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Non-profit encouraging diversity in education

Posted at 10:26 PM, Feb 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-27 11:24:32-05

Celebrating Black History Month. A non-profit organization has been in the community for 21 years promoting diversity.

"The whole idea of all of it is so interesting because it's like so many people you don't get so deep in thought about," said 10-year-old Georgia Tabar, who spent her Friday afternoon soaking up historical facts about the local black community.

"Learning new things is just super important that made a huge impact on society and community," she said.

Tabar was gathering information for a school project. To get in depth knowledge, she visited the African-American Network of Kern County.

"I think it's important to know a lot of the history and just normal things so that when you're talking to somebody and you get on a topic, you just know," she said.

Executive director, Dee Slade, said they've been providing educational services for more than 21 years. They enjoy it most when kids, like Georgia, show an interest in local history.

"That young mind, that young person will grow up one day and be one of our leaders and I would hope that she would be very diverse in her thinking and very inclusive in her thinking," said Slade.

But the AAKC goes beyond teaching about the first black settlers in Kern County and other African-Americans who have contributed to the community.

It displays artwork, photographs and artifacts about various other cultures.

"We've had the Filipino exhibit, we've had the Native American exhibit here, we do other exhibits," said Slade.

She said inspiring others to be open-minded is what the organization is all about.

"We need to learn to appreciate each other, to embrace each other, to respect each other, to honor and humble ourselves..."

On March 11th the non-profit will be honoring the contributions of African-American families within the community. 

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