Fare of the Free Child

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Ep. 2: South Africa & India Reimagined Aug 01, 2016

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"That shift from beloved, all-black schools to white schools where black students were always seen as interlopers, as not really belonging, taught me the difference between education as the practice of freedom and education that merely strives to reinforce domination." -bell hooks In this episode, we’re breaking the stereotype that unschooling is a white, male, middle-class thing. I’m so excited to share a peek into Zakiyya Ismail’s life and work. She is a longtime self-directed education advocate and mother of two young adults and a 9-year old, all of whom are life-long unschoolers. Zakiyya and her husband wanted their children to have the space to define themselves outside of predominant ideologies, and they saw that school was not where that would happen. “Why should we restrict ourselves to our geographic location, when we can find people we can connect with anywhere in the world?” -Zakiyya Ismael, The Learning Reimagined Conference, South Africa

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Ep. 1: Unschooling Explained - with Tamika Middleton Jul 27, 2016

Show notes

Welcome to Episode One of Fare of the Free Child! If you enjoy what you hear, please help more people find this podcast by rating it on iTunes. Thanks!

This week, my co-facilitator is Atlanta based activist, community organizer, and unschooling Mama, Tamika Middleton, who you heard at the beginning of this episode. Tamika addressed the FEAR of children leading themselves, which is precisely what unschooling addresses and over time, resolves. So, as with every episode of FOFC, we start with a FEAR and then we address the FARE (the cost) of that fear, what it’s costing us and our children when we don’t push back against that fear, and then we talk about what we can do to minimize that fear.

Tamika and her family (her husband, Demetrius, and their two children, Amani, their 9-year-old son and Asha, their nearly 3-year-old daughter) have been such an inspiration to me as a black unschooler, as a feminist, and as woman of color who prioritizes the liberation of her people. Tamika and I share the philosophy that self-directed, learner-centered education is one way to do something about the oppression and domination of people of color by the effects of systemic racism, particularly inside the school system.

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Ep. 0: Welcome and Why This Show Jul 10, 2016

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This fall, I’m launching a podcast for Black and Brown parents who practice alternative parenting options to the traditional education model that is school. Options like unschooling, worldschooling, roadschooling, slowschooling, eclectic homeschooling, and the myriad other ways that we and our children embrace curiosity-driven, lifelong learning. The podcast is called Fare of the Free Child, and its purpose is to help me amplify the underrepresented voices and unique concerns of people of color looking for real viable options to the oppressive systems that our children are expected to live and learn within. I want to use this space to create community for adults engaged in unconventional black and brown parenting and caregiving to be heard, and to find and support each other. And since I’m an unschooling, location independent, non-christian, Caribbean, intersectional feminist, mermaid identifying, radical self-expression practicing, blackity-black woman and mother, raising two superdope black girls with my Kingman—I am just the one to invite you into this conversation. And to be clear, I have an agenda. I want us to start treating our children with more dignity and giving them more autonomy over their own futures. And I want us to shift out of the thinking that this work of freeing children from oppressive structures, is a white thing, as many black folks keep telling me about unschooling in particular. The format of the podcast is simple: we start with a fear (f-e-a-r), and then we explore the fare (f-a-r-e the cost). So, twice a month, I—sometimes accompanied by a special guest co-host—will talk about the layers of unconventional black parenthood, and how we can use that mindset as a way to get free. We’re aiming to solve things together, not just talk about them. Fare of the Free Child will not just be for folks already immersed in self-directed education, it will also be accessible and relatable to newbie unschoolers, undecided but curious parents, and eventual parents who want to start exploring ways to live and learn with their children now. Sign up for updates and the first few episodes at akilahsrichards.com/podcast. And while you’re doing that, tell a few friends to sign up too. That link again is akilahsrichards.com/podcast.

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