We have always learned from Black leaders and Black movements in our journey toward collective liberation. They remind us that we all have a place in liberation movements — whether through love, courage, education, or art.

As Black Futures Month draws to a close, may we use these lessons to continue to build the shared future of our dreams:

Lesson 1: Liberation requires love. 

“Love is as important as work, as crucial to our survival as a nation as our drive to succeed.”

— bell hooks

Lesson 2: Liberation begins with the courage to confront truth about society and ourselves.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

— James Baldwin

Lesson 3: Education and institution-building are essential tools of collective freedom.

“Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.”

— Mary McLeod Bethune

Lesson 4: Artists preserve movement memory and speak truth when other voices are silenced.

“You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.”

— Nina Simone