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Our Story

We share our history because it is important to recognize the journey we have taken thus far. There are many foundational people and contributors who built Black Starline...it is important to share the collective effort it took to get here.

We share our history because it is important to recognize the journey we have taken thus far. There are many foundational people and contributors who built Black Starline...it is important to share the collective effort it took to get here.

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:

  • 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.

Meet The Team

Mayet Dalila

Co-Founder

Marjon Way-Bonkanna

Co-Founder

Shay Brown

Communications Contractor

Tenee Maynard

Project Coordinator Contractor

Havika Jones-Fleming

Village School Collab-a-lab Coordinator

Our Community Partners

Black Child Development Institute Seattle

It's Never 2 Early 2 Create & Innovate (N2E)

UPTimistic Gear

Self-Made Couture

Nurse Staffing Solutions

Adefua Cultural Education Workshop

KINARA PARK KIDS

Lovely Consulting & Investments

Olu Productions

Maynard Anaalytics & Business Services

Colorful Communities, LLC

Ashé Preparatory Academy

BRAVE- Building Resilience Awareness & Variations of Excellence

Village of Hope Seattle

Surge Reproductive Justice

Sirius Encounters

Social Justice Fund NW

Seattle Human Services

Black Dot

King County Best Starts for Kids

Africatown Community Land Trust

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