite possibilities for Black children, even though our world didn’t— a conviction that continues in NBCDI’s work today.
This strengths-based, community-centered approach starts with language. As Dr. Austin puts it, “We are not ‘vulnerable.’ We are not ‘at-risk.’ We are not ‘disadvantaged.’ We are powerful people, so we have to continue to step in that power and lead this organization collectively.”
NBCDI’s approach to reshaping systems with thriving Black families as the goal has been shown to benefit everyone: NBCDI was a founding member of and fiscal agent for the coalition that championed and won universal pre-K for three- and four-year olds in Washington, DC, which is still one of the few places across the country with this program.
NBCDI aims to build an equitable and just future for Black children and families by focusing its efforts on reforming systems at the national, state, and local level to improve life circumstances for Black families, while also doing the immediate work of empowering Black communities through family engagement, literacy, health, and wellness programs.
Shaping the National Child Care Agenda
As communities across the US work to identify solutions to the urgent child care crisis, Imaginable Futures invested in NBCDI’s expansive vision of the future to ensure that the voices and expertise of Black families shape the national child care agenda. With an established grassroots affiliate network built over 50 years, NBCDI is positioned to mobilize Black parents and communities to champion universal access to child care and bolster support for care provided by friends, family and neighbors, which is a vital source of caregiving support for communities of color. NBCDI’s plans for the next five years include producing Black-led research on early childhood issues affecting Black children, strengthening and expanding its community reach, and launching policy and advocacy efforts that set and drive the national agenda.
We share NBCDI’s conviction that a thriving future for Black children — a future where Black children breathe clean air and drink clean water; where they have safe, supportive environments to learn and grow; and where their contributions are recognized and valued —should not be a stretch of the imagination.
After leaving the NBCDI conference, I felt empowered and hopeful, knowing that my vision of the future is one where thriving Black children is not science fiction – it’s reality.
We share NBCDI’s conviction that a thriving future for Black children — a future where Black children breathe clean air and drink clean water; where they have safe, supportive environments to learn and grow; and where their contributions are recognized and valued —should not be a stretch of the imagination.