Freedom Schools offered a creative alternative to Southern underfunded, segregated schools during the Civil Rights Movement. Freedom Schools embraced a radical pedagogy and philosophy that emphasized self-knowledge, applied knowledge and critical thinking: the classroom became a site for teaching and learning freedom. Today, poor and communities of color are deeply immersed in struggles for access to quality education.

Join the UIC Social Justice Initiative to explore the legacy of Freedom Schools and for an honest conversation with teachers, students, parents, and activists about the state of neighborhood schools in Chicago, the push to privatize, and the ongoing struggles in public education.

Featured speakers:

Malcolm London, Teaching Artist, Young Chigago Authors
Jackson Potter, Staff Coordinator, Chicago Teachers Union
David Stovall, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African American Studies, UIC
Reyna Wences, member, Immigrant Youth Justice League and Organized Communities Against Deportation
Prudence Browne, Managing Editor, SOULS, moderator
and more…

In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer, the UIC Social Justice Initiative is hosting a series of events to examine how we collectively remember this historic summer and to use it as a stimulant for discussion of what Dr. King called ‘the fierce urgency of now.’ This series will culminate in a national conference “Freedom Dreams, Freedom Now!” on May 28-30 at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Co-sponsored by UIC Social Justice Initiative and WBEZ.