Freedom Schools
A Journal of Democracy and Community

Freedom Schools
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Journal Information
- ISSN: 2995-1313
- eISSN: 2995-1321
Description
ANNUAL · 6 x 9 · ISSN 2995-1313 · E-ISSN 2995-1321
Editors: Robert M. Ceresa, Huston-Tillotson University and
Ronald E. Goodwin, Prairie View A&M University
Freedom Schools is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that elevates the distinctive voices of HBCUs in Texas and beyond as well as research that touches upon themes of democracy defined as the work of everyone and experiences of civic agency that build a shared world. The journal explores the challenges of democracy rooted in civic capacity and community institutions, and models for dealing with them by drawing inspiration from America’s HBCUs. Freedom Schools seeks scholarship from across all disciplines and institutions.
Recent Issues
Volume 1, 2024
Welcome to Freedom Schools: A Journal of Democracy and Community
by Robert M. Ceresa
Commentaries
Organizing within an HBCU: Huston-Tillotson University and Central Texas Interfaith
by Doug Greco and Warinda Johnson
The Philosophy of Black Education and the Promise of Democratic Organizing
by Harry C. Boyte
Articles
What Purpose Education? Dr. Anna Julia Cooper’s and Booker T. Washington’s Differing Views on Education
by Julie E. Hudson
Democracy in the Valley: Impacts of Voter ID Laws in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley
by Ronald E. Goodwin
Media Frames in an Era of the Local
by Robert M. Ceresa
Call for Papers | Submissions
Dear Friends, Colleagues,
The Texas Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Conference Planning Team is pleased to announce a call for proposals for submissions of scholarly research for the Texas HBCUs Conference Series, Democracy Schools, Year Four, at Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, TX, April 4-5 (Fri-Sat), 2025. The theme for the year-four conference is The Civic Power and Legacy of the HBCU and Black Educational History and Practice.
Submissions from scholars whose work incorporates conference purposes and themes are welcome. The cultural view of democracy and citizenship that grounds the conference series makes room for contributions from a variety of fields (literature, science, humanities and the arts, the media, and more). We invite submissions for conference panels, presenters, and discussants. We encourage submissions that include the active participation of students. Click here to submit a proposal. Questions about submissions of scholarly research may be emailed to HBCU Conference Planning, Dr. Robert M. Ceresa rmceresa@htu.edu and Dr. Ronald E. Goodwin (regoodwin@pvamu.edu). We look forward to working with you.
Conference Series Overview
The Texas HBCUs Conference Series, Democracy Schools is the historic gathering of students, faculty, and staff of Texas HBCUs and community partners that started in the spring of 2022 on the campus of HT. The conference series, now in year four, emerges from the efforts of students in the campuswide leadership development and civic engagement initiative known as Public Leadership in Faith and Social Justice Traditions (Public Leadership).
The conference series speaks to the moment of democratic peril America today faces. It seeks to reclaim and renew visions of American democracy rooted in civic capacity, community traditions and institutions. America as a bold responsive inclusive community is how we think of the tradition.
American democracy as a bold responsive inclusive community has deep roots in American history. The idea is woven into America’s founding documents and has inspired movements for freedom of enormous proportion, passion, talent, and energy often in unexpected places. Black communities and Black institutions, specifically, help retrieve the commitment. Bold responsive inclusive community is intimately bound up with the experience of African Americans. The Civil War, Reconstruction, Amendments 13, 14, 15, America’s HBCUs, Rosenwald schools and libraries, the American civil rights movement, all tell the story of bold responsive inclusive community and the advance of American democracy.
The work of scholars and professionals across disciplines and fields comes to the fore in the cultural view of democracy and citizenship that grounds the conference series. Scholars and professionals who learn to “let go” control and work with other citizens, rather than work “on” them or “for” them is the model of professional practice we call the “civic professional.” Civic professionals provide a form of leadership we call “strong meaningful citizenship.” Strong meaningful citizenship is a distinct leadership practice that is locally embedded, directed, and resourced, inclusive and ideas oriented. Leaders bring people together in and through community traditions and institutions (like colleges and universities) across differences that typically divide constituencies to build a world to live in that people believe in. People assemble great power working together this way. They become civic agents capable of contributing to solutions to public problems in meaningful ways. The practice of strong meaningful citizenship helps to build a civic culture in which citizens learn to become public, powerful people, and democracy comes to be understood as the work of everyone.
