Freedom Summer is the first step toward LEADership

Modeled after the Freedom Schools of the 1960s, Freedom Summer is a 5-week summer-school program for 7th-, 8th-, and 9th-grade students. At the beginning of each day, Fellows learn about freedom fighters, past and present; discuss the LEAD principles and how we practice them; and give collective affirmations. Throughout the day, Freedom Fellows participate in reading and math classes; creative opportunities in visual arts, drama, creative writing, and filmmaking; and fitness, gardening, and community service programs. After completing the academic portion of the summer, Freedom Fellows travel to Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee to camp in the wilderness, visit civil rights monuments and museums, and learn more about the historical and contemporary struggle for justice in the South.

Freedom Summer Collegiate sets Fellows up for success beyond high school

In the summer after their 9th-grade year, Freedom Fellows take a variety of courses taught by doctoral candidates from around the country. Recruited and supported by our partner organization, Freedom Summer Collegiate, these doctoral candidates develop courses in their fields of study. Not only do these courses allow Fellows to explore their passions, they also provide opportunities for Fellows to earn credits through Millsaps College while developing their collegiate skills.

Throughout the Fellowship, young people study the issues that affect them and their community. This study involves dialogue and discussion, as when Fellows interrogate books or practice improvisational theater. This study involves writing and reflection, as when Fellows create poetry, explore mindfulness, or give affirmations to one another. This study involves research, as when Fellows canvass their neighbors or do participatory action research at their schools. However, most of all, this study involves critical intervention on these issues. As the great critical pedagogue Paolo Freire taught, it is not enough to simply analyze the world, but liberation involves action. This praxis - acting on the issues that affect oneself and one’s community - is where true learning begins. Creating knowledge, genuinely acting as a subject, must involve the transformation of oneself and one’s world. From voter registration to political education, from community meetings to restorative justice circles, Fellows practice their ideas about justice through organizing with their classmates, families, and community.

The RFP's mission is founded on the belief that "from education blossom all freedoms."

True freedom is born in the pursuit of education. By engaging with literature, math, and more, Freedom Fellows have access to opportunities to explore the ideas and develop the skills necessary to take on leadership roles in their schools and communities, in college, and in life.

During Freedom Summer, students complete five weeks of rigorous instruction in math and reading that prepare them for success in school and put them on track to college acceptance. With instruction from our college teacher-advisors, veteran teachers, and volunteers, Freedom Fellows learn about the real-life relevance of literature and mathematics, and connect their studies to the pursuit of empowerment and justice in their own lives.

After school, Freedom Fellows receive help finishing homework, completing projects, and studying for tests during our study sessions. On Tuesdays, Freedom Fellows take a novel studies course, during which they read literature, complete essays, and engage in discussions that promote their identities and understanding of leadership through textual analysis.

The RFP is about much more than simply "keeping kids off the streets." We expect great things from our Freedom Fellows and, as such, take very seriously the responsibility of empowering them to compete academically with students across the nation. Fellows in their Junior and Senior year meet weekly with RFP staff members to prepare for the ACT, apply for colleges, and write scholarship essays. Once in College, Fellows have access to up to $3,000 in emergency loans, and can receive a modest stipend for participating in weekly mental health check-ins; this is all part of the RFP’s commitment to helping our Fellows get to and through college.

Strapped for resources and frequently understaffed, schools across the Mississippi Delta are unable to provide students with many creative opportunities. Opportunities in the arts, however, have been shown repeatedly to produce happier, more inspired, more successful students. The RFP uses the power of the arts to engage students' passions, talents, and identities.

Visual Arts

From drawing and painting to paper mache and collages, Fellows discover the power of expression and learn the tools that it takes to exercise it. During the summer, Fellows take five weeks of daily arts classes and, during the school year, they will receive one hour of arts instruction every week from veteran artists and teachers through a partnership with the Delta Arts Alliance.

Photography and Oral History

Thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and a partnership with the Delta Arts Alliance, Freedom Fellows spent the 2016-2017 school year exploring the fundamentals of oral history and photography. As their culminating project, students created a mixed media storytelling project that explores the history and contemporary reality of education in Rosedale.

Filmmaking

Through a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Freedom Fellows piloted a filmmaking program during Freedom Summer 2017. In the 2017-2018 school year, Fellows used their filmmaking skills to explore different genres of film, producing films on the middle-school garden in Shaw, MS, the Mississippi River port in Rosedale, and a short film on the history of the Rosedale Freedom Project. Some accolades of our young filmmakers include:

• Production of over 20 films since our inaugural course in Freedom Summer, 2017.

• Awarded $5,000 by Museum on Main Street to shoot and produce a seven-minute documentary on the Port of Rosedale for the traveling ‘Waterways’ exhibit, which is an adjunct of the National Smithsonian Museum.

• Partnership with Blue Magnolia Films to produce five short photo documentaries on the history of Rosedale. These films were shown to over 2,000 people at an unveiling at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, MS.

This year, the RFP Filmmaking for Freedom program is working on a submission to the National History Day competition, which will research and analyze the civil rights history of Rosedale. This film, along with narrative shorts produced by the Freedom Fellows, will appear in Spring 2020.

