ACLP
- Apr 13, 2021
- 2 min
The African Community Learning Program is a nonprofit organization that educates, connects, empowers, and supports people of African background in West Philadelphia.
Data covering 20 years, from 1994 to 2014, shows that Philadelphia-area universities have consistently enrolled low percentages of Black undergraduate students, and the rate has decreased even more over time from 9.2% to 7.9%.
The City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health noted that only 60.6% of Black students in Philadelphia high schools graduated in 2018.
45.9% of Black students complete their degrees in six years — the lowest rate compared to other races and ethnicities.
The #500EmpoweringAfricanStories project is an ACLP initiative aimed at overcoming the lack of uplifting African and African diaspora stories. ACLP Founder Aminata Sy launched the #500EmpoweringAfricanStories project on May 14, 2018 to create a library of stories that aligned with ACLP’s mission of educating and empowering our students and community.
ACLP STUDENT
"I found out that a team is not just about working together but about loving, caring, motivating, encouraging, supporting, advising, collaborating, connecting, communicating, and learning each other’s background[s]. I hope to be part of the program in the future."
VOLUNTEER
“It has been fulfilling to teach students whose experiences I can relate to, especially having been an immigrant student in the United States of America myself. Also, being able to access places such as the Philadelphia City Hall, and meeting amazing people like Sozi Tulante, Councilwoman Blackwell, and Kayode Malomo have been some of the highlights of my volunteering experience.”
ACLP PARENT
"The help you are giving my kids, they can’t get it anywhere else because you teach them through the languages they speak, and you teach them as your own."