Can a party change the world? The Freedom Party – an event taking inspiration from the foundations of the Harlem Renaissance — will attempt just that as it celebrates freedom with the greater Ithaca community.
The Freedom Party, highlighting collaboration, resource sharing and storytelling, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 1–4 p.m. in Ithaca’s Stewart Park. The event is free and open to the public and is organized and hosted by Cornell’s Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures and by the Africana Studies & Research Center and American Studies Program, both in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).
"We party to sustain joy and celebrate community amid what Angela Davis calls the constant struggle for freedom,” said Jamila Michener, director of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures.
"During a time when there is profound contestation around the meaning of freedom, the people to whom it should be granted, and the democratic practices that sustain it, we seek to create space for connection, community, learning, knowledge, solidarity and joy. These are building blocks for a just and humane democracy, and they are necessary for cultivating the thriving futures that we can all play a role in enacting," Michener said. She is an associate professor of government (A&S) and senior associate dean of public engagement in the Brooks School of Public Policy.
“In the summer of 1925, visual artists, musicians, and writers joined civil rights activists, lawyers, physicians and academics held parties that stoked the embers of what became the Harlem Renaissance,” said Ambre Dromgoole, assistant professor of Africana studies (A&S). “Parties are places of decompression as well as spaces of community galvanization. Parties can change the world.”
Envisioned as an annual event by the organizers, this year’s Freedom Party will feature a performance by the soul singer SingTrece, live DJ sets by DJ Dou, a resources and services center, a knowledge corner with books for the community including Angela Davis’s 2015 book “Freedom is a Constant Struggle,” games, face painting, and activities for all ages. Food is being provided at no cost by the Southside Community Center, Asempe Kitchen, Taste of Thai, and Rashida Sawyer Bakery.
While the event is free, pre-registration is recommended. Limited parking is available at Stewart Park during the event.
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