“A fight for our freedom, our families, and our future” - 51st People's World Black History Celebration

By Jahmal Henderson

A spirit of resistance filled the New Haven Peoples Center as an overflow crowd celebrated the power of unity at the 51st People's World Black History celebration themed “Black Youth Leadership – Resistance 2.0 in Today's Freedom Struggle.”

“This is a fight for our freedom, our families, and our future,” .said keynote speaker Aaron Booe, national Young Communist League USA organizer.. “Victory depends on our ability to unite, resist, and build the better world we deserve.”

The celebration included awarding of prizes for the annual arts and writing competition grades 8 to 12, a youth panel and African drumming.

Welcoming the event, emcee Mary Thigpen received huge applause saying the event was part of building the resistance movement.

The celebration kicked off with presentations by the winners of the Arts And Writing Competition.

Third place winner Jay’Den Morris, a sophomore from Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, recited her poem 'Equality In Our School,' emphasizing the importance of equality and unity among students.

Second place winner, a senior at Educational Center for the Arts, Jayden Davis' dance choreography to Sam Cooke’s 'A Change Is Gonna Come” was presented in an extraordinary video.

First place winner Journey Rosa, a freshman at Sound School, performed her powerful poem The Color Line about race and the inspiration of historical freedom fighters for today's struggle against hate, racism, sexism, and bigotry.

A dynamic youth panel discussion, moderated by Ramzie Highsmith, art teacher and activist, featured John Carlos Serana Musser, a student representative on the New Haven Board of Education; Torell Yarbough, artist/ youth organizer in New Haven's Newhall/Dixwell neighborhood, his mentor Remidy Shareef, a leader of New Haven Rising; Ambar Santiago-Rojas, a youth immigrant rights organizer; and A.J. Johnson youth organizer with “Ice The Beef” anti-violence organization.

A.J. discussed the negative effects of social media on young people including misinformation and emphasized addressing the issues, urging the youth to consider how current events will impact their lives

John talked about the difficulty of convincing young people they can make a difference, and how organizing and a strategic plan can help address the fear among students due to Trump administration deportations and dismantling the Department of Education.

Ambar highlighted the challenges of motivating young people to take action and getting adults to listen to their voices. She discussed her efforts to raise awareness about the fight for undocumented immigrants' rights and defending people against Trump policies.

Torrell emphasized the need for solidarity to address the challenges youth face, and the need to stay informed, and push to create more safe spaces. Remidy Shareef emphasized the urgent need to support the youth, community involvement in nurturing young people and organizing entire families to address the daily struggles they face.

Keynote speaker Aaron Booe shared his experiences with labor organizing, youth alliances, and social justice movements. A recent graduate of Howard University, he highlighted the work he's doing in Washington DC with the Communist Party USA.

“At this moment Black youth leadership is critical,” he said. “The MAGA movement is working to undo the hard won victories of past generations from civil rights to labor rights. They seek to send us to the back of the bus, back to the closets and back to the shadows. But we are not going back!” he declared to prolonged applause.

Booe discussed how Black youth are continuing the freedom fights of previous leaders like Frederick Douglass during Reconstruction, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who drew inspiration from the Reconstruction era for his civil rights leadership.

He stressed the importance of using strategies from both eras in today's freedom struggle. “Douglass understood that victory requires unity and that movements succeed by uniting all the forces that can be united to defeat the immediate enemy, This lesson remains just as relevant today”.

“At the the heart of this struggle was the unity of young people,“ he said/ “Black, white youth through organizations like Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which led voter registrations and organized sit ins and militant direct actions. All of this contributed to  Dr King in the late 1960’s understanding that the fight for civil rights was inseparable to the fight for labor rights”.

Booe noted how Black youth must continue to organize in this next phase of the struggle, whether through boycotts or campus sit-ins. “We must build the broadest People's United Front ever. It will take unity and resistance to create a better future and world. “

“Today’s movement, today’s freedom struggle, resistance 2.0 must defeat the second confederacy the unholy alliance of white supremest and corporate oligarchs who seek to transform our country into a far right billionaire dictatorship”. said Booe.

To conclude the celebration, acclaimed African percussionist Brian Jarawa Gray led a drum circle, engaging the crowd in a rhythmic finale.