SAN ANTONIO — The Liberation Academy in San Antonio believes Black kids need to know their history. So, year round, they’re providing students with an afro-centric education.

“We’re very intellectual,” instructor Jahi Osaze said. “We don’t apologize for what we know and how we learn.”

Jahi Osaze has been home schooling kids for almost 20 years.

“We were the first people to chart the stars,” Jahi said to his students. “We were the first people to give you zodiac signs.”

Letting go of the dream to become a dentist, for his passion in education.

“They touched my heart so much I said forget that being a dentist,” Jahi said. “I want to work with children so they can learn how to be the best that they can be.”

Jahi is the instructor at the Liberation Academy. A private home school where they focus on more than reading and writing. These kids are taught African and Black history.

“Important that you train a child at a very young age about who they are and where they came from,” Jahi said. “So they learn cultural identity and not to put limitations on their future.” Unlike public schools, Jahi says he doesn’t shy away from any topic.

“See, I have no one in here telling me I can’t talk about critical race theory,” Jahi said. “We talk about social issues that relate to us today. We talk about racism.”

A curriculum Candyce Walker loves. So much so, she opened her home to host classes year round.

“There’s stuff that my kids know that I don’t know,” Walker said.

As the Executive Director of the Liberation Center, Candyce takes the lessons beyond the classroom and out to the community.

“We have to liberate their minds first, then they know I am somebody,” Walker said. “I’m a king, I’m a queen.”

With worries her kids were falling through the cracks, Jatara Broadnax pulled her girls from a public school in 2021.

“I’ve seen a tremendous improvement,” Broadnax, the mother of liberation academy students said. “My daughters are already reading now, both of them.”

She’s relieved that they are learning and hopefully removed from gun violence in schools.

“Homeschooling, I don’t have to worry about that,” Broadnax said. “I know they’re here. I know they’re safe.”

Jahi says with the help of sponsors, the Liberation Academy can expand beyond 5th grade and eventually move out of the living room.

“Education isn’t just about getting a job,” Jahi said. “But it’s taking that job and using that income to help your family.”

Being able to prepare more kids for the real world.

“We’re teaching our children how to survive,” Jahi said. “Because when they leave these four walls and go into the world, they’re going to have to know how to survive.”

To learn more about the Liberation Center, visit the website.