The founding families of BSL began this work because of our individual and collective awareness that Black children were not thriving, and in many educational institutions shrinking and being harmed. As Black parents, we understand the joys and challenges of educating our children, building healthy families and supporting young people as they transition to adulthood. We have also worked to understand the cultural, spiritual, historical, socio-economic, and political realities facing families and parents of African descent. Black Star Line’s founding families had a strong desire to create a better reality for our children. We began to understand early on that in order to have self-actualized children, we must:

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• Engage in our own personal development.

• ​Examine how our life’s experiences impacted our parenting skills, habits/conditioning, relationships, and our overall efficacy.

• ​Be unapologetically Black and proudly acknowledge our African identity. 

• ​Establish roots and authentic, accountable relationships in the Black community.

 

This has resulted in BSL being African Centered, Black Parent/Caregiver Driven, Black Student Focused and Black Child Inspired.