Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
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Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
Season 5 Episode #19: Dream Builder Book Review
Step into the inspiring journey of Philip Freelon, the mastermind behind the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. On this episode of the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast, we explore the poignant life story captured in "Dream Builder" by Kelly Starling Lyons, with illustrations by Laura Freeman and an afterword by Freelon himself. Despite grappling with reading difficulties in his youth, Freelon's determination and the support of his creative family led him to excel in math and sciences, honing his path to architectural brilliance. Learn how his upbringing amidst civil rights movements and creative exploration influenced his visionary work and cemented his legacy.
Join me as we get into the multifaceted experiences that shaped Freelon's career. Discover the pivotal role of his artist grandfather, who nurtured Philip's artistic eye and hands-on skills from a young age. We discuss the importance of representing non-stereotypical roles within communities of color, providing a richer narrative of cultural identity. This heartfelt episode offers valuable takeaways for educators and students, emphasizing perseverance, creativity, and cultural resilience as cornerstones of success. Don't miss out on this enriching discussion of an architectural luminary whose work continues to inspire.
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Step into a world where dreams come into fruition, with self-determination and cultural resilience. Dream Builder, by Kelly Starling Lyons, is a story that we are going to explore today on this next episode. Hello again listeners and viewers to the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast and Mrs Edmonds Cultural Corner. I am your host, jeba Edmonds, and I am so delighted that you are here with me today. We are going to dive in deep to a wonderful story, dream Builder the story of architect Philip Freelon, written by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Laura Freeman, and the afterword was also written by Philip Freelon himself. Now Philip Freelon is the architect of record for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. He sadly passed away of ALS five years ago, but before he passed, kelly was really struck by his work of all of these buildings and monuments throughout the Southeast and she really wanted to capture his life's work in a book for students.
Speaker 1:And what I really enjoyed about this book, it's in his perspective, of course, and it talks about how Philip, as a young child, always had sketchbooks around in the house Anything he saw around his city, and growing up he loved being that creative being. He loved playing sports in the neighborhood with his friends and drawing those clear, straight lines and even whatever he saw in his vision, he would create it and write and draw it. But the thing about Philip growing up was that he had a very hard time learning how to read. He witnessed how his mother and his sibling, you know, were able to pick it up so quickly. But he really struggled with that and he really wanted to find his place in academia. And a lot of us educators can understand when we see our students struggling something that doesn't quite click with them right away and always trying to accommodate and try and figure out what are the best tools needed to get that child to be successful. And I really love this story, how his family did not give up on him. His grandfather he called Pop Pop, was an artist during the Renaissance time in Harlem and so he got to experience nature through the eyes of Pop-Pop. He even taught Philip ways of seeing the woods and walking in the woods, and I really love when he had his grandson, phil, just take it all in and visualize nature all around him.
Speaker 1:Another wonderful part of this book was to show the different pillars of Philip's life. It talked about vision and then the foundation and things that came out to him. That would be a parallel of you know, his sister reciting poetry and him taking things in and making that foundation as to what he sees and how he can interpret life around him, having that artist's eye that his pop-up trained him to do. He loved fixing things with his hands, do he loved fixing things with his hands? I loved how it talked about him carving African masks from bars of ivory soap very hands-on of puzzles and model airplanes and battleships and it just shows him experimenting with different types of medium and also reflecting with different types of medium and also reflecting when I talked about in my intro, with that cultural resilience he witnessed and observed his father misunderstood in places in their community the expectations of his dad not being a business person and being somebody else.
Speaker 1:A lot of our students can relate seeing their parents, especially parents of different identities, and how they get mistaken for other people's perceptions of what roles they should be filling. You see what I'm saying, right, yeah, yeah. And so, looking in watching his community members, neighbors, you know doing roles and jobs that aren't in the. You know the societal media as well, non-stereotypical things, and I loved how Kelly really took to heart and showcased that, because so many kids of color are having families that aren't in that stereotype, in those tropes and in the perpetuation of those stereotypes and those tropes.
Speaker 1:So, although a lot of this talks about the March on Washington in 1963 and him being proud of who he was and seeing his father being a part of the civil rights movement, it really does showcase his life in that timeline to also connect the dots with your students understanding him and how he was living in certain points of time in our history. Again, showing how he went through and he persevered with his reading difficulties and taking that by finding his strengths in the math and sciences and in his art and being at the top of his class, going through academia, going on to universities and studying other Black architects. When he realized that was the career he wanted to do, a lot of the things that he was searching for wasn't there and having to find other Black architects in the field you know that weren't in the textbooks that he was studying from. It also reminds me myself of finding and looking for resources for you educators to show more things that are out there that's not in our textbooks, because so many of it is. We exist and other people exist as well, and in order to dig and search and find, that can take a while, but it is worth it. It is worth showing that with your students and a lot of us.
Speaker 1:Raise your hand if. Have you even heard of Philip Freelon before? Yeah, exactly, and for myself too. I know the museum and I've seen it, but to know the behind the scenes and to learn more about him as the individual has really opened my eyes. So you have to get this book y'all. So let's amplify our diverse voices and explore empowering and engaging stories. So hit that subscribe button so you don't miss the next episode on this multicultural educational journey with me today.