Kyle T. Mays on Tribal Sovereignty, Reparations, and Revolution

What does it mean to be Afro-Indigenous in a settler colonial state like the so called U.S.? In this conversation, we speak with author Kyle T. Mays, whose book An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States challenges conventional narratives and asks us to reckon with both anti-Blackness and Indigenous erasure.

From his early experiences navigating poverty in Michigan to finding political consciousness through texts like Black Indians by William Loren Katz, Mays takes us through his personal and political journey toward becoming a leading thinker on Afro-Indigenous identity, solidarity, and futurism.

This episode is a rich primer on thinking beyond the U.S. nation-state, confronting the contradictions of capitalism, and imagining Black and Indigenous freedom through mutual care and shared land.

🎧 Read the book: An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays:

https://bookshop.org/a/109212/9780807006993

📚 Mentioned thinkers: Frantz Fanon, Walter Rodney, James Yaki Sayles, Huey P. Newton

📍 Grounded in: California reparations debates, Black Panther/AIM alliances, and co-op experiments in Chicago

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📚 Books & Readings Mentioned in This Episode

📖 Black Indians by William Loren Katz

A foundational text for many Black and Afro-Indigenous readers, this book explores the long and complex history of African and Native American resistance — from maroon communities to shared struggles against colonialism.

👉 https://bookshop.org/a/109212/9781442446373

📝 Meditations on Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth by James Yaki Sayles

A powerful political study guide from a Black Liberation Army educator, breaking down Fanon's revolutionary theory and its relevance for Black freedom struggle.

👉 https://redyouthnwa.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/meditations-on-frantz-fanons-wretched-of-the-earth-sayles.pdf

🌍 Out of Oakland: Black Panther Party Internationalism During the Cold War by Sean L. Malloy

This book explores how the Black Panther Party built global alliances, challenged U.S. imperialism, and imagined Black freedom beyond borders.

👉 https://bookshop.org/a/109212/9781501713422

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