Nine UCLA students were recognized as Freedom Fellows at a special ceremony on Sept. 14 at the Los Angeles Black Worker Center in South L.A.
The young adults were saluted for completing a 10-week program where they learned how to advance civic and economic justice for Black workers. The students received real-world training by working directly with activists and community organizers affiliated with Black Worker Centers throughout California.
According to Saba Waheed, director of the UCLA Labor Center, the Freedom Fellowship is a program operating under the UCLA CARE at Work initiative. The students are recruited through the We Gone Be Alright class, but the Freedom Fellowship takes place during the summer and is only available to students who have taken the We Gon’ Be Alright: Developing the Next Generation of Black Organizers class in the spring quarter. In spring 2025, the class will be open to local community college students.
Many of the students expressed appreciation for the learning opportunity and committed to sharing this knowledge with friends and associates. Several young people also gave testimonies about the benefits of being a Freedom Fellow.
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Regarding the students’ comments, Waheed noted, “I found it very inspiring. You can really see the theme of the roots and truth in terms of laying down foundations to develop future leaders, develop leadership skills, organizing and the connection to systemic issues and how they can address things like racism and why it’s important to focus on Black leaders and Black labor justice.”
Offering similar insight, Andrea Slater, director of UCLA CARE at Work, said, “I thought this was a phenomenal group of students. They come from very diverse backgrounds and very diverse academic areas of study. For them to have meshed so well and really helping each other along and taking the work so seriously really made our lives very wonderful.
“The goal and hope are that they take the information that they learned to not only empower their peers, empower their community and will take these lessons into the workplace and advance worker’s rights,” she added.
The students recognized were Saul Murillo Alvarez, Bethel Dagnu, Lydia Dixon, Sophia Middleton, Alexis Molden, Jessica Ojukwu, Dagoberto “Dago” Sanchez, Shaeveon Sisson, and Bobbie Sturge.
To learn more, visit https://labor.ucla.edu/our-projects/center-for-the-advancement-of-racial-equity/.
