Malcolm X Memorial Foundation

The purpose of the Community Garden is to promote collective effort, fellowship of neighbors, fellowship between youth and elders, entrepreneurialism, leadership, positive self esteem, healthy mental and physical state of being, cleaner air & environment, healthy eating habits & agricultural education for our community, particularly the youth.  The community garden will provide space for groups to grow some of their own fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  It will help families save money on their food bills and will provide the opportunity for community members to enjoy the freshness, flavor and wholesomeness of homegrown produce. And for many, gardening will be a relaxing way to exercise and enjoy being out-of-doors.  In addition, it will improve aesthetics in the area.

This Malcolm X birthday celebration is held as an African themed festival.  This celebration is growing to become like 16th century renaissance festivals.  We are building toward an African themed park and a recreated village where the sights, sounds, tastes, and beauty of the ancient West African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai come alive. We will have a marketplace, African games, drumming, dance, story telling, sing-alongs, African attire and apparel, African arts/craft making, music, fun educational workshops, food -- all rolled into one non-stop, day-long family adventure!

A residential summer leadership program that trains youth ages 14-18 to identify and challenge systems of violence, racism, and sexism. Through personal healing, students prepare to become change agents. The Camp Akili program in Omaha has been modified to meet the needs of the youth of our city in partnership with Dereca Blackmon of Leadership Excellence (Oakland, CA) where the program originates. Camp takes place over a span of six days during which we strive to train African American teens in Omaha and nearby cities to become activists in their communities through the development of leadership skills, social awareness, and cultural esteem. The camp is designed to educate students to think more critically about contemporary issues of inequality, and cultivate their abilities to identify problems in their communities and solve them.

Our first
program is an Entrepreneur program.  We partner with Apple Education,
Junior Achievement and Kid Biz to make this a reality.  The JA Company
Program allows students to practice business and entrepreneurship skills
in a hands-on business environment.  With the support and guidance of
volunteer consultants from the local business community, the JA Company
Program provides basic economic education for high school students. By
organizing and operating an actual business enterprise, students not
only learn how businesses function, they also learn about the structure
of the U.S. free enterprise system and the benefits it provides.  The
program helps young people appreciate and better understand the role of
business in our society.  So, through hands-on activities, mentoring,
presentations, and behind-the-scenes field trips, students will discover
the world of business and financial management. The participants are
then challenged to identify a community problem or business opportunity
and design a financial solution. Students will present their solutions
to their peers and community in a financial management and business
fair. 


The
Entrepreneur program is in need of some technology support including a
computer or two to hold the business records of the JA Company Program
and run the program software of the Kid Biz piece, Financial record
keeping software, a color printer, etc.  Each youth involved in the
program needs their own Kid Biz booklet and program.  They are $10
each.  They also need stationary (paper, printer ink, and so on),
postage, and extras such as travel expenses.  This is a relatively
inexpensive program as it is lead by volunteers, but we are in need of a
donor to cover these areas.