Table 4.
Black Liberation Work Compendium.
| Subcategory | Definitional Properties | Representative Quote |
|---|---|---|
| Storying survival | Sharing stories, critiques, testimonies, or otherwise advocating about ABR for the purpose of facilitating Black liberation | “I’m going to tell it to you so well that you don’t forget it. And I know someone who looks like me probably went through something very similar. So don’t think that this exists in a silo.” -Geo |
| Artivism | Using creative arts in the interest of facilitating Black liberation | “We created this play called ‘Voices of the Back of the Class’ talking all about miseducation…We used Lies My Teacher Told Me as the text and then we create skits and do story circles off of that” -Quess |
| Physical resistance | Putting one’s body at risk of danger in order to protect, liberate, or affirm Black people | “I stood before a tank, the National Guard coming down our street and I just stood before the tank and I said ‘you’re not coming down my street…I was 10” -Micah |
| Organizing | Developing goals, identifying outcomes, and determining approaches for Black liberation; involves leading, organizing, and developing interventions | “With my social media background, I have software that I can pull up, set up different feeds and stuff. …so I was essentially, I was like, ‘okay, St. Louis PD is moving on this bridge. If you on the ground right there, you need to move.’” -Lamin |
| Teaching | Educating others and encouraging them to constantly learn more about ABR and Black liberation | “Now it’s my job to go into [student organizations] … and calling them out, and they know it’s happening but it’s really being like ‘get over your white guilt and find ways to include people.’” -Geo |
| Coalition-building | Developing, maximizing, and sustaining relationships to promote Black liberation | “I’m particularly excited about…doing law enforcement trainings related to multicultural awareness, diversity, inclusion.” -Lauren |
| Modeling/Mentoring | One-on-one contact with another Black person to proactively affirm, support, and increase Black wellness | “…showing up to activities that [Black undergraduates] were putting on campus and really letting them know…I’m interested in seeing you succeed.” -Erica |
| Scholar-activism | Engaging in activism informed by scholarship and/or contributing to scholarship informed by activism that is focused on Black liberation | “I really got involved in research and realized that majority of research is not inclusive of the everyday experiences of Black kids and Black males in particular.” -Michael |
| Spacemaking | Intentionally creating physical or virtual spaces for Black people to convene heal, organize, and/or celebrate | “What we do is create space where we can talk about Blackness…or create context where we can meet and have activities together” -Elena |