By LAUREN FLOCCO
Community Contributor
The annual For Freedoms lawn sign project is now on view on the Waltham Public Library lawn, which it has graced every fall in recent years. It is a creative and civic-minded project that celebrates the voices of Waltham youths not old enough to vote but old enough to have strong opinions about the world in which they live.
The project started at the Waltham Public Library in 2018 and was inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” State of the Union speech in 1941 – freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
For Freedoms seeks to emphasize that citizenship in America is strengthened by our participation, not by our ideology.
The project asks teens to put into words their hopes for their world and community: Freedom for …, Freedom from …, Freedom to…, and Freedom of …. These can be expressions that reflect their personal experiences or ones in which they want to point to other people who are oppressed, restricted and live in fear.
The For Freedoms project is a powerful platform, amplifying the voices of teen citizens and bringing to light what is on their hearts and minds while they are unable to vote on decisions that affect their lives.
This annual project is generously supported by the nonprofit organization The Library Initiative for Teens and Tweens (LITT). LITT is funded by a donor-advised fund hosted at The Boston Foundation. The project itself takes its inspiration from the For Freedoms art collective, which launched its 50 State Initiative – Lawn Signs in 2016.
The project will be on display through the election week to give voters something to consider on their way to the polls on Nov. 5.
Lauren Flocco is head of the teen department at the Waltham Public Library.
