When we rely on parties which have given us no indication whatsoever that they're a liberal party of liberation, then we not only have the wrong historical analysis, but we are a lot of times either wasting our time, we're being brought off, and not doing the hard work which is at the base building community.

We wrap up our three-part series on No Cop City, No Cop World (Haymarket Books, 2025), by speaking with co-editor and contributor Kamau Franklin, founder of Community Movement Builders, a Black member-based collective of community residents and activists serving Black working-class and poor Black communities.

Kamau's essay in the collection is titled, "Is This Enough Black Folks for You, Andre Dickens?," which is a reference to the current Atlanta mayor.

"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

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Guest

Kamau Franklin

Kamau Franklin (he/him) is the founder of Community Movement Builders. He’s been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years. For 18 years, Kamau was a leading member of a national grassroots organization dedicated to the ideas of self-determination and the teachings of Malcolm X. He’s spearheaded organizing work in areas, including youth organizing, police misconduct, and developing sustainable urban communities. Kamau has coordinated community cop-watch programs, liberation schools for youth, electoral and policy campaigns, large-scale community gardens, organizing collectives and alternatives to incarceration programs. Kamau was an attorney for ten years in New York with his own practice in criminal, civil rights and transactional law. He now lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children.

Building Community to Sustain Liberation in Atlanta / Kamau Franklin

Kamau Franklin