Nia Cultural Center

1.in partnership with the galveston independent school districts, area colleges and universities and social service agencies, Nia sponsored the 13th year of children's defense fund freedom school, a literacy rich summer program for110 children ages 5 -18. Independent evaluations revealed that youth enrolled in freedom school experienced reduced summer learning loss, an increased love for reading, improved self-esteem, and their parents have demonstrated increased parental involvement. High school students engaged in community service projects and attended workshops related to college preparation and career readiness and financial management. They also embarked on two college tours of area colleges and universities. 2.nia Cultural Center distributed free books for youth and adults at four events during 2018. These events included two kwanzaa celebrations at wright cuney park and rosenberg library, and at two the african american read-in during black history month. One give-a-way took place at the old central Cultural Center at the mt. Olive baptist church's men's fashion show. 3.the black history extravaganza and quiz bowl showcased an array of youth talent, a living history museum, a poster contest and a fun and exciting black history game show where youth organizations in the galveston area competed for trophies by answering questions about national and local figures and events. 4.two african american read-in events were held during february that featured books written by african american authors from galveston, tx. 5.four hundred and fifty celebrants attended Nia Cultural Center's kwanzaa celebration that recognized community village keepers, provided quality Cultural edutainment, provided awareness and support for area businesses, and recognized distinguished elders. Thirty youth participate at a kwanzaa celebration at wright cuney park and twenty-five youth participated in the kwanzaa celebration at the rosenberg library. 6.hosted the freedom school finale that showcased the 110 scholars' accomplishments and what they learned over the course of the summer. The finale included monologues, skits, artistic performances, song and dance to an appreciative crowd of over 300 onlookers. 7.nia Cultural Center freedom school coordinated and hosted the national day of social action, "end child poverty" at the alamo elementary school. Students learned about and spoke at a rally about the prevalence and impact of child poverty. In keeping with our tradition of engaging youth in the democratic process, the day included a mock election for president of freedom school and a candidate forum.

The project is an unincorporated organization formed to fulfill the expressed mission of promoting racial equity in galveston through, initially, a juneteenth commemorative mural (the " mural"). The project is committed to including diverse galveston community voices in the planning and execution of the mural. The governance of the project is administered through the project committee appointed by the project (the "project committee").