My first University-wide lecture at The City College of New York on the peril and promise of free speech in the pursuit of Black Liberation.

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Excerpt:

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"I won’t deliberate whether speech should be free, but rather, in the context of an unequal society, I'm questioning how the underrepresented class can authentically enjoy the benefits of free speech when historical evidence shows that we often face severe consequences for expressing our ideas; ideas that are systematically excluded from discourse precisely because they challenge the existing order of privilege and power.

Speech, in its many configurations, has served as a primary vehicle for the expression and transmission of Black liberatory narratives deployed as a tactic in the Black Radical Tradition. Anti-Black racism has been a part of U.S. history since the very beginning, but discussions about this reality are carefully controlled.

Free speech does not exist in a vacuum. The exercise of the right to free speech is influenced and constrained by the broader social, political, and cultural context in which it occurs.

In a society marked by inequality, the repercussions of exercising free speech are harsher for the marginalized—especially when that speech challenges the power and privilege of the capitalist class.

From the abolitionist movement to end slavery to Black Lives Matter, the ability to express our opinions and ideas without censorship or government interference is not isolated from the history of anti-Black racism in America.

Indeed, freedom of speech doesn't imply immunity from consequences, but in an unequal society, these consequences are more severe for marginalized groups. In this way, speech is only as free as the society that embraces, respects, and values the diverse voices that compose it."

‍Watch the video here.