QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm Juneteenth 2025 Travel Article
By Jay Whipple
Trend Magazine Online™
Cultural Leader/History Keeper!
Trend Magazine Online™
Cultural Leader/History Keeper!
I learned of the Nia Cultural Center
from Mr. Sam Collins III during our initial Juneteenth
article in 2016 for Trend
Magazine Online and we have since updated the article yearly. I
was so impressed with Galveston's contribution to the now
official Juneteenth U.S. Holiday that I decided to
experience it first-hand and in
person. Subsequently, it was an experience that I will never
forget and this year (2025) we decided to update our coverage with
an exclusive interview with Ms. Sue Johnson, Founder
and Executive Director of the Nia
Cultural Center in conjunction with the 160th Anniversary
of Juneteenth for Trend
Magazine Online (formerly The
Guide to Black Charlotte). I was able to contact Ms. Johnson
through Sam Collins and here is what she had to say in response to my queries.
Jay - Growing
up in Galveston – the birthplace of Juneteenth – what
are some of your earliest memories of its cultural heritage, and how
did those roots inspire your passion for community and history?
Ms. Johnson -
Returning to Galveston as a young adult, I was struck by the efforts
to preserve Central High School, the oldest Black high school in
Texas [1885/86]. At the same time, many landmarks important to the Black community were being demolished. Witnessing this
loss motivated me to dedicate myself to preserving African American history in any way I could.
Jay - Before
you founded the Nia Cultural Center, was there a turning point or
influence in your life that first stirred you toward community
activism and cultural preservation?
Ms. Johnson - My journey into community activism truly began when I discovered
the SHAPE Community Center in Houston in 1980. There, I learned
about African heritage before slavery and participated
in celebrations
like Kwanzaa
and the
Pan African
Festival. This
experience instilled
in me a deep pride in our culture, and I wanted to bring that sense
of pride and historical understanding back to my own community in
Galveston.
Jay - In
1992, you founded Nia Cultural Center to address youth violence and
high rates of Black youth entering the juvenile justice system.
What vision guided you, and why did you choose “Nia” –
meaning “purpose” – as the name and guiding
principle?
Ms. Johnson - The founding vision for Nia Cultural Center was shaped by the
troubling headlines of youth violence and the high number of Black
youth entering the juvenile justice system in the early 1990s.
Seeing teenagers with disabilities from violence, especially in
housing projects, deeply affected me. I chose the name "Nia,"
which means "purpose" in Swahili and is the seventh
principle of Kwanzaa, to emphasize intentional action in developing
young Black leaders. Our programs
have since
included Rites
of Passage
for girls,
family empowerment,
and the
Freedom School, focusing on literacy, advocacy, and community
engagement.
Jay - Launching
a community initiative from scratch is challenging. Can you take us
back to those early days of Nia? What obstacles did you face early
on, and was there a moment that made you feel you were on the right
path?
Ms. Johnson - One of
the biggest
challenges in
Nia’s early
days was
encouraging the
community to
embrace and value their own history and culture. It took
years to overcome the misconception that celebrating Kwanzaa meant
rejecting Christmas. I knew we were making progress when our events
became standing-room only, African attire became more common, and
even churches dedicated Sundays to celebrating African heritage.
Jay - Nia’s
early programs in the 1990s – such as the Family
Strengthening and Empowerment initiative with its Girls Rites of
Passage mentorship – broke new ground. How did these programs
affect the participants, and what lessons from those efforts have
guided your later initiatives?
Ms. Johnson - I often hear from former participants who now have children of
their own. They express gratitude for learning about their heritage
and history. Many of our current Freedom School scholars
are the
children of
those early
program participants,
showing the
lasting impact
of our work
across generations.
Ms. Johnson -
Returning to Galveston as a young adult, I was struck by the efforts
to preserve Central High School, the oldest Black high school in
Texas [1885/86]. At the same time, many landmarks important to the Black community were being demolished. Witnessing this
loss motivated me to dedicate myself to preserving African American history in any way I could.
Jay - Before
you founded the Nia Cultural Center, was there a turning point or
influence in your life that first stirred you toward community
activism and cultural preservation?
Ms. Johnson - My journey into community activism truly began when I discovered
the SHAPE Community Center in Houston in 1980. There, I learned
about African heritage before slavery and participated
in celebrations
like Kwanzaa
and the
Pan African
Festival. This
experience instilled
in me a deep pride in our culture, and I wanted to bring that sense
of pride and historical understanding back to my own community in
Galveston.Jay - In
1992, you founded Nia Cultural Center to address youth violence and
high rates of Black youth entering the juvenile justice system.
What vision guided you, and why did you choose “Nia” –
meaning “purpose” – as the name and guiding
principle?
Ms. Johnson - The founding vision for Nia Cultural Center was shaped by the
troubling headlines of youth violence and the high number of Black
youth entering the juvenile justice system in the early 1990s.
Seeing teenagers with disabilities from violence, especially in
housing projects, deeply affected me. I chose the name "Nia,"
which means "purpose" in Swahili and is the seventh
principle of Kwanzaa, to emphasize intentional action in developing
young Black leaders. Our programs
have since
included Rites
of Passage
for girls,
family empowerment,
and the
Freedom School, focusing on literacy, advocacy, and community
engagement.
Jay - Launching
a community initiative from scratch is challenging. Can you take us
back to those early days of Nia? What obstacles did you face early
on, and was there a moment that made you feel you were on the right
path?
Ms. Johnson - One of
the biggest
challenges in
Nia’s early
days was
encouraging the
community to
embrace and value their own history and culture. It took
years to overcome the misconception that celebrating Kwanzaa meant
rejecting Christmas. I knew we were making progress when our events
became standing-room only, African attire became more common, and
even churches dedicated Sundays to celebrating African heritage.
Jay - Nia’s
early programs in the 1990s – such as the Family
Strengthening and Empowerment initiative with its Girls Rites of
Passage mentorship – broke new ground. How did these programs
affect the participants, and what lessons from those efforts have
guided your later initiatives?
Ms. Johnson - I often hear from former participants who now have children of
their own. They express gratitude for learning about their heritage
and history. Many of our current Freedom School scholars
are the
children of
those early
program participants,
showing the
lasting impact
of our work
across generations.
Jay - A
few years into Nia’s journey, you joined
a “Freedom Tour” across several states retracing the
Civil Rights Movement. What inspired that journey, and what were
some of the most powerful moments you and your students
experienced?
Ms. Johnson - While Nia Cultural Center did not organize the
Freedom Tour, we were invited by SHAPE Community Center to join
their annual journeys retracing the Civil Rights Movement. Over 14
years, including as recently as 2024, 165 youth participated. A
particularly memorable moment was
visiting Beaufort,
South Carolina,
a predominantly
Black community
with Black
leadership across local
government. This
showed our
youth that
they could
aspire to
be leaders
and contributors in their own communities.
