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About
Meet the Presenters
Mission
Free Minds, Free People is a national conference
that brings together teachers, high school and college students,
researchers, parents and community-based activists/educators from
across the country to build a movement to develop and promote Education
for Liberation.
Education for liberation prepares the most excluded,
under-served members of our society, in particular low-income youth and
youth of color, to fight for a more just world by:
- Teaching students the causes of inequalities and injustices in society and how communities have fought against them.
- Helping
them develop both the belief in themselves that they can challenge
those injustices and the skills necessary to do that.
- Supporting them in taking action that leads to disenfranchised communities having more power.
The goal of Free Minds, Free People is
to provide a forum for sharing knowledge, experiences and strategies
that support the use of education as a tool for liberation by:
- Connecting local community efforts to national education for liberation activities.
- Expanding our network of education liberators by building relationships that cross barriers of geography, race, age, class, gender, sexual orientation, profession and other identities.
- Showcasing a broad spectrum of strategies, including arts, popular education, organizing, dialogue and scholarship, and their related impacts.
- Acting as a catalyst for the continued development of a social movement around education for liberation.
History
The first Free Minds, Free People took place in Chicago in 2007.
It brought together more than 400 youth,
parents, researchers and community-based educators from across the
country. This national, intergenerational gathering featured dozens of workshops by and for educators and youth
on topics including social justice schools, action research, arts and
liberatory education, Freedom Schools, youth organizing, teaching
critical consciousness and much more. The conference took place at Little Village/Greater Lawndale High School, a public school on Chicago's Southwest side.
It was the “most amazing conference I ever attended,” said a teacher from California. Read more comments from participants.
Spread the Word
Help us get the word out about the conference!
Please download and distribute this conference flier at relevant organizations, schools or events.
Please put a link to the conference on your website. You can use our logo to create a graphic link. Here are instructions for doing that.
Funders
A big thanks to all those institutions and individuals who contributed in-kind support and direct or indirect funding:
21st Century Foundation; City of Houston Convention, Entertainment and Facilities Department; Houston Council Member Ronald C. Green; Maxine Greene Foundation; Edward W. Hazen Foundation; Institute for Participatory Research and Design; Rose and Sherle Wagner Foundation; Spencer Foundation; Surdna Foundation