Assata Shakur Study Group

An ASSG session on how that tradition has been systematically whitewashed and commodified.

This session will explore the history of the Cuban Revolution and Cuba’s long-standing role in supporting African liberation struggles and Global South development. We will examine why Cuba has been treated as a threat to Western hegemony, the ongoing impact of the U.S. blockade, and Cuba’s model of people-centered systems in healthcare, education, and participatory […]

This session of the Assata Shakur Study Group (ASSG) will examine the Community Control DC Platform as a concrete framework for building democratic power in Black and working-class communities. The platform begins from the premise that real change comes from power, not access or representation, and calls for residents to directly govern the institutions and […]

As DC officials consider a renewed juvenile curfew in the name of “public safety,” a familiar pattern is emerging: the criminalization of working-class Black youth and the expansion of state control over our communities. Curfews do not address the root causes of harm—lack of resources, disinvestment, and exclusion from decision-making. Instead, they give police broader […]

While youth curfews in DC continue to be pushed in the name of "public safety," we must shift the focus toward what real safety looks like when communities lead. Instead of policing and punishment, this discussion explores how investing in youth, housing, education, and opportunity can prevent harm at its roots. Grounded in PACA's vision, […]

Learning lessons from Black women in the Black Panther Party, local struggles in DC, and international liberation movements for alternatives As unemployment, unaffordability, and displacement continue to deepen across Washington, DC, Black women remain among the most exploited and economically marginalized sectors of the working class. These conditions are not accidental but rooted in a […]

This Assata Shakur Popular Education session, in conjunction with the Black Alliance for Peace-DC, will explore the history and political significance of African Liberation Day as a global expression of Pan-African unity, anti-colonial struggle, and Black self-determination. Together we will examine how liberation movements across Africa and the African Diaspora challenged colonialism, imperialism, and political […]

Barack Obama's election was celebrated as a historic milestone for Black political representation, but it also helped create the illusion that symbolic inclusion within existing institutions would lead to meaningful change and even liberation for Black communities. The elevation of Black political leaders often obscures the continued realities of economic inequality, displacement, state violence, and […]

An examination of the political context and implications of the surge vs. genuine public safety through self-determination.

Extreme heat is not just a natural disaster—it is the result of political and economic decisions that leave working-class Black communities with fewer resources, less protection, and greater exposure to climate change. Join PACA for an interactive political education session -- Assata Shakur Popular Education (ASPE) -- examining how environmental racism, capitalist development, and unequal […]

Access to clean, safe water is shaped by political power—not chance—and decades of neglect have left many Black communities in Southeast DC to bear the costs of aging infrastructure and environmental injustice while DC Water remains largely insulated from community control. Join PACA for an interactive political education session -- Assata Shakur Popular Education (ASPE) -- exploring […]

Black August calls on us to study the history of Black liberation, deepen our political consciousness, and learn from the experiences of political prisoners and revolutionary movements. This session examines how young people built and led organizations such as the Revolutionary Action Movement, SNCC, the Black Panther Party, and the Young Lords, while exploring the […]