How It All Began

The Cultural Imperative Program is the outgrowth of monthly sessions Mr. Browder conducted with high school students in San Jose, California between 2014 and 2018 where students read, discussed and wrote reflection papers on essays in "From the Browder File," Volumes 1 & 2.

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These sessions were designed to help students increase cultural awareness and critical thinking skills.

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In 2018, Debra Watkins, partnered with Mr. Browder to expand the Cultural Imperative Initiative (CII) and successfully piloted the Cultural Imperative Program (CIP) as Saturday Academies in four sites:

 

1.   Dayton, Ohio

2.   Los Angeles, California

3.   Fresno, California 

4.   Hayward, California

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Due to the profound impact the Saturday Academies had on the students, their parents and their site coordinators, they decided to extend the opportunity to African American communities throughout the U.S.

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The Cultural Imperative Program was officially launched in January 2019 and included a total of 10 CIP sites around the country, impacting more than 300 students, their families and site coordinators.