Statewide coalition says it’s time for North Carolina ‘to REPRESENT!’ 

Since the summer of 2019, a network called the Freedom Hill Coalition (FHC) has organized around achieving equity in North Carolina. Organized by the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED), the network has worked towards “building spaces, structures, and institutions that transform existing systems of power.”

The coalition is named after the first settlement of formerly enslaved people in the U.S. established in 1865 in Edgecombe County, referred to as “Freedom Hill.” Just as Freedom Hill represented opportunity amidst a tumultuous landscape for the freedpeople, the FHC’s mission expresses the desire to “re-imagine an equitable public education system for all students.”

At 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, the coalition will convene at the Julia Jones Daniels Center for Community Leadership in Raleigh for a kick-off event for its “Represent! Campaign,” followed by a press conference. 

The campaign is announced as an invitation to students, parents, school leaders, policymakers, and the greater community to all join in “advocating for more diverse educators, more equitable curricula and policies, and more responsive policymakers for the benefit of students of color.”

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At the event, the coalition is slated to discuss their action items, which include advocating for adopting short-term suspension appeals processes, investment in holistic support services (counselors, social workers, psychologists, etc.), and gathering support for fair public school funding.

The campaign launch day is intended to provide insight into the work that will be continued over the next 16 months — through the November election, the long session of the legislature, and the start of the 2025-2026 school year. 

Through the campaign, the FHC is voicing their commitment to ensure North Carolina’s public schools and policymakers are representative of the needs and concerns of students, parents, educators, and communities of color.

To learn more, click here to visit the REPRESENT! Campaign page. 

Derick Lee

Derick Lee is a regional storyteller for EdNC.