Taste Buds: A Chicago Youth Program Expanding Culture, Exposure, and Opportunity
- Jonah Batambuze
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
BlindianProject recently launched Taste Buds — a not-for-profit youth program based in Waukegan, Illinois, serving youth across the Chicago area and focused on exposure, cultural education, and community.
Working with young men through a basketball-based mentorship model, we use sport as the entry point—but exposure as the intervention.
Through shared meals, cultural experiences, and community engagement, Taste Buds expands perspective, builds cultural literacy, and connects participants to opportunities beyond what’s immediately visible.
Talent isn’t scarce. Exposure is.
Developed in partnership with Dream Big Youth Foundation, who lead locally in Waukegan and serve as fiscal sponsor (see full announcement).
Support the program or get involved →
We’re now expanding what exposure can look like.
If you’re a Chicago-based restaurant, yoga instructor, educator, or cultural practitioner interested in working with youth, we’d love to connect.
Let’s widen the table.
This is what it looks like to build infrastructure early—before paths are fixed.
About the BlindianProject
BlindianProject is a public humanities and cultural initiative building the infrastructure for Black × Brown solidarity. Operating at the intersection of art, research, and community programming, the project recovers and activates overlooked histories of connection that have been fragmented, erased, or left outside public memory through archives, youth programs, and cultural experiences. Founded by Ugandan-American interdisciplinary artist Jonah Batambuze, BlindianProject works across classrooms, cultural institutions, and public spaces to translate these histories into living, participatory forms.
About Dream Big Youth Foundation
Dream Big Youth Foundation (DBYF) is a free, year-round mentorship and youth development organization serving young people across North Chicago, Waukegan, Beach Park, Zion, and Round Lake. Built on long-term relationships, DBYF supports students from middle school through high school and into higher education through mentorship, academic support, basketball training, and exposure to new environments that expand how young people see themselves and what they believe is possible for their futures. Grounded in a family-centered approach, DBYF works closely with both youth and parents to build stability, confidence, and opportunity. Founded by former professional basketball player Jonathan Jones, the organization combines mentorship, community, and exposure to expand opportunity and possibility.
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