DWA 287 Transnational Liberation: Black Radical Thought in the Middle East and North Africa

In this interdisciplinary course, we will interrogate the critical engagement of black radical thinkers from the United States and Caribbean, with notions of collective liberation, with the peoples of Palestine, Algeria, and Iran, by close reading literary works, historical documents, films, music, and photographic representations. Starting with the discourse between Frantz Fanon and Ali Shariati, we will examine how the collaborations between this black radical thinker and his counterpart in Iran led to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. We will also look to the relationship between the Black Panther Party and Palestine, as well as the liberation movements in Algeria, to better understand the philosophy, methodology, and consequences of internationalism, anticolonialism, and the need for collective liberation.