Source: The Institute for Southern Studies
The “freedom” in the Sunflower County Freedom Project honors both the past and the future. Inspired by the “Freedom Schools” that were established in Sunflower County and throughout Mississippi during Freedom Summer in 1964, our organization uses the history of the 1960s civil rights movement to motivate our students to become capable and compassionate leaders in their communities.
Beginning in their first summer, all students are immersed in a curriculum that emphasizes the civil rights movement, and the leaders of the freedom struggle stand as historical models for our students to follow. From reading about the movement, interviewing movement veterans, and visiting movement sites, students learn that to live up to their heritage and make freedom real today, they must take advantage of the opportunities available to them — opportunities won through their ancestors’ struggles. They learn that they must push themselves to become educated and disciplined enough to make positive changes in themselves and their communities.
