Fare of the Free Child

“ Emancipated Learning: The interplay between psychological safety, learning and inquiry, and meaningfulness represents Emancipated Learning. Every individual has his or her own unique learning needs, capacities, and interests. When these learning dimensions are ignored or subjugated, learning turns into a chore that must be completed to appease or satisfy others.  Abrome Learners feel comfortable...

Learn how two women use brain science, a love for culture, and a recognition of parenting as social justice work to connect and uplift their communities in their commitment to nonviolent parenting and thriving-centered self-care. “Latinx Parenting is a bilingual organization rooted in social justice and children’s rights, the ongoing practice of nonviolence towards ourselves and others, self-refle...

What do teenage unschoolers need in order for the Self-Directed Education movement to be even more effective for them? One common gripe among many of the SDE-minded folks in my circles is the lack of amplified youth voices in our gatherings, trainings, etc. Nahla, Marley, and Timo are three teenagers whose families embracing unschooling. They have each also facilitated trainings for adults and chi...

This week, let’s talk about some unschooling vocabulary. There are terms I made up, and terms that our community took on and redefined for ourselves. This episode highlights some of those words. I imagine doing updates of this episode as we continue to develop language together. For now, these ten words offer a good opportunity for us to have shared meaning. It’s also an opportunity to question yo...

In this episode, Dr. Sundiata asks questions about a common practice for many African American people. The practice of saying "us" or "we" that some people use when expressing how they feel about something. Does this practice impede our individual pursuits for agency and liberation?  Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make su...

Medley This week, let’s touch on the other side of self-care. Mostly, we tend to think about self-care as practices that help us to slow down, do less, be still. That is part of it, but there’s another side to it. Self-care is also about our daily life design, which includes our productivity work, our active times, the moments when we’re not slowing down, we’re building. We can and should learn ho...

In a world that constantly sends messages to women about connecting their value with their physicality and desirability, I need to help them operate with an awareness of their right to reject or accept physical touch, or any act that affects their personal space or feeling of safety, from any adult or child. And that means I have to be honest about the ways that I, myself, might infringe on their...

“The most difficult thing in dealing with [raising ] young girls is that you have to come to grips with how you deal with women. You have to address your beliefs, what you’ve been taught, and what you’ve seen in society. If you’re not trying to be a dominating or oppressive figure in their life, you have to consider these things.”  - Kris Richards This week, Kris talks about his raising free peopl...

This week Marley Richards is joining me to talk about the goodness and the grit of being in a mother-daughter relationship rooted in liberation. She is co-facilitating Raising Free People Workshop with me this year, and on this episode, we’ll share some details about the space we intend to hold. Raising Free People Workshop is a space for us to apply decolonization and deschooling to the way we ra...

Last week we talked about barriers, and this week we’re talking about stress, which of course, can also be an effective barrier to our raising free people practice. So, what do we do with these potential barriers and existing stressors? We question and practice our way out of as much of it as we can. We seek and find community among whom we can share our pain and our joy. We remember our capacity...

This week, we’re talking about the things that get in the way of our raising free people practice. There are many, but today, I’m highlighting three primary ones, poor baggage handling, systemic racism, and partner problem. I’m explaining each of these as I understand them, and I’m encouraging you to comment on this show notes page, or on social media using the #raisingfreepeople tag to talk about...

This week, I’m sharing some of the insights that have come from my busy month in California. This month, I’ve done trainings, workshops, and gatherings, around this work of raising free people, and deschooling has been a central theme in all those spaces. I can see that we need more discussion about deschooling, here on Fare of the Free Child, and that starts today. There is a myth that it takes a...

Kris & Akilah’s idea for sharing gems from live workshops  Molasses is slow and steady, full of rich useful properties that take time to come through. I'm taking time to process the experiences I host or co-facilitate at this year's Homeschooling Assn of California Conference (HSC), then I'll recap and deep-dive my live workshops to bring you Molasses Sessions. Whether you were...

