Juneteenth and Other Expressions of Freedom

School’s out – or is likely to finish soon for the summer. There’s a certain sense of freedom.  But the concept of freedom has much deeper roots and meaning. For example, the celebration Juneteenth commemorates the ending of  slavery in the U.S. Freedom can also be in the mind. Feel free to explore the varieties of freedom.

CONNECT:

• Juneteenth is a contraction of June 19^th, and is NOT the date of the Emancipation Proclamation. Find out the reason for the date discrepancy, and the impact of Juneteenth at http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
• What if you had to hide in order to get to freedom? You can experience the Underground Railroad at http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/multimedia/interactive/the-underground-railroad/?ar_a=1
• Another journey to freedom was the crossing of the Delaware during the American Revolutionary War. This ThinkQuest was developed by students for students: http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/
• The cost of freedom is not free. Enter the virtual Smithsonian exhibit “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War” to experience how war has shaped American freedom: http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/

CREATE:

• You can participate in Juneteenth celebrations in almost every state. You can probably take photos at the event, and upload them to http://www.juneteenth.com/worldwide.htm to show your support. Indeed, you can even create – and share -- your own event or way to recognize this date and its meaning.
• What does freedom look like? Civil Rights dealt with ways to live fairly and justly in a free society. Part of that effort to address Civil Rights has been through art, as shown in this African American conference “Oh Freedom!” (http://africanamericanart.si.edu/conference)  Try your artistic hand at visually describing freedom.
• Songs of freedom can mobilize people. Hear some of the classic ones at http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/freedom.asp. Make up your own!
• How creative can you be? Open-ended tools and toys can give children more freedom to open their minds and create. Think about providing a creative corner, inspired by http://adventuresathomewithmum.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-art-centre-freedom-and-creativity.html

CARE:

• What freedoms do children have – or should have?  Humanium is a humanitarian relief organization for sustainable development and child sponsorship in India. Read Humanium’s list of children’s rights to freedom: http://www.humanium.org/en/fundamental-rights/freedom/. Do you agree with that list? Are  the rights of children in India the same as U.S. children’s rights?
• “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,” and part of that vigilance is voting. Even if you’re too young to vote, you can build political power, starting with http://www.rockthevote.org/
• Assistive technology can help individuals gain more mobile freedom. Find out about freedom machines at http://www.pbs.org/pov/freedommachines/#.Ubzv2ZzAgXc
• One of the most important freedoms is intellectual freedom. Know your rights by reading what the American Library Association has to say: http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/issuesadv/intellectualfreedom/kidsknowyourrights.pdf

CAREERS:

What kinds of careers help maintain freedom?

• Politicians enact laws that maintain freedom: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2008/summer/art01.pdf
• People in the military are sometimes called peace keepers, and work to keep America free: http://www.todaysmilitary.com
• In terms of freedom of the mind, teachers want students to be free to learn: http://www.bls.gov/k12/help01.htm
• And librarians certainly support intellectual freedom: http://librarycareers.drupalgardens.com/