BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Freedom Festival - ECPv6.16.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Freedom Festival REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20270314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20271107T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20270314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20271107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260701T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260701T173000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260502T200034Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260606T184556Z UID:10000144-1782921600-1782927000@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:Freedom From Drudgery: AI as a Platform for Creativity DESCRIPTION:Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already part of our daily lives — from Large Language Models like Claude.ai to image generation tools\, integration with products like Zoom\, and the Microsoft suite. AI is reshaping how we work\, create\, and express ourselves. In this hands-on session\, we explore AI as a liberating platform: a tool that can free us from repetitive drudgery and amplify our creative and intellectual potential across scientific\, technical\, and artistic domains. \nJoin Dr. Jim Martinez (NYIT) and Dr. Nick Gross (BU) for an interactive session that offers hands-on experience with these tools\, and opens into a conversation about the new ways of working and creating we’re already imagining. How is AI changing what’s possible and what do we want to do with that? Open to all. No AI experience necessary. \nThis event will also be part of the Cultivating Ensembles   Coffee Chat series. CE is a sponsor of the Freedom Festival. \nAbout the hosts: \n \nJim Martinez is an Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and New York Institute of Technology and the author of a regular Substack Column “Collective Development“. \n \nNick Gross is a research scientist in the Astronomy Department at Boston University and the co-chair of the Program Committee for Cultivating Ensembles\, a sponsor of the Freedom Festival. \n  \n  URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedom-from-drudgery-ai-as-a-platform-for-creativity/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/Martinez_AI_low.jpg LOCATION:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedom-from-drudgery-ai-as-a-platform-for-creativity/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260702T113000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260702T130000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260515T210325Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260604T220446Z UID:10000160-1782991800-1782997200@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:"Damn Yankee" Storytelling to Confront Slave-Owning Family History DESCRIPTION:Participants are invited to share stories of confronting slavery in their own families. The goal is to provide a safe\, unrecorded space where people can discuss the cultural norms passed down through generations that keep us from being free of our histories. \nHost\, Dr. Laura Peticolas\, will provide her own stories of her slave-owning ancestors and the impact on her parents and herself. Laura will also share the work she has done to be free from these generational biases toward white and black people. Art\, music\, poetry will be offered to build our stories together. \nThis will be a 90 minute session. July 2 from 11:30am PDT to 1pm PDT. URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/damn-yankee-storytelling-to-confront-slave-owning-family-history/ LOCATION:online CATEGORIES:Conversations,History,Kids & Family ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/improvscience-freedom-festival-banner-celebration.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Laura Peticolas":MAILTO:Lmpeticolas@sonic.net END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260702T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260702T200000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260509T183803Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260610T201023Z UID:10000155-1783017000-1783022400@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:Creative Playground DESCRIPTION:You are invited to join the Creative Playground for a special Freedom Festival session to explore\, perform and celebrate freedom and independence. Join us on Thursday\, July 2nd\, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Eastern. For free admission for Freedom Festival attendees\, use this code: FREEDOMFESTIVAL \nThe Creative Playground was born from a simple idea: exploring creativity together is therapeutic. Each session our Creative Ensemble builds emotional resilience\, connection\, and courage—through laughter\, depth\, and the joy of creation. Every month\, we offer 2 time slots and meet on Zoom to co-create\, share\, and explore life through expressive arts—using theater\, improvisation\, poetry\, movement\, collage\, and storytelling. \nWe will explore what it means for people in the U.S. and internationally to celebrate freedom from slavery and our ability to collectively self-organize. All people have an experience of what freedom and independence mean to them. Through the Freedom Festival\, we want to create OUR experience of liberation. URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/creative-playground/ CATEGORIES:Health,Performing Arts,Wellbeing,Workshop ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/Creative-Playground-2.png LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260703T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260703T123000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260409T010312Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260603T201546Z