Resources
Curriculum and Youth Action Grants
In 2010, the Chicago Freedom School has partnered with Project Nia and Teachers for Social Justice along with other volunteers to develop a curriculum guide entitled “Something is Wrong: Exploring the Roots of Youth Violence.” This guide was created to contribute to and expand the ongoing efforts by young people and their adult allies to analyze the root causes of youth violence and to create local solutions.
At a time when frustration is running high and many are expressing a sense of powerlessness in the face of pervasive violence, this curriculum guide is an offering intended to make a positive contribution to the dialogue about violence in the lives of young people.
Through this curriculum, we want to challenge youth to think about a) the roots of violence in their lives; b) the enforcers and victims of violence; c) the effects of violence on both victims and perpetrators; and d) how violence can ultimately be minimized through systemic changes.
“Something is Wrong: Exploring the Roots of Youth Violence” is a 350-page curriculum guide that is being provided digitally at no cost to the community. In lieu of compensation, please complete the following questions PRIOR to downloading the guide.
You can hear founding director Mariame Kaba on Chicago Public Radio promoting the Guide.
You can also purchase hard copies of the guide here:
Lending Library
The Chicago Freedom School maintains a lending library for youth and adult activists and educators across the city. A current list of CFS holdings can be found at our LIBRARYTHING account here:
All individual members and membership organizations have free access to the library. Learn more about membership on the membership page. A deposit is required of all other supporters. The cost is $5.00 for youth age 21 and under and $20.00 for those over age 21. If you are interested in becoming a CFS library member, please complete and send in the Library Patron Form.
Selected Bibliography
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), CFS has compiled a annotated list of related resources that are available in our library. Download the SNCC Bibliography.
Below is a selected list of resources pertaining to the history of Mississippi Freedom Schools in the United States:
Aaronsohn, Liz; Cobb, Charles; Lynd, Staughton; Garrett, Jimmy; Lauter, Paul; O’Connell, Barry; O’Malley, Susan; and Perlstein, Dan. (Contributors). (1991) “Mississippi Freedom School Curriculum 1964.” Radical Teacher. Fall (40), 6-40.
This publication includes the actual curriculum of the 1964 Freedom Schools.
Belfrage, S. (1966). Freedom Summer. London: Andre Deutsch limited
Stories of the actual volunteers of the 1964 Freedom Summer.
Chilcoat, G. and Ligon, J. (1999). “Helping to Make Democracy a Living reality: The Curriculum Conference of the Mississippi Freedom Schools.” Journal of Curriculum and Supervision. 15(1), 43-68
This article provides insight into the proceedings of the conference which shaped the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools.
Horton, M. (1998). The Long Haul: An Autobiography. New York: Teachers College
An indirect look at the Highlander Folk School Citizenship schools, led by Septima Clark, which influenced the Freedom School curriculum.
Perlstein, D. (1990). “Teaching Freedom: SNCC and the Creation of the Mississippi Freedom Schools. History of Education Quarterly. 30 (3), 297-324.
An excellent introduction to the Freedom Schools, its rationale and its struggles
Rachal, J.R. (2000). “We’ll Never Turn Back: Adult Education and the Struggle for Citizenship in Mississippi’s Freedom Summer.” Adult Education Quarterly 50 (3), 166-196.
An excellent resource for the adult educator interested in the Freedom School experience.
Ransby, Barbara. (2003) Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
Biography of Ella Baker (1903-1986), one of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement. Baker was a gifted grassroots organizer whose remarkable career spanned fifty years and touched thousands of lives. She was a key figure in the NAACP, a founder of the SCLC, and a prime mover in the creation of SNCC. Baker reviewed the concept paper for freedom schools in Mississippi and mobilized others to make them a reality.
Rothschild, M.A. (1982). “The volunteers and the freedom schools: Education for social change in Mississippi.” History of Education Quarterly. 22 (4), 401-420.
This article provides background to the nature of education in Mississippi in the early 1960’s