Burning Spear Media introduced the first traveling exhibit of its Living History Archives collection at the 2026 Plenary of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), held April 17-19 in St. Louis.
The exhibit was displayed in an alcove that all attendees passed through on their way to the dining hall.
It was organized into three cubicles showcasing 1) the APSP’s early formative years, 2) the Party’s work to make “reparations” a household word and 3) the Party’s building of dual and contending economic institutions and its work to build the African Socialist International and worldwide anti-colonial solidarity.
The exhibits introduced each theme with large glossy scrolls that described the scope and lasting impact of the Party’s legacy, illustrated with historical photos.
The rich story of the Uhuru Movement and its role in building the African anti-colonial struggle was brought to life by the inclusion of ephemera such as posters, pamphlets, photographs, calendars and original print covers of The Burning Spear newspaper.
Our stories are preserved on video
Two cubicles included video monitors playing unedited raw footage of pivotal events in the Party’s history.
Viewers could put on headphones and immerse themselves in the dynamic Uhuru Movement activities that shaped the worldwide anti-colonial struggle that is in ascendance.
In the cubicle dedicated to the Party’s early years, visitors watched video of the 1984 eviction of the Uhuru House black community center in Oakland, California.
The eviction took place after a two-year rent strike that the Party used to educate the public about the role of absentee slumlords and city government in creating homelessness in a majority black city.
The eviction was carried out by scores of armed forces from the Oakland and Berkeley police departments, Alameda County sheriffs and California state patrol.
Neighbors were concerned, remembering the State slaughter that rained down on the Black Panthers when they tried to hold a building.
Everyone was relieved and amused when the State’s battering ram revealed an empty gutted building and Uhuru protesters on the outside unveiled a banner leading people to the new Uhuru House.
The Uhuru Movement tricked the State and showed the people how you can fight the State and win.
In the cubicle describing how the Party made reparations a household word, the video footage showed powerful testimony from Mafundi Lake at the first World Tribunal on Reparations for Black People, held in 1982 in Brooklyn, New York.
That Tribunal kicked off over four decades of grassroots campaigning that successfully popularized reparations as a revolutionary demand of the African working class.
One observer shared, “I had no idea how far back the Uhuru Movement went and how bold was its work to rebuild the Black Power movement after the U.S. counterinsurgency had militarily decimated it.”
Another declared, “It’s so impressive to see these early copies of The Burning Spear newspaper! Our history cannot be erased!”
The job is not done
Burning Spear Media’s Living History Archives collection is made possible by the tireless work of countless volunteers who have organized and cataloged all the paper copies of The Burning Spear newspaper as well as the thousands of video and audio recordings.
Enough cannot be said about the visionary efforts of the University of Florida librarians who worked to digitize the material and post it to their digital collection linked from theburningspear.com/archive
The job is not done. Burning Spear Media is currently working with a dedicated team of professional and novice archivists to review and catalog hundreds of video recordings. To join this effort and get first peek at the living history that is shaping our work, sign-up at theburningspear.com/volunteer
