In Dependence The Mixtape Volume 1 explores our fundamental need for freedom or independence, but also the complexities of being “free” in the US. Who is free? When did they become free or independent? Who decided what freedom was or is and what independence was or is? And thus, what is Independence Day really about?

Freedom from what and from who? Freedom from physical bondage, from psychological bondage, psychosocial bondage? These types of bondage keep some trapped, devoid of the privileges, opportunities, and joys of freedom. Of course, the reality and ripple effects of this denial of freedom is much more cruel, vicious, traumatic, and enduring. Fast forward after legislated freedom… How have we sought to overcome the contemporary systemic ways freedom is denied and feeling trapped? More importantly, does the grit, the determination, and by any means necessary approach to freedom really allow us to be free, and independent? What do we do, what do we think and who do we become in the spirit of resilience? Are we willing to exploit and get over on others in ways we do not want to be exploited and taken advantage of? Who are our partners? What are the complexities of freedom and independence? Who are the winners and the losers? Can we become dependent on ways of overcoming and ways of resilience that create new realities with new or unexpected forms of bondage… physical,
psychological, and psychosocial?

These complexities are explored within the context of two pillars and polar opposites of how freedom is often celebrated in the US… Juneteenth and the 4 th of July. These two holidays anchor discussions of freedom and emancipation for two different communities at the heart of US history, emancipation from enslavement and emancipation from Britain. Perhaps the mother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee’s suggestion on the way to properly celebrate Juneteenth can begin the bridge to healing the country’s wound that will never heal as long as it is denied in our classrooms and whitewashed in our public’s conscience… to
celebrate from June 19 th to July 4 th and explore what freedom really is… together. This is Volume 1.

Where will we go for Volume 2?

Note: Dependency… can take a variety of forms. Examples include an addict’s dependence on drugs, a child’s dependence on their parent, or (in the context of science) a variable’s dependence on an experimental
manipulation. We would also consider a nation that depends on foreign aid or exports as economically dependent, a person that depends on someone else for validation as psychologically dependent, and a
young person that lives with their parents as financially dependent. In all of these varied contexts, reliance on another entity is a unifying theme. Source: www.berkeleywellbeing.com/dependency.html