In an attempt to envision a world that believes in "freedom for all, not just for me", we invited thousands of people around the world to celebrate the independence days of 59 countries that once gained independence from British colonization. The most important part of the project was that we each celebrated for a country other than our own. The guidelines were simple: (1) select a country other than your own, (2) design any type of act, event, or celebration that honors the people of that nation on that nation's independence day, and (3) send us documentation to post to the"59 Days of Independence" Facebook page. By the end of 2014, there were 94 events in 34 countries on 5 continents. Nearly two million people saw the posts and they left over 1700 comments that express surprise, appreciation, and descriptions ofthe lack of freedom that many citizens around the world feel due to factors including poverty and abuse of political power. It is important to note that we acknowledge the complicated and painful struggles for freedom happening all over the world. National independence is often very different from personal experience. By reaching across the borders that are often used to divide us, we are denouncing oppression in all of its contemporary forms, including that which is based upon race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and religion. The following are examples from a book that documents all of the events, followed by the grand closing finale of the project; a short film made in Gambia featuring 59 children who had never seen the ocean before.
For the closing event to the project, Gambian filmmaker Touray Njogu and Producer Lawrence Williams created this stunning documentary:
If you are interested in seeing the book in its entirely, contact me and I will send it in pdf form: hlayton@ur.rochester.edu.