What does it look like when history stops being something you read about and becomes something you live?
At Freedom Prep, we got to see it happen in real time this Black History Month. Across our campuses in Tennessee and Alabama, students did something remarkable. They stepped out of their seats, into the stories of those who came before them, and brought history to life in ways that reminded all of us why we do this work.
This is the spirit of ubuntu. I am because we are. And this February, our scholars made that truth impossible to ignore.
It started in Birmingham. FPA-Birmingham hosted a living “still museum” where students portrayed figures like Edgar Amos Love, Mary McLeod Bethune, Janet Jackson, and Beyoncé. Each student stood still, in character, ready to tell their figure’s story to anyone who stopped to listen. And people stopped. Because when a child looks you in the eye and speaks the life of someone who changed the world, you feel it. That is not a school project. That is a student understanding that they are connected to something much bigger than themselves.
Back in Memphis, our Westwood Elementary Eagles brought that same energy to their campus. Our youngest scholars stepped into the roles of influential figures and told their stories with courage and pride. Watching a Pre-K or elementary student stand tall and speak someone else’s truth with that kind of confidence is one of those moments that quietly breaks you open. These are children who are already learning that history did not happen to someone else. It happened for them. And they are the next chapter.
Over at Brownlee Middle, students turned their entire building into a living wax museum. They researched. They chose their figures carefully. They prepared. And then they stood in excellence and let the work speak. There is something about a middle schooler who has done the deep work and knows it. You can see it in how they carry themselves.
Flagship Middle filled their space with song and dance. Students worked behind the scenes and center stage, rehearsing and preparing and showing up for each other in the fullest way. It felt like community because it was community. That is one of our core values, and this month our Flagship scholars lived it out loud.
And at Millbranch, performances filled the room with joy, strength, and unity. The kind of celebration that does not need a lot of explanation because you just have to be in it to understand.
Here at Freedom Prep, we believe education is the civil rights issue of our time. Just like those who marched and organized and sacrificed so that every child would have access to opportunity, we are carrying that torch forward every single day. Ubuntu tells us that none of us gets there alone. We rise together, or we are still working. Black History Month is not just a time to look back. It is a reminder that the movement continues, and it is being carried right now by the students in our hallways.
Across the South, from Memphis to Birmingham, our scholars are learning who they come from. And because of that, they are beginning to understand who they can become. We cannot wait to see it.
