Volleyball Wakanda

The Wakanda Volleyball Project aims to empower low-income youth, predominantly Black, through a multidisciplinary approach that combines volleyball practice with racial literacy and awareness of structural racism. In a highly motivational environment, the project seeks to promote citizenship, strengthen self-esteem, and develop the self-image potential of Black youth, providing tools to confront the challenges of Brazilian structural racism. The project leverages idle time outside school to address anti-racist themes, fostering socio-emotional connections among participants and creating a space for reflection and social transformation. Bilingual training sessions, with instructions in English and Spanish, and daily talks on racial issues broaden horizons and encourage a new perspective on social inequalities. Black youth are guided to repair and recover the psychosocial losses caused by racism throughout their lives, while white youth are taught to understand systemic structural racism and their role in building a fairer society. Inspired by the concept of Afrofuturism, as depicted in the movie *Black Panther*, the Wakanda Volleyball Project aims to be a milestone in participants' lives, promoting not only sports skills but also a profound process of self-empowerment and social awareness through a pioneering and excellent methodology. The project encourages the development of active citizenship, aiming to cultivate a collective spirit of constant struggle against inequalities.