Learning Engagement: Freedom Dreaming

During this learning engagement Deaf Action team members Al Mascarenas, Aracelia Aguilar, Damita Bookman, DeAnna Swope, Najma Johnson and Roberta Eaton will share their experiences working in the deaf anti-violence movement and their Freedom Dreams.

Freedom Dreaming is a concept that was put forth in 2003 by Professor Robin D.G. Kelly, a Black historian and author who is presently the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at UCLA, and calls for us to envision not what we are fighting against, but what we are fighting for. This practice of “freedom dreaming,” while only recently coined two decades ago, has been a practice long passed on through different generations of Black and Brown leaders. Most recently, Alicia Garza (co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement), has centered freedom dreaming in the movement to invite us all in creating the world we dream of by, first, visualizing the future we want to live in, and second, determining the actions that will lead us there.

Throughout this learning engagement, we will touch on the following points:

• Understanding the ways in which white supremacy and racism show up in the anti-violence movement work.

• Seeing the ways in which Black, Brown, and Indigenous Deaf advocates and leaders navigate a primarily white-based field and how this shapes their respective experiences.

• Learning about the ways in which organizations - ranging from Board members to executive directors to staff - can support Freedom Dreaming and do the work to begin transforming organizational practices and be more inclusive and equitable programs.

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