Foundation for Liberating Minds (FLM) takes pride in transforming radical dreams into reality. Founded in 2017, we have worked diligently to bring hope to marginalized individuals through programming, community partnerships, and curriculum development for the benefit Oklahoma, our home. FLM was started by three young Black men with a fiery passion for social justice and community transformation and has since grown to have a national staff of largely BIPOC women who have a plethora of educational and lived experiences.
Since our inception, FLM has been pivotal in creating a more just world through youth empowerment and the creation of organizing tools and educational knowledge to make our society more vibrant and equitable. As young people ourselves, FLM curates several initiatives across the state of Oklahoma that work through educational means to lift people out of oppressive situations and allow them to flourish in all of their aspirations and create sustainable long term change. There are aspects of our state that are harmful, problematic, and oppressive, but FLM knows our educational and community interventions will make for a better Okl h th t ill l d t b tt world. We hope you’ll
Foundation for Liberating Minds’ mission is to disrupt the root causes of oppression and marginalization through transformative education.
Our Radical Dream is to provide the foundation* for liberating all marginalized, oppressed, and colonized peoples.
Our three pillars of educational praxis are trainings and workshops, community-based programming, and our first large-scale Radical Dream: The Liberation School OKC.
*Political, decolonized education is the foundation for a liberated consciousness – thus our name, Foundation for Liberating Minds.
FLM values young people not just for their future potential but as active contributors to a just society today.
Consciousness Raising
FLM builds the consciousness of marginalized groups through political education and counter-storytelling, returning agency to them. We also challenge the historically privileged to confront their ignorance and support a flourishing world for all.
Disrupting Oppression
FLM's programs disrupt oppressive cycles through culturally relevant and age-appropriate practices, fostering liberation.
Dreaming
We believe in the importance of dreaming of a just world while taking action. Both are essential for fundamental change, allowing us to envision and create a better future.
Liberation
Our work aims to realize the radical dreams of generations, driven by the power of the people.
Our Work
The Problem
The Eastside is the most marginalized, under-resourced, and underdeveloped part of Oklahoma City. It is a food desert and has high rates of violent policing, redlining, and lack of quality education, this part of town gets the brunt of many social ails, as Oklahoma ranks in the top four in the nation for incarcerating people in men’s and women’s prisons and has one of the highest per capita police killings in the nation in the two major urban hubs of the state.
Because of the mass incarceration and present continuation of marginalization and oppression, there has long been a growing distrust between the Eastside and its government. Deeply rooted in history wrought with discriminatory legislation, mass destruction of community edifices, such as Deep Deuce, the Eastside’s equivalent to Black Wall Street. Urban renewal, highway construction, and the destruction of neighborhoods and schools, for the creation of spaces for wealthy whites has left Black and Brown individuals in the Eastside and across the state susceptible to countless disparities and a sense of hopelessness.
The Work: FLM Filling the Gaps
FLM is creating a hub for the Eastside with our Community Resource Center, providing mental health services, educational workshops, violence prevention, food banks, and more to support community needs. Our organizers are dedicated to building community power and addressing systemic issues.
We’ve power-mapped local stakeholders to identify allies and barriers to Eastside progress, helping connect organizations working for equity. Through We, The Eastside Initiative (WEI), we hold monthly forums for residents to share needs and ideas, fostering collaboration and communitydriven solutions.
Our Impact by the Numbers Our Impact by the Numbers
14 trained practitioners in Transformative Justice
Unduplicated people educated & organized through our programming
Our Pillars
Trainings and Workshops
Our offerings span the social justice spectrum. Based on the diverse expertise of our members’ lived experience and significant educational and facilitating background. FLM's training, workshop, & consultation offerings are molded intentionally with each organization's unique needs in mind. Each session we facilitate is organized around one goal: transformation. Our training and workshops meet people where they are and grow awareness and skillsets around pressing issues facing our society. This focus of our work is the implementation of our research efforts around educating the masses.
FLM facilitates sessions to community organizations, school administrators, classrooms and student groups, non-profit organizations, corporations, universities, and more. Our offerings include
Community Programming
FLM’s community-based programs focus on building strong, safe, well-resourced, and educated communities. Our goal is to expand what is possible for these communities by creating clear pathways to empowerment and lasting freedom.
DreamRadically Podcast (DR Podcast)
DreamRadically Podcast features community leaders, organizers, educators, and artists to explore what it takes to create a liberated future. Through conversations with those driving structural change, it offers lessons for collective liberation.
We, the Eastside Initiative (WEI)
FLM’s monthly initiative fosters collaboration between FLM and Oklahoma City's Eastside community. Through our canvassing effort Community Walks, we’ve been able to engage more neighbors. By offering resources that are often inaccessible and empowering people to understand true civic engagement, we are amplifying the community’s voice—reminding them that real power lies with the people.
Deconstructing Masculinity
This program focuses on disrupting patriarchy, sexism, and violence against women, queer, and trans people through an intersectional lens. It includes training and a regular community circle, where men gather in a supportive environment to learn and discuss positive masculinity.
Free Our People Initiative (FOPI)
FOPI is an abolitionist education program that raises awareness of the harms of the prison industrial complex (PIC), advocates for impacted communities, and promotes alternatives to the criminal punishment system.
Through narrative change and political education, FOPI envisions a just world of safety and accountability for all.
FOPI includes the 1 in 2 Campaign, Against Carceral Feminism OK, and SAFE Commune.
1 in 2 Campaign
The 1 in 2 Campaign amplifies the voices of Oklahomans impacted by the carceral state, offering an inside look at its injustices. This narrative project, part of FLM’s Free Our People Initiative, empowers storytellers with lived experience to envision true justice, safety, accountability, and community beyond the prison industrial complex.
Against Carceral Feminism OK (ACF OK)
ACF OK brings together organizers and survivors to challenge carceral feminism—the belief that policing and incarceration solve gender-based violence. Through advocacy and narrative organizing, ACF OK promotes alternative solutions that protect survivors and prevent violence. Their efforts have engaged over 300 participants and five events statewide.
SAFE Commune (Supporting Accountable Futures for Everyone)
SAFE Commune uses Restorative and Transformative Justice to create safer communities by training members to intervene in violence through community-based processes. Graduates join a network of practitioners to facilitate interventions and support each other in reducing violence. This project, the first of its kind in Oklahoma County, offers an alternative to policing and incarceration, empowering survivors to seek justice and safety through community-driven solutions.
Community Partnership
Partnership is at the Heart of our Work
FLM knows we cannot do this work alone. To build a robust movement for social change we need emboldened partnerships with organizations and groups across the political spectrum.
By placing the community at the center of our work, we are challenging the systemic failures entrenched in education.
We are deeply grateful to our volunteers, engaged community members, and partner organizations. From the very start, the Foundation for Liberating Minds (FLM) has thrived because of the dedication and support of our communities.
Their commitment to our mission is what allows us to create meaningful change and continue advocating for equitable opportunities. Whether they have helped shape our programs, spread awareness, or stood alongside us in our initiatives, their unwavering support has been invaluable.
We are honored for every person who supports our work financially. By giving to FLM you are giving to an organization that works to build flourishing communities for all. Your gift goes directly to our transformative programs and community events. Your support cements your role in this story bringing radical dreams to fruition. We look forward to continuing this journey together.
