Freedom Day – NYC – February 3, 1964 (repost)

(This is a repost of my Freedom Day 2021 blog. I was born the very next day after Freedom Day. I celebrated my birthday the last few years by teaching students about Freedom Day – telling the history, the background, why it is important today. But I am not teaching today. The links in this post are minimal. To learn more see 1) this awkward but well-meaning attempt to link my birthday with Freedom Day, 2) last year’s birthday post that has something in it about Freedom Day, or 3) The Battle Nearer Home – The Persistence of School Segregation in New York City – new book published this summer, by Chris Bonastia, with LOTS of details about what happened)

Freedom Day – NYC – February 3, 1964.

Half a million boycotted school, demanding integration.

How come we don’t know about this? How come we don’t teach it?

I’ve been talking about it. Now let’s have some others do the talking:

From Time Magazine, September 2020:

(that’s an 8 minute video. There’s also a print story)

From WNYC Radio, story by Yasmeen Khan, February 2016:

(that’s a 7 minute audio)