Black Social-Emotional Learning Freedom School hosted by Dangers of the Mind Education Fund

In July, Dangers of the Mind Education Fund, a sponsored project of Southern Vision Alliance, hosted a four-day Freedom School for Black youth in order to provide them with tools and frameworks for social- emotional learning. Through her project Dangers of the Mind and Black SEL, CEO and director Kristen Hopkins aims to reach, teach, and build a strong system of future leaders, visionaries, and pioneers that will be able to harness their intrinsic power and catapult into their rightful purpose. 

Black SEL (Social and Emotional Learning), a project of Dangers of the Mind, exists to fill a critical resource gap for Black students. Between public schools being underfunded and over-stretched and mental health resources for students being scarce, students are often left without tools to cultivate social and emotional well-being–to the detriment of their mental health. Black students, often facing a myriad of challenges and oppressions, are often punished and criminalized in schools for the emotional dysregulation and mental health issues they face. Black Social-Emotional Learning was launched to provide Black students with culturally relevant, research-based social and emotional learning resources in order to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

Through the Freedom School, Dangers of the Mind Education Fund aimed for students to have a more profound sense of self and a more extensive toolbox of social-emotional skills useful for their everyday lives. The twenty-seven students in attendance, the majority of whom are students at Durham Public School’s Hillside High School and the Boys and Girls Club of Durham, participated in workshops and activities teaching social and emotional skills through culturally relevant scenarios. These lessons included scenarios on brokenness, complacency, fear, dependency, distraction, ego, insecurities, and pride. 

Students left the four-day Freedom School with an enhanced understanding of communication skills, identifying emotions, maintaining self and social awareness, self-identity, building healthy relationships, responsible decision-making, and self-management. Thanks to the Black SEL Freedom School, the students in attendance are better equipped to grow into their best selves and forge their own paths for their future.