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© 2025 Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle
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In Search of Black Power challenges conventional narratives around Black policy, Black movements, and Black Life. We focus on creating a new language to discuss the issues presenting Black America, with a focus on independent institutional building and seeing Black folks as the solutions to our own problems.
81 Episodes
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Send us a text The Alliance of the Sahel states has sent shock waves through the western world, raising the possiblity of anti-imperialist Pan-African block. While this movement has exploded online through the focus on the charismatic Burkino Faso leader Ibrahim Traoré, in this episode we seek to engage what is happening in the Sahel beyond just him. In this interview between LBS’s Dayvon Love and Lawrence Grandpre, we discuss the history of the Sahel and how these states rose up and jo...
Send us a text In this episode, MJ and Rasheem explore the legacy and continued relevance of poor Black women's activism in Baltimore, focusing on housing justice and welfare rights. Drawing on Rhonda Y. Williams’ seminal article, “We’re Tired of Being Treated Like Dogs,” the hosts delve into the political lives of Black women who mobilized against institutional neglect and economic exploitation from the 1960s to the present. The conversation centers on the historical and grassroots efforts ...
Send us a text We welcome back S. Rasheem to In Search of Black Power! In this episode we are exposed to the concept of “Race Work”. In conversation with LBS Dir. of Research Lawrence Grandpre, Rasheem exposes us to critical figures in debates throughout the history of “Race Work”, including integration vs. nationalism & strategic navigation vs. confrontation with oppressive systems. Rasheem frames the history of Black People’s expansive definition of community care of race work as oppo...
Send us a text This discussion addresses the intersection between radical politics and advancing an agenda of economic justice from a lens of Black Liberation. Support the show In Search of Black Power is a Black-owned internet show and podcast. This podcast is sponsored and produced by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS). The internet show is published in collaboration with Black Liberation Media (BLM)
Send us a text In the Black radical tradition, critiques of Nationalism as inherently violent have clashed with recognition of the importance of national liberation movements and the desire for self-determination of oppressed people. Ta-Nehisi Coats grapples with this in his book The Message, grappling with being raised in a Pan-Africanist household and have an emotional return to Africa with the reality that nationalist abstractions have been a tool for violent conquest of land by the Zionis...
Send us a text This year marks the 15-year anniversary of the first publication of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. The text was praised as challenging the post-racial ethos that rose after the election of Obama by presenting a compelling analysis of mass incarceration driven by anti-black racism creating a permanent under caste in American, akin to the Jim Crow system of the South. While praised as a bible for liberal criminal justice reform advocates, many have questioned the b...
Send us a text April 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the #BaltimoreUprising, a series of protests sparked by Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore Police custody in 2015. Baltimore has long reflected America’s racial and political anxieties, making the Uprising a frequent subject of academic analysis. In this episode, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle’s Lawrence Grandpre and Dayvon Love critique two books: Beyond Black Lives Matter by Cedric Johnson and Invisible Weapons by Marcus Board Jr. Wh...
Send us a text Despite media fearmongering about crime in cities, violent crimes like shootings and murders have declined nationwide in 2024. In Baltimore, murders have dropped even as police departments claim to be understaffed and demoralized, yet many still credit the police for the decline. Dayvon and Lawrence reveal that grassroots community organizations, not police or the nonprofit industrial complex, have driven this change. By reallocating funds from traditional nonprofit channels t...
Send us a text In his book The Squad, journalist Ryan Grim provides an account of the experiences of “The Squad,” a group of progressive legislators elected to the House of Representatives, as they attempted to govern. Their journey—from election victories to struggles with Republicans and Democratic leadership—is widely praised for its detailed investigation of the electoral and political “inside baseball” of the left. Grim’s role as a critical figure in independent left media, through appea...
Send us a text Over the past decade, reparations have shifted from a fringe issue championed by Black nationalists to a mainstream topic in Democratic and nonprofit circles. In Baltimore, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS) has advanced a reparations agenda rooted in Black community control, challenging assumptions of the broader movement. LBS Director of Research, Lawrence Grandpre, interviews Director of Public Policy, Dayvon Love, about his Nonprofit Quarterly article advocating for rep...
Send us a text In the conclusion of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle's Post-Election Analysis, we share a panel discussion hosted by Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA), held the week after the election. Moderated by Julia Scott, the panel featured: Lawrence Grandpre, Director of Research at Leaders of a Beautiful StruggleAndy Ellis, Chairman of Baltimore for Democracy and 2026 Green Party candidate for Governor of MarylandCharlie Carter, long-time Baltimore community and political activis...
Send us a text Trump has won the election—again. But why? Lawrence and Dayvon delve beyond the data, drawing on their on-the-ground experience to contextualize the results. They highlight the Democratic Party’s failures on issues like criminal justice, expungement, housing policy, and maternal health, connecting these shortcomings to voter frustration and the collapse in turnout that cost Kamala the election. They end with a call to rethink reliance on the Democratic Party, which, as history ...
Send us a text Kamala Harris released her Black Male Opportunity agenda amid discussions about lower support from Black men compared to Black women, with even Barack Obama criticizing "the brothers." In this episode, we examine how Harris balances appealing to Black men while avoiding policies directly targeting them. We also critique her cannabis legalization strategy, which may hinder Black male entrepreneurship, and question whether her focus on capitalism and neoliberalism truly empowers ...
Send us a text In this episode, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle Director of Research, Lawrence Grandpre, critiques the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework, showing how it centers Eurocentric norms of trauma—focusing on individual and family experiences—while neglecting African-centered views of cultural and political trauma. We discuss how institutional responses to ACEs in Black communities often blame the community and rely on clinical interventions, instead of addressing the co...
Send us a text Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score has become a global sensation, shaping mental health services and public conversations by centering trauma. Originally aimed at improving doctor-patient relationships, trauma-informed analysis has evolved into a political tool, with some advocating for its use in resource allocation to historically oppressed communities. But can focusing on a community's trauma truly empower them? Many grassroots Black practitioners are now questio...
Send us a text African-centered Rites of Passage is a cultural practice and intervention that uses traditional African culture to facilitate the transition of young people to adulthood. Andre "Akintola" Turner, with over 20 years of experience in education and public health, provides an in-depth analysis of this practice through the Baltimore Rites of Passage Initiative. As a Senior Program Trainer Coach with the University of Maryland Social Work Positive Schools Center, he collaborates with...
Send us a text In part two of our podcast analysis of Heather McGhee’s book “The Sum of Us,” hosted by Lawrence Grandpre, we use a historical lens to examine the effectiveness of multiracial positive-sum politics. We challenge McGhee’s argument that multiracial coalitions can effectively address global warming, showing that the history of political advocacy complicates this view. Her analysis risks justifying the exploitation of Africa in pursuit of the green revolution, thereby expanding Ame...
Send us a text Heather McGee’s book, The Sum of Us, is touted as a new approach to racial justice. Her arguments, showcased from TED Talks to late-night shows, suggest that framing investments in Black communities as beneficial for everyone can counter white backlash. However, this emotional appeal to multiracial coalitions undermines Black autonomy by decentering demands for Black power, accepting interest convergence, and portraying benefits to white people from pro-Black policies as necess...
Send us a text In this episode, Lawrence explores the intersections of race and economic redistribution. Advocates of "race-neutral" economic redistribution policies have rebranded them as "race-conscious," asserting that policies like baby bonds and Universal Basic Income (UBI) would disproportionately benefit Black people while mitigating political backlash. This discussion exposes the limitations of such an approach. Drawing on historical context and current policies, we delv...
Send us a text In May 2023, Baltimore’s City Council unanimously voted to establish the Community Reinvestment and Reparations Commission to oversee the distribution of funds granted by the Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, making Baltimore City the first jurisdiction in Maryland to establish a commission like this. In this episode Dayvon Love, Director of Public Policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, will explain the importance of this commission and how vital reparations and rein...
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