We call settings where civic professionals are formed “democracy schools.” Democracy schools and civic professionals have been central to the Black freedom movement from the beginning. HBCUs are powerful examples of democracy schools with deep roots in democratic movements and periods throughout American history. We mean to model and to spread democracy schools through the conference series. The conference series seeks to contribute to an American democratic renewal highlighting the role of Texas’ and America’s HBCUs.
Goals of Texas HBCU Conference Series, Democracy Schools
The goals of the conference series are to (1) highlight the unique model of higher education that Texas’ (and America’s) HBCUs represent. Conference stakeholders call the model “democracy schools.” Democracy schools contribute to America’s democratic renewal reclaiming practices of strong meaningful citizenship for people to learn about, engage, and enjoy. The conference series also (2) advances a public conversation about higher education policy in Texas and funding for HBCUs that is commensurate with the role HBCUs play in building a prosperous and shared Texas future. The conversation began in year one of the conference series. Finally, the conference series (3) maximizes students’ voices by centering students in every aspect of the conference series planning, as the original idea for the conference emerged from the effort and the leadership of students.
Funding for Texas HBCUs Both Public and Private
Conference goers will also continue the important conversation (began in year one of the conference and continued in subsequent years) about higher education policy in Texas and the need to adequately fund Texas HBCUs (both public and private), as democracy schools, in a manner that is commensurate with the role the Texas HBCU plays in building a shared Texas future.
New Texas HBCU Legislative Caucus
After the Inaugural year one conference, conference stakeholders established as a goal the formation of a bipartisan Texas HBCU legislative caucus that would be a vehicle for sustaining an ongoing conversation among lawmakers and stakeholders over time about democracy renewal and support for Texas HBCU’s in Texas higher education policy. Stakeholders saw a caucus as a way for stakeholders to partner with lawmakers to help bring attention to the deep, largely unknown democratic legacy of Black education in Texas’ and America’s HBCUs, and the institutions for which HBCUs serve as a hub.
During the year two conference students and stakeholders received training and then visited the Texas State Capitol to share stakeholders’ desire that Texas lawmakers form a bipartisan Texas HBCU legislative caucus. Lawmakers were supportive of the idea of the caucus and moreover of the role of students as important stakeholders in the process. State Rep. Ron Reynold held a public press conference from the Speakers’ Conference Room at the State Capitol to announce his support of the initiative. The press conference was attended by students, State Rep. Yolanda Jones, and leaders from the Texas IAF network of organizations from Austin and Huston.
At the year three conference (2024), state lawmakers announced the formal creation of a new legislative caucus, the Texas HBCU Legislative Caucus (TX HBCU Caucus), devoted to addressing challenges Texas HBCUs face including disparities in higher education funding. Until now, no such legislative caucus has existed in any state anywhere in America. The TX HBCU Caucus is a direct result of stakeholders efforts through the Democracy Schools conferences.
Theme of the Year Four Conference
The theme of the year four conference is the civic power and legacy of the HBCU and Black educational history and practice. The theme highlights the enormous capacity, energy, and potential to contribute to building a shared future that people possess working together in democracy in and through civil society groups, organizations, and institutions. Civil society is the realm of society largely outside of formal government where people work together largely by choice, or voluntarily, rather than by command, dictate, or fiat. Note civil society also profoundly reflects and helps to shape government at the same time in circular fashion. In civil society, distinct cultural dynamics hold, including, in particular, a “civic” understanding of power. Power in civil society is understood to be collective and generative – power “with” and power “to,” not simply power “over,” or power as dominating. Cultural dynamics like these are the heart of Black theories of power as developed by nonviolent theorists and practitioners and educational philosophers like James Farmer, Benjamin Mays, Mordecai Johnson, Howard Thurman, and Anna Cooper. Furthermore, Black educational history and practice, nurtured in HBCUs, capture the dynamics in the understandings of personhood (what being a person is and means) the tradition embraces. Relational power is the heart of building Black civic institutions, like businesses and Rosenwald schools. Recovering the tradition of relational, generative, civic power in Black educational history and practice nurtured in HBCU is crucial in our time.
Personalist Philosophy and Theology
Personalism is a major foundation of nonviolent philosophy and a strong cultural view of democracy and citizenship. The tradition holds that the flourishing of the personality is the premise of a good society. Morehouse College, an HBCU, was a significant center for the development of personalist philosophy and theology in the US, as Benjamin Mays, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, and many of the leaders were educated there. The concept of human flourishing in the tradition developed at Morehouse over decades stressed “the sacred or otherwise inviolable dignity of persons…[and] promoted an educational process that activated the potential of individuals within and across diverse communities,” as the historian Kipten E. Jensen put it.
Interdisciplinary
Manifold contributions from across disciplines and fields are needed to explore the role of generative power in democracy and the understandings of the flourishing of persons in Black educational history and practice nurtured in HBCUs. The year four conference supports this effort. Also, the conference will explore the implications of Black educational history and practice nurtured in HBCUs for higher education more broadly in Texas and America today.
Freedom Schools: A Journal of Democracy and Community
For authors who submit their work to the conference, a chance to publish in the new peer review academic journal with University of Texas Press, Freedom Schools, is an opportunity we are excited to offer. Freedom Schools elevates the distinctive voices of the HBCU in Texas and more broadly as well as scholars from across disciplines and institutions who recognize that democracy as a politics/culture, a society, and a government requires people to think seriously about civic capacity building across the social life of a people and the role of community traditions and institutions, including colleges, universities, and schools.
SUBMISSIONS
Submissions from scholars whose work incorporates conference purposes and themes are welcome. The cultural view of democracy and citizenship that grounds the conference series makes room for contributions from a variety of fields (literature, science, humanities and the arts, the media, and more). We invite submissions for conference panels, presenters, and discussants. We encourage submissions that include the active participation of students. Click here to submit a proposal. Questions about submissions of scholarly research may be emailed to HBCU Conference Planning, Dr. Robert M. Ceresa rmceresa@htu.edu and Dr. Ronald E. Goodwin (regoodwin@pvamu.edu). We look forward to working with you.
Proposals are due by March 1, 2025. Acceptance letters will be sent out no later than March 7, 2025.
Peer Review Process and Statement of Publication Ethics
All papers submitted to the journal will undergo a double-blind peer review process that includes an initial review by the journal editors and then peer review by experts (2-3) in the relevant field(s). The reviewers evaluate submissions based on the following criteria:
- Scope of the article. Does it align with the scope and theme of the journal?
- Academically sound. Is the article rooted in a sound academic foundation (proper documentation, clear methodologies, adequate literature review, and original thesis)?
- Potential scholarly impact. Will the article contribute to current scholarly dialogue and contribute to the existing body of knowledge?
- Writing style. Is the article well organized and written for an academic and non-academic audience?
The peer-review process should take three to four months (from the initial conversation with the journal editors to the delivery of the findings/recommendations). The following is a detailed breakdown of the process:
- Initial editors’ review – 4-6 weeks.
- Peer reviewer evaluation – 6-8 weeks.
- Compilation of comments and findings – 2-4 weeks.
At the end of the peer review process, journal editors will return a report of findings/recommendations to authors of either 1) acceptance, 2) acceptance with revision, or 3) rejection. In addition, editors will provide anonymous comments/feedback and suggestions to improve the submission. If the editors accept the article (or revised article) for publication, they will determine the journal issue in which it will appear. Authors are encouraged to follow all pre-submission guidelines, make all suggested revisions, and any copyediting requirements to expedite the process.
