This page is referenced by:

• 1 2023-11-06T08:41:25-08:00 History of Liberation Schools 14 plain 2023-11-12T22:09:17-08:00

  In June 1969 The Black Panther Party opened its first liberation school in Berkeley, California, named “The Intercommunal Youth Institute aka IYI, serving African American elementary and middle school students. The success of the Free Breakfast Programs in Oakland encouraged Black Panthers to involve children more in sponsored activities which eventually was replaced by the liberation school. The idea and motivation for the first liberation school was central around the fifth tenant of the Ten-Point Program which expressed the need for quality education to African Americans of all ages. The first reason for opening a liberation school was to provide a different style of education that was not based on systematic traditional teaching methods. Secondly, the school provided a safe place for members' daughters and sons while they were organizing the party. While some parents made the choice to enroll their children to a liberation school, some were forced due to their children being expelled from public schools. The liberation schools curriculum involved basic academic subjects like math, language arts, science, and history, but also new subjects like karate and meditation. Subjects like math and science were very similar to public schools as concepts are based on facts and evidence; however, subjects like language arts and social studies were very different. An article named Vanguards in the Classroom: History and Lessons from the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School, by the author named Abioye Akin states, “ Recovering how writing pedagogy was approached at the liberation schools is imperative as it provides a model of successful teaching in Black communities: not only did OCS win awards for its curriculum and instruction from the California Board of Education, but the school also prepared students to address social injustices and uplift their communities in ways they may or may not have considered were it not for the instruction they received at the OCS(Vanguards in the Classroom, Akin, Abioye, 2021).” The writing structure at the liberation schools encouraged students to reflect on their social situations as they were inspired to participate in many different writing exercises like poems, plays, letters to imprisoned party members, newspaper articles, journals, and other more traditional forms of academic writing. Students were also encouraged to write reports of historical or current events and analyze them. School leaders eventually realized that students needed to learn to communicate using the language of “the system” to fight their oppressor. The politically charged instructional methods decreased as the institute was renamed the Oakland Community School and led by a new school director named Ericka Huggins. Ericka Huggins was a Black Panther woman who held the leadership position as the Director of the Oakland Community school from the years of 1973 to 1981. The change in leadership influenced the expansion in curriculum as subjects like political education, physical education, art, and music were included. Despite the pedagogical shift,  racial and economic oppression never fully disappeared in the curriculum. When the school first opened pedagogy was deeply influenced by the party's ideology and beliefs, however after the change in name and leadership, pedagogy was deeply influenced by critical thinking, self-discovery, and self-mastery. In 1974, the Intercommunal Youth Institute was renamed the Oakland Community School and moved to a larger location capable of serving more children. The school structure consists of a five day schedule set up as the first three days were focused on traditional academic study, Thursdays were film days, and Fridays were reserved for field trips throughout the community. The school served students ranging in age from two to twelve, and there were no traditional grade levels, only group levels based on academic performance. The class sizes were small as the ratio of teacher to students was 1:10; which was intentionally to provide each child with individualized attention. According  to the article named Vanguards in the Classroom: History and Lessons from the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School, by the author states, “Without assistance from the government or charging tuition fees, the school provided students three full meals a day, preventive health care, and transportation to and from school. Running the school was expensive: it costs approximately $720 annually to provide services to students, and the operating costs of the school were $6000 per year. Moreover, the Community Learning Center required an annual amount of $100,000. Even when the educational institute resorted to charging a monthly $25 for tuition, the fee could be waived based on hardship(Vanguards in the Classroom, Akin, Abioye, 2021).” The school provided many services to not only students like free meals a day, free medical care, and clothing, but also the entire family which included counseling, health care screening, and tutoring. Students and families  had access to the following free services; George Jackson People’s Free Medical Clinic, Children’s Healthcare Program, the Seniors Against A Fearful Environment (S.A.F.E.), the Legal Aid and Educational Program, the Adult Education Program, and the Free Employment Program. There were a large number of liberation schools within the United States of America, however the first and longest lasting was the Oakland Community School and officially closed in 1982. 

• 1 2023-11-13T17:31:18-08:00 The Structure of Liberation Schools 6 image_header 2023-11-13T17:58:32-08:00

  In 1974, the Intercommunal Youth Institute was renamed the Oakland Community School and moved to a larger location capable of serving more children. The school structure consists of a five day schedule set up as the first three days were focused on traditional academic study, Thursdays were film days, and Fridays were reserved for field trips throughout the community. The school served students ranging in age from two to twelve, and there were no traditional grade levels, only group levels based on academic performance. The class sizes were small as the ratio of teacher to students was 1:10; which was intentionally to provide each child with individualized attention. According  to the article named Vanguards in the Classroom: History and Lessons from the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School, by the author states, “Without assistance from the government or charging tuition fees, the school provided students three full meals a day, preventive health care, and transportation to and from school. Running the school was expensive: it costs approximately $720 annually to provide services to students, and the operating costs of the school were $6000 per year. Moreover, the Community Learning Center required an annual amount of $100,000. Even when the educational institute resorted to charging a monthly $25 for tuition, the fee could be waived based on hardship(Vanguards in the Classroom,Akin, Abioye, 2021).” The school provided many services to not only students like free meals a day, free medical care, and clothing, but also the entire family which included counseling, health care screening, and tutoring. Students and families  had access to the following free services; George Jackson People’s Free Medical Clinic, Children’s Healthcare Program, the Seniors Against A Fearful Environment (S.A.F.E.), the Legal Aid and Educational Program, the Adult Education Program, and the Free Employment Program. There were a large number of liberation schools within the United States of America, however the first and longest lasting was the Oakland Community School and officially closed in 1982.