UID:10000138-1783076400-1783081800@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:What to Us is the Fourth of July? DESCRIPTION:Reading Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and from Frederick Douglass \nWe invite you to join us at the Freedom Festival for a collective reading of excerpts from both the Declaration of Independence and Fredrick Douglass’s speech “What to a slave is the Fourth of July?” We’ll explore in conversation the relationship between these documents and freedom. Collectively\, we can create together our meaning of freedom and the Fourth of July. \nThe Declaration of Independence is one of America’s significant founding documents. On its face\, it is a declaration of war. The structure of the document follows the archetype of 18th century enlightenment thinking\, laying out fundamental principles drawn from the laws of nature and deriving conclusions based on these principles. But over all the Declaration of Independence lays out the values that the founders considered to be fundamental to the creation of a government\, and though imperfect\, the values for which the country should continuously strive. \n72 years later\, Frederick Douglass was asked to deliver an Independence Day address to the Rochesters Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The address\, entitled “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a lament of the celebration of independence while so many in the US were enslaved. In contrast to the appeal to logic of the Declaration of Independence which strives for lofty goals\, Douglass’s address points out the hypocrisy inherent in the invitation and national celebration. Even so\, Douglass ends his speech “drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence [and] the great principles it contains”. \nNick Gross\n  URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/what-to-us-is-the-forth-of-july-reading-excerpts-from-the-declaration-of-independence-and-from-frederick-douglass/ LOCATION:online CATEGORIES:Conversations,History ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/FF_vs_FD.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Nick Gross":MAILTO:gross@bu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T123000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260506T154930Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260610T195317Z UID:10000150-1783162800-1783168200@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:Echoes of Freedom DESCRIPTION:Echoes of Freedom is an online gathering taking place on July 4\, 2026\, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Pacific Time. The event was created to honor the power of the American voice and the freedoms that allow us to speak\, question\, create\, and participate in shaping our future. \nAs we commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the founding of our nation\, this event serves as a reminder that the voices of the people still matter just as deeply today as the voices of those who fought for the freedoms and rights we now hold. \nThis gathering is an invitation for people from all walks of life to come together in reflection\, courage\, and community as we explore what freedom and independence truly means in today’s world. \nAttendees are encouraged to participate by sharing a poem (written by you or someone else)\, reading a meaningful passage\, offering a quote\, or speaking from the heart about their own experience and understanding of freedom and independence. Your voice matters\, your perspective carries power\, and this gathering exists to remind us that change begins when people are willing to speak up\, speak out\, and engage. \nHosted by Catana Malinowski. URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/echoes-of-freedom/ CATEGORIES:Performing Arts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/improvscience-freedom-festival-banner-2-final-web-small-600x400px.jpg LOCATION:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86771736167 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T160000 DTSTAMP:20260611T163920 CREATED:20260511T224430Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260606T185258Z UID:10000157-1783173600-1783180800@freedomfestivalusa.org SUMMARY:The Heart Beat of Freedom DESCRIPTION:The HEARTbeat of Freedom is based on the famous Fourth of July speech by Frederick Douglass delivered on July 5\, 1852. We will present three different renditions of an excerpt from this speech. You will HEAR with your EAR this operatic ART and I know it will touch your HEART. \nWe will begin with the opera\, “Frederick Douglass” Opera was composed by Dorothy Rudd Moore\, and performed by Opera Ebony in 1994\, featuring Kermit Moore on first cello. It premiered 1985 at the City College of New York. \nFollowing this performance will be another ARTistic expression of Douglass’s speech through the contemporary ART of HIP HOP. \nLastly\, you will HEAR this speech through the eyes and HEART of a woman. \nThroughout the presentations\, we will invite comments and discussion from the audience.  \nHosts: \nRachelle Moore\, Licensed Social Worker and Psychotherapist in the Atlanta Area\n  \nEnid Pickett\, poet\, writer\, and teacher.\n  URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/the-heart-beat-of-freedom/ CATEGORIES:Conversations,Education,History,Performing Arts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/frederick_douglass_small-e1778539712540.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Rachelle Moore":MAILTO:lrachellemoore2016@gmail.com LOCATION:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/the-heart-beat-of-freedom/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR