28 Days of Black Liberation 2025 series
A Black Person is murdered by America every day, whether by racial violence, police violence, the carceral system (including ICE), lack of housing, healthcare system or environmental racism. Everyday a Black person is murded globally because of America. No continent or country is safe from America. Have conditions changed since the summer of 1919?!
The landscape to survive has changed in the belly of the beast but the conditions are still similar to the conditions that led to the 1919 riots. Economic disparities Black workers were facing rising: unemployment, underemployment, and exploitation. Fast forward to 2025, economic disparities still run deep. The wealth gap between Black and white Americans remains wide, with systemic barriers preventing equal access to quality education, healthcare, housing, and employment.
The economic exploitation and oppression that fueled the racial violence in 1919 are still very much present in the form of wage disparities, gentrification, and corporate monopolies. The great migration was also a major factor for the riots. In 2025, gentrification has led to the displacement of Black and Latine communities, pushing folks further into poverty and reducing their access to quality housing. The same pattern of migration and racial tension persists in many cities, with increasing poverty, enivronmental racism, police violence, and lack of opportunity still concentrating in Black and brown neighborhoods.
The Red Summer occurred in the context of a nation still grappling with Jim Crow laws, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and white supremacist ideologies. This was a direct challenge to the burgeoning Black civil rights movement and the social changes occurring due to migration patterns and economic shifts. In 2025, white supremacy is still a potent force. The far-right resurgence, along with white nationalist movements, shows that the racial hatred and ideologies that fueled the Red Summer are still alive, often emboldened by political leaders both red and blue who give tacit approval to racist rhetoric and policies.
What conditions do you think that led up to the Red summer are still present in 2025?
During the month of February GDC honors the legacy of the Black Liberation Struggle. Our program – 28 Days of Black Liberation – seeks to highlight the history, take inspiration, and draw lessons from the Black freedom struggle. The GDC sees the Black Proletariat as the vanguard of the class struggle in the United States – from early rebellions led by enslaved African people to the George Floyd Rebellion. The 28 Days of Black Liberation is a chance to reflect on this history of resistance and continue the revolutionary struggle against white supremacy, capitalism, and imperialism. Each week we will focus on one event/movement that we think is critical. We will also have events each week to allow for collective discussion and deepening our understanding and revolutionary commitment.