Utilizing this exact reproduction of the face of the Rosetta Stone, Freeman was able (with a lot of help) to create the world's first and only full-size, 3D replica available to the general public.   Anyone interested in archaeology, Egyptology, cryptology, publishing, IT security, geology, science, writing, mathematics, literacy, translation work and/or languages understands the significance of this famous artifact. R O S E T T A S T O N E         Watch this unique 90 second 'whiteboard" video...    The “Rosetta Stone," as it is known, has become a metaphor...                                 ...a metaphor for anything that is important to the process of decryption or the unraveling of a complex problem -- cracking a code of some sort. Perhaps even a universal metaphor for hope, creativity and perseverance for many who are trying to learn a new language, attempting to solve a relational puzzle, or seeking to decipher the cryptic issues of these tough economic times. Freeman is using the Rosetta Stone as a metaphor -- seeking to help solve the problems surrounding literacy. But how?    Dr. Freeman recently spoke at the Harlem Book Fair (Rutgers University, Newark) on the topic, Decoding Literacy and Freedom: The Contemporary Significance of the Rosetta Stone. During the presentation Freeman said, "There's no financial, geographic, computer, scientific, or cultural literacy without knowing how to read and write."    FACTS  &  STATISTICS  Facts and statistics can be mind-numbing. But behind each number is a face and a story. While The Freeman Institute Foundation desires to connect with all -- regardless of age, race, religion, class or gender -- we are especially appalled by the facts and stories surrounding the lack of literacy among young African American men.    Writer, Tamika Thompson focuses the thought, "Young Black men — across the board — score below their counterparts in other racial and ethnic groups when it comes to graduation rates, literacy rates and college preparedness. And many African American men, in turn, are virtually locked out of employment and are filling up the nation’s prisons in disproportionate numbers."    -  54% of African Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than three quarters of white and Asian students.  -  Nationally, African American male students in grades K-12 were nearly 2½ times as likely to be suspended from school in 2000 as white students.  -  In 2007, nearly 6.2 million young people were high school dropouts. Every student who does not complete high school costs our society an estimated $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity.  -  On average, African American twelfth-grade students read at the same level as white eighth-grade students.  -  The twelfth-grade reading scores of African American males were significantly lower than those for men and women across every other racial and ethnic group.  -  Only 14% of African American eighth graders score at or above the proficient level. These results reveal that millions of young people cannot understand or evaluate text, provide relevant details, or support inferences about the written documents they read.  -  The majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are people of color, people with mental health issues and drug addiction, people with low levels of educational attainment, and people with a history of unemployment or underemployment.       -- (statistics from the Smiley Group)     This is a national disaster.  Only 5% of African Americans -- roughly two million people -- are able to read written English. There's a lot of blame to go around. No blaming and shaming here. Along with many other fine organizations, we are seeking to be solutionists...hitting the issues of literacy head on. At the bottom of this page are some links to organizations, like the Carson Scholarship Foundation and Follett International, who are passionate about promoting literacy.

   BLACK HISTORY COLLECTION  Another gateway is history. The Freeman Institute® (CEO, Dr. Joel Freeman) owns a Black History collection of 3,000+ vintage documents and artifacts, with the oldest piece dated 1553. After reading this entire page, feel free to come back and review The Freeman Institute® Black History Collection here.

   THE BIG PICTURE  Another gateway is providing an experiential, hands-on connection to history, literature and film. One objective of the Foundation is to help establish Freeman Black History Galleries (community-sponsored gateways to addressing the issues surrounding literacy) -- connecting the African American experience with galleries in major U.S. cities and in selected cities internationally (parts of Canada, Europe, Africa and South America and every Caribbean country). Each gallery will exhibit a full-size replica of the Rosetta Stone and will also include a reading room.

   GATEWAY TO THE IMPOSSIBLE  Does the international aspect of the gallery / literacy project sound improbable...even impossible? How will all this happen? Frankly, we do not know. But we all realize that before embarking upon any journey one must first start by doing what's necessary...

   We invite you to join us in the adventure. Much of the heavy lifting has already been accomplished. The Freeman Black History Gallery business model allows for 10, 100, or even 1,000+ galleries around the world. The sky's the limit!

Fox News Channel segment about Joel Freeman, the
United Nation exhibition, & the Black History Gallery Project

Mother explaining an artifact from the oldest documented
slave ship wreck (summer, 1700) to her children at a
Black History exhibition in Prince George's County, MD




Freeman Institute Black History Collection documents and artifacts were
showcased at the  United Nations Transatlantic Slave Trade Exhibit (March-May 2011)

If you are interested in learning more about the
Black History Gallery Project, here is a presentation
Dr. Joel Freeman made to a group interested in establishing a
Black History gallery in their community. Before this video is over, you
will have captured a glimpse into Joel Freeman's heart and vision for
helping to establish Black History galleries in communities
across America and also in selected cities internationally.

   ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT  All it takes is for one person with an entrepreneurial spirit in each community to capture the vision and lead the charge. Is that one person you? Send this website to other key decision-makers in your community and then contact Dr. Freeman (410-729-4011) for the next steps. Community-based organizations, churches, businesses and colleges may want to be a part of sponsoring Black History galleries in communities throughout the USA, the Caribbean and parts of Canada.

   After you have finished reviewing the material on this web page, come back to read more about Joel Freeman's bio and personal story. (Email for more information...requesting a confidential 15-page overview of Freeman Black History Gallery concept.)

   PROTOCOL  We envision that any gallery you may visit throughout the world will have it's own local flavor, but will adhere to a common code of conduct. Our desire is for each gallery to function kind of like a franchise. Professional. Friendly. Excellent customer service.  Strictly non-partisan. Accepting and respecting all who visit (Liberal, Conservative, Independent)...regardless of their political or religious leanings. The galleries will collectively create and then live by a code of conduct accepted and appreciated by all. All legal, insurance, security, staffing and climate-control issues will be standard.

   GATEWAY TO LOCAL HISTORY  We envision that once a local gallery is established, people in each community will come forward with documents and artifacts that they will loan or donate to the gallery, desiring to re-animate the legacy of a relative (grandparent, aunt, uncle, parent). There are many stories that the current generation needs to know and understand. We predict that -- once the news gets out -- the local community's outpouring of support with historical items and stories to be told will be unprecedented.

   ANCIENT TOUCHSTONE  Dr. Freeman, the president of The Freeman Institute® Foundation, has created (with a lot of help) a digital model and mold and the fabrication of museum-quality replicas. He was looking for something that could be utilized as an exhibit,  stepping back ion time to ancient African kingdoms as a context of inventiveness and creativity before reviewing the past 4 centuries of American history.

   Black History has its ancient roots firmly planted in creativity, inventiveness, ingenuity, royalty, perseverance and so much more, with many African Kingdoms (Ghanian, Songehay, Great Zimbabwe, Malian, etc.) -- providing a context for the documents and artifacts that exhibit the important and often overlooked role African Americans played in the past four centuries of American history.

   WHITE ABOLITIONISTS  One of the plans also is for each Freeman Black History Gallery to have a wall honoring some of the White abolitionists who sacrificed much for the anti-slavery cause -- with some making the ultimate sacrifice. Each visitor will be provided the opportunity to complete their tour of the local gallery with a "pep in his/her step" regardless of ethnicity, gender or religion. It's all bound up in the value of mutual respect.

   Here is an overview of the past and present progress, with an eye cast to the future:

   What will it take for a local organization to start a Black History gallery? We have a much more comprehensive overview in the confidential document, available to those interested in establishing a Freeman Black History Gallery in their community.

   TRUTHCENTRIC  Both Afrocentrism and Eurocentrism have good points to them. But after careful research over the years, the growing realization that has emerged is that both disciplines also have some pretty crazy/fringe stuff that's isn't corroborated by original sources. We'd rather use the term: "Truthcentric" -- hopefully providing more light than heat.

 
* Types of community organizations that can help make the Freeman Black
                                                         History Gallery a sustained, long-term success:

________________________________________________________________
Learn more about a potential Black History gallery in your community.
Contact Joel Freeman and receive a more comprehensive document about the project.
tel: 410-729-4011  email

   RTG DVD PROJECT  Another Foundation objective is to donate a special "not-for-resale" edition of the DVD version of the film (with over 2 hours of uncut interviews, music videos from DC Talk, Lil' iROCC, NAS, short films, Photo Galleries and more) to every juvenile detention center, prison and school (Middle, Junior High, Senior High, College, University) in America.

   Each gallery leadership team will be given the opportunity to participate in this project as they seek to increase their local impact.

The Freeman Institute® Foundation Black History Gallery
(2,000 sq ft gallery concept)



~ Gallery ~
Exhibiting 50+ artifacts & framed documents, along with open area for fund-raisers (jazz quartet, etc).
Rosetta Stone replica is the first item visitors review (to the left) as they walk in.
~ Screening Room ~
Showing the 45-minute Return To Glory film every hour-on-the-hour in every gallery.
Sliding wall for screening area makes for an even larger open area, if necessary.
~ Shop ~
Long-term economic viability of gallery encouraged by offering DVDs, books, reproductions, etc. for sale.
~ Classroom ~
Permitting students to finish homework before going home after school.
 

Lessons from Blades of Grass in a Concrete Jungle

fugitive slave laws  racism  prejudice  bigotry  slave trade  jim crow  slavery

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There are many historical reasons why people have been and continue to be challenged by the hardships that accompany racism, prejudice and bigotry. Those hardships can be likened to the claustrophobic layers of concrete that gradually seek to nullify all viable options available to an individual under such weight.

But as Russian historian and novelist, Alexander Solzhenitsyn once remarked, "If the whole world were covered in concrete, a single blade of grass would sooner or later break through."

A truth-centric view of history will graphically describe the concrete as a metaphor for  the Slave Trade, slavery, fugitive slave laws, reconstruction, illiterate, lynching, Jim Crow and the struggle for civil rights.

However, there are a number of examples of people who, like blades of grass, have broken through and defied the power of the concrete. These are the stories we will tell. The thicker the concrete, the more inspirational the story. Blades of grass cracking the mighty concrete from beneath. Can't keep the entrepreneurial spirit down.

So many entrepreneurial stories to tell. Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass. Sojourner Truth. Solomon Northrop. Annie Malone. Madam CJ Walker. And more...

~ THE  THICKER  THE  CONCRETE  THE  MORE  INSPIRATIONAL  THE  STORY ~

The Freeman Institute Black History Collection and Freeman Galleries will be dedicated to sharing some of the most powerful wisdom lessons gleaned from the many "blades of grass" who have patiently worked their way through the concrete.

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"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself --
 the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us--that's where it's at."   - Jesse Owens
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Copyright © 2010 - NOW by Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D.  All rights reserved.
Note: Reproduction of any kind, including copying and pasting, is strictly prohibited unless given written permission. 
 

Dr. Freeman being interviewed on Canadian TV about
The Freeman Institute Black History collection & the Gallery Project