Writing in ‘Beyond Nationalism, But Not Without it’, Ashanti Alston frames his thoughts in the following epigraph by Audre Lorde: “…we have been taught either to ignore our differences, or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change. Without community there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression. But community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” Moving through Ashanti’s intentional and critical engagement with anarchism, he situates the sociopolitical worldview in an African context in his article, ‘Towards a Vibrant & Broad African-based Anarchism’, where he provides an important point of entry to expand the work that others such as Sam Mbah, I.E. Igariwey, and the Nigerian Awareness League have provided as the foundational premise of expanding dominant expressions of anarchism as a sociopolitical frame that can guide or more appropriately further radical and revolutionary thought. In fact, Ashanti highlights the fact that ideas and concepts that anarchism/ist wrestle with such as, but not limited to – communalism, nonbinary conceptualizations of gender and the role of the individual the community, to society, direct democracy – are fundamental and inherent in indigenous – endogenous – precolonial African sociopolitical and cultural fabric. ASHANTI OMOWALI ALSTON: Revolutionary, speaker, writer, organizer, political theorist. Ashanti is one of the few former members of the Black Panther Party who identifies as an anarchist in the tradition of New Afrikan ancestor Kwesi Balagoon (BPP & BLA) within the Black Liberation Movement. As a result of his membership in both the BPP and Black Liberation Army (BLA), he served a total of 14 years as a political prisoner and prisoner-of-war. He has visited the Zapatista movement, organized with Anarchist People Of Colour (APOC) and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and is currently on the Steering Committee of the National Jericho Movement to free U.S. political prisoners. Ashanti has authored a number of chapters, articles, pamphlets, and given talks and lectured around the world. Some of his work has appeared in Anarcho-Blackness: Notes Toward a Black Anarchism; Childhood & The Psychological Dimension of Revolution; Black Anarchism: A Reader; Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners; Anarchist Panther; Journal of Prisoners on Prisons; and No! Against Adult Supremacy to name a few. Concepts and ideas that frame this present discussion are centered on: autonomy-the impact/influence of Black Power Movement on the Zapatists; the role of land as a fundamental component of liberation; visions of freedom; where are we now and where are we headed in terms of an organized collective front and, this, in relationship to the necessity to develop a program of action that can sufficiently counter the present conditions of global order? Using some of Ashanti’s work - Towards a Vibrant & Broad African-Based Anarchism; What’s a Black Man Doing Here In ZapatistaLand?: Journey Into the ‘Mississippi’ of Mexico; and Beyond Nationalism But Not Without It - we set the terms of engagement that will undoubtedly frame future conversation where we Think Black Out Loud in public space. Our show was produced today in solidarity with the Native/Indigenous, African, and Afro Descendant communities at Standing Rock; Venezuela; Cooperation Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi; Brazil; the Avalon Village in Detroit; Colombia; Kenya; Palestine; South Africa; Ghana, Ayiti, and other places who are fighting for the protection of our land for the benefit of all peoples! Listen intently. Think critically. Act accordingly. Enjoy the program!