Nikole Hannah-Jones launches Soros-funded K-12 '1619 Freedom School'
Nikole Hannah-Jones founded a '1619 Freedom School' to teach young students the narratives behind her '1619 Project.'
Open Society Foundations, George Soros' nonprofit organization, is listed as a financial sponsor.
New York Times journalist and Howard University professor Nikole Hannah-Jones has founded the 1619 Freedom School, targeted to elementary school students in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.
“The school’s mission is to help children develop a love of reading and books through liberating instruction centered on Black American history and will serve low-income students with the widest disparity in their reading scores,” the school’s press release states.
Sheritta Stokes, a local teacher and friend of Hannah-Jones, is the organization’s co-founder. The pair aim to deliver “intensive literacy instruction and a culturally responsive curriculum to bridge the academic opportunity gap among low-income public school students.”
[RELATED: UNC journalism dean resigns post after Nikole Hannah-Jones controversy]
The 1619 Freedom School’s curriculum will utilize “a literacy curriculum built around Black history,” which will also be available as “an open sourced, free resources for communities across the country.”
Among the 1619 Freedom School’s funders is Open Society Foundations, a charity founded by George Soros.
So proud of my best friend from high school, a longtime educator in Waterloo’s most segregated elementary school who will be the co-director of the 1619 Freedom School. If you want to support the school, please go here: https://t.co/e1OJyxdfJs https://t.co/PceAkiRD6c
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) September 4, 2021
Georgetown University educator Sabrina Wesley-Nero and University of Missouri professor LaGarrett King will lead the school’s curriculum development.
Welsey-Nero researches “the experiences of students who have historically been marginalized as a result of their racial, socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic identities” and King investigates “critical theories of race, teacher education, and curriculum history.”
In addition to Waterloo being Hannah-Jones’ birthplace, the 1619 Freedom School’s press release suggests that Governor Kim Reynolds’ signing of House File 802 influenced the decision to launch the program at the Waterloo Community School District.
The law, which took effect July 1, prohibits “race and sex stereotyping training” done by “state and local governments,” which local coverage frames as anti-Critical Race Theory legislation.
Campus Reform reached out to the 1619 Freedom School for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft
