"Liberation Stories" Book Tour: New Orleans Stop | Baldwin & Co. coffee + bookstore
Arts
Literary Arts
Join us for a dyanmic evening with the editors and authors, movement communicators, cultural strategists, and scholars, who have not only contributed to the Radical Communicators Network anthology Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements (New Press, June 2025), but have actively shaped progressive and leftist narratives in some of the most important social movements of our time. Guest Moderator, Cierra Chenier, with co-editors, Shanelle Matthews and Marzena Zukowska will go behind-the-scenes of the six-year journey of creating the first anthology written by and for social justice communicators, explore the power of documenting movement work, offer a first reading of experts from the anthology and engage with co-authors in a participatory discussion on the future of narrative power. Constructing the world we envision, one story at a time.In Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements, today's foremost progressive and leftist communicators, organizers, artists, journalists, and academics share their collective insights in one powerful volume. Featuring in-depth case studies of both contemporary and historical movements, Liberation Stories distills successful theories, strategies, and tactics for anyone wanting to understand—and participate in—the diverse initiatives currently shaping our society. As far-right and conservative movements gain traction worldwide—attacking our books, our bodies, and our democracies—Liberation Storiesemerges as a vital resource for constructing the world we envision, one story at a time. Shanelle Matthews is the founder of Radical Communicators Network (RadComms), the former communications director for the Movement for Black Lives, and a former faculty member of Freedom Scholars at The New School. Today, she is a full-time Distinguished Lecturer at City College at the City University of New York in the Department of Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Studies. She lives in New York. Marzena Zukowska is an organizer, communications strategist, and co-founder of the immigrant rights organization POMOC. For a decade, they have developed narrative and organizing strategies for leading social and political movements in the US, UK, and Europe. They are the former media director for National Domestic Workers Alliance and former leadership team member of the Radical Communicators Network. They live in Liverpool, England. Cierra Chenier is a writer and historian born and raised in New Orleans. She serves as the Strategic Storyteller at Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, where she leads efforts to combat the harmful narratives surrounding Black youth through narrative change campaigns and messaging. Through her writing, storytelling, and narrations, Cierra continues to fearlessly connect New Orleans' past to its present and future with topics of freedom, enslavement, resistance, displacement, environmental injustice, and preservation. In 2017 she created NOIR 'N NOLA, a digital platform preserving the history, culture, and soul of Black New Orleans in response to the gun violence and gentrification impacting New Orleans. Cierra's historical writing of Black New Orleans has expanded to platforms like Scalawag Magazine and ESSENCE Magazine–with her most recently writing the cover story for ESSENCE’s 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina May/June 2025 issue. Radical Communicators Network (RadComms) is a community of practice for emerging and experienced movement and communications workers. RadComms builds narrative power for a just and liberatory future.
Information Source: Liberation Stories | eventbrite