Liberation Live! began as a sketch, an idea within the confines of a prison classroom, "Classroom 10," an idea to transform our final assignments for African American Studies II into a group presentation. As students of the Yale Prison Education Initiative bachelor's degree program, through the University of New Haven, we imagined a showcase, a celebration, engaging creatively with the themes and concepts we learned throughout the semester infused with our life experiences.

We desired, for just one night, to feel like we were on a campus stage that our education informs us is where we belong. And we wanted to bring all of our classmates along for the journey.

For weeks- we wrote, we created, we argued, we rehearsed, we experimented, we rehearsed some more, we improved, we grew closer, we organized, we experienced, we continued to learn and to take our other classes as Liberation Live! grew from a single sketch, a single idea, into an unforgettable night of community resistance.

Wednesday Night. May 8th, 2024. Classroom 3. 6-9pm. The scene was electric.

It defied the "15 students per room" cap that has denied us these moments in the past and present. Nearly 40 of us filled this space with joy and appreciation. Every ticket stubbed, every seat filled, every event program distributed, every moment ours: Liberation Live! The white sponge of a room- the white walls, the white board, the white deliberateness, was transformed from wall-to-wall from floor-to-ceiling with select photos commemorating African American Culture: Resilience, Joy, Education, Endurance, Love, Legacy, along with our artwork- paintings, drawings, and collages- family photos, and a special EP Cover portrayed in the likeness of our professor. The once bland whiteness became a scene of Black Beauty.

Although the showcase was one night, one powerful night of hope in the hopelessness of total confinement, we know that freedom is a constant struggle, we know that we are the ones that can speak to this, write to this, bear witness to it, and be the revolution in which we wish to see materialize toward safer and healthier communities.

We know that all around the world there are "Classroom 10" ideas inside of all oppressed individuals and system impacted communities, ideas just waiting to be written, organized around, and shown up for. Our goal is to amplify the voices behind these stories from the depths of total confinement while actively working toward bringing these visions into material form, daily, globally, and together. #LiberationLive!