1. Freedom

Category Archives: Freedom

Freedom Schools, Freedom Dreams

Posted on by

Freedom Schools offered a creative alternative to Southern underfunded, segregated schools during the Civil Rights Movement. Freedom Schools embraced a radical pedagogy and philosophy that emphasized self-knowledge, applied knowledge and critical thinking: the classroom became a site for teaching and learning freedom. Today, poor and communities of color are deeply immersed in struggles for access to quality education.

Join the UIC Social Justice Initiative to explore the legacy of Freedom Schools and for an honest conversation with teachers, students, parents, and activists about the state of neighborhood schools in Chicago, the push to privatize, and the ongoing struggles in public education.

Featured speakers:

Malcolm London, Teaching Artist, Young Chigago Authors Jackson Potter, Staff Coordinator, Chicago Teachers Union David Stovall, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African American Studies, UIC Reyna Wences, member, Immigrant Youth Justice League and Organized Communities Against Deportation Prudence Browne, Managing Editor, SOULS, moderator and more....

In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer, the UIC Social Justice Initiative is hosting a series of events to examine how we collectively remember this historic summer and to use it as a stimulant for discussion of what Dr. King called the fierce urgency of now. This series will culminate in a national conference Freedom Dreams, Freedom Now! on May 28-30 at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Co-sponsored by UIC Social Justice Initiative and WBEZ.

Read more here:

Freedom Schools, Freedom Dreams

Pattern of Press Freedom Abuses in Cameroon

Posted on by

YAOUNDE Saturday is World Press Freedom Day. Commemorative activities are already going on in Cameroon, with journalists complaining that the press is manipulated by the more than three decade rule of President Paul Biya.

Cameroon has more than 500 newspapers and 100 radio and television stations. Journalists said most of the media outfits were created by the government to give an impression there is press freedom in the country led by President Paul Biya, the world's sixth longest serving leader.

VOA asked the President of the Cameroon Union of Journalists, Charlie Ndi Chia, if the proliferation of media outlets means there is freedom of the press in Cameroon.

"The answer is definitely no, we are just deceiving the world into thinking that there is press freedom in Cameroon. Its a mere boogie [deception]," he said. "The government created its own Frankenstein monster and which is allowing everyone else to be a journalist, to have a media. Look at what is happening around, just any body, just any body. I am a journalist, I am a journalist.''

Journalist John Mbah Akuru said some of the media organs are at times told by the government what to report.

"There are a lot of media houses where sometimes articles are dictated by news sources. They just call you, they dictate an article and you know these articles are carried and published and you call yourself a journalist," he said. "When you a journalist, a publisher, and you find yourself being dictated a story, you should be ashamed of calling yourself a journalist."

Kini Nsom, another journalist who reports for the Post newspaper, said those journalists who struggle to be independent are never given access to information.

"You cannot move to [approach] the presidency and verify information. There are certain institutions that are like no go areas for journalists. We cannot be talking about press freedom in a country where the president of the republic has never at any one moment granted a press conference to the national press, the prime minister the same. We cannot be pretending," said Kini Nsom.

Another issue raised by the media is that a majority of the journalists working in Cameroon never had formal training. There is poor pay, intimidation and regular arrests and detention of journalists.

President Paul Biya created Cameroon's National Communications Council to regulate the practice of journalism.

Read more from the original source:

Pattern of Press Freedom Abuses in Cameroon

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite | Episode 159 | G Rank | Golden Rathian | Switching It Up! – Video

Posted on by


Monster Hunter Freedom Unite | Episode 159 | G Rank | Golden Rathian | Switching It Up!
This is why I don #39;t lance Rathian lol Next Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqgSdMRNt9E Previous Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIxchLvftXE.

By: Luserk

Read the original here:

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite | Episode 159 | G Rank | Golden Rathian | Switching It Up! - Video

Deteriorating press freedom due to various factors: Ahmad Shabery

Posted on by

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's fall of 23 rungs in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index should not be attributed solely to government actions, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek

He said the actions of some opposition parties in blocking certain media from covering their events also affected the position of the country in the media freedom index.

"Therefore, it is not fair to blame the government as the only cause for the fall in ranking as other factors also contributed to the state of press freedom in the country," he added.

He was winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address at the Dewan Negara sitting, here, today.

The World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organisation registered in France, showed that Malaysia fell to 145th position out of 179 countries last year compared to 122nd in 2012.

Ahmad Shabery said although media freedom in the country declined to 145th place, the government was open-minded, among which was doing away with the annual press permit renewal except for media which violated the law.

"The question is why the fall? I was told the public's perception is that the government is the enemy of media freedom. It is incorrect. The Philippines and Indonesia are also not in the best positions. Thailand is more or less the same with us," he said.

Ahmad Shabery said interference by certain influential individuals could also contribute to the fall, for example, the act of an influential person in calling the news editor directly to determine a certain news also constituted press interference.

This could cause the fall in ranking of the country in press freedom, headed.

Ahmad Shabery said the government also encouraged the freedom to speak out by inviting parties from different political ideologies as panellists in discussion programmes produced by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).

View post:

Deteriorating press freedom due to various factors: Ahmad Shabery

Dr M: Restrict freedom of speech and a free press to safeguard democracy

Posted on by

The former prime minister argued today in a posting on his popular blog that the public must accept limits to their freedom, amid a series of challenges in recent years to the policies of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's policies and conduct.

If democracy is to survive and to serve the purpose for which it is devised, there must be some acceptance of the limits to the freedom that we consider democratic.

The world needs to make up its mind. Do we elect government by voting or do we install government through street demonstrations? Dr Mahathir said.

Race and religious tension has been on the rise in recent years with challenges to government policy which has been seen as marginalising non-Malays and non-Muslims.

There have also been widespread concerns about electoral fraud and unfair polls practises resulting in massive street demonstrations by electoral reform group Bersih.

The ruling BN lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008 and that was repeated in last year's elections. In Election 2013 the BN coalition also lost the popular vote.

Dr Mahathir, who was known for his authoritarian administration, has been arguing in recent times for strong government.

In his latest blog post today, he said free speech, free press, demonstrations and strikes must be circumscribed to some degree so that they will not destroy democracies in the name of democracy.

In a non-democratic totalitarian state such massive demonstrations may be justified as there is no other way to change governments. But now even when elections can determine changes in governments, the losers in democratic elections have resorted to these disruptive acts.

Dr Mahathir claimed the series of Bersih demonstrations were obviously meant to excite public support to discredit the government and eventually to bring it down.

Excerpt from:

Dr M: Restrict freedom of speech and a free press to safeguard democracy

Freedom High teacher on the move

Posted on by

OAKLEY -- It's been a banner-busting year for Jennifer Kadavy.

The 31-year-old Concord resident, a cross country and track coach and English teacher at Freedom High School in Oakley, got married, got buff and got a spot in the 2016 U.S. Olympic team marathon trials.

Traveling the 26.2 miles between Calistoga and Napa on March 2, Kadavy was a blur. She placed first in the Napa Valley Marathon at 2:40:47, after having blue-ribboned February's Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon with a 1:16 finish. A few days after cranking herself up the 250-foot Golden Gate Bridge incline, in the 31st annual Across the Bay 12K (she came in second), Kadavy sat down for an interview.

"I'd like to run Big Sur, just for fun," she says. "I'm running the California International Marathon from Folsom to Sacramento in December. I want to find another fast course before then."

Her focus, narrow and deep, is showing up in her numbers. Shaving precious seconds off her times, she managed to dip under the Olympic Trial "B" standard of 2:43. Now, she's aiming for "A," a goal that would mean clipping three minutes. "I have four marathons where I can try to do it," she says.

Growing up in Fremont, her father signed her up for road races at the age of 4.

"He's a runner too, and he taught me to pace myself. All the other girls were sprinting, then walking. I'd run right on by," she recalls.

During her freshman year at San Jose's Notre Dame High School, coach Matt Andrade led her through tough, repeat workouts. Pushing past her limits made her realize she didn't have limits, and running hard -- and long -- became a rewarding experience.

"I never regret going for a run," she says. "I feel lighter, emotionally and physically. I'm more clearheaded and positive, even when my pace isn't what I wanted it to be."

At UC Davis, Kadavy encountered a series of speed bumps -- injuries she says resulted from a lack of planning and trying to keep up with the team's top seven runners.

See original here:

Freedom High teacher on the move


  1. Freedom