St. Paul, MN – On February 8, in honor of Black History Month, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) presented an educational panel titled “Black Against Empire: Perspectives On Liberation In Haiti, Congo, Sudan, and the U.S.A.”

The panel was held at Macalester College in Saint Paul. Experts, activists and community leaders spoke about the timelines, struggles and victories of African people throughout history against imperialist oppression.

The panelists included Frank Chapman, head of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR); Nick Tolliver, member of the AWC; Mohammed Farah, member of Healthcare Workers For Palestine, along with a written statement submitted by Ruben Joanem of the Haiti Justice Committee. Facilitating the event were Liz Bolsoni from the AWC and Trahern Crews from Black Lives Matter Minnesota.

“The bottom line is, we have to fight our way out of this. We can’t analyze our way out of it. We can’t pray our way out of it. We’ve got to fight our way out of it,” Chapman said. “We’re building a mass movement, and we’ve got to build even greater.” Chapman is the Executive Director of NAARPR, field organizer of its Chicago chapter, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and sits on the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“The exploitation of the Congo is the beating heart of the global capitalist system and our collective liberation from imperialism and capitalism is bound together with the liberation of the Congo,” said Tolliver, who provided a history of liberation struggles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tolliver is an anti-war activist and self-proclaimed “Black history nerd” who is passionate about Congo solidarity and African liberation.

Farah was born and raised in Khartoum, Sudan, and works as a hospital pharmacist in Minnesota while pursuing a graduate degree in public health. Farah expanded on the cultural foundation of Sudan found in art and poetry. He said, “Poets are the embodiment of the soul of a nation. It creates the spirit of Sudanese nationalism.”

As presentations and speeches concluded, a dialogue was opened between the panelists and the audience to further discuss issues that Black people have historically faced and how they tie in with modern struggles connected with capitalism and imperialism.

The final question asked was about the future of community organizing around Black liberation, to which Chapman closed with the statement, “Well, the future is always now. And the future belongs to those who are willing to fight for it.”

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