In the Uhuru Movement, we often speak about building liberated territory–reclaiming land, buildings and institutions for the benefit of the African working class. These words may sound symbolic, to some, disconnected from the anti-colonial wars waged by freedom fighters like Amílcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau or the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army as they fought colonialism. But they are one and the same struggle.
Territory is the material foundation upon which a people exercise power. Under colonialism, African people have been systematically deprived of territory, not only through the theft of land, but through the destruction of our independent economic, political and social institutions. Building liberated territory is our answer to that theft. It is the process of reclaiming the material basis for African self-determination and preparing ourselves to govern our own lives.
Every community center we establish, every farm we cultivate, every market we organize, every meeting space, is territory wrestled away from colonial control and placed into the hands of African people. These are the places where we develop leadership, strengthen our collective capacity and practice the freedom we are fighting to win. Liberated territory is where we begin to exercise the responsibility of governing ourselves.
Building for the future
The African National Women’s Organization’s (ANWO) Liberation Center at 4617 Natural Bridge Avenue is part of that path to freedom.
Entrusted to ANWO by the African People’s Education and Defense Fund, this building represents a political commitment to consolidate everything we have built over the last eleven years: a growing organization, committed members and a revolutionary vision deserving of a permanent headquarters. It is a place where African women can organize, train and serve the people of St. Louis while contributing to the liberation of African people everywhere.
Yet after receiving the building, we stalled. We allowed ourselves to become constrained by the idea that progress is only possible when money appears first.
We convinced ourselves that fundraising was our obstacle. We measured our capacity by our bank account instead of by our people.
But history tells us something different.
African women across the world have built under conditions far harsher than our own. They did not wait until every dollar was secured before they began. They relied on each other. They relied on their communities.
We would not allow financial limitations to convince us that we shouldn’t start now.
The first work brigade
So, on June 19, we made the decision to stop waiting.
Armed with determination, work gloves and the conviction that this building belongs to the African working class, we held our first Liberation Center work brigade.
Our team of four, Rage and myself, alongside volunteers Jewel and Alek, spent the day tearing down what no longer served us so we could begin building what does. We hauled bricks, removed exposed nails, demolished damaged walls, repaired sections of the deck, cleared debris, cut grass, and began transforming an abandoned structure into a home for organized African women and our community.
For some of us, it was our first time taking on this kind of physical work. We arrived uncertain of our abilities. We left with a deeper confidence that we are capable of building liberated territory.
Every brick carried, every nail removed, every patch of grass cut challenged what we thought we knew about ourselves. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. Our muscles ached. We were drenched in sweat. But we also experienced something far more important: the satisfaction that comes from participating in our own liberation.
This is only the beginning.
The Liberation Center will not be built by waiting for perfect conditions. It will be built by one work brigade, one volunteer, one fundraiser, one skilled trade learned, and one act of collective labor at a time.
And in building it, we prepare ourselves not only to resist colonialism, but to replace it with institutions that place African working-class people in command of our own future.
