Communiversity Classes
Begin in March
Sign Up!
This spring the Chicago Freedom School relaunches Communiversity
by offering FIVE (5) multi-week classes on the history of social justice issues and movements. Topics include:- the Black Arts Movement
- the Prison Industrial Complex
- Chicago's West Side after the 1968 Riots
- the Black Feminism Movement
- the History of Gangs (a FREE online class!)
All courses are open to both youth and adults. Families encouraged to come to class together! Please click HERE for details and how to register.
(pictured above: Young artists in 1964 representing the Black Arts Movement)
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CFS To Host Midwest Youth Organizer Training April 20 - 23!
CFS is collaborating with other leaders in social justice and youth-led social change to offer a 4-day training institute for youth organizers and youth workers who are interested in incorporating new approaches to their work. Workshops will be facilitated by organizations including Access Living, Young Women's Empowerment Project, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Women & Girls Collective Action Network, Broadway Youth Center, Mikva Challenge, Young Women's Action Team, and the Community Media Workshop. The training will help participants:
- Connect issue-based and constituency-based organizing to a historical context.
- Learn practical organizing and movement-building skills and popular education techniques.
- Develop holistic leadership development and youth-led social change approaches that address the social-emotional needs of young people.
The application deadline
is Friday, April 3rd.
Please download application and flyer HERE.
For more information, please contact Alex Poeter at (312) 435-1201 or alexpoeter@gmail.com.
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Youth Activism Career Series Launches this Month!
3 Days for Youth Ages 14 - 21 pursuing careers in community organizing, public policy, politics and soci al action.
Day 1: "How to Write a Cover Letter and Resume"
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Time: 10am-2pm
Location: CFS Center
Day 2: "How to Prepare for Interviews"
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009
Time: 10am-2pm
Location: CFS Center
Day 3: Youth Activism Career Fair
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009
Time: 9am-1pm
Location: TBD
All events are FREE and open to youth ages 14 - 21. To register: Send your 1) name, 2) phone, 3)Age and 4) dates you plan to attend to Jacky Luna at rsvp@chicagofreedomschool.org or call 312.435.1201.
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"FREE MINDS, FREE PEOPLE"
Education for Liberation Conference
Houston, TX - June 25 - 28, 2009
Save the date! The next "Free Minds, Free People" conference will take place in Houston, Texas from Thursday, June 25 to Sunday, June 28, 2009. This event will bring together nearly 500 teachers, community-based educators, academics and high school and college students from all over the country who take part in dozens of workshops, share best practices and participate in collective movement building activities. CFS will host two workshops at the conference this year. Read more here about the Education for Liberation Network and the 2007 conference.
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Freedom Fellow Spotlight
Lornell Reid III, Class of 2008
Lornell Reid III is a sophomore at A.C.T. Charter High School. Since he finished the CFS Summer Leadership Institute in August, Lornell has been actively working on projects that address both the lack of job opportunities and the academic achievement gap for youth of color, especially African American men. Lornell is co-facilitating the 3-day Youth Activism Career Series at CFS as well as organizing a Mock Interview Day for students at his school. He is also a part of Columbia College's Saturday Scholar's program.
CFS proudly recognizes Lornell, a Freedom Fellows who is making real change in Chicago.
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Volunteers ROCK!
Hannah Wallerstein
Hannah Wallerstein has been an active volunteer for almost two years, since CFS began programming in spring 2007. She has been a tremendous asset, giving much of her personal time to CFS projects, creating her own progressive work and regularly networking on behalf of CFS. Hannah has served on the Communiversity program committee, the Youth Leadership Board, and played a key role in connecting CFS to several arts and social justice initiatives across the country. Currently, Hannah works with the anti-White Supremacy Initiative and co-facilitates intergenerational Theatre of the Oppressed workshops. We cannot thank Hannah enough for all that she brings to CFS.
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Public Programs off to a great start in 2009. CFS offers workshops addressing social justice issues and exploring movement history.
 Civil Rights Movement Leader Lawrence Guyot spoke to 25 youth at Urban Prep Academy about his experiences with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).
Nearly 40 people joined us for our Civil Rights in Chicago program on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
On Saturday, February 24, 28 youth and adults attended our Teach-in on Violence Against Women in the Congo.
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CFS Receives National Funding and Recognition!
We are proud to announce that the Chicago Freedom School was awarded with its first grant from a national funder, a 5-year pledge of support from the Cricket Island Foundation. A big THANK YOU goes out to all of you who have been working so hard and tirelessly to help build CFS into such a great and powerful organization! This award is a tribute to all of you! |
Did You Miss "An Evening with Mavis Staples?"
Listen to her online!
 CFS is grateful to all those who supported our 2008 first annual fundraiser in December, "An Evening With Mavis Staples." We raised over $11,000 and had a great time talking with Ms. Staples about her amazing career as an artist/activist. In case you missed it, you can catch the interview Ansheera "Ace" Hilliard and Veronica Bohanan did with Ms. Staples online HERE. |
CFS Is Hiring!
Apply to be an instructor for the Freedom Fellowship Summer Leadership Institute
June - August 2009.
Have an idea for a social justice course for youth ages 14 - 16? Submit a course proposal to be a summer instructor. Download the full Call for Proposals HERE. |
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Support the Chicago Freedom School
Please consider the Chicago Freedom School as one of your priorities for charitable giving. You may donate online or mail in your contribution with the form on our website.
Your contributions are fully tax deductible
under the Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3) code.
Thank you for your support! |
Check out the CFS Website!
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The calendar page and the announcement section give details about all upcoming events and opportunities.
On the WHO ARE WE page, all of the 2008 Freedom Fellows' names are linked to their Vocalo.org profiles which feature text, audio, photo and video postings about their
identity and each step of their action plans. Listen to Vocalo at 89.5 FM! You might hear a Freedom Fellow's voice!
And of course you can always go to the SUPPORT page and donate!www.chicagofreedomschool.org
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Our Mission
The Chicago Freedom School provides a space where young people and
adult allies can study the work of past movements, deepen their
understanding of current social problems, build new coalitions and
develop strategies for change. We support new generations of critical
and independent thinking young people who use their unique experiences
and
power to create a just world.
La Escuela de Liberacion de Chicago prove un espacio donde gente
joven y adultos aliados puedan estudiar el trabajo de movimientos
sociales pasados, profundizar su entendimiento de problemas sociales
presentes, y puedan crear nuevas coaliciones y construir estrategias
nuevas por el cambio. Nosotros apollamos a generaciones nuevas de
personas que piensan de manera critica e independiente, y quienes usan
sus experiencias y poder unico para crear un mundo justo.
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CHICAGO FREEDOM SCHOOL
CENTER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
719 S. State St
Suite 3N
Chicago, IL 60605
phone: 312.435.1201
fax: 312.435.1203
info@chicagofreedomschool.org
www.chicagofreedomschool.org
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