Afro Utah Festival 2022

GK Folks Foundation: International Education Initiative 

At GK Folks Foundation, education is one of our top priorities. Within the last ten years, we have supported students from various Afro countries in their educational endeavors here in the United States. Our Educational Program has benefited over 200 students in the overall success of their undergraduate and graduate academic pursuits. This year, we would like to support post-primary students on the island of Grenada. GK Folks Foundation is proud to pledge _% of proceeds from the Afro Utah Festival to support four under-resourced secondary schools in Grenada. Grenada is a tri-island state located in the Eastern Caribbean. The four schools that would benefit from your donations are mixed-gendered secondary schools serving academically and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

Based on our research, it is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic made most academically disadvantaged students fall even further behind. Thus, we believe that providing some of the necessary school supplies to four schools in Grenada can amplify the country’s goals as it relates to educating their youth, especially those who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Attending this year’s Afro Festival will allow you to learn more about various Afro countries and their traditions. It will also provide you with a unique opportunity to support the educational enrichment of hundreds of Caribbean youth. 

Donate today and support Afro youth on the small island of Grenada.

AFRO UTAH Festival is a cultural event that provides Black, African, and black immigrants the opportunity to share their culture, pride, and their heritage with others.

With the rise of the black population in Utah, there has become a need to enlighten others about the blacks and showcase the great work and contributions blacks are making in the community. The festival will highlight, promote, and recognize Afro-black culture and Afro blacks' great work in the community. 

With the untimely death of a black man killed publicly by a police officer in Minneapolis and the resulting protests that erupted from coast to coast, Utah. Around the world, it has become eminent that our communities in Utah would benefit from getting to know the black community. 

We believe one way to foster an understanding of the black community in Utah is to show the community who we are. So we will use this medium to educate, enlighten and encourage others to get to know the Utah blacks.

In participating in these events, Blacks, black immigrants, Africans, and black refugees would not only get an opportunity to educate others about their culture and pride, but they too would enhance their cultural knowledge while becoming proud of who they are. We believe these transformational attributes would equip Utah’s Black community members with the capacity to continue forging their paths as catalysts for change, uniquely contributing to their local and international communities. 

Diversity and engagement are at the heart of the AFRO UTAH Festival is a cultural event. This project was strategically designed to provide more intimate dialogues and enriched experiences of the Afro culture in a diaspora. 

IMPACT: 

• A greater understanding of the Black community in Utah

• A peaceful co-existence of all races, including black 

• A response to racial stereotypes, particularly black criminality  

• Advocacy for a reduction in the racial and gender achievement gaps 

• A reduction in the perception that black people are academically challenged and lazy 

MISSION

Our Mission is to showcase Blacks' culture, achievements, and talents in Utah, thereby helping to foster an understanding and a peaceful co-existence of blacks and nonblacks in the community.

VISION

Our vision is to create an accurate and inspirational understanding of blacks and their contribution to the Utah community.

FESTIVAL

The Afro Utahfestival guide will be released on Aug 1st