In Search of Black Power

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In Search of Black Power

Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle

82 episodes

17 hours ago

Send us a text Leftist responses to the current moment range from rejecting engaging the state at all to grudgingly accepting centrist Democrats as a lesser evil. In an interview between LBS’s Dayvon Love and Lawrence Grandpre, Love urges the Left to intentionally chart a middle course. Using examples from concrete legislative victories in Maryland, he advocates for intentionally delivering on concert improvements to quality of life for Black masses as a way to build a base for more progressi...

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Society & Culture,

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Send us a text Leftist responses to the current moment range from rejecting engaging the state at all to grudgingly accepting centrist Democrats as a lesser evil. In an interview between LBS’s Dayvon Love and Lawrence Grandpre, Love urges the Left to intentionally chart a middle course. Using examples from concrete legislative victories in Maryland, he advocates for intentionally delivering on concert improvements to quality of life for Black masses as a way to build a base for more progressi...

Show more...

Society & Culture,

Episodes (20/82)

In Search of Black Power

Navigating the Political Spectrum and 3rd Parties: Strategic Engagement Against the Political Duopoly

Send us a text Leftist responses to the current moment range from rejecting engaging the state at all to grudgingly accepting centrist Democrats as a lesser evil. In an interview between LBS’s Dayvon Love and Lawrence Grandpre, Love urges the Left to intentionally chart a middle course. Using examples from concrete legislative victories in Maryland, he advocates for intentionally delivering on concert improvements to quality of life for Black masses as a way to build a base for more progressi...

17 hours ago

56 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Analysing The Alliance of Sahel States- Pan African Praxis Beyond Traoré

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...

1 month ago

44 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Black Women & Class Politics in Baltimore

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 ...

2 months ago

46 minutes

In Search of Black Power

A History of How We Care for Our Own: An Introduction to “Race Work”

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...

3 months ago

1 hour 26 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Economic Justice and Black Liberation

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)

4 months ago

56 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Black Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and Zionism. Reflecting on Ta-Nehisi Coates's "The Message"

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...

5 months ago

46 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Is It Time To Go Beyond "The New Jim Crow"? The Limits of Michelle Alexander's View of Mass Incarceration

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...

6 months ago

45 minutes

In Search of Black Power

#BaltimoreUprising Ten Years Later: Grassroots Truths vs the Ivory Tower

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...

7 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Who deserves credit for the decline in murders? Police, Public Health, or the Grassroots?

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...

8 months ago

56 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Beyond the Squad: AOC, Ryan Grim, and Left Media vs. Black Political Analysis

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...

9 months ago

1 hour

In Search of Black Power

The Baltimore Model of Community Controlled Reparations

Send us a textOver 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 repara...

10 months ago

50 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Post Election Panel: Is the Left Ready to Get Serious About Wielding Power?

Send us a textIn 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 activistDis...

10 months ago

1 hour 30 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Grassroots Election Recap: Elite Dems Failed Black Folks and Brought Us Trump 2.0

Send us a textTrump 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 s...

11 months ago

47 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Pre-Election Special: Kamala Harris's Black Male Agenda and Cannabis Legalization

Send us a textKamala 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 B...

1 year ago

57 minutes

In Search of Black Power

The White Liberals Keep the Score: An African Centered Critique of The Body Keeps the Score (Part 2)

Send us a textIn 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 colle...

1 year ago

1 hour 15 minutes

In Search of Black Power

The White Liberals Keep the Score: An African Centered Critique of The Body Keeps the Score (Part 1)

Send us a textBessel 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 question...

1 year ago

1 hour 2 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Guiding Black Youth: The legacy of African-Centered Rites of Passage

Send us a textAfrican-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 ...

1 year ago

1 hour 9 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Sacrificing “Sum of Us”: Why Black Power Can’t Help Everyone (Part 2)

Send us a textIn 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 Amer...

1 year ago

1 hour 11 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Sacrificing “Sum of Us”: Why Black Power Can’t Help Everyone (Part 1)

Send us a textHeather 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 necessa...

1 year ago

43 minutes

In Search of Black Power

Anti-Blackness and progressive approaches to Economic Redistribution

Send us a textIn 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 delve int...

1 year ago

1 hour 1 minute