Freedom Schools
Freedom Schools which took place in the mid-1960s, were temporary, alternative, and free schools for African Americans and other minorities prominent in the South, but notable in all parts of the United States. They were originally part of a nationwide effort during the Civil Rights Movement to organize African Americans to achieve social, political and economic equality in the United States. The movement consisted of a series of programs that emerged to challenge the inequalities of segregated Southern education, transforming learning into a tool for liberation and empowerment while providing knowledge, critical thinking skills, and continues to influence modern educational and social movements. The curriculum was different from what was taught in public schools, going beyond just reading and writing, but also exploring African American history, Civic Engagement, and the philosophies of nonviolent resistance, considering it's association with the Civil Rights Movement. Encouraging students to think critically and explore their creativity.
Almost 40 Freedom Schools were established and served over 2,500 students in one summer, which also included older generations, such as parents and grandparents. Classes were held in church basements, community centers, or homes due to threats to safety and lack of resources. Most teachers were activists, and African Americans and whites contributed to the success of the Freedom Schools.
Origins
Despite the Supreme Court's ruling of 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education case striking down segregated school systems, in the mid-1960s Mississippi, and many other states, still maintained separate and unequal white and "colored" school systems. On average, the state spent $81.66 to educate a white student compared to only $21.77 for a black student. Mississippi was one of only two states in the union that did not have a mandatory education law and many children in rural areas were sent to work in the fields and received little education at all. Even the curriculum was different for white and black. As a typical example, the white school board of Bolivar County mandated that "Neither foreign languages nor civics shall be taught in Negro schools. Nor shall American history from 1860 to 1875 be taught."Students faced more de facto segregation during the decade following the Brown v. Board of Education precedent than before. Many white schools were half full, while schools reserved for African Americans, Latinx and other minorities were overcrowded, underfunded and understaffed. In severe cases, students would go to school in shifts in order to avoid overcrowding and to fit the limited staff. While many schools showed significant progress in terms of integration, providing access to better resources, higher quality of education and opportunities for African American students with test scores showcasing how the performance gap between African American and White children began to decrease which demonstrated the impact of equal access to education. However, some schools refused to integrate African American and White children. With some schools referring to extremes, such as shutting down public schools for years, to avoid following the precedent set by the Supreme Court decision.
In late 1963, Charles Cobb, a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee activist, proposed the organization sponsor a network of Freedom Schools, inspired by examples of the concept used previously in other cities. In the summer of 1963, the county board of education in Prince Edward County, Virginia had closed the public schools rather than integrate them after having been sued in a case following Brown vs. Board of Education, and so Freedom Schools emerged in their stead. In September, 1963, about 3,000 students participated in a Stay Out for Freedom protest in Boston opting instead to attend community-organized Freedom Schools. On October 22, 1963, known as Freedom Day, more than 200,000 students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest segregation and poor school conditions, with some attending Freedom Schools instead. Subsequently, on February 3, 1964 in a similar Freedom day protest, over 450,000 students participated in a boycott of the New York City public schools in what was the largest civil rights demonstration of the 1960s, and up to 100,000 students attended alternative Freedom Schools.
While these movements were significant and necessary, change didn't come so easily. Many schools remained segregated till the late 1960s. Yet with each boycott, African Americans and minorities were closer to integrated education systems. Yet up until that point, Freedom Schools led by SNCC and NAACP advocates filled the gaps in education that districts were avoiding or contributing to. So while they were boycotting, students were also receiving an education in churches, community centers, or homes led by boycotting teachers or Civil Rights Advocates. This allowed students to get a better understanding of their Civic Duty by involving themselves in the fight for desegregation. While also fighting to mend the underfunded educational systems influenced by racial hierarchy that didn't empower African American youth as it didn't involve African American history or culture. Making students feel systemically inferior from their education to witnessing what's happening politically to being treated differently by people around them.
Mississippi Freedom Schools
The Mississippi Freedom Schools were developed as part of the 1964 Freedom Summer civil rights project, a massive effort that focused on voter registration drives and educating Mississippi students for social change. The Council of Federated Organizations —an umbrella civil rights organization of activists and funds drawn from SNCC, CORE, NAACP, and SCLC—among other organizations, coordinated Freedom Summer.The project was essentially a statewide voter registration campaign, and the framers called for one thousand volunteers to assist in the undertaking. Activists made plans to conduct a parallel Democratic primary election, because the systematic exclusion of black voters resulted in all-white delegations to presidential primaries. These efforts culminated in the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Both the official delegation and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party went to the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In December 1963, during planning for the upcoming Freedom Summer project, Charles Cobb proposed a network of "Freedom Schools" that would foster political participation among Mississippi elementary and high school students, in addition to offering academic courses and discussions. Activists organizing the Freedom Summer project accepted Cobb's proposal and in March 1964 organized a curriculum planning conference in New York under the sponsorship of the National Council of Churches. Spelman College history professor Staughton Lynd was appointed Director of the Freedom School program.
Over the course of Freedom Summer, more than 40 Freedom Schools were set up in black communities throughout Mississippi. The purpose was to try to end political displacement of African Americans by encouraging students to become active citizens and socially involved within the community. Over 3,000 African American students attended these schools in the summer of 1964. Students ranged in age from small children to the very elderly with the average approximately 15 years old. Teachers were volunteers, most of whom were college students themselves.
With few exceptions, Freedom School teachers were amazed at the enthusiasm of their students. One volunteer wrote home:
Political and Educational Objectives
The Freedom Schools were conceptualized with both political and educational objectives. Freedom School teachers would educate elementary and high school students to become social change agents that would participate in the ongoing Civil Rights Movement, most often in voter registration efforts. The curriculum adopted was divided into seven core areas that analyzed the social, political, and economic context of precarious race relations and the Civil Rights Movement. Leadership development was encouraged, in addition to more traditional academic skills. The education at Freedom Schools was student-centered and culturally relevant. Curriculum and instruction was based on the needs of the students, discussion among students and teachers was encouraged, and curriculum planners encouraged teachers to base instruction on the experiences of their students.Kathy Emery, Sylvia Braselmann, and Linda Gold who edited and introduced the book titled Freedom School Curriculum describes the movement's political and educational objectives as being around questions and activities that encourage discussion and enforce the relationship between school and students' lives. This emphasizes how the school was student-focused, not merely sticking to a curriculum without consideration of the students. Education in this movement was meant to be relevant to students’ lives and allowed them to think for themselves while making connections to real-life events. In comparison to other systems that focused on memorization and getting through the curriculum. This system focused on understanding and relating lessons to the social and political events at the time. Education had always been an integral part of African American freedom, desegregation, and empowerment. Following the era of Jim Crow, education became a form of resistance where the enslaved would receive education from Christian missionaries, newspapers, etc. As they were prevented from receiving a proper education as White masters feared they would realize slavery wasn't as humane as they tried to convince themselves it was nor was it religious in any fashion. Which would give them hope for freedom and inspire resistance.