Free Minds, Free People Info and Call for proposals due Jan. 25
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Curtis acosta
Jan 9, 2013, 11:50:36 AM1/9/13
to ethnic-studies-assembly
Ethnic Studies in the Bay Familia,
Feliz Año Nuevo/Happy New Year! I hope this email finds you well and
your new year is starting strong.
As many of you may know we are planning another ES Assembly in SF on
1/20 and I wanted to update you on a few things before then. There has
been a group representing all the regions from the Bay (and Tucson)
that have been faithfully meeting at least once per month who are
currently organizing our Assembly in a few weeks. In case you felt
that there our gathering did not yield any movement building, I wanted
to dispel that from the start. Things will be even more concrete after
we all get together over MLK weekend. Things are moving mi gente!!!
One of the items that came from our Regional Team meetings was the
lack of information about Free Minds, Free People. Thus, the following
is a LONG email that responds to some of the questions posed to me by
the Regional Team so that you can better understand the conference and
the relationship to the Education for Liberation Network. By all
means, read this when you have the time and I also included the FMFP
Chicago 2013 Call for Proposals e-blast along with this.
See you in SF on January 20th and Go Niners!!!
Curtis (south Bay born and bred)
FMFP INFO
*-How long has the FMFP been going on?*
Free Minds, Free People (FMFP) began in 2007 in Chicago and it is hosted by
a different city every two years. In the past, we have had conferences in
Houston in 2009 and Providence in 2011. This year’s conference was
initially going to be in Salt Lake City, but due to the unfortunate passing
of one of the head organizers in SLC the local team felt a city change was
necessary. Thus, this year’s conference will be held in Chicago at a
pivotal time for teacher activism, community connection, and social justice
in education (http://www.fmfp.org/).
*-Who organizes FMFP?*
Volunteers throughout the country organize FMFP with the main sponsor of
the conference being the Education for Liberation Network (
http://www.edliberation.org/). There are two planning teams (national and
local) that coordinate the conference logistics and content through
committees that meet regularly for the two years leading up to the
conference.
Since attending my first FMFP conference in Houston, I was so excited by
the energy, content, and perspectives of the participants that I wanted to
get involved immediately. This is the second time that I have been on the
National Planning Committee and it has helped me build organizing skills
and a network of passionate educators and activists who were instrumental
in helping our struggle for justice in Tucson.
*-What is the overall mission of the conference? *
Free Minds, Free People is a national conference that brings together
teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and
community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a
movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. We seek
to develop ways of teaching and learning both in and out of school that
help us to build a more just society. The conference is a space in which
these groups can learn from and teach each other, sharing knowledge,
experience and strategies.
*-What are the logistics of FMFP? How many days, what happens on each
of those days, etc.? *
This year’s conference is July 11-14
Thursday afternoon we will be hosting Radical PD, which we initiated for
the first time in 2011. This pre-conference intensive will bring together
educators from around the country in dialogue and skill-building.
Workshops and speakers will focus on teacher activism, implementing
education for liberation in the classroom, actively resisting the
neo-liberalism agenda for our public schools, and organizing with students
and communities.
Thursday night is the official kick-off with a welcome event that is often
performance based.
Friday and Saturday the conference begins in full with workshops, site
visits throughout Chicago, as well as keynote/plenary sessions. There are
other art and music activities that take place, as well. Both evenings are
filled with amazing events that bring folks together, and as Cam says,
“FMFP is crackin’!” Fun, fun nights, folks.
Sunday is designed for action. For the first time, we will be offering
National Assemblies around issues of importance for educators and
communities throughout the nation, such as Ethnic Studies. We will be
organizing that assembly, so I hope that you all will attend and help us
out.
*-What's your vision for the west in terms of FMFP?
As advisory board members for The Education for Liberation Network, it has
been our goal to expand the footprint of Ed Lib and FMFP to the west. We
have many things to offer the national conversation, but up until this
point the majority of the network and conference participants have been
from the east. Patrick Camangian, Antonio Martinez and myself (the
west/southwest Board Members) are fired up to get more involvement at FMFP
and eventually bring the conference out west to Oakland. Your participation
is the key so check out the call for proposals that follows and we can talk
out much more of this at our next assembly on January 20th in San
Francisco.