Statement of Publication Ethics:
The editor(s) and the editorial board of Freedom Schools: A Journal of Democracy and Community are committed to the following:
- We will do our best to ensure that our peer-review processes and editorial decisions are fair and unbiased and that manuscripts are judged solely on their merits by individuals with appropriate expertise in the subject area.
- We have the right to reject a manuscript at any point in the process if, after an unbiased evaluation, it is the opinion of the editor(s) that it does not align with the journal’s mission or editorial policies or would be in conflict with the journal’s legal requirements.
- We will treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and will not discuss them or share information with anyone outside the editorial staff, editorial board, potential reviewers, or the publisher.
- We expect transparency from editors and reviewers regarding potential conflicts of interest and will assign manuscripts to individuals who are not likely to have such conflicts.
- We expect authors to help us uphold our ethical standards by
- submitting only original works;
- respecting the intellectual property rights of others;
- adhering to the journal’s policies regarding simultaneous submissions;
- acknowledging sources;
- appropriately crediting all authors, other research participants, and funding sources;
- disclosing any potential conflicts of interest; and
- notifying the editors and/or publisher of any significant errors discovered after submission or publication.
- We will promptly investigate any credible allegation of unethical or illegal practices related to our published article. When warranted, we will issue corrections, retractions, and/or apologies, working with the author(s) as appropriate to find the best resolution.
- Concerns may be reported directly to the editor(s) or publisher by email at rmceresa@htu.edu or regoodwin@htu.edu
Texas HBCU Conference Information
Texas HBCU Conference Series | Democracy Schools, YEAR FOUR
Location: Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas
Dates: April 4-April 5 (Friday-Saturday), 2025
Theme: The Civic Power and Legacy of the HBCU and Black Educational History and Practice.
Conference Description
The Texas HBCU Conference Series, Democracy Schools is the historic gathering of students, faculty, and staff of Texas HBCUs and community partners that started in the spring of 2022 on the campus of Huston-Tillotson University (HT). The conference series, now in year four, emerges from the efforts of students in the campuswide leadership development and civic engagement initiative known as Public Leadership in Faith and Social Justice Traditions (Public Leadership).
The conference series speaks to the moment of democratic peril America today faces. The series seeks to reclaim and renew visions of American democracy rooted in civic capacity, community traditions and institutions. America as a bold responsive inclusive community is how we think of the tradition.
American democracy as a bold responsive inclusive community has deep roots in American history. The idea is woven into America’s founding documents and has inspired movements for freedom of enormous proportion, passion, talent, and energy often in unexpected places. Black communities and Black institutions, specifically, help retrieve the commitment. Bold responsive inclusive community is intimately bound up with the experience of African Americans. The Civil War, Reconstruction, Amendments 13, 14, 15, America’s HBCUs, Rosenwald schools and libraries, the American civil rights movement, all tell the story of bold responsive inclusive community and the advance of American democracy.
The work of scholars and professionals across disciplines and fields comes to the fore in the cultural view of democracy and citizenship that grounds the conference series. Scholars and professionals who learn to “let go” control and work with other citizens, rather than work “on” them or “for” them is the model of professional practice we call the “civic professional.” Civic professionals provide a form of leadership we call “strong meaningful citizenship.” Strong meaningful citizenship is a distinct leadership practice that is locally embedded, directed, and resourced, inclusive and ideas oriented. Leaders bring people together in and through community traditions and institutions (like colleges and universities) across differences that typically divide constituencies to build a world to live in that people believe in. People assemble great power working together this way. They become civic agents capable of contributing to solutions to public problems in meaningful ways. The practice of strong meaningful citizenship helps to build a civic culture in which citizens learn to become public, powerful people, and democracy comes to be understood as the work of everyone.
We call settings where civic professionals are formed “democracy schools.” Democracy schools and civic professionals have been central to the Black freedom movement from the beginning. HBCUs are powerful examples of democracy schools with deep roots in democratic movements and periods throughout American history. We mean to model and to spread democracy schools through the conference series. The conference series seeks to contribute to an American democratic renewal highlighting the role of Texas’ and America’s HBCUs.
See Call for Papers | Submissions tab for additional information.
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