Lotus Reads James Baldwin

About Us

We are a group of students and young people based in Philadelphia and at the University of Pennsylvania who seek to rebuild an education that is principled and truthful — one that allows us to know and understand the world in order to change it. We come together with the understanding that true knowledge is that which liberates our minds to human possibilities and makes us responsible actors in society. Such knowledge is worth fighting for, and so is the future. We believe that as young people, we not only can, but must make a contribution to this future which is our inheritance. That is why we come together to read, study and discuss: to know ourselves and our place in the world. 

We are rooted in the Black Radical Tradition, and in the ideas of revolutionary figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin and Paul Robeson. We also draw from the rich history of revolutionary struggles across the world, which includes the American revolutionary process, the anticolonial movements of Asia and Africa, and the World Peace Movement. We believe that this history must be known and studied, because it can reveal to us the possibilities in our times, and the moral choices we are confronted with. 

The foremost challenge facing young people today is the battle for ideological clarity. Ideas move history and are central to all movements towards Freedom and Justice. We are living through a moment of crisis and confusion, but also one that holds the promise of a new, more just world. In such times, we must find the courage to stand for Truth, and choose to place ourselves firmly on the side of Peace and with the world's people. Such a choice is not only possible, but is also our moral imperative.