In Search of Black Power
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.
Episodes
A conversation hosted by Baltimore Racial Justice Action between LBS director of research Lawrence Grandpre and Baltimore Green Party chair Andy Ellis. We touch on DOGE, the link between South Africa and the United States on anti-Black visions of government, the political limitations of progressive/leftist notions of political corruption, and the implications of all of this on approaches to reparations and 3rd party p...
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...
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 ...
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.
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...
This discussion addresses the intersection between radical politics and advancing an agenda of economic justice from a lens of Black Liberation.
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)
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 abstraction...
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 ...
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 M...
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 thi...
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 ...
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, ...
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 Struggle
- Andy Ellis, Chairman of Baltimore for Democracy and 2026 Green Party candidate for Governor o...
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...
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 que...
The White Liberals Keep the Score: An African Centered Critique of The Body Keeps the Score (Part 2)
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 commu...
The White Liberals Keep the Score: An African Centered Critique of The Body Keeps the Score (Part 1)
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 ...
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 Afr...
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 portrayi...
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