Socialism 2026: Full Schedule

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10:00am CDT

Saturday September 5, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT

A recent pew research poll indicates that Black folk have the most positive opinion of socialism of any other race/ethnicity in the US—but there is a contradiction as it pertains to who these folk vote for, the party they support the most, and the “leaders” they allow to speak for and guide them. “The Black Path to Socialism” will explore these contradictions and give historic content as to why and how socialism was always the preferred model for poor and working class Black folk until the rise of the Black Misleadership class and other elements of neoliberalism.

Speakers

Kali Akuno

India

Brian Kwoba

Erica Ryan

Saturday September 5, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
W190A

Black Liberation

12:00pm CDT

Debates in Prison Abolitionist Theory and Practice

Saturday September 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT

W190A

Scholars and organizers will discuss live questions of abolitionist theory and practice, from how to think about taking on police vs. ICE vs. the military (or county jails vs. prisons vs. warehousing projects) within this conjuncture of authoritarianism and imperial decline to the relationship between Marxism and prison abolition.

Moderators

Amna Akbar

Speakers

Amelia Kirby

Silky Shah

Silky Shah has been working as an organizer on issues related to racial and migrant justice for over two decades. Originally from Texas, she began fighting the expansion of immigrant jails on the US-Mexico border in the aftermath of 9/11. In 2009, she joined the staff of Detention Watch Network... Read More →

Jack Norton

Zohra Ahmed

Zohra Ahmed is an associate professor of law at Boston University, USA. She writes and teaches about U.S. militarism, domestically and globally. She is a former public defender, and works closely with grassroots movements challenging criminalization.

Saturday September 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT
W190A

Abolition

3:00pm CDT

How the Left Takes on AI Will Determine the Future

Saturday September 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT

W190A

How we respond to AI may define the next decade of organizing. This debate, originally featured at Take Back Tech III, stages opposing perspectives on whether to seize control of or abolish AI systems. Designed to model principled disagreement and sharpen strategic thinking on technology, ownership, and power.

Speakers

Sasha Costanza-Chock

Sasha Costanza-Chock (she/they/ella/elle) is a researcher and designer who works to support community-led processes that build shared power, dismantle the matrix of domination, and advance ecological survival. They are a nonbinary trans* femme. Sasha is known for their work on networked... Read More →

Sarah Hamid

Sarah T. Hamid is Director of Strategic Campaigns at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She brings over a decade of experience as a community organizer working at the intersection of technology, warfare, and punishment-based criminal and border systems. In 2018, she co-founded the... Read More →

Tawana Petty

Tawana Petty, also known by her poetry stage name Honeycomb, is a mother, social justice organizer, poet, author, facilitator and keynote lecturer.

Petty is the founding Executive Director of Petty Propolis, Inc., an artist incubator which leverages poetry, literary and literacy workshops, anti-racism facilitation, political education and community-centered initiatives in pursuit of data and digital justice and racial and environmental... Read More →

Edith Romero

Edith Romero is originally from Honduras; she grew up in a banana town in the north coast of Honduras and moved to New Orleans to begin her higher education. Edith holds a Master’s in Healthcare Management and has experience in community health, Latinx health, reproductive justice... Read More →

Saturday September 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
W190A

Science and Tech

10:00am CDT

12:00pm CDT

3:00pm CDT

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