Freedom School, Which Teaches 'Accurate' Black History, Awarded $200K

SARASOTA, FL — The Community Foundation of Sarasota County awarded the Manasota branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History a $200,000 grant from the Marilyn G. Harwell Fund to support the organization’s Freedom School.

The free classes, which resume in November, “offer accurate lessons in African and African American history,” according to a news release from the Manasota ASALH. “The Freedom School’s mission is to teach the true history of Africa and African Americans, at a time when such instruction is being restricted in Florida’s public schools.”

The Freedom School piloted its program last spring, amid the passage of new legislation, commonly referred to as the “STOP WOKE” act, which restricts what and how teachers are to teach concepts of race, color, sex and national origin.

• Also Read: African American History Taught By Freedom School At Sarasota Library

While the school is patterned after the freedom schools of the 1960s that arose as part of the Civil Rights movement to empower Black students and families through education, the Manasota ASALH is open to every learner, regardless of race.

“It’s critical that all students, not just Black students, can learn about Black history, which is American history,” David Wilkins, the branch’s president, said. “The teaching of factual history plays an essential role in fostering a civil society and these lessons are as important today as they ever were.”

The next batch of free sessions begin Nov. 4 and continue every Saturday (with breaks for holidays) from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. through April 20 at Girls Inc., 201 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota.

Aimed at students in grades K through 12, the classes will be conducted by certified teachers and aided by volunteers. The classes also will include a free lunch.

Interested students can register online here.

• the history of Africa
• the origin of the slave trade
• the brutal realities of the Middle Passage
• the economy of the antebellum South
• the Emancipation and its aftermath
• the Civil Rights movement
• the achievements and challenges of contemporary Black America