CHICAGO FREEDOM SCHOOL

EMPOWERING YOUTH, HONORING THE PAST AND BUILDING MOVEMENTS FOR CHANGE

2017 YEAR IN REVIEW

celebrating ten years ofwww.chicagofreedomschool .org @chifreeschool

Building the next generation of

YOUNG SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERS

“I learned how to talk to people as a group rather than just individuals and I can use that to talk to audiences about topics that I’ve learned and education them on things I’m passionate about.”

- 2017 Freedom Fellow

freedom fellowshipIn 2017, 20 young people of color

ages 14-17 spent 6 months...

community organizing skills

on environmental justice, education, and healthy

communities

movement history and current social issues

community

STRENGTHENING

TAKING ACTION

STUDYING

BUILDING100%

90%

70%

believe youth can work together to bring change

believe they can make change in their neighborhood

vs. 55% pre-Fellowship

have the skills to build a coalition around issues that matter of them vs.

41% pre-Fellowship"I learned how to organize. I will apply those skills

at school while I attempt to erect change." -2017 Fellow

Fall Youth-led Action CampaignsEnvironmental Justice - The 2017 Environmental Justice cohort campaign is to create awareness and community building around issues of environmental justice in the Austin neighborhood because two of our cohort members live there. The goal is to fight against the negative image of the Austin community by empowering community members to become guerrilla gardeners and drop wildflower seed bombs* in the neighborhood. The EJ cohort will partner with PCC Wellness to distribute 100 seed bombs to local residents and share information about the seed bombs and how they can make their own. A flyer will also be distributed with information on ways to get involved in environmental justice work by linking them to community organizations.

*A seed bomb is a little ball made up of compost, clay and seeds. You throw them anywhere as long as there is soil beneath them. Seeds will remain dormant until their environmental needs are met and will then sprout!

Fair and Just Schools - The 2017 Fair and Just Schools cohort campaign is to eliminate adultism in Chicago Public Schools. Their campaign is to unite 10 adult allies from Chicago Public Schools and educate them on how to dismantle adultism within a school and classroom setting. On December 10th, the held a youth-led workshop for teachers which addressed strategies to create an inclusive and supportive youth environment, ways to address adultism in school and tips on how to be allies to students.

Healthy Communities - The 2017 Healthy Communities cohort campaign is to increase the understanding, self-esteem and efficacy of junior high students interested in attending high schools in the Chicago Public School system. Their campaign brings together 12-15 youth from low-income communities of color who are in 7th or 8th grade at a CPS elementary school for two 2-hour sessions to educate students about navigating the CPS high school system, share self-empowerment activities and empower youth to take action and demand opportunities to a high-quality education. Thework is mostly centered around having students understand that they have the ability to reach for their educational goals, in a system that is continually making systems feel like they are dumb, undeserving and voiceless.

"[I learned] hella skills! How to be an ally to queer folks....Organizing in general. Sharing/having power. Expressing yourself through art. Hosting peace circles

and so much more." -2017 Fellow

PROJECT HEAL USExploring, engaging, and expanding youth leadership for reproductive justice

Project HealUs explored the history of the reproductive justice movement through intersectional lenses giving young people the opportunity to move beyond the pro- and anti- choice debate and to explore the social and political ways that we engage our bodies, our selves, and each other. The curriculum, created and facilitated by a team of young people, centered around six main topics: (1) reproductive justice and the politics of the body; (2) misogyny; (3) reproductive planning; (4) rape culture knowledge and identification; (5) communication and compassionate countering techniques; and (6) organizing strategies to dismantle oppressive systems and create social change.

... ABOUT HISTORY of the reproductive justice movement.

"Project HealUs is a place where you learn about your sisters who have fought before

you, a the ways in which they struggled and succeeded."

...SKILLS TO ACT.

"I will more actively advocate for reproductive justice and I will continue to educate myself."

...CREATE SAFE SPACE.

"Being in a space where I felt safe made me feel empowered."

LEARNED GAINED CREATED

100% gained skills like compassionate countering to combat misogyny and rape culture

87% strengthened knowledge about the reproductive justice movement

youth leadership boardThe YLB is a youth-led decision-making body at CFS that works closely with youth programs staff to design CFS’s youth programs, write curriculum, conduct outreach, participate in direct

actions, mentor Freedom Fellows, and facilitate workshops on various social justice across the city.

DESIGNED THE 2017 Freedom Fellowship

LED WORKSHOPS for over 100 adults on Understanding Adultism

DESIGNED AND LED workshops on healing practices that reached

over 500 young people

Freedom Fellowship alumni who design and lead CFS youth leadership programs

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT STORYTELLERS

In 2017, they presented their work at the Free Minds Free People Conference in Baltimore, MD and at the Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment Conference in Chicago.

The YES Team is a team of Freedom Fellowship alumni who design and implement strategies to document and evaluate the impact of CFS youth programs.

SPRING INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG ORGANIZERSTen emerging organizers from Chicago Freedom School, Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health,

Chicago Desi Youth Rising and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization creating a learning community to share their work, build community and strategize ways to fight

oppressive actions that threaten their communities.

popular education

Participants of Spring 2017 Rev Up, a multi-day training institute for youth organizers, youth workers, and educators

who seek to incorporate social change practices into their work.

Smashing White Supremacy

Over the Rainbow: Understanding the Intersections of Sexuality & Gender

Community Organizing Series

Understanding Adultism

Navigating the Grey Zone

Identity, Power & Oppression

Organizing Strategies for Black Liberation

White Folks & Racial Justice

Rev Up

"The youth-led session on adultism...made me see and start to reckon with adultist ideas I hold, which is an important first step in dismantling those beliefs in myself and in my organization."

"I felt really validated in this space and in the work that I'm doing as a person of color for other people of color."

2017 WORKSHOPS

Strengthening capacity for liberatory action through

Nearly 1,000 people from across the city and region participated in 50 workshops focusing on SOCIAL JUSTICE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, ANTI-OPPRESSION

PRACTICES, AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING SKILLS.

POPULAR EDUCATION

in the last ten years...

256young leaders of color have completed the Freedom Fellowship

people from across the country have participated in

CFS’s workshops and training to build their

capacity to support youth- led social change and anti-

oppression practices

organized and sponsored public programs on social

movement history, youth-led social change, and healing justice that reached over

people

4,700 75

5,000

thank you to our 2017 supporters & partners!Chicago Foundation for Women CME Group Community Foundation Conant Family Foundation Cricket Island Foundation Crossroads Fund CTU Foundation

Access Living Adler University Chicago Park District Chicago Women's Health Center Chicago Desi Youth Rising Communities United Education for Liberation Network Grassroots Education Movement Hana Center Illinois Safe Schools Alliance Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health Inner City Muslim Action Network Lawrence Hall Liberation Library

Fehsenfeld Family Foundation Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing New Visions Foundation Polk Bros Foundation Robert R. McCormick Foundation W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation

FOUNDATIONS

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization PCC Wellness Center Project Nia Roosevelt University School of the Art Institute Southside Together Organizing for Power Trilogy University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration UIC IRRPP UIC M.Ed. Program in Youth Development University of Michigan School of Social Work And many more!

PROGRAM & TRAINING PARTNERS

thank you to over 250 individuals who gave their time, talent and financial support to ensure that our work continues.

WE COULD NOT DO THIS WORK WITHOUT YOU!