Mission
Know Allegiance Nation (KAN) is a village building organization that seeks to build a nation of knowledge seekers through consciousness raising and literacy attainment.
We teach and provide literacy programs primarily to inner city youth to grow their knowledge, so that they can grow up to pass knowledge on to the next generation of youth that will eventually become elders nurturing their villages/communities.
We organize. We train and mobilize volunteers and emerging leaders to take direct action in bettering their communities.
Goals
There are 4 main pillars of Know Allegiance Nation – Basic Literacy, Advanced Literacy, Survival Literacy & Adult Literacy.
- We teach basic literacy through poetry and entrepreneurship,
- advanced literacy through broadcast journalism and community radio
- survival literacy through sustainable agriculture and agrarianism.
- Adult literacy is facilitated through the operation of a co-op bookstore dedicated to Michigan authors of Color.
Vision
To increase access to literacy resources in the state of Michigan and beyond.
Programs
- Illuminate: Literacy Entrepreneurs – Literacy & Entrepreneurship
- KAN Farms – Survival Literacy through Agrarianism & Agriculture
- Operation Rebel Community Radio – Advanced Literacy through Broadcast Journalism
- KAN Books – Co-Op Bookstore Dedicated to emerging authors & authors of Color.
- Black Men of Promise – Residential Housing and Training for Black Men of Color ages 18-23.
- KAN Magazine – Advanced literacy through journalism.
Annual Events
- The Illuminate Open Mic Series (April-September)
- The Illuminate Poetry Slam (August)
- Books For The Block (Door to Door Book Give-away)
- Bikes, Barrels & Books Fair (Summer)
- The North End Urban Expressions Art Festival: The Healing (August)
- North End Soup (Fall)
- Writers on Wheels Bike Ride (Fall)
- The Illuminate Showcase (Bi-Annual)
Organizational Structure
Know Allegiance Nation is a registered 501(c)(3) organization.