QUINCY — In the midst of a busy week of school and activities, Soleil Newman can draw on the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s words — “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl.” — inspire the Quincy eighth-grader to keep moving forward no matter what.
“I’m walking today. I did what was right and got in trouble,” Newman shared at one of this week’s Freedom School sessions.
“I hope you run tomorrow,” school coordinator Brittney Thrower said.
Hourlong Freedom School sessions offered since November after school on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at Teen Reach focus on literacy, history, identity and social change, or what Thrower calls building community, with junior high and high school students.
“It really helps your mindset. It gives you a new way to think about things,” Newman said.
“I used to not feel good about myself. Now I feel good about myself,” sixth-grader Alysia Jaco said. “I go home every night and tell my mom how much fun I had.”
Modeled after the Freedom Schools to educate black youth in the 1964 Freedom Summer, the Teen Reach program brings community members together with Quincy’s young people.
“We’re putting youth in discussion in front of community members who look like them, giving them I call it life literacy, life skills if you will,” Thrower said.
Activities like dance workshops and research projects into leaders of the civil rights movement purposely highlight both Black history and culture, beyond what students typically learn in school, and build bridges to the present day.
“Part of empowerment comes through knowledge of yourself,” Thrower said. “You have to know where you came from to know where you’re going.”
Sixth-grader Jahki Castleman finds inspiration in learning about Black leaders like C.T. Vivian, King’s lieutenant in the civil rights movement who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in his Freedom School friendships and activities.
“They help me get through stuff,” he said. “I like to do community service projects, and we’re doing a lot of community service projects out here.”
Thrower wants the students to learn to speak up for what they think is right.
“You have a voice. You have a set of eyes that see things that need to be talked about, rationalized and fixed,” she said. “We teach them solution-based thinking. If you come in and complain about something, have a solution to follow. It’s learning to be resourceful, learning what it is to build community.”
Sixth-grader Rayje Jones said those are important lessons.
“It’s life lessons that really matter,” he said.
Sessions wrap up with affirmations reminding students that “I am loving” and “I am worthy.”
“It changes our mind to positive from negative,” ninth-grader Talia Baker said.
Thrower’s just as positive about Freedom School and its potential impact.
“I’m excited to see where it goes,” Thrower said. “Right now, it’s baby steps, but I want to watch these kids build our community.”
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