**[image: fmfp_logo_3a_4C-POScropped]**Free Minds, Free People
July 11-14, 2013
Chicago, IL
****
****
****
** **
Dear Educators and Activists,
*Don’t forget--proposals for **Free Minds, Free People 2013** are due
Friday, January 25. Please visit* *http://proposals.fmfp.org/.** ***
To get inspired about coming to Chicago this summer, check out this great
video in which educators, activists and youth from Chicago talk about why
this city *the* place for a national education justice gathering this
summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gVux_E0rIY
*Free Minds, Free People* <http://www.fmfp.org/> is a national conference
presented by the Education for Liberation Network that brings together
teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and
community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a
movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. Our
2011 conference in Providence, Rhode Island featured more than 60
activities, including workshops, panels and local community site visits,
and 700 attendees in our biggest conference to date.
Our 2013 conference will be held in Chicago from July 11-14, 2013. *Free
Minds, Free People* is an energizing and inspiring space that brings
together groups that do not usually have an opportunity to interact so they
can share experiences and build solutions together.
We invite you to submit proposals to present work addressing a range of
education justice issues by *January 25, 2013*. There are several different
types of activities that you can submit proposals for:****
- *Workshop:* Practitioners will provide hands-on instruction and
practical ideas and methods that participants can take back to their home
communities.****
- *Panel Discussion:* Several individuals with experience in similar
topics will field questions and generate action-oriented dialogue with
participants.****
- *Paper or Research Exploration:* Authors/researchers will
interactively explore papers on a similar topic and engage the audience in
the issues and implications for youth and social change.****
- *Young Activists Workshop:* Facilitators will lead a hands-on activity
specifically for youth ages 7-12. Activities are designed to engage young
minds in exploring issues relevant to their experiences and expressing
their unique voices.****
- *Assembly: *This is an exciting, new activity within *Free Minds, Free
People*. We are inviting organizations and individuals working on a
specific issue within education for liberation to organize a convening in
which participants can build toward national connectedness and collective
action on that issue. We envision these assemblies as collaborative
movement building and strengthening spaces.****
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in
being part of this event. Proposals can be submitted at
http://proposals.fmfp.org/ until *January 25, 2013*. We are excited to
learn more about education for liberation happening across the nation.
In solidarity,
The FMFP Planning Team****
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/138976599582671/
Twitter: @fmfpconference
Website: www.fmfp.org****
** **
Feliz Año Nuevo/Happy New Year! I hope this email finds you well and
your new year is starting strong.
As many of you may know we are planning another ES Assembly in SF on
1/20 and I wanted to update you on a few things before then. There has
been a group representing all the regions from the Bay (and Tucson)
that have been faithfully meeting at least once per month who are
currently organizing our Assembly in a few weeks. In case you felt
that there our gathering did not yield any movement building, I wanted
to dispel that from the start. Things will be even more concrete after
we all get together over MLK weekend. Things are moving mi gente!!!
One of the items that came from our Regional Team meetings was the
lack of information about Free Minds, Free People. Thus, the following
is a LONG email that responds to some of the questions posed to me by
the Regional Team so that you can better understand the conference and
the relationship to the Education for Liberation Network. By all
means, read this when you have the time and I also included the FMFP
Chicago 2013 Call for Proposals e-blast along with this.
See you in SF on January 20th and Go Niners!!!
Curtis (south Bay born and bred)
FMFP INFO
*-How long has the FMFP been going on?*
Free Minds, Free People (FMFP) began in 2007 in Chicago and it is hosted by
a different city every two years. In the past, we have had conferences in
Houston in 2009 and Providence in 2011. This year’s conference was
initially going to be in Salt Lake City, but due to the unfortunate passing
of one of the head organizers in SLC the local team felt a city change was
necessary. Thus, this year’s conference will be held in Chicago at a
pivotal time for teacher activism, community connection, and social justice
in education (http://www.fmfp.org/).
*-Who organizes FMFP?*
Volunteers throughout the country organize FMFP with the main sponsor of
the conference being the Education for Liberation Network (
http://www.edliberation.org/). There are two planning teams (national and
local) that coordinate the conference logistics and content through
committees that meet regularly for the two years leading up to the
conference.
Since attending my first FMFP conference in Houston, I was so excited by
the energy, content, and perspectives of the participants that I wanted to
get involved immediately. This is the second time that I have been on the
National Planning Committee and it has helped me build organizing skills
and a network of passionate educators and activists who were instrumental
in helping our struggle for justice in Tucson.