Theater

Freedom Fellows also explore the power of expression through drama. From exercises with dialogue, movement, and projection to production and script-writing to performance, Freedom Fellows learn the tools and value of theater. Fellows perform their plays, which explore issues of civil rights, justice, and truth, before audiences of community members and parents at our seasonal showcases.

Creative Writing

In creative writing, Fellows learn writing and performance skills; create a space for writing, performing, and critiquing their work; and meet other writers — young people and adult writers — to develop their craft. Fellows have presented their creative writing at showcases in Rosedale, Cleveland, and Sunflower, MS, and Baltimore, MD; successfully submitted pieces to literary magazines and state-wide writing competitions; and produced five original zines, available for purchase! Check out their most recent issue of the zine here.

One major struggle for students in the Delta is exposure. Many students in Rosedale have not had the opportunity to leave the Delta, and this isolation puts them at an extreme disadvantage to their more affluent peers. The RFP, however, seeks to close this opportunity gap by offering our Freedom Fellows the opportunity to travel, visiting Civil Rights monuments, exploring the outdoors, visiting colleges and universities, and learning more about the history and culture of America. We believe that this exposure to new places and experiences, the opportunity to be representatives of their home community, and the chance to learn from other leaders fighting for justice across the country are essential to Fellows' leadership.

Over Freedom Summer, Fellows get to go to Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas to swim in lakes, camp outdoors, and explore Civil Rights history. In the past, Fellows have visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, artists and activists in Selma, and Grow Dat youth farm in New Orleans. Our most dedicated Fellows end their summer by traveling to universities like Delta State, Jackson State, and Tougaloo to stay in dormitories, explore college life, and take courses on topics like mass incarceration, cultural appropriation, media representation, and philosophy designed and taught by our undergraduate Teacher-Advisors. These experiences give Fellows the opportunity to build community, deepen the bonds built over Freedom Summer, and get excited for college life!

During the school year, Fellows take trips to deepen and extend the learning we do here at the LEAD Center. In 2017, Fellows travelled to Chicago to share an oral history / photography project on the history of Rosedale schools, funded by the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. In 2018, Fellows travelled to the Facing Race Conference in Detroit to explore activism, leadership, and anti-racist practices. For the past two years, Fellows have visited our partner schools: the Park School, City College, and City Neighbors in Baltimore. There and in D.C., Fellows have met with elected leaders like Congressman Bennie Thompson, activists from the Baltimore Algebra Project and Leaders for a Beautiful Struggle, and staff from the Obama campaign and White House to learn about the many forms and approaches to fighting for justice!

All of these trips are in addition to the many trips we take throughout the year to colleges and universities, film festivals, partner programs, conferences, and trainings. To keep up with all of our travels, please subscribe to our newsletter by following the link at the bottom of the page!

The Rosedale Freedom Project is rooted in the legacy of the Freedom Schools that came to Mississippi in 1964. Not only did these Freedom School provide educational and artistic opportunities to black youth in the Delta, they also served as hubs for community organizing. Young people at Freedom Schools engaged in political education activities, registered new voters, and organized protests to challenge the Jim Crow system. Though less overt than the poll taxes and literacy tests of the Jim Crow era, today’s political, social, and economic systems in the state continue to disenfranchise communities of color in the Delta. That’s why our Fellows have engaged in voter registration and education activities, engaging more than 200 new and established voters in Rosedale over the past year. Fellows have also travelled door-to-door to discuss issues with their neighbors and develop campaigns to change oppressive systems that affect Rosedale’s families. Fellows have talked with local, state, and national leaders about the issues that they face, from crumbling infrastructure and teacher shortages in their schools to economic oppression and inadequate social services in their communities. Fellows are currently working to develop a 13-Point Program for Justice, modeled after the Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Program, which will outline and spell out the issues that they want to organize their community to tackle.

Obesity rates in America have doubled in the last three decades, and, despite its rich history of athleticism, Mississippi frequently tops this list, boasting a 35% obesity rate. Although there are many causes for this, two of the largest factors in this epidemic are physical inactivity and a lack of healthy food options. The RFP seeks to alleviate these pressures.

Garden

Through partnerships with the City Council and the Rosedale Family Medical Center, the RFP has planted a community garden. In the garden, Fellows learn how to plant, grow, harvest and prepare vegetables, and explore why healthy foods are so important to our bodies and our minds. Once harvested, produce is distributed to the community to promote availability and understanding of fresh vegetables! In 2018, the RFP hired Ms. Annabelle Guptill, a former Foodcorps member, to develop a food justice curriculum and expand our garden to 10,000 square feet. Today, the garden boasts a pollinator garden, built by Mr. Tomas Quintero and Ms. Rachel Devecka, high school interns from the Park School; three garden beds; and an outdoor classroom!

Fitness

Freedom Fellows also learn about the importance of exercise and physical activity through our fitness program. From volleyball and handball to mile runs and levee walks, Freedom Fellows engage in rigorous physical exercise, learn about stretching and caring for their bodies, and discover how fitness can be fun and exciting.

Snack Program

With generous donations from the Friends of Rosedale, private donors, and community members, the RFP runs a year-round summer feeding and after-school snack program.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Every Monday, Fellows have the opportunity to learn about and practice mindfulness strategies that help them physically, mentally, and emotionally self-regulate. These strategies include deep breathing, awareness training, and mindful movement.