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#FreedomCities (Home of the Brave)

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Freedom Cities began in New York as a response to Donald Trump’s inauguration, bringing together and highlighting a diverse coalition of immigrant workers and other marginalized communities.

This storytelling & media project highlighted how a diverse group of immigrant and low-wage workers of color are standing up within a divided political climate to re-imagine safety and belonging in service of freedom. In the face of an election that has exploited divisions in the name of “security” defined as deportations, increased policing, and repression of dissent, this project throws the spotlight on a powerful counter-narrative: the struggle to create “Freedom Cities.”

Freedom Cities began in New York as a response to Donald Trump’s inauguration, bringing together and highlighting a diverse coalition of immigrant workers and other marginalized communities.

Freedom Cities seeks protection for and defined by all: workers, immigrants—documented or undocumented, people with criminal convictions, gender non-conforming folks, the poor and all people of color.

The idea of a Freedom City goes beyond a sanctuary city by seeking protection for and defined by all: workers, immigrants—documented or undocumented, people with criminal convictions, gender non-conforming folks, the poor and all people of color. The Freedom Cities campaign has been launched by project partner the New York Worker Center Federation (NYWCF), a coalition of ten worker organizations that represents a multiracial movement building the power and leadership of workers and bringing their voices to the front line. This project included storytelling and social media workshops with NYWCF members to create and disseminate new narratives that bridge dialogues across movements and communities in New York City and beyond.

  • (c) Zoë West
  • (c) Zoë West
  • (c) Zoë West

This project was made possible through the generous support of: