Popular and Community Education Day, remembering Freire on the 99th anniversary of his birth

Last September, the 99th anniversary of the birth of the Brazilian pedagogue and educator Paulo Freire was commemorated by celebrating the Day of Popular and Community Education.

This celebration has been promoted by different community, educational and cultural organizations such as Red El Encuentro and aims to recognize the task of popular educators who work in social, educational and artistic spaces for a transformative education.

Freire’s criticism of Banking Education and his hopeful commitment to a liberating pedagogy have been of great influence in the social and educational sciences, especially in Latin America. For Freire, one of the tasks of a popular educator is to collaborate in the process of empowerment of the oppressed through a critical understanding of social conflicts, showing us the importance of reflecting on and making injustices visible so that communities can participate in a way active in solving social problems.