|
"…fighting to create a healthy passage for black males from
boyhood to manhood."
THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE Established with $50,000 Grant from
The Will & Jada Pinkett-Smith Family Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland- When Dr. Raymond Winbush wrote The Warrior Method:
A Program For Rearing Black Boys (Amistad/ Harper Collins, 2001) little
did he know that Jada Pinkett-Smith and her husband Will would use the
book as a guide for raising their son.
"I was totally surprised and flattered, when I got this information
at a Los Angeles bookstore while on book tour and was humbled by how influential
educators can be in the work we do," said Winbush, who is Director
of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. "I
had used the book in a class I was teaching in the School of Public Health
here at Morgan State University and was unaware that one of my students
in the class, Karen Banfield-Evans was chair of the Will & Jada Pinkett-Smith
Family Foundation. She encouraged me to write a grant proposal to help
establish THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE (TWI) and we were pleased to receive $50,000
from the Will and Jada Pinkett Smith Family Foundation to train teachers,
parents and students in the method outlined in the book."
THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE (TWI) is located on the campus of Morgan State
University in Baltimore, Maryland. Mrs. Pinkett Smith is a native Baltimorean
and maintains a strong presence in the community through its arts and
education.
Beginning in January 2004, THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE (TWI) will train
four teachers in "The Warrior Method" for 26 weeks culminating
in a graduation ceremony that will take place in Ghana, Africa during
December 2004. Age appropriate curricula will be developed so that "the
method" can be taught to others as well as replicated around the
country. A lecture series will also be established bringing prominent
educators and scholars to The Warrior Institute at Morgan State University.
This series will be free and open to the public.
"We're excited about this project," says Blanche Williams the
newly appointed Director of THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE. "It gives
us a chance to provide teachers and parents an Afrikan-centered approach
to rearing healthy Black boys."
Create a culturally sensitive and developmentally superior learning environment
for young African-American boys that will raise their consciousness, build
their confidence, restore their critical thinking and revive their greatness.
THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE is immersed in the African learning traditions
of the ancient Poro Society. THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE translates these
ancient teachings to address the needs of the young African male in 21st
century America. THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE comprehensively addresses
the issues of understanding the cultural links that all African boys in
America have with Africa along with the impact that racism/ white supremacy
has on their lives.
THE WARRIOR INSTITUTE uses "The Warrior Method," a wholistic
African-centered curriculum that guides the young male through life's
maturity seasons; spring (0-4 years), summer (5-12 years ), autumn (13-21
years) and winter (22+ years). Our curriculum promotes the total immersion
of the Four C's - Consciousness, Commitment, Cooperation and Community.
The Warrior Method is an adaptation of the African Poro
Society created to fit the realities of being a young Black male in the
United States. It incorporates the principles and teachings of the Poro
Society and under girds them with the realities of racism in the United
States.
Rites of passage ceremonies for young Black males, though important,
lack the comprehensiveness of providing guidance and instruction to Black
boys from the time they are born until they reach maturity.
The Warrior Method, while incorporating ceremony and ritual
throughout its curriculum, expands on traditional rites of passage ceremonies
by teaching the initiate about the insidious nature of white supremacy
over the lifespan of Africans in America.
The Warrior Method is at the core of a movement to reclaim
the lives and futures of our African American boys.
One of the most famous graduates of the Poro Society was Sengbeh Pieh
who was enslaved in 1839, placed aboard a slave ship, taken to Cuba and
transferred to the slave ship Amistad. His name was changed to "Joseph
Cinque" and became the United States' first "civil rights"
case after he wrested the ship on high seas from his captors and told
its crew to return to his home in Sierra Leone. Cinque supplied the legal
strategies that ultimately freed him and his companions. His quick mastery
of the English language, observation of the weakness of his captors and
their judicial system were all part of Poro Society curriculum.
|