The journey in the United States toward a more perfect union of multi-racial democracy is marked by a consistent pattern: painstaking work achieves significant progress, and then there is massive backlash. That backlash often has been brutal and lengthy. The abolition of slavery was followed by lynching and racial terrorism, for example. It’s a pattern that we are now living in, with the MAGA Nation backlash to the presidency of Barack Obama, increasingly diversifying American landscape, and life-changing Internet and mobile technologies. Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2024, yes, and has wrought significant damage, as has the US Supreme Court. However, if we look at the larger arc of American history, we might actually conclude that democracy is winning right now in the country. As we think about 2024 and look forward, this Institute course explores the state of American democracy, and how we have, do, and will work to overcome. Registrants will receive viewing instructions/reminders in advance of each lecture.

Democracy is on the ballot this November. And regardless of who wins, the fight to preserve our democracy must continue. This lecture will explore the political terrain in the wake of the outcome of the November election and suggest ways that we who believe in freedom can push our democracy forward.

Lecture 1: "The Big Lie"

This Institute for Common Power foundational course traces the arc of what we can call “Lost Cause Politics” from the post-Civil War Confederate South through the 1950s-60s Massive Resistance to Civil Rights to today’s MAGA Big Lie about the 2020 Election. There is a clear throughline of white victimhood and racism, voter intimidation and repression, and profound political struggle. It has defined America and continues to influence the nation. What can we learn from previous eras and how do we apply it to our work toward a multi-racial democracy? This course lays bare what is at stake in the 2024 elections, including reproductive rights.

Lecture 1: "Civil Rights and Massive Resistance"

This Institute for Common Power foundational course traces the arc of what we can call “Lost Cause Politics” from the post-Civil War Confederate South through the 1950s-60s Massive Resistance to Civil Rights to today’s MAGA Big Lie about the 2020 Election. There is a clear throughline of white victimhood and racism, voter intimidation and repression, and profound political struggle. It has defined America and continues to influence the nation. What can we learn from previous eras and how do we apply it to our work toward a multi-racial democracy? This course lays bare what is at stake in the 2024 elections, including reproductive rights.

Lecture 1: "Lost Cause: The Founding"

This Institute for Common Power foundational course traces the arc of what we can call “Lost Cause Politics” from the post-Civil War Confederate South through the 1950s-60s Massive Resistance to Civil Rights to today’s MAGA Big Lie about the 2020 Election. There is a clear throughline of white victimhood and racism, voter intimidation and repression, and profound political struggle. It has defined America and continues to influence the nation. What can we learn from previous eras and how do we apply it to our work toward a multi-racial democracy? This course lays bare what is at stake in the 2024 elections, including reproductive rights.

This course will delve into the complex tapestry of social, economic, and political ramifications resulting from pivotal Supreme Court decisions. From the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld racial segregation, to the transformative Brown v. Board of Education (1954), striking down state-sponsored segregation in public schools, participants will analyze how these decisions reverberated through American society.

Special emphasis will be placed on landmark cases such as Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which dismantled key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, exploring its profound impact on the political landscape, and voting rights. The course concludes with an examination of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), probing the contemporary intersection of race and higher education. Through critical analysis and discussions, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate connections between legal decisions and the social, economic, and political dynamics that have shaped African American constitutional history.

This course will delve into the complex tapestry of social, economic, and political ramifications resulting from pivotal Supreme Court decisions. From the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld racial segregation, to the transformative Brown v. Board of Education (1954), striking down state-sponsored segregation in public schools, participants will analyze how these decisions reverberated through American society.

Special emphasis will be placed on landmark cases such as Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which dismantled key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, exploring its profound impact on the political landscape, and voting rights. The course concludes with an examination of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), probing the contemporary intersection of race and higher education. Through critical analysis and discussions, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate connections between legal decisions and the social, economic, and political dynamics that have shaped African American constitutional history.

This course will delve into the complex tapestry of social, economic, and political ramifications resulting from pivotal Supreme Court decisions. From the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld racial segregation, to the transformative Brown v. Board of Education (1954), striking down state-sponsored segregation in public schools, participants will analyze how these decisions reverberated through American society.

Special emphasis will be placed on landmark cases such as Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which dismantled key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, exploring its profound impact on the political landscape, and voting rights. The course concludes with an examination of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), probing the contemporary intersection of race and higher education. Through critical analysis and discussions, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate connections between legal decisions and the social, economic, and political dynamics that have shaped African American constitutional history.

A lecture offered in partnership with UW's Department of Medicine.

