Terrific initiative, either way. Open-source chips must be the way.
Designing and manufacturing? How deep do you want to go? If you just want to know the basics then YouTube has everything you need. If you want to be involved, then you'll want to get an education in that specifically. It's not something you can just learn at home.
Some resources I’d recommend: SemiEngineering (the website), Asianometry (YouTube channel), Matt Venn’s TinyTapeout, the FOSSI foundation (free and open source silicon initiative). Of course, many universities have free online course material on these subjects too.