*-What is the overall mission of the conference? *
Free Minds, Free People is a national conference that brings together
teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and
community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a
movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. We seek
to develop ways of teaching and learning both in and out of school that
help us to build a more just society. The conference is a space in which
these groups can learn from and teach each other, sharing knowledge,
experience and strategies.
*-What are the logistics of FMFP? How many days, what happens on each
of those days, etc.? *
This year’s conference is July 11-14
Thursday afternoon we will be hosting Radical PD, which we initiated for
the first time in 2011. This pre-conference intensive will bring together
educators from around the country in dialogue and skill-building.
Workshops and speakers will focus on teacher activism, implementing
education for liberation in the classroom, actively resisting the
neo-liberalism agenda for our public schools, and organizing with students
and communities.
Thursday night is the official kick-off with a welcome event that is often
performance based.
Friday and Saturday the conference begins in full with workshops, site
visits throughout Chicago, as well as keynote/plenary sessions. There are
other art and music activities that take place, as well. Both evenings are
filled with amazing events that bring folks together, and as Cam says,
“FMFP is crackin’!” Fun, fun nights, folks.
Sunday is designed for action. For the first time, we will be offering
National Assemblies around issues of importance for educators and
communities throughout the nation, such as Ethnic Studies. We will be
organizing that assembly, so I hope that you all will attend and help us
out.
*-What's your vision for the west in terms of FMFP?
As advisory board members for The Education for Liberation Network, it has
been our goal to expand the footprint of Ed Lib and FMFP to the west. We
have many things to offer the national conversation, but up until this
point the majority of the network and conference participants have been
from the east. Patrick Camangian, Antonio Martinez and myself (the
west/southwest Board Members) are fired up to get more involvement at FMFP
and eventually bring the conference out west to Oakland. Your participation
is the key so check out the call for proposals that follows and we can talk
out much more of this at our next assembly on January 20th in San
Francisco.
**[image: fmfp_logo_3a_4C-POScropped]**Free Minds, Free People
July 11-14, 2013
Chicago, IL
****
****
****
** **
Dear Educators and Activists,
*Don’t forget--proposals for **Free Minds, Free People 2013** are due
Friday, January 25. Please visit* *http://proposals.fmfp.org/.** ***
To get inspired about coming to Chicago this summer, check out this great
video in which educators, activists and youth from Chicago talk about why
this city *the* place for a national education justice gathering this
summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gVux_E0rIY
*Free Minds, Free People* <http://www.fmfp.org/> is a national conference
presented by the Education for Liberation Network that brings together
teachers, high school and college students, researchers, parents and
community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a
movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. Our
2011 conference in Providence, Rhode Island featured more than 60
activities, including workshops, panels and local community site visits,
and 700 attendees in our biggest conference to date.
Our 2013 conference will be held in Chicago from July 11-14, 2013. *Free
Minds, Free People* is an energizing and inspiring space that brings
together groups that do not usually have an opportunity to interact so they
can share experiences and build solutions together.
We invite you to submit proposals to present work addressing a range of
education justice issues by *January 25, 2013*. There are several different
types of activities that you can submit proposals for:****
- *Workshop:* Practitioners will provide hands-on instruction and
practical ideas and methods that participants can take back to their home
communities.****
- *Panel Discussion:* Several individuals with experience in similar
topics will field questions and generate action-oriented dialogue with
participants.****
- *Paper or Research Exploration:* Authors/researchers will
interactively explore papers on a similar topic and engage the audience in
the issues and implications for youth and social change.****
- *Young Activists Workshop:* Facilitators will lead a hands-on activity
specifically for youth ages 7-12. Activities are designed to engage young
minds in exploring issues relevant to their experiences and expressing
their unique voices.****
- *Assembly: *This is an exciting, new activity within *Free Minds, Free
People*. We are inviting organizations and individuals working on a
specific issue within education for liberation to organize a convening in
which participants can build toward national connectedness and collective
action on that issue. We envision these assemblies as collaborative
movement building and strengthening spaces.****
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in
being part of this event. Proposals can be submitted at
http://proposals.fmfp.org/ until *January 25, 2013*. We are excited to
learn more about education for liberation happening across the nation.
In solidarity,
The FMFP Planning Team****
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/138976599582671/
Twitter: @fmfpconference
Website: www.fmfp.org****
** **
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