guarantee: 80% reading on grade level within 3 years

or we work for free until we reach this goal

U&I-RISE Adult education and training

U&I-RISE is built on a fundamental belief: adults have one main responsibility to children—to help them discover their purpose. We fulfill this responsibility by teaching children the skills and tools to navigate life’s complexities and how to work with others. It also involves exposing them to the realities of our history—our history in this country, its impact on us, and its broader global influence.

Black people have endured centuries of trauma, supported by law and policy—enslavement, torture, murder, and more, so it is completely understandable that we have been, and currently are, negatively impacted. This multi-generational impact has been described in various ways: Dr. Joy DeGruy calls it Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome, while Na’im Akbar refers to it as Psychological Slavery. Others call it Negative Mental Legacies of Enslavement, or simply, “a n*gga ain’t sh*t.”

U&I-RISE calls it "our current condition" because we must face this reality head-on, without shame. We’ve been taught to feel shame, and that makes it difficult to confront and heal our past and current wounds.

This multi-generational trauma manifests in today’s documentable conditions: Black children nationwide struggling to read on grade level, low literacy rates, and high levels of violence and crime in our communities. These challenges are deeply connected to Social Determinants of Health* and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)**, making U&I-RISE’s workshops crucial to addressing these systemic issues, transforming educational environments, and providing the support necessary for our children to thrive.

Despite these challenges, our responsibility as adults—parents, teachers, and mentors—is to help our children discover their purpose. That’s why U&I-RISE exists. Our mission is to train and inspire adults to:

Embrace their overarching responsibility to our children
Cooperate with other adult stakeholders
Provide the environment our children need to thrive
Identify and overcome obstacles to fulfilling these responsibilities

U&I-RISE offers:

Tapping Our Parental Power (TOPP) workshops (in-person and online) that help parents create thoughtful parenting plans, making their parenting journey more intentional and fulfilling.
FLARES Comprehensive Classroom Management for Urban Teachers to support educators in managing classrooms and ensuring student success.
"Are These Really My Kids?" book—a condensed version of the Tapping Our Parental Power workshop in book form.
“Keba, Yanci, and The Continent”—a children’s book and Black historical allegory for adults to read with children, enriching their understanding of Black history.

*Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) refer to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, including factors like education, income, environment, and social support. These determinants significantly influence health outcomes and contribute to disparities in well-being across populations.

**Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to traumatic events during childhood that negatively impact health, development, and well-being. These experiences, including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, and exposure to violence, increase the risks of physical, emotional, and mental health challenges later in life.

guarantee: 80% reading on grade level within 3 years

U&I-RISE Adult education and training

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