Mother may I swim?
U of M PhD candidate Ayanna Rakhu is working to understand the reasons why many African American parents and their children don’t swim through her dissertation, titled “Mother May I Swim?”
Rakhu wants to transform the way swim instructors teach lessons to Black families. Ultimately, Rakhu plans to create a swim school that is culturally relevant and trauma informed, meaning the curriculum and teaching would focus on overcoming many of the barriers to swimming that African Americans face.
Starting points for change
Read more about Rakhu’s work
Explore the field of kinesiology
U of M Learn to Swim program
Celebrate Black History Month with programs and events throughout February
Meet the people behind the story
Ayanna Rakhu
Ayanna Rakhu is a PhD candidate at the School of Kinesiology in the University in Minnesota College of Education and Human Development. Her doctoral research is focused on swimming, specifically how to encourage African American mothers and their children to swim.
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