— FOR THIS LOCATION, BOOKS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.
You MUST preorder a copy of the book in order to receive yours in ADVANCE of the event. There will be no exceptions. —

Join us for a dynamic 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, Cathy J. Cohen (Activist, Black Queer Feminist and Political Scientist), with co-editors, Shanelle Matthews and Marzena Zukowska, and co-authors Rachel Jacoby, Tre Bosley and Zaineb Mohammed, 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 Stories emerges 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.

Cathy J. Cohen is the chair of the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity and the D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. She formerly served in numerous administrative positions, including chair of the Department of Political Science, director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and deputy provost for graduate education at the University of Chicago. Cohen is the author of two books, The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (University of Chicago Press) and Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics (Oxford University Press), and is a longtime activist whose political affiliations include Kitchen Table Women of Color Press, the Audre Lorde Project, and Scholars for Social Justice.

The Social Justice Initiative (SJI) at the University of Illinois Chicago connects scholars working on social justice themes to community-based social change agents locally, nationally, and globally. Through public and campus programming, curricular interventions, network building, student and community engagement, and solution-seeking workshops, exhibitions, and symposia, we seek to uplift the institution’s role as a public urban university serving and expanding the common good. SJI works to amplify UIC’s mission to advance “knowledge that transforms our views of the world and, through sharing and application, transforms the world.”

Developed as an extension of the Social Justice Initiative, the Chicago Justice Gallery’s (CJG) focus is to serve as a bridge to connect scholarship, activism, and educational arts with social justice themes. The gallery supports social justice artists and arts activism through exhibitions and public events and is one of the only galleries in the city solely devoted to the presentation and exploration of social justice through the lens