About Us

What is the Black Child Journal?

Founded in 1979, by Useni Eugene Perkins, the Black Child Journal is published bi-annually by the Black Child Journal in collaboration with the National Rites of Passage Institute. The Black Child Journal was created as a means to advocate for Black children and their families by accomplishing the following objectives:

Objectives

To provide relevant information on critical issues, history, and culture that impact Black children and their families;

In-Depth Analysis

To provide an in-depth analysis of substantive policies and programs which can improve the overall welfare of Black children and their families;

Voice for the Voiceless

To provide activists, practitioners, and scholars with a literary voice to share their practices, research, and views that can best serve the needs of Black children and their families.

About

Rites of Passage is a timeless African tradition that intentionally guides a person’s holistic development through life’s transitions using rituals and ceremonies for the discovery of their purpose and responsibility to build healthy and just communities.

Rites of Passage, as a developmental and transformational process, is culturally specific – not universal. It is based on the premise that a group must recognize and affirm itself before it is able to share and appreciate the differences of others.

Rites of Passage also recognizes that entry into adult life involves the realization of social obligations and the assumption of responsibility for meeting them. Initiation sets a time on the journey for bringing individuals into formal and explicit relations with their kindred. It strengthens social ties for the day that they will be tested.

Rites of Passage not only provides self-development and cultural awareness, it fosters a sense of belonging. Adolescents will become part of community life; not persons alone, lacking support, sanction, and purpose.

The National Rites of Passage Institute (NROPI), in collaboration with communities, organizations, practitioners, and scholars, has been elevating the value of culturally-based Rites of Passage in youth and community development for more than 30 years.

NROPI is a national hub, a cultural learning center, and a clearinghouse for providing information, training, programming, technical assistance, consulting, assessment, and intentional conversations on African-Centered Rites of Passage for child, youth and community development.

One of the major goals of NROPI is to be a voice for African-centered Rites of Passage in conversations, nationally and internationally, on child and youth development and village building.