Learning through Liberation, Empowering the People.

Our Initiatives

FREEdom School Saturdays

Most narrators participating in The FREE Zion Project attend FREEdom School Saturdays, where we learn Africana Studies and collect data to improve the educational lives of Zion’s community members.

Interviews and Community Archiving

Schedule an interview to share about your experiences in rural and predominantly white schools. Or, schedule a time for a member of our reasearch team to scan and photograph your school-related artifacts.

FREEdom Summer

During FREEdom Summers, college student Research Associates collaborate with The FREE Zion Project to understand the context of Kentucky's learning systems. Our FREEdom Summer initiative honors the Civil Rights Movement’s 1964 Freedom Summer.

Member-Checking Events

Member-checking ensures that our research team acurately captures the community’s experiences. We host member-checking events at the end of each research phase.

Black History Programming

We believe that Black history is American history. Our Black history programming meets community members’ demands to learn more about Black history, both locally and globally. We offer Black history programming to empower the people through truth.

Eligibility

Because our initiatives are part of The FREE Zion Project research study, we require all narrators (i.e. participants) and researchers to meet the following criteria:

  • Eligible youth for Freedom School Saturdays at The Zion Freedom School must:

    • Be between 7 and 25 years old

    • Identify as Black or African American

    • Have attended a local school

    • Be part of the Zion community

    Freedom School Saturdays for adult Curriculum Builders who are over 25 years old concluded in August 2024. We hope to bring back Freedom School Saturdays for adults over 25 years old in a later phase of The FREE Zion Project.

  • Eligible persons to be interviewed and/or observed for The FREE Zion Project must identify as:

    • Members of the Zion community and/or Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church congregation

    • Citizens of Meade County, Kentucky

    • Other persons affiliated with the FREE Zion Project (e.g., librarians, community archivists, researchers, historians, school stakeholders, etc.)

  • Eligible Research Associates must fulfill the following prior to joining FREEdom Summer:

    • Complete the following Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program courses:

      • Information Privacy Security

      • Social & Behavioral Research

      • RCR Basic Course

    • Pass at least one Africana/Black Studies course, or courses from a similar field, with good standing

    • Demonstrate genuine interest in the field of Black Education and/or producing scholarship with Black communities by explaining how they will apply what they learned from FREEdom Summer to future goals and dreams

  • Member-checking events are open to all narrators working on The FREE Zion Project who are:

    • Curriculum Builders

    • Pilots

    • Interviewees

    • Research Team Members

  • Black History Month programming is provided upon request. Contact us for additional information.

  • JoinThe FREE Zion Project’s Scholar Studies remote tutoring service. We want to work with tutors who can:

    • Support individual student learning needs

    • Teach K-12 and early college-level math, English, and science

    • Build academic growth and foundational learning skills

    • Empower Black students and their love for learning

    Our Process:

    • Application and transcript

    • Background check

    • Interview

    • Training

    • 30-minute check-in each month

    Interested in becoming a Scholars Studies tutor? Apply here: Volunteer Tutor Intake Form – Fill out form

Connect With The FREE Zion Project

The FREE Zion Project

Email: thefreezionproject@gmail.com

Phone: (859) 985-3400

Facebook: @TheFREEZionProject

Dr. LeAnna Luney (PD)

Email: luneyl@berea.edu

Phone: (859) 985-3400

Independent Contact

If you are not satisfied with how this study is being conducted, or if you have any concerns, complaints, or general questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact Jim Strand, Administrative Assistant to the Berea College Institutional Review Board (IRB), at (859) 985-3486 or email at strandj@berea.edu.