Black Freedom Lectures was a free online lecture and Q&A series that ran from April to June 2021. you can watch the lectures here.

The purpose of the series was to bring together renowned Black scholars to share knowledge and spark discussion on topics with an explicit Black liberation lens. Inspired by Black-led grassroots education efforts going back over a century, these lectures were free and open to all participants, but centered Black learners and the goal of Black freedom in their pedagogical design, with the understanding that—to quote historian Barbara Ransby—such a learning space “contextualizes the oppression, exploitation, and liberation of Black poor and working class people within the understanding, at least in the US context, that ‘once all Black people are free, all people will be free.’”

Each week, we featured a pre-reading, a lecture, a live Q&A, and suggested further reading. Our amazing roster of speakers included Dorothy Roberts, Ashon Crawley, Barbara Ransby, and many more speakers. Our topics included Black trans liberation, Black and Palestinian solidarities, Black disability justice, and other crucial issues.

The series was curated by Eve L. Ewing, coordinated brilliantly by Imani LaGrone and Siyanda Mohutsiwa, interpreted into ASL by the terrific Barbara Williams-Finley, and generously supported by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, in part by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.