Vol. 8
May 2022
The Future is US exists to fight for Galveston youth through community voice so future generations can meet their full potential.
Soul Food Sessions #3 with Walter Little!
Join TFIU, Noche Berry Salon, Nami Gulf Coast, Nia Cultural Center, Inc, plus and many more community stakeholders for Soul Food Session #3 May 12th, at Noche' Berry's Salon, from 6PM - 8PM!
There will be limited in-person seating/dining, so register now! Soul Food Sessions #3
But don't worry! For those that aren't able to join us in person, SFS#3 will also be live streamed! Stay tuned on our Facebook for more details.
TFIU Watch Party! Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, pt. 1
Thursday, May 5th, 2022, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
John Arthur “Jack” Johnson was born on Galveston Island on March 31, 1878 and changed the world in many ways. Join US as we watch part 1 of "Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson" via Facebook Live. From PBS: About Jack Johnson & the FilmJack Johnson — the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early 20th century — enters the ring once again in Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a provocative new PBS documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns.The two-part film shows the gritty details of Johnson's life through archival footage, still photographs, and the commentary of boxing experts such as Stanley Crouch, Bert Sugar, the late George Plimpton, Jack Newfield, Randy Roberts, Gerald Early and James Earl Jones, who portrayed Johnson in the Broadway play and film based on Johnson's life, "The Great White Hope."
Visit "The Galveston Giant"
Old Central states this about Jack Johnson, "Outside the ring, Johnson savored every minute of his glory days, which frustrated white American to no end. At a time when blacks were treated as second-class citizens, Jack Johnson lived as he pleased and did it openly, with proud defiance. "
FatherFest 2022!
FatherFEST is here to bring awareness to and celebrate how influential and important fathers are in a family. FatherFEST will be a day of fun with face painting, balloon twisting, a magic show, roaming clown, inflatables, DJ, competitions, family crafts, food, and activities! To continue the family fun, your family has a chance to win packages and prizes like putt-putt passes, museum tickets, and more! Please join in on the fun and celebrate Galveston’s fathers and father figures!
Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy
Sign-up for Summer!
Music is a way we can express, calm, and pump ourselves up. Did you know that music too is good for the brain? Studies have found that music can
- Enhance brain function in children
- Strengthen the bond between child and caregiver
- Play a key role in language development
- Be correlated with higher academic outcomes and achievement
- Social skills
- Help with controlling emotions
- Help one feel more positive and optimistic
There are so many benefits to learning and playing music, for people of ALL ages! Thankfully, Galveston has Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy that provides high quality, and low-cost music, art, and dance classes for everyone!
Advocacy 101 Civics Training
The first of many from the Children's Defense Fund!
Your voice, your experiences, and your stories matter. You deserve to be heard by our leaders who make decisions that affect us and our communities for years to come. CDF-Texas is a nonprofit organization that empowers Texans to take action on key issues in our state through our Advocacy 101 training. This training will prepare you to recognize key policy and lawmakers, understand the policymaking process, and most of all, take collective action in order to create the changes our communities deserve.
On Tuesday, March 29th, TFIU-SNCC, along with NIA Cultural Center and the Johnny Mitchell Boys and Girls Club hosted a youth advocacy training by the Children's Defense Fund!
Stay tuned for more trainings from the Children's Defense Fund!
NEW! Highlighting COVID-19 racial disparities can reduce support for safety precautions.
New study shows white Americans who learn about COVID’s racial disparities have:
1) reduced fear about COVID
2) reduced empathy for those vulnerable to Covid
3) reduced support for Covid protections
White supremacy directly increases COVID's harms
Check out the article here, Highlighting COVID-19 Racial Disparities can Reduce Support for Safety Precautions
Intellectual Emancipation Book Club
IEBC meets May 14th and 28th @11 am
The IEBC is continuing with Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon!
We will review chapters 6 and 7 on May 2nd at 11AM.
This is a seminal work will challenge what you know and believe about race, it being a social construct.
The reading download can be found here: https://drive.google.com/.../1Q82sKUQe56rluekTebB.../view...
Here is a link to the zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6905756568
Speaking Of Reading...
Freedom School
Nia Cultural Center is excited to welcome their Scholars back to The Nia Cultural Center's CDF Freedom School for their Summer 2022 Session!
Freedom School is FREE 6-week literacy and cultural enrichment program for children currently in grades K-12.
Check out what Freedom School has to offer!
FREE books for children to take home
90 hours dedicated to reading and literacy
HEALTHY meals and snacks daily
Activities that include arts, sciences, and fitness
Field trips ranging from picnics in the park to visiting interactive learning centers
Events dedicated to parent, family, and community engagement
Register here, Freedom School Enrollment Application and contact freedomschool@niacultural.org if you have any questions!
Hooked On Reading
Galveston's 61st Street Fishing Pier has a reading log for children 5-12!
Read 10 books and bring their completed log to the pier and receive a FREE child's admission and one adult/chaperone admission!
1000 Books Before Kindergarten!
Did you know that by reading and sharing stories with babies and young children not only helps their brain development, but strengthens your relationship with them? Research has found that reading and story telling:
Helps in developing children's brain development in concentration, focus, social skills and communication
Expands children's vocabulary! A 2019 study found that children that were regularly read to the 5years leading up to Kindergarten were exposed to 1.4 million more words.
A 2008 study found that children feel secure when read to and can support a solid parent-child relationship.
Sign up today for Rosenberg Library's Reading Challenge!
Nia Cultural Center's Harambee
Harambee means let's all pull together.
The way Harambee for Galveston's Youngest Citizens plans on pulling together is through our new program designed to assist families with Black Galveston's children ages 0 to 3 by paying parents, grandparents, and guardians $30/hour to enroll and participate in our community's children's brain development support classes. Participants then give feedback on their experience through shared decision making on how we can increase appeal and cultural relevance in these classes. Local data shows that Galveston's black children consistently experience disadvantages when it comes to health and education. Through this program we will pull together alongside our parents, guardians, and partners to bring better access for local resources.
For more information and to register, visit Harambee Interest Form.
Black to the Future! (Black History Lessons)
The history of Black resistance is deep, but often obscured. We are beginning to change that!
TFIU School Board Watch Doc!
The Future is Us’ critical goal is to effectuate policy change in GISD, so that black students, and ultimately, all children receive a quality education. However, institutional power can be adversarial at times. Therefore, it is compulsory to us as parents, youth, and Galveston community members to hold our local institutions and Board of Trustees accountable.
Through a collaborative effort, TFIU created and is making available our The Future is US SCHOOL BOARD WATCH Document. With this self-explanatory document, any interested community member can attend or watch a school board meeting, and record detailed notes and minutes, as well as assess, in real time, the quality of content in the meeting.
Once completed, please e-mail the document to info@thefutureisus.co. We will compile the information so that we can become better equipped and more effective in our advocacy for positive change and creating better GISD schools.
Thank you all in advance for your support and dedication to making sure all of Galveston’s students get the best education possible!
Upcoming Board Meetings:
(All scheduled times of meetings are subject to, and often do, change without notice.)
Wednesday, May 4th at 6 p.m.: Cirriculum Committee Meeting
Check out the TFIU Toolkit!
More Upcoming Dates!
Next Steps!
Please stay informed and up to date by visiting the following links:
You're on your phone anyway...
Follow these accounts for continued education and exposure!
There are lots of ways you can make a difference in the community!
Take our Survey (QR Code below) and let us know what you think will make change in the school district.
Join the TFiU/NIA Book Club.
Become a TFiU Member!
Visit TFiU's Youtube.
Visit TFiU's Website
GISD School Board Connection
Upcoming Board Meetings:
(All scheduled times of meetings are subject to, and often do, change without notice.)
In Memoriam
Julenne Andrisee Faith Brown
October 25, 1985 - August 29, 2021
