Show notes:
 
The incredible Robin D. G. Kelley schools us on what true reparations could look like - and how to use our collective power to envision a better future. Recorded in Los Angeles with a live audience. See the video HERE!

Guest: Robin D. G. Kelley

Robin Kelley is a leading historian, author, and thinker of our time - or any time. His groundbreaking book Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination offers inspiring visions for a bold Black future. He breaks down why we need to imagine a radically different world in the fight for reparations. Filmed with a live audience at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles.

Check out the VIDEO of this episode!

Highlights of Episode:

[7:59] Freedom Dreams is invitation to engage in struggle, make mistakes, learn from past movements

[10:10] The global nature of racism and oppression, seeing reparations more broadly

[13:12] Role of artists as truth-tellers

[24:39] Robin’s bold possibilities for reparations

[26:20] Why we need to transform society; link between Black and Indigenous reparations

[32:42] Tony’s tribute to our mothers

[45:42] Why we can’t ever get equality under capitalism
 
Some key reparations movements and pioneers from the past:

• The Black Manifesto
• N'COBRA
• Provisional Government Of The Republic Of New Afrika
• "Queen Mother" Audley Moore
• Callie House

Selected books by Robin Kelley:

• Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (20th anniv. edition)
• Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times
• Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
• Yo' Mama's DisFunktional: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America
• Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class
• Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression

Robin highlights the critical role of artists in the struggle for Black liberation:

• Aja Monet - Dynamic young poet who wrote the new foreword to Freedom Dreams
• "Who'll Pay Reparations On My Soul" by Gil Scott-Heron - Groundbreaking musician, poet, author, and activist
• Sekou Sindiata - Brilliant poet who made profound impact on Freedom Dreams

Contact Tony & Adam

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