Poster #53 - "We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest": Lessons on Critical Pedagogy and Social Justice From Mississippi's Freedom Schools

• In Event: 79.052 - MTCC Poster Session 19
  In Poster Session: 79.052-5 - Critical Educators for Social Justice Poster Session

Abstract

Education for African Americans has long served as a method for freedom and social mobility. From its inception, Freedom Schools were designed to motivate students with political and literacy skills as a tool for social advancement. The compounding effects of economic disenfranchisement, Jim Crow, low social mobility, and racism for minorities in the 1960s positioned the need for critical resistance curricula. This conceptual paper investigates the effectiveness and advantages of Freedom Schools in historical and contemporary contexts. The ultimate goal of this paper is discuss the concept of “third space” in relation to informal and formal education for African American students. Specifically, this session will overview social justice and African American education in relation to today’s post-truth era.

Author

• Marcia J. Watson-Vandiver, Towson University