This week, a listener’s questions got me in mad question-askin’ mode about this unschooling life. What if my children just can’t, because of ...? Most of us have probably asked ourselves that question once or 50 times, yeh? Well, my answer today is way different that what it would’ve been during our first three or so years of unschooling. My answer is: Give yourself time to deschool so that you ca...

We deh pon di replay this week! This is a rebroadcast of episode 45, where I answer a question from someone who attended my unschooling webinar . She asked about the process of the transition from home-schooling to unschooling, and I expound on a response from a long-time unschooler, Itiel McVay, inside the webinar. Plus, I give an overview of unschooling, so don’t miss those details. #BIPOCinSDE...

Join Dr. Sundiata for episode 3 of the Let's GROW Podcast series as he explores "Trust Issues" and the patterns of distrust that are so common in our lives. Why do so many people of African, Asian, & Indigenous descent distrust people of European descent? Why do so many women distrust men? Why do so many adults distrust children? Dr. Sundiata shares his best thinking as to why a...

The world loves Black culture, but not Black people, a statement that I feel is ringing true now more than ever.  Hey, y’all, it’s Marley (the editor). I often speak about K-Pop and the frustrations of witnessing and constantly having to battle cultural appropriation, so I figured at the Rooted Us Unconference in NYC this year, why not have the conversation again?  I hope that this overview paired...

On July 10 of 2016, following the brutal murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, I decided to publish a podcast about the ways that BIPOC families were handling the dichotomous life of constant fear amid a will to thrive, particularly as we endeavor to raise children who embody their liberation. It’s been three years as of today, and I am so grateful for the loving, vocal community that ha...

Maleka Diggs and Akilah S. Richards  talk about the issues with inequitable SDE spaces in terms of race/culture. They invite you to sign up for the live, virtual training on this topic: https://radicalselfie.teachable.com/p/equityinsde Taking this training will support your exploration and understanding of: The characteristics of pervasive whiteness and schoolish tactics in intended self-directed...

In episode 126 we’re sharing snippets from some of the conversations from Rooted Us NYC, a free unconference focusing on the practical application of anti-oppressive community building. You’ll hear from attendees who were wondering about things like parent education (deschooling), social justice as part of Self-Directed Education, how to raise free people when we (adults) don’t feel free, cooperat...

What can a home environment look like when the adults practice raising free people? This is the question of longtime member of the FOFC community, Chemay Morales-James. She founded the organization My Reflection Matters, a movement to provide personal and educational resources for young Black and Brown people to think critically about themselves and feel empowered to combat racial injustices where...

Confident autonomy: this is the thing Kris and Akilah Richards intend to help nurture in their daughters, Marley and Sage-Niambi. There is no one definition of it’ it’s an ability to navigate the world with a strong sense of self, an awareness of the place in the world and their capacity to influence the people and situations within it, and the tools to life well, be good to people, and make a dif...

What does respect look like for Black folks when it comes to raising free people? Tebogo asked this question, and it took Kris and Akilah back to a recent experience with their daughters and disrespect. We’ll also hear from Maleka Diggs, Philly-based unschooling mama and equity organizer, on the perception of respect among communities, cultures, and intended safe spaces. This ended up being a Pare...

Join Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta for the second episode of Let’s Grow Podcast Series as he explores the popular greeting in Black culture that uses royal titles as greetings, i.e. What's good, King?" or "Hey, Queen!" In this episode, titled Don't Call Me King, continues his pattern of inviting us to deconstruct and rethink the ways we see power and community. Be sure to reach...

Intuition is not exclusive to adulthood, and it can play a very helpful role in helping a child develop a healthy sense of bodily autonomy. At any age, we have feelings in our bellies or chests, for example, that are directly triggered by feelings of safety or lack thereof. Help children to name and acknowledge those feelings – and to trust them. How much do you trust yourself? Intuition, while ha...