Mary McLeod Bethune

1904

Founder of Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls & the National Council for Negro Women

Educator and lifelong activist Mary McLeod-Bethune founded what is now known as Bethune-Cookman University. Like many scholars of her tune (and today), she believed that education was key to the Black people’s advancement in a nation designed to stifle them. She was dedicated to creating and maintaining safe educational spaces for Black girls and women - the most marginalized among us.

Oakland Community School

1973

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense opens the doors of the Oakland Community School (OCS).

150 students – all Black and from poor households – were enrolled the first year and the waiting list included unborn children. The cornerstone of OCS, were a culturally relevant curriculum and youth agency. The school remains one the most crucial examples of community-controlled education and stands as a testament to the difference community can make in children’s lives.

Mae Mallory

1956

The practical PTA mother and radical revolutionary who dedicated her life to “solving Black people’s problems.”

In a suit against NYC’s Board of Education, The Harlem Nine (Mae Mallory and eight other Black mothers) challenged the zoning policies and requested an open transfer policy, setting a precedent for Black children throughout the City. They argued that Brown v. Board of Ed did very little to actually provide Black children with a proper education. While Mae Mallory radically changed the way Black parents in NYC could access educational options for their children, her calling and life’s work went beyond that: she was a community builder in the all ways that truly mattered.

Eve L. Ewing

2018

Sociologist (of Education), Assistant Professor, and author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side

Ewing’s book chronicles the history of Chicago’s South Side and Chicago’s public school system, particularly detailing the ways in which structural racism has resulted in the closure of schools that had historically been the bedrock of many of neighborhoods. More importantly, Ghosts in the Schoolyard highlights the efforts of Chicago’s teachers, parents, and students who all fought to keep their neighborhoods in tact - understanding that education is key to their preservation.

Mississippi’s Freedom Schools

1964

Developed by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

In the summer of 1964, SNCC launched their Freedom School in Mississippi. The six-week summer program was designed to combat the sharecropper education Black and poor white people received in the South. Over 2,500 students in 40 schools learned through a progressive curriculum of writing, reading, arithmetic, history, and civics. The goal? To prepare disenfranchised African Americans to become active in the politics which governed them and to spark a passion for learning in the children and youth.

NYC Liberation School

2020

Created throughout the partnership of multiple grassroots organizations.

Inspired and influenced by SNCC’s Freedom Schools, NYC Liberation School provides extra support to New York City families and students who have been left with little to no resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. The free courses focus on academics, creativity, socio-emotional health, and political education. Every course is taught by community teachers - volunteers from NYC’s communities.

For more info: https://www.nycliberationschool.org/