Reflections and Refractions of Black Radicalism

Abstract

This article discusses collaborative Black study that entails dialogical engagement with a range of texts and podcasts about Black radicalism and is further informed by participation in anti-capitalist, anti-colonial activism. The authors describe their process of examining Black radical thought during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which Black radicalism has been and is now being imagined across contexts. Following the work of Cedric Robinson, the authors understand the Black radical tradition as a negation of Western civilization from within Western society, placing it in hostile relation to the neoliberal university. They discuss Black radicalism as anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, feminist, communally oriented, and opposed to neo/liberal ideologies. They address a range of Black socialist traditions, including those labeled communist, Black anarchist, abolitionist, and antifascist to attend to an ongoing critical-creative practice of Black resistance and collective life-making capable of adapting to and challenging the changing conditions of late capitalism.