Amma Culture founder Anecia Johnson, for the past several years, has been delivering a pointed message to this community: Teach African American kids African history and they’ll identify with accomplishment, not oppression.
Before they learn about slavery or police violence, Black children — and all children, for that matter — should learn about Africa’s magnificent history that includes stories of kings and queens, astronomers and architects, Johnson says. In pre-colonial Africa, for example, ancient Egypt was known for its remarkable systems of literacy, mathematics and medicine.
Johnson, an African American and a Chico native, founded Amma Culture in 2017 to preserve culture and history among African descendants, encourage a sense of pride and belonging, and, as the website says, promote “social cohesion.”