This lecture delves into the intricate relationship between politics and healthcare, uncovering the root causes of disparities in access and outcomes. By exploring the impact of political determinants on health equity, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced in providing equitable healthcare. Through a blend of theoretical analysis and real-world case studies, this lecture equips learners with actionable solutions to address these pressing issues. Join us on this transformative journey to advocate for inclusive healthcare policies and drive meaningful change in our communities.

Lecture Outcomes

• Understand the Political Determinants of Health concept, including its historical context and significance in public health.

• Identify the political factors that influence healthcare disparities, such as policy-making processes, political ideologies, and resource allocation.

• Explore the structural inequities in healthcare systems, focusing on healthcare access, quality, and outcomes.

• Learn about the challenges involved in addressing Political Determinants, including power dynamics, policy resistance, and public opinion.

The Institute for Common Power is a key education arm of Common Power. In the Institute we engage in Movement Learning, in which we are inspired by, learn from, and build upon the strategies enacted by movements for Emancipation, Citizenship, Suffrage, Civil Rights, and Justice to inform how we take action to foster a just and inclusive democracy today.

Join Dr. Terry Scott and David Domke in an information session for the Common Power Truth and Purpose learning tour from April 18th to the 23rd.

In this three-lecture course, Dr. Terry Anne Scott will examine the Great Migration in American history. From the late nineteenth century continuing until the 1960s, millions of African Americans migrated out of the South in search of what Mississippi-born author Richard Wright once characterized as the “warmth of other suns.” Black Southerners escaped the Jim Crow South for a less racially oppressive North and West. They left, altering the racial and political landscape of the entire country.

Lecture Three: Life in a New City (Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, New York)

The swelling of the Black populations in towns and cities meant job competition and what historian Allen Spears has referred to as increased “social visibility,” both of which grated on the already thin racial tolerance of many local whites. Migration brought black and white people into ostensibly unrestricted contact, which subsequently made Blacks’ presence and varied assertions of freedom highly threatening. But Black people found a way to thrive, despite these challenges.

Join Dr. Scott as she explores the lives of Black migrants in three cities: Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, and New York. We will examine how African Americans reestablished community in these cities. Where did they work? What businesses did they create? How did they gain political power? What were their leisure outlets? How did the migration change America?

In this three-lecture course, Dr. Terry Anne Scott will examine the Great Migration in American history. From the late nineteenth century continuing until the 1960s, millions of African Americans migrated out of the South in search of what Mississippi-born author Richard Wright once characterized as the “warmth of other suns.” Black Southerners escaped the Jim Crow South for a less racially oppressive North and West. They left, altering the racial and political landscape of the entire country.

Lectures One and Two: Why They Left

In his famed 1925 anthology, The New Negro, Harlem Renaissance writer Alain Locke summarized the desire for change, for humanity that governed the hopes and dreams of Black migrants during the early twentieth century:

The tide of [Black] migration, northward and city-ward, is not to be fully explained as a blind flood started by the demands of the war industry coupled with the shutting off of foreign migration, or by the pressure of poor crops coupled with increased social terrorism in certain sections of the South and Southwest. Neither labor demand, the boll-weevil nor the Ku Klux Klan is a basic factor, however contributory any or all of them may have been. The wash and rush of this human tide on the beach line of the northern city centers are to be explained primarily in terms of a new vision of opportunity, of social and economic freedom, of a spirit to seize, even in the face of an extortionate and heavy toll, a chance for the improvement of conditions.

During lectures one and two, we will examine the push and pull factors outlined by Locke. What led people to engage in an amazing, frightening, urgent, courageous journey for a new life?

In this three-lecture course, Dr. Terry Anne Scott will examine the Great Migration in American history. From the late nineteenth century continuing until the 1960s, millions of African Americans migrated out of the South in search of what Mississippi-born author Richard Wright once characterized as the “warmth of other suns.” Black Southerners escaped the Jim Crow South for a less racially oppressive North and West. They left, altering the racial and political landscape of the entire country.

Lectures One and Two: Why They Left

In his famed 1925 anthology, The New Negro, Harlem Renaissance writer Alain Locke summarized the desire for change, for humanity that governed the hopes and dreams of Black migrants during the early twentieth century:

The tide of [Black] migration, northward and city-ward, is not to be fully explained as a blind flood started by the demands of the war industry coupled with the shutting off of foreign migration, or by the pressure of poor crops coupled with increased social terrorism in certain sections of the South and Southwest. Neither labor demand, the boll-weevil nor the Ku Klux Klan is a basic factor, however contributory any or all of them may have been. The wash and rush of this human tide on the beach line of the northern city centers are to be explained primarily in terms of a new vision of opportunity, of social and economic freedom, of a spirit to seize, even in the face of an extortionate and heavy toll, a chance for the improvement of conditions.

