New Direction for Freedom Lifted
AN END-OF-YEAR MESSAGE FROM MIA
Well, 2020 has been a year. In February, I led my 28th Civil Rights tour for the 8th grade class of the Edmund Burke School and moderated a keynote by the indomitable Stacey Abrams for the Public Libraries Association National Conference. Then, as we all know, group travel and large gatherings came to an abrupt halt in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After taking time to grieve the loss of life as we knew it, I had no choice but to pivot. This was especially critical in the wake of our collective witnessing of the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and my joining the global uprising for racial justice.
The order of most days since the spring has been praxis - reflection on liberatory education and the practice of it. In this spirit, I have pushed myself to design tools and create + facilitate spaces for social justice leaders in new and exciting ways. Since March, Freedom Lifted has...
facilitated a 3-part virtual workshop series on Setting Priorities in a Pandemic for professionals working in the arts.
hosted a Black History in Memphis webinar and virtual tour led by Carolyn Michael-Banks of A Tour of Possibilities.
partnered with Press On to develop Tips for Ethical Reporting on Police Violence and Black-led Resistance and facilitate several workshops for journalists committed to collaboration with grassroots movements and centering oppressed people.
partnered with Jessica Bratt of Libraries for Black Lives to create a Policing Doesn't Protect Us padlet of publicly available resources.
hosted a 5-part History of Policing class for over 250 young people ages 12 - 18, in partnership with the Chicago Freedom School and Assata's Daughters.
hosted a 2-day Teaching Justice 2020 seminar for educators across the country who support Black Lives Matter.
facilitated a webinar and several listening sessions for philanthropy and nonprofits on how to center equity and racial justice in grantmaking.
launched an 8-part workshop series for hundreds of parent mentors on lessons in leadership through Black and Latinx feminist history.
artwork by Danbee Kim
And now, I am thrilled to introduce the Freedom Lifted Learning Lab, a new platform for online learning in history and tools needed to challenge oppression and advance justice. The lab features self-paced online courses for people of all ages and will offer more free live workshops for youth to grow as leaders in social justice work. The lab officially opened in August with the release of the Just Practice Mixtape: Steps to End Prisons and Policing, followed by my own free mini-course on Using the Power Flower to Explore Identity.
Many people have asked how they can support Freedom Lifted. I am really excited to announce that through our partnership with Social Good, you can support the Freedom Lifted Learning Lab with a tax-deductible donation. Your generosity will help provide more free workshops for youth and scholarships for our fee-based online classes in 2021. Our current goal is $5,000, which will support stipends for youth facilitators and paid interns.
I know I am not alone in acknowledging that this has been a challenging year; yet, I embrace this time of transition at Freedom Lifted and for me, personally.
We are moving in a new direction, as we continue to learn the past in order to build a just future. I am deeply grateful to you for your continued support.
With Warmth and Love,
