“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
-Malcolm X
The world today is confronted with many dangers—an insatiable capitalist system that devours lives and resources, sows imperialist wars, and attempts to reverse the many advances made in the past decades against the system of white supremacy and racial discrimination. But in the uncertainty of the coming period lies revolutionary potential. The mask of benevolence has fallen from the face of the current system, giving urgency to the building of something new, a future forged through organized struggle, solidarity, and internationalism. The Black liberation struggle, the heart of the revolutionary struggle in the United States historically and today, shows us that even in the face of overwhelming oppression, the seeds of revolution are always present.
This course is not an academic exercise; it is a workshop for revolutionaries. We will immerse ourselves in the history of the Black liberation struggle, not as spectators but as participants in its ongoing development. Rising from the rebellions of Africans enslaved on the brutal plantations of the Americas, the Black liberation struggle has continued to confront the forces of empire, propelling revolutionary movements forward and igniting hope across continents. The movement for true liberation teaches us that the exploited have always dared to imagine and fight for a future beyond the narrow, suffocating logic of profit and plunder.
But history is not enough. To honor the revolutionary spirit of this struggle, we must sharpen our analysis of the current moment. What does it mean to organize for liberation in a time of escalating inequality and imperialist violence? How do we build movements capable of breaking the stranglehold of capital and empire? And how can we root our actions in the principles of solidarity, multinational unity, and the unwavering pursuit of justice?
This course is a call to action. The future remains unwritten, and it is ours to shape, armed with the lessons of those who dared to resist and the vision of a liberated world.
WHAT
Our Freedom Can’t Wait! The Struggle for Black Liberation: Past & Present is a course for organizers and revolutionaries that is focused on the history and global struggle for Black liberation, its central role in the fight against capitalism and imperialism, and the key lessons that we can apply for our movement today.
Through bi-weekly classroom sessions, discussion, and developing a practice of revolutionary study, participants will strengthen their methodology to analyze the past and present, build capacity for organized struggle by studying examples of revolutionary processes around the world, and clarify a collective vision for the future.This program is based on the methodology of popular and political education, and on the politics of working-class internationalism. It’s a chance to meet new friends and comrades, exchange, study, discuss, and put theory into practice!
This course is free and open to organizers across the U.S. and the world. We are dedicated to making political education accessible to everyone, with all course materials available for free and to the public. Your support helps us bring movement leaders, historians, and organizers into these courses, and allows us to keep our programming free for all. We will need your help to continue this work—any bit, big or small, goes a long way. Please consider donating here!
WHEN
This course runs from February 27 to April 3. Sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week, from 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET, with some exceptions. The course schedule will be uploaded to the student portal. Participants with work/life schedules or based in time zones that preclude them from participating live will have access to the recordings and can follow the course at their own pace.
WHERE
Our Freedom Can’t Wait! is a hybrid program that allows participation from anywhere worldwide. For those in the New York area, in-person classes are held at The People’s Forum, 320 W 37th Street, New York, NY 10018. To get to TPF, you can take the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, M, N, Q, R trains. TPF is an accessible building, with elevators and wheelchair-accessible gender-neutral bathrooms, and masks available at the front desk. For participants who will be attending virtually, a zoom link will be sent prior to each session. For participants who will be following the course at their own pace, you can access the recordings and course materials on the course student portal.
WHO
Everyone from all contexts, backgrounds, and identities is welcome to register. Whether you’re involved in an existing organization or seeking to deepen your knowledge of organizational theory and history in preparation to find a political home, this course is for you. If you are involved in an organization, consider sharing the course with other members and taking it together.
The instructors include organizers, popular educators, intellectuals, and movement leaders who have been deeply embedded in the Black liberation struggle in the U.S. and internationally.
We are dedicated to making political education accessible to everyone, with all course materials available for free and to the public. Your support helps us bring movement leaders into these courses and allows us to keep our programming free for all. We will need your help to continue this work—any bit, big or small, goes a long way. Please consider donating here!
HOW
Register for the course here! You will receive more course information as we near the start date, but feel free to share it with your friends, and comrades. The registration will remain open during the entirety of the course – if you sign up after the course has started, we ask that you use the materials provided to catch up when you are able to.