Afrofuturism & Systems Change Publication

Designing New Realities for Black Children to Thrive from Birth

🌍 2 Years, 12+ Convenings, Hundreds of Voices

NBCDI engaged its national Village Network across 2022–2023 to co-create a systems-change agenda rooted in Black lived experience.

🧩 8 Essential Outcomes

Developed to define what thriving looks like for Black children in their first eight years of life—grounded in community-defined success.

🧠 6 Cultural Anchors

Including Sankofa, ancestral wisdom, and Ubuntu, integrated into every layer of NBCDI’s Afrofuturist Systems Design Process®.

⚙️ 1 Revolutionary Framework

NBCDI’s proprietary Afrofuturist Systems Design Process® builds entirely new systems rather than reforming broken ones.

📈 50+ Years of Expertise

This work is backed by over half a century of NBCDI advocacy, research, and direct engagement with Black communities.

Executive Summary

NBCDI’s framework challenges systemic anti-Blackness and reclaims Black autonomy through visionary systems design. This publication introduces a new methodology, the Afrofuturist Systems Design Process®, grounded in ancestral wisdom, communal imagination, and tangible outcomes. “This is not reform. It is reclamation. It is futurism rooted in Black excellence and autonomy.”

Why This Matters

NBCDI’s work transcends reform, presenting a systems transformation roadmap where Black children’s thriving is a designed outcome—not an exception. This vision calls for collective action, cultural power, and joy as strategic imperatives.