Justice for Geraldine and Martin Campaign AnnouncesSummer Freedom School Program

Program slated to begin on June 28th and conclude on August 2nd

The Justice for Geraldine and Martin Campaign is pleased to announce the Geraldine Pointer and Martin Sostre Freedom School to be held this summer. Sessions will be held every Saturday from June 28th until August 2nd, and will be facilitated by campaign members and native Buffalonians Dr. Tiana U. Wilson and Mr. James Coughlin. Twenty participants will be admitted into this program, with each participant compensated $50 per session. Participants will compose  a collaborative zine project entailing interviews with activists and community members currently working to address social justice issues impacting Buffalo’s Black residents. Zines will be published and available through local bookstore Burning Books.

 The Geraldine Pointer and Martin Sostre Freedom School consider the following eligibility for participants:

●        Low income, working class youth from the age of 16–24.

●        Preference will be given to residents of East Side Buffalo, but we accept applicants who have significant connections to the region.

●        Must be willing to engage in class discussion.

●        Must be available to attend at least 4 of the 5 scheduled meetings, which includes orientation. Preference will be given to those who can attend all events.  

●        Preference will be given to people from marginalized backgrounds.

●        Must be willing to participate in the Freedom School's Zine project (more information will be provided at orientation.)

Applications are due May 5th and can be found on the campaign’s linktree: Justice4GeraldineandMartin https://linktr.ee/Justice4GeraldineandMartin . Prospective students will be notified by May 15th of their acceptance into the program. Freedom School curriculum draws upon the #BuffaloSyllabus, which Dr. Wilson has co-created and currently manages with J Coley. The Geraldine Pointer and Martin Sostre Freedom School is made possible through the generosity of the Center for Engaged Scholarship.

 Program facilitator Dr. Tiana U. Wilson stated, “It is an honor to return home and give back to the very community that shaped who I am today. As someone educated through the Buffalo Public School District from K–12, I would have loved to participate in a paid summer education program that provided me the language to describe the issues plaguing East Side Buffalo. I look forward to moving beyond our struggles and showcasing Black Buffalo’s resilience through the lens of #BuffaloSyllabus and paying homage to the legacy of Ms. Geraldine Pointer and Mr. Martin Sostre.”

 Program facilitator James Coughlin stated “in getting to Ms. Geraldine Pointer and community members who patronized Sostre’s stores, it is undeniable the impact they had raising the individual and collective political consciousness of Black residents, and the threat this posed to Buffalo’s racist status quo. Honoring Sostre and Pointer means picking up the torch and continuing their work.”

 The Justice for Geraldine and Martin Campaign seeks to exonerate former political prisoners Geraldine (Robinson) Pointer and Martin Sostre, who were surveilled, targeted, and framed by the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. Sostre’s Afro-Asian Bookshop at 1412 Jefferson Avenue, and the East-West Bookshop, managed by Pointer at 289 High St., were burgeoning, Black community cultural spaces which sold radical books, music, and artifacts created by Black authors and artists.

 About the Facilitators: The Geraldine Pointer and Martin Sostre Freedom School will be facilitated by Buffalo natives, Professor Tiana U. Wilson and James Coughlin. Dr. Tiana U. Wilson is a co-founder of the #BuffaloSyllabus, a historian of Black American women’s radical politics and internationalism, and university professor of Black Studies and History. James Coughlin is a life-long Buffalo resident, with an MA in History from University at Buffalo, who studied the history of housing segregation in Buffalo. James has worked for Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), at Burning Books, and has published a zine of his research "City of Distant Neighbors." Please contact James Coughlin at coug7044@gmail.com for any further questions or inquiries. More information may be found by scanning the QR Code: