A New Curriculum

(Email written – July 2008)

To Dr. C. Simmons, Founder, and the Executive Board of the Blue Nile Passage,

First of all, hats off to your commitment and contributions to revitalize the black community of Harlem, New York. I know change does not come easy, but its obvious by your program that you have already claimed VICTORY!

My name is Jermyn C. Shannon-EL, co-founder of a very progressive Social Marketing and New Media firm called Blacksonville, LLC, i.e. the Blacksonville Community Network. For the past eight years we have spearheaded regional-wide empowerment efforts in the South that elevate the consciousness raise the bar of institutional advancement for non-profits and corporate outreach efforts. Some of our past education-base clients include, the United Negro College Fund, Willie Gary Foundation, Edward Waters College, The Links, Sigma Pi Phi, Carter G. Woodson Committee, Duval County School Board, South Carolina State University, Bethune University, Florida A & M University, and the Florida African Student Association!

We would like to extend an invitation to you to come to Jacksonville for a site visit and community assessment as to the need for a Blue Nile campus here. Our vision is to integrate a cultural motif within the framework of an advance Technology/Learning Center (with complete software training and development integration). We have identified prime areas in the heart of Jacksonville’s most historic communities (one of which (The Eastside) are known historically as “The Harlem of the South”). We have established a “higher learning” curriculum and program objectives supported by parallel community organizations who wholeheartedly endorse the Blue Nile Mission, including, the Association of Black Psychologists, the Jacksonville Association of Black Journalists, M.A.D.D.A.D.S., 100 Black Men of Jax, Florida Cares Initiative, the Boys2Men Conference and many others passionate in building a brighter future for area youth.

My outreach to you is simple, we need your experience and insight to help develop an equally-yoked curriculum (similar to Blue Nile Passage) in Jacksonville. I view your program as a model for national duplication to offset the many roadblocks of youth in crisis and struggling public school systems. Many of the bureaucratic challenges we face here mirror Harlem, so we are confident we can accomplish similar success in Jacksonville.

Our assessment of the education and social arena in Jacksonville presents a very challenging situation. In order to ensure a community-wide effort, we need to equip our local institutions with “quality” after-school programs that integrate Debate Across the Curriculum.

Our strategy is to create a neo-urban cultural framework for education that champions positive socio-economic development in underserved markets. Blacksonville is in business to recruit and influence 21st century leadership in the grassroots, institutional, and corporate network to the tune of advocating advance technology, social and economic development, and sustainable business ventures that yield a “double bottom-line”, i.e. profitability and sustainability witin the community.

In the next year to two years we envision the creation of major community assets that will benefit the entire First Coast community. The concept of the Intercultural Advance Learning Center & Cyber Cafe is one of many assets that will provide youth programs that serve as critical instruments for high levels of socialization and achievement, with alternative curriculum in an advance career-oriented environment. We will offer year round training, public forums, course work, lectures and training that include Digital Media, Urban Debate, Life Skills, Professional Development, and New Media/Entrepreneurial workshops. We also seek to engage community health professionals in the instruction of Nutritional Childcare and Healthy Advocacy/Natural Foods.

The Vision expands into the development of a “New Media Incubator” to help non-profits and sister  businesses, respectively, to train AND hire graduate participants of our “Rights of Passage Initiative”; these new leaders will enter the next phase of entrepreneurship and small business enterprise right within the heart of the local community. A strong inter-connected support system will lay a foundation for the community hub with spiritual, health and financial literacy.

Blacksonville, LLC is committed to serve as an anchor tenant of the incubator to ensure the business model/capacity building strategy for the entity is successful. Our firm will also will provide ongoing consulting for capacity-building, training and technical support to all tenants.

I know this is a bit lengthy, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible to stress our level of commitment.  I look forward to your response.

Please review the post below for a preview of how Urban Debate is taking the U.S. by storm.

If anyone would like to share in this Vision with us, please contact me at 904.962.7284.