During lectures one and two, we will examine the push and pull factors outlined by Locke. What led people to engage in an amazing, frightening, urgent, courageous journey for a new life?

Why Having Difficult Conversations Across Difference Matters and Ways to Engage in More Equitable and Inclusive Communication Workshop Led by Dr. Devon Geary

This workshop explores the personal and political forces that drive us apart and together. We'll discuss the equitable and inclusive communication methods that dialogue facilitators use to talk about and across differences. The workshop's second session is dedicated to applying these methods in conversation.

• Session 1: Let's Talk about the Political and Personal Forces that Separate and Connect Us

• Session 2: Let's Talk about Identity and Connect in more Equitable ways for a Better Democracy

Throughout her career, she has been part of several initiatives focused on race and democracy, including at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Mississippi, the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee, and Project Pilgrimage in Washington state.

Dr. Geary is committed to building diverse connections in pursuit of political equality, what Dr. Danielle Allen calls “bridging ties” that unite people across differences and lead to more egalitarian civic, health, education, and economic outcomes. In the Institute, Dr. Geary creates and expands programming like learning tours through the American South, educator initiatives, and virtual and in-person lectures and workshops. One of her sheroes is Ella Baker who inspired people to fight for a “freedom of the human spirit” that “encompasses all” of our rich humanity.

Why Having Difficult Conversations Across Difference Matters and Ways to Engage in More Equitable and Inclusive Communication Workshop Led by Dr. Devon Geary

This workshop explores the personal and political forces that drive us apart and together. We'll discuss the equitable and inclusive communication methods that dialogue facilitators use to talk about and across differences. The workshop's second session is dedicated to applying these methods in conversation.

• Session 1: Let's Talk about the Political and Personal Forces that Separate and Connect Us

• Session 2: Let's Talk about Identity and Connect in more Equitable ways for a Better Democracy

Throughout her career, she has been part of several initiatives focused on race and democracy, including at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Mississippi, the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee, and Project Pilgrimage in Washington state.

Dr. Geary is committed to building diverse connections in pursuit of political equality, what Dr. Danielle Allen calls “bridging ties” that unite people across differences and lead to more egalitarian civic, health, education, and economic outcomes. In the Institute, Dr. Geary creates and expands programming like learning tours through the American South, educator initiatives, and virtual and in-person lectures and workshops. One of her sheroes is Ella Baker who inspired people to fight for a “freedom of the human spirit” that “encompasses all” of our rich humanity.

This course will explore the contemporary roots of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in the long black freedom movement which spans much of the twentieth century. Central to this history is the emergence of the Black Panther Party (BPP), which was the largest of the Black Power organizations in the postwar years. With its insistence on self-determination, armed self defense, and anti-capitalist politics, the BPP provided a blueprint for Black youth activism in the years to come. In the class, we will explore the direct connection between the two organizations as well as how historical conditions shaped their visions of Black Liberation.

Lecture One: Explore the origins of the Black Panther Party in the Second Great Migration as the majority of African Americans moved from the rural South to large cities in the North and West of the United States. Central to this history is also a sustained tradition of Black nationalist thought encompassing Marcus and Amy Garvey through Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams.

Lecture Two: The second session will focus on the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland California and its spread throughout the United States and different parts of globe. This session will also explore how police violence and state repression shaped the BPP’s trajectory. I will use original material from my book Living for the City: Migration, Education and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.

Lecture Three: Drawing on my recent book, Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism and the Movement for Black Lives (2022), the final session traces the emergence of the Movement for Black Lives in response to mass incarceration and criminalization of Black people. The session will explore both the political network of #BLMM/M4BL as well as specific organizations like the Dream Defenders and BYP100. One of the core questions we will be discussing is how this movement fits into the larger history of Black Liberation struggles and what the challenges and obstacles of our current political moment.

This course will explore the contemporary roots of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in the long black freedom movement which spans much of the twentieth century. Central to this history is the emergence of the Black Panther Party (BPP), which was the largest of the Black Power organizations in the postwar years. With its insistence on self-determination, armed self defense, and anti-capitalist politics, the BPP provided a blueprint for Black youth activism in the years to come. In the class, we will explore the direct connection between the two organizations as well as how historical conditions shaped their visions of Black Liberation.

Lecture One: Explore the origins of the Black Panther Party in the Second Great Migration as the majority of African Americans moved from the rural South to large cities in the North and West of the United States. Central to this history is also a sustained tradition of Black nationalist thought encompassing Marcus and Amy Garvey through Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams.

Lecture Two: The second session will focus on the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland California and its spread throughout the United States and different parts of globe. This session will also explore how police violence and state repression shaped the BPP’s trajectory. I will use original material from my book Living for the City: Migration, Education and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.

Lecture Three: Drawing on my recent book, Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism and the Movement for Black Lives (2022), the final session traces the emergence of the Movement for Black Lives in response to mass incarceration and criminalization of Black people. The session will explore both the political network of #BLMM/M4BL as well as specific organizations like the Dream Defenders and BYP100. One of the core questions we will be discussing is how this movement fits into the larger history of Black Liberation struggles and what the challenges and obstacles of our current political moment.

This course will explore the contemporary roots of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in the long black freedom movement which spans much of the twentieth century. Central to this history is the emergence of the Black Panther Party (BPP), which was the largest of the Black Power organizations in the postwar years. With its insistence on self-determination, armed self defense, and anti-capitalist politics, the BPP provided a blueprint for Black youth activism in the years to come. In the class, we will explore the direct connection between the two organizations as well as how historical conditions shaped their visions of Black Liberation.

Lecture One: Explore the origins of the Black Panther Party in the Second Great Migration as the majority of African Americans moved from the rural South to large cities in the North and West of the United States. Central to this history is also a sustained tradition of Black nationalist thought encompassing Marcus and Amy Garvey through Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams.

Lecture Two: The second session will focus on the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland California and its spread throughout the United States and different parts of globe. This session will also explore how police violence and state repression shaped the BPP’s trajectory. I will use original material from my book Living for the City: Migration, Education and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.

Lecture Three: Drawing on my recent book, Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism and the Movement for Black Lives (2022), the final session traces the emergence of the Movement for Black Lives in response to mass incarceration and criminalization of Black people. The session will explore both the political network of #BLMM/M4BL as well as specific organizations like the Dream Defenders and BYP100. One of the core questions we will be discussing is how this movement fits into the larger history of Black Liberation struggles and what the challenges and obstacles of our current political moment.

Please join us for three events to kick off our second year, and help us to raise funds to support educators who are on the front lines of the struggle for truth and democracy. We are seeking to raise funds to send 100 teachers -- from kindergarten through higher education, from all across the United States and beyond -- to travel with the Institute on learning tours, to enroll in continuing education, and to receive small grants to support the zillion ideas that teachers have that school districts can't or won't fund. We need your support!

The final of three events:

Hank Stewart is an Emmy Award Winning, Best-selling Author and Poet Laureate of Georgia. He is also an author, activist, philanthropist, humanitarian, and motivational speaker. Stewart is celebrating over 25 years as an artist. Stewart’s talent has afforded him unique opportunities to recite his work to the mother of the civil rights movement Mrs. Rosa Parks, to the (Former) First Lady Michelle Obama. Stewart has written and performed commercials for The McDonalds Corporation and WAGA-Atlanta Black History spots which resulted in the attainment of 2007 Emmy, Promax, and Gabby Awards.

Hank Stewart will be performing his poems and engaging in conversation with those of the CP/Institute community who are in attendance.

This presentation will explore U.S. medical education in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. We will address the creation of black medical schools, the policy forces that lead to the demise of many of these institutions, and the exciting opportunities which lay ahead. In recalling this history, we will explore the impact of policy decisions on social factors and health outcomes.

We are now three major election cycles since Donald Trump blew up American democracy in 2016. The fight for voting and democracy are center stage as we work toward a more just and inclusive world. We stand in the eye of the hurricane: we are surviving an onslaught of voter suppression and we are making genuine progress in the fight to vote, AND an extremely conservative Supreme Court is poised any day now to potentially overturn the power -- the common power -- of a democratic electorate making their voices heard.

This course, consisting of three related lectures, will explore the fight for the right to vote and American democracy with a clear eye toward 2024. Brick by brick, the battle for building a more just and inclusive democracy is at hand. Note: this is an encore version of the Institute for Common Power course offered in January 2023. The content will be 80% the same as that series, with 20% updated to reflect developments, including in regard to cases before the US Supreme Court.

We are now three major election cycles since Donald Trump blew up American democracy in 2016. The fight for voting and democracy are center stage as we work toward a more just and inclusive world. We stand in the eye of the hurricane: we are surviving an onslaught of voter suppression and we are making genuine progress in the fight to vote, AND an extremely conservative Supreme Court is poised any day now to potentially overturn the power -- the common power -- of a democratic electorate making their voices heard.

This course, consisting of three related lectures, will explore the fight for the right to vote and American democracy with a clear eye toward 2024. Brick by brick, the battle for building a more just and inclusive democracy is at hand. Note: this is an encore version of the Institute for Common Power course offered in January 2023. The content will be 80% the same as that series, with 20% updated to reflect developments, including in regard to cases before the US Supreme Court.

We are now three major election cycles since Donald Trump blew up American democracy in 2016. The fight for voting and democracy are center stage as we work toward a more just and inclusive world. We stand in the eye of the hurricane: we are surviving an onslaught of voter suppression and we are making genuine progress in the fight to vote, AND an extremely conservative Supreme Court is poised any day now to potentially overturn the power -- the common power -- of a democratic electorate making their voices heard.

This course, consisting of three related lectures, will explore the fight for the right to vote and American democracy with a clear eye toward 2024. Brick by brick, the battle for building a more just and inclusive democracy is at hand. Note: this is an encore version of the Institute for Common Power course offered in January 2023. The content will be 80% the same as that series, with 20% updated to reflect developments, including in regard to cases before the US Supreme Court.

The Institute for Common Power strives to facilitate the creation of a just and inclusive democracy while working to eliminate racial inequity.  Education can and must lead to action.  To this end, the Institute offers a series of courses taught by award-winning scholars who are widely recognized experts in their fields of study.  The courses provide clear, comprehensive examinations of multiple topics related to race, culture, and politics in America. 

The US Civil Rights Movement with Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Course Description: The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s transformed America. It ended legalized racial segregation, extended the franchise to Black southerners, and created unprecedented job, business, and housing opportunities for Black northerners. But it also left a great deal undone. This course explains the origin, evolution, and outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement. In approach, it looks at the movement from the bottom-up and the inside-out, aiming to make clear how everyday Black people made America a fairer and more just - if still imperfect - society.

One ticket gives access to all four lectures. Lectures will be recorded and available to view for two weeks for those who purchased tickets

Lecture Titles and Descriptions

Lecture 1 – Groundwork: The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s were many generations in the making. This lecture examines the ideological and organizational roots of mid-century Black protest, introducing key movement figures such as lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston and organizer Ella Baker.

Lecture 2 – The Arc of Justice: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mass Mobilizing The Montgomery Bus Boycott transformed the movement, providing a model of mass protest and introducing the world to Dr. King. This lecture explores the major mass mobilizing events of the era, from Montgomery, to Birmingham, to Selma, and the activists, along with Dr. King, who led them.

Lecture 3 – “Give light and people will find the way:” SNCC and Grassroot Organizing. The civil rights movement was about much more than marches and demonstrations. This lecture looks at the efforts of student activists to challenge Jim Crow through nonviolent direct action and to empower Black communities in Mississippi and Alabama through voting rights campaigns.

Lecture 4 – ‘What do we want?!’ From Civil Rights Protest to Black Power Politics. Black Power was a logical extension of civil rights gains in the South and the slow pace of progress in the North. This lecture charts the transformation of the movement in the late 1960s, explaining the appeal and impact of the call for Black Power, and highlighting the radical critiques of society offered by Malcolm X and Dr. King.

Reconstruction in America was marked by triumphs and tragedies that collectively worked to usher in a century of Black sovereignty as well as legal and extralegal expressions of white supremacy. Join Dr. Terry Anne Scott as she explores the varied contours of Reconstruction, with particular attention paid to Black freedom expressions and the building of community.

Jim Crow laws that emerged late in the nineteenth century, but the incremental nature of their implementation, as well as Black objections to their creation, would continue to leave a space for unchecked Black sovereignty. Immense and troubling changes by the end of Reconstruction often rendered white southerners the saboteurs of Black progress. Consequently, attempts to arrest any appearance of Black sovereignty and advancement became the hallmarks of Reconstruction. African Americans, however, would fight for justice and work to dismantle white supremacy as their communities continue to grow and prosper.

Reconstruction in America was marked by triumphs and tragedies that collectively worked to usher in a century of Black sovereignty as well as legal and extralegal expressions of white supremacy. Join Dr. Terry Anne Scott as she explores the varied contours of Reconstruction, with particular attention paid to Black freedom expressions and the building of community.

From political powerhouses such as Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce, to the incorporation of Black towns and the established of Black-owned businesses, organizations, and other entities, Reconstruction was defined in large measure by autonomy and perseverance. Lecture two will examine how African Americans welcomed the post-war era with a spirited readiness to further increase their social and economic autonomy while navigating the racialized violence and suppression that marked the era.