Akoma is a liberatory organization advocating for education justice by creating digital learning opportunities, zines and pop up projects for black and indigenous girls in the African diaspora. Our work is primarily based in Sao Paulo, Brazil and aims to create a global learning community to embody a transnational reality of liberation by centering the non-binary needs of black and indigenous girlhood.

The Need:

With over 86% of street kids in Brazil being black, and Black Brazilian children between the ages of 10 and 19 making up 75% of homicide victims, an urgent interrogation of limited opportunities for black children in Brazil is needed. However, the deaths of Emily Victoria Moreira dos Santos and Rebeca Beatriz Rodrigues Santos bring our attention to a problem that is not only racialized, but gendered.

Whilst we know that structural racism is evidently affecting various human identities and realities in our society- we know little about how it affects black girls (Monique W. Morris). And when we add the intersection (Kimberleé Crenshaw) of being Latina/x into the mix, we risk loosing even more urgency to protect the most marginalized students who attend schools in Brazil.

The Ministry of Justice reported that most victims of sex trafficking in Brazil are black and brown girls. Further reports suggest that there is a direct link between risk of harm and poor educational life chances, with only 10.4% of Black Brazilian women aged between 25 and 44 having completed further education. Similarly, Geledes ONG Brazil have stated that research on black girls in Brazil is limited, due to the data of being girls, minors, and black being historically fragmented in the country. In many cases, data and research on girls in Brazil is referring to white girls as the default and data and research on black children tends to center the experiences of boys. But what we do know, is that 62.7% of child labourers in Brazil are black, increased to 73.5% when we look at children who work in domestic situations, which increase to 94% when we study the percentages of black girls alone (Chega da Trabalho Infantil).

We are Akoma! Education justice isn't just a desire for us. It's a need! And the problems we want to challenge are not exclusive to Brazil- they are global. Our mission is to cultivate a global learning community for Black and Afro-Indigenous girls. Through zines, digital learning opportunities, and our annual pop-up school, The Akoma Institute promotes educational justice for marginalized communities.

Creating this goal is impossible without your help and donations. Our first JustGiving campaign, #sistersonhadora will help us to make our mission and vision into a reality. This first fund of 1500 GBP will fund the legal budget needed for the consultancy work to make our organization into a legal entity that will have the flexibility to operate globally so that we can reach as many marginalized black girls as possible. Our journey starts in Brazil, but our vision is global!

We're on a journey to make things happen. Here are some of our achievements so far:

The #Akomazine - A seasonal black history and indigenous geography zine collection designed for black girls, made by us!

1. The first edition of our child accessible #Akomazine, Marielle Franco' has been designed, written and published in English, Spanish and Portuguese. We have distributed our zine to several social justice education organizations around the world- including Milk and Honeybees in London, Latinas Lideres in the Dominican Republic by the way of The Bronx, Baytree Brixton in London and My Celium Youth Network in Oakland California. Not to mention the countless donations we have made of the zine to favela communities and street children in São Paulo, Brazil!

2. Our current and pending partnered collaborations!

We have an exciting curriculum development plan in the works with The CR Bloom Project, an outdoor healing justice program for the youth of families affected by incarceration. Our work is rooted in the here and now, so envisioning a pedagogical future for the most marginalized children across the globe is crucial. Post COVID, a 'new normal' will change the landscape of education as we know it. Outdoor and exploratory learning experiences are the future for black and brown youth and we want to become key facilitators by pioneering this movement.

We are also extremely proud of our upcoming programming exchange with Willie Mae Rock Camp- our sister collaborators in New York! Willie Mae Rock Camp use hands-on and practical learning experiences to teach girls the science behind the music they love. The cultural exchange that we are rooting with WMRC will be a joyous and powerful one- WMRC's own La Frae Sci- the Futuresounds visionary is a gifted pedagogist and educator that we continue to learn from. The 'new normal' lends itself to online programming more than ever- and will be a key tool in our development to create and sustain this bicultural community.

3. Our very first online school program, designed for black girls around the globe! Our Academia Akoma course is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese and has a curriculum written by qualified teachers and education justice organizers!. Academia Akoma fosters a culturally competent approach to teaching and learning. The classes for Semester 1 are being delivered by our founder and some sought out Black Brazilian teachers, including Carolina Azevedo from the Agbala teaching collective in Rio de Janeiro. To find out more, you can follow us on Instagram @thepopupschool to access all of our education resources, register for Academia Akoma and stay in the loop!

Continue to support our journey by following our...

Instagram @thepopupschool

Website: www.akoma.education

Thank you for reading and thank you for your donation!