“It Is Our Duty to Fight for Our Freedom” – The Revolutionary Life of Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur was a lifelong fighter for Black liberation.
Black History Month and Self-Liberation
During Black History Month, our attention often focuses on the stories and achievements of great leaders. But those leaders are famous only because of the activism of masses of people for their own liberation. Freedom for Black people in the United States and across the Americas was not won by politicians’ speeches, laws, or reform. […]
Newark and Detroit, July 1967: A Brief History and Lessons for Today
Today, July 12, 2025, we face the specter of ICE raids and potentially even military incursions into and against working-class communities nationwide. As these raids have ramped up, people have begun to respond, first in localized ways and now with slowly expanding protests both large and small. This is not the first time that military […]
Juneteenth – Celebrate the Past and Continue the Struggle
Today, June 19, 2025, we celebrate Juneteenth – the most popular annual celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. As we celebrate though, the Trump administration and its many allies in the media and among its right-wing supporters are stoking racism against Black people, Muslims, migrants and non-white people. This open upsurge […]
We Remember Malcolm X on His 100th Birthday
In the year 2025 in the United States, we are witnessing increasingly blatant and violent repression. With racist and brutal language coming from politicians and right-wing media, students being arrested and threatened with deportation, and undocumented people being rounded up and shipped off to foreign nations, it may seem that the United States is experiencing […]
The Origin of Black History Month
There has never been a time since the first slave ship docked in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 that Black people have not struggled against oppression both as individuals and as a group. The racist rulers of the United States knew that keeping Black people down required a sustained effort to deny and distort the history […]
Juneteenth – The Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation
June 19th, known as Juneteenth, is the recognition of the last day of chattel slavery in the U.S. It was first celebrated by formerly enslaved people in Texas the year after Northern troops defeated pro-slavery forces there. This was two months after the end of the Civil War. It was the last battle against slavery […]
The Black Panther Party: A Brief History and Lessons for Today
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was founded in the fall of 1966 in Oakland, California, as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. It changed its name to Black Panther Party in 1968 and remained vibrant until the early 1970s. The Panthers arose toward the end of the Black Freedom Movement, as the energy of the […]
Black History Under Attack
In August 2022, the College Board announced a new course offering: AP (Advanced Placement) African-American Studies. Many eminent scholars participated in crafting the course and celebrated the proposed new curriculum. In January, however, a pushback began when Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, preparing to run for president, announced that, after viewing the draft version, […]
¡Acabemos con los asesinatos policiales!
¡Una y otra vez! Personas de todo el mundo ahora han visto el video del asesinato policial de otro hombre negro, Tyre Nichols, en Memphis, Tennessee. La policía de Memphis lo detuvo, cerca de la casa de su madre, y luego alegó una infracción de tránsito. Después, cinco policías lo golpearon, lo patearon en la […]
Bill Russell – A Fighter For Justice
Bill Russell, considered one of the greatest basketball players ever to live, passed away on July 31st at the age of 88. He is best known for his dominant defending and impact in the basketball world, but is equally admirable for his actions off the court. Russell was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana until […]
The MOVE House Bombing (May 13, 1985)
On May 13, 1985, flames and ashes rose to the sky as members of the Philadelphia Police Department flew away in helicopters, patting themselves on the back for a good day’s work. Trailing behind them were the corpses of 11 people (six adults, and five children), 61 destroyed homes, and the desolation of 250 neighbors […]
The Montgomery Bus Boycott: The Power of Organization and Solidarity
While the act of Rosa Parks sparked mass action, the collective decision of thousands first to participate in and then to continue the boycott led to victory.
John Brown’s Raid on Harpers’ Ferry: One Battle in a Long Struggle
John Brown and his followers stand as an example of how working people of different skin colors and backgrounds can join together and take action against the oppressing ruling classes. For that reason, we recognize John Brown’s raid as part of the long struggle to end oppression and create a just and equal world for all people.
Attica! – “We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such!”
September 9, 2021 is the 50th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion.
Why We Celebrate Juneteenth
Today we celebrate Juneteenth – the most popular annual celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. On this day we commemorate June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas with 1,800 Union soldiers and announced that slavery was officially abolished in Texas. Although Abraham […]
Tubman’s Raid of 1863
Black people were not given freedom from slavery – they had to fight for it.
100 Years Ago: 1921 Tulsa Massacre – State-Sponsored Racist Terror
This brutal racist history cannot be forgotten. This capitalist system has proven over and over that it will never deliver justice, especially for Black people.