Asking for Liberation
Asking for Liberation | James Baldwin | CGC Question App by Lori D. Wilson Liberation comes about only through our willingness to do deep, hard work. The effort begins in...Read More 
“Frederick Douglass”
Robert Hayden one of the great unsung poet scholars of our time. The Black person to be appointed the Consultant of Poetry to the Library of Congress — and before...Read More
New App Explores Intersection of Art and Religion
Art can ask us powerful, open-ended questions. So can religion. Both urge us to look beyond the realities in front of us, and to explore the assumptions and experiences that...Read More
How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?
Sometimes the work for liberation is militant or triumphant; other times it’s a quiet force that strives simply for compassionate understanding. W .E. B. Du Bois wrote this powerful essay...Read More
The Internal Work of Liberation
Thich Nhat Hanh knew it. Archbishop Desmond Tutu knew it. So did bell hooks. The three liberators we’ve lost this winter each knew that sustained social change demands liberation on...Read More
Dangerous Spirituality
"The burden of being black and the burden of being white is so heavy that it is rare in our society to experience oneself as a human being." Those words...Read More
“Call A Quiet Friend”
In this song, Common Good collaborator Devin Bustin follows Howard Thurman’s direction, centers down, and sees a series of jarring images. You can hear the stripped-down demo using the SoundCloud...Read More
The Sound of the Genuine
The voice of Howard Thurman inspired Martin Luther King Jr, to the extent that he traveled with a ragged copy of his most famous work, Jesus and the Disinherited ....Read More
Bring Them Back Alive
Over the next several months, we’ll be featuring a few original pieces, including several tracking this intriguing project from CG Contributor Greg Jarrell. In this piece, Greg offers a reflection...Read More
A Free South: The Black Arts Movement and the politics of emancipation.
No art, no freedom. The Black Arts Movement in the American South worked from that powerful belief as they “sought to produce a culture that valued Black people and used...Read More
Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Master, Dies at 95
We celebrate the life of the beloved Thich Nhat Hanh, who died recently at age 95. Nhat Hanh was a revered teacher whose religious practice had material and political meaning....Read More
A Legacy of Liberation
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is not the first American freedom fighter. Many came before him to pave the way, yet his legacy is on of the most well known...Read More
5 Poems by 5 Black Poets That Honor The King For Real
Martin Luther King Jr. has inspired millions of people throughout the world, including artists. BLACKSTEW has compiled five poems from the last 50 years to illustrate how his legacy lives...Read More
Liberation and Pizza
Neighborhood hangouts are an important part of a sense of belonging. It's a space where one connects with neighbors and finds space to be there full selves. Reporter Brandon Drenson...Read More
Remember the Liberators
For the next three months, we at Common Good Collective will be reflecting on those in the United States, and around the world, who have dedicated their lives to the...Read More
“Appalachian Elegy”
Among the many creatives, thinkers, and other heroic figures that have transitioned this winter is the incomparable bell hooks. hooks was a love evangelist, preaching the iron-clad beauty of compassion...Read More
The Journalist and the Movement
Journalism is a powerful tool in the American Experiment. When used for ill, there are catastrophic consequences. Yet, many times, our fiercest liberators reside in the newsroom. Louis Lomax is...Read More
Constitution of Compromise
As we explore the work of liberation in American and throughout the world, it is only right that we start with one of the earliest American liberators: President Abraham Lincoln....Read More
Housing — Home and Exile
This week, we hear from an introvert who finds support and happiness through multi-generational living. We hear a song from a property manager who awaken to the cruelty of his...Read More
Multigenerational Living is Human Culture
When North America began its experiment with suburban living, we lost touch with who we were as interdependent human beings. The structure of the suburbs divided us in so many...Read More
“Finding Home Through Exiles’ Eyes” with Christian Wyman
The poet Christian Wyman spent the first stretch of the pandemic gathering some of humanity’s most brilliant pieces of writing about home. In this conversation with Yale’s Evan Rosa, Wyman...Read More