Freedom Schools, as we called ours the Kansas City Freedom School Initiative, is a program of the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, DC. Marian Wright Edelman was the person who really re-engaged Freedom Schools [in the 1990s], because Freedom Schools were founded many years ago during the Civil Rights Movement... to address a critical issue of learning in our unique communities... Mrs. Edelman realized that we're still fighting the same challenges and we had a good product decades before, so why not bring that back? ... And Kansas City, as we often do, took the lead... Kansas City had the most sites, Freedom School sites, and was kind of looked upon as that premier initiative that others looked on from afar in terms of what we did... At its highest point, we had like 19 sites, approximately 100 students per site... it was a great program for the students participating, their families, and the college students that we call Servant Leaders.

Freedom Schools, as we called ours the Kansas City Freedom School Initiative, is a program of the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, DC. Marian Wright Edelman was the person who really re-engaged Freedom Schools [in the 1990s], because Freedom Schools were founded many years ago during the Civil Rights Movement... to address a critical issue of learning in our unique communities... Mrs. Edelman realized that we're still fighting the same challenges and we had a good product decades before, so why not bring that back? ... And Kansas City, as we often do, took the lead... Kansas City had the most sites, Freedom School sites, and was kind of looked upon as that premier initiative that others looked on from afar in terms of what we did... At its highest point, we had like 19 sites, approximately 100 students per site... it was a great program for the students participating, their families, and the college students that we call Servant Leaders.

— Gloria Jackson-Leathers, former associate, 1998-2026