Paulo Freire
(1921 - 1997)

Paulo Freire's path-setting work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, was published in 1970, articulating a conception of education as a practice of freedom that shaped liberation movements worldwide. It also profoundly influenced my own life. In 1984, Freire joined me for a month of workshops I conducted through the Adult Education Development Project. This collaboration in "a kind of historico-cultural political psychoanalysis" (Erich Fromm's description of Freire's praxis) continues to shape my thinking, writing, and action.

To find out more about Paulo Freire, his work and his writings, you can check out this website: www.freire.de

 

Myles Horton
(1905 - 1990)

Myles Horton founded the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee in 1932. Birthplace of the global freedom anthem We Shall Overcome and the Citizenship Schools that were the backbone of the civil rights movement in the U.S. for African Americans, Highlander has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Horton's and Freire's dialogue on the role of education in social change and struggles for justice can be found in You Make the Road by Walking. In 1983, after retiring as director of Highlander, Horton helped me for two months as I created the Adult Education Development Project. In our workshops with community-based organizations, Myles' stories and gentle but pointed humor taught me much about having faith in the capacity of all people to contribute to building a just democracy.

To learn more about Highlander, you can visit their web site: www.highlandercenter.org