Registration for Freedom Groove is live! Click on the button on the left or follow the one on the right to inquire about our four-day strategy cohort.
Freedom Groove 2026
A strategic, arts-driven gathering for organizers, artists, and community-builders
Freedom Groove is a multi-day convening designed to strengthen grassroots movements by bringing socially engaged artists and community organizers into shared space. Rooted in the cultural legacy of the Funk Movement, Freedom Groove treats joy, improvisation, and collective expression not as extras—but as essential tools for organizing, strategy, and world-building.
This is not a conference.
It’s not a festival.
It’s a working gathering for people shaping culture and change from the ground up.
We’ll be welcoming two inspirational guests this year: DaMareo Cooper, Co-executive Director at Popular Democracy, and Rasheedah Phillips, groundbreaking activist-artist thinker on Afrofuturism and Director of Housing at PolicyLink. Quanita Roberson will be holding a creative ritual and mask making workshop. We’ll close the day with live funky music from Quiet Storm and DJ OTR Carl.
❋ What Freedom Groove Is
Freedom Groove creates space for:
Cross-sector collaboration between artists and organizers
Skill-building and strategic exchange grounded in real-world practice
Collective imagination as a method for social transformation
Participants engage in workshops, strategy sessions, collaborative art experiences, and performances that center movement-building, cultural strategy, and shared power. The gathering is intentionally designed to support both reflection and action—leaving attendees resourced, connected, and energized to carry the work forward.
2026 Sponsors
❋ Why Funk?
Funk is more than a musical genre. It is a cultural technology.
Historically, funk emerged as a force of self-expression, community cohesion, resistance, and joy under pressure. Its emphasis on rhythm, repetition, improvisation, and collective participation mirrors how effective movements are built and sustained.
Freedom Groove draws from this lineage to explore how cultural practice fuels organizing, how creativity sharpens strategy, and how joy sustains long-term work.
❋ Who It’s For
Freedom Groove is designed for:
Socially engaged artists and cultural workers
Community organizers and movement builders
Strategists, facilitators, educators, and collaborators
People working at the intersection of culture, justice, and collective care
Whether you come from an arts organization, grassroots initiative, nonprofit, or independent practice, Freedom Groove is a space for people who believe culture is a critical site of change.
❋ What to Expect
Artist- and organizer-led workshops
Strategy sessions focused on real challenges and opportunities
Interactive and collaborative art experiences
Performances grounded in collective energy and cultural lineage
Time for connection, reflection, and relationship-building
Freedom Groove is designed to be participatory, accessible, and grounded—balancing structure with room for emergence.