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Every year I am amazed at our beautiful children. By now you’d think I would be used to them but I swear, they never cease to amaze me! This year our theme is African Gateway Communities in the Americas with an emphasis on Hayti/Haiti. Our program goal was to give the children some historical background on this often misunderstood nation. As is also true, our ultimate goal is to make our children understand their place in the world by virtue of their understanding the history of African people.

This year, I am delighted that we had a special teen program that I hope to continue in subsequent years because they need special time and special curricula as they mature into responsible adults.

Summer Arts at the Center has been a program filled with wonderment. The way in which its participants grow in five weeks; the deepening of their knowledge as well as the deepening of the staff’s knowledge of our African past; the pride we see in the children as they finish the five weeks of intense study, all fills me with wonder each summer.

But, I think the most amazing thing about this program is how many of our participants return year after year, learning and growing with each successive year until they grow into culturally enriched young adults who contribute to our community in ways we could never imagine!

I thank all the donors, individual, foundation, and corporate who contributed to Summer Arts At the Center this year.

Vicki Meek

Manager, The South Dallas Cultural Center

www.dallasculture.org

My name is kYmberly Keeton. I am the publisher of NURU Magazine. I was able to travel to Dallas, Texas this summer and help guide this publication to print online. The students who took part in my creative-writing and photography class were open to learning about technology, social media, African-Haitian history, and the writing process. I learned a lot from them too. Learning about the history of Haiti and how it is still the only independent black republic in the world was amazing.

For five weeks the NURU Teen Staff were immersed in literacy, learning how to access the web and navigating technology. Students had the opportunity to write poems, read local African-American Newspapers, watch films, and create artwork for their student media exhibition.

Each student told their story of what they learned through words and visuals in the summer camp. I was able to work with younger kids too.

Their work through the written word was inspirational to read, and is displayed for the public to view at the South Dallas Cultural center. I was able to foster and experience a creative educational setting for African-American children. I met our future in the making!

I believe that through the arts and academia our students can learn and achieve the unthinkable. I watched it happen. We made it happen.

kYmberly Keeton

CEO/Publisher, litARTMedia™

www.litARTMedia.110.com