Writing in Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, CLR James argues that: “the cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression. For the one aims at perpetuating resented injustice, the other is merely a momentary passion soon appeased." The range and scope of CLR James’ work cannot possibly be captured in our limited time with you this evening. However, it is the intent for us to spend our time effectively in a way that encourages you to explore the work of CLR James as we hear reflections by those who had the opportunity to work closely with him. The epigraph above brings into sharp focus two of Western Europe’s deadly gifts of modernity, its attempt to redefine the praxis of being human as the justification(s) for the creation and maintenance of private property (Note: the great intellectual-cultural worker, Sylvia Wynter has provided a map that we can follow on this ‘gift’). This thousand-year process, according to Cedric Robinson, culminating into a racial capitalist system that feeds off the ideas that has structured our current world as a result of chattel [and other forms of] slavery, colonialism/neocolonialism, the salience of race as a cultural ideological class construct, the demonization of gender, and iterations of imperialism has left a deep wound on our collective human consciousness. It forms our consciousness by appealing to our unconsciousness. Next, you will hear, in order of speaker, reflections on the Legacy of CLR James from those who worked closely with him: James Early, Former Director of Cultural Studies and Communication at the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian Institution. Kojo Nnamdi, Host of the Kojo Nnamdi show on NPR/WAMU FM. Sylvia Hill, Former Professor of Administration of Justice, Department of Urban Affairs, Social Sciences and Social Work at University of the District of Colombia. And Aldon Nielsen, who is currently The George and Barbara Kelly Professor of American Literature at Penn State University and author of C.L.R. James: A Critical Introduction. This program was moderated, in part by, E. Ethelbert Miller. E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist and former board chairperson of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). He is also a board member of The Writer’s Center and editor of Poet Lore magazine. He was previously the Director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University and former chair of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. He is currently a Resident Fellow at UDC. 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; and Ghana and other places who are fighting for the protection of our land for the benefit of all peoples! Music referenced: KAMAUU: Bamboo & LăVĭNDŭR (LaVeNDeR) [Moving Still]; Kojey Radical: Water; Robert Glasper Experiment: Find You (KAYTRANADA Mix) ft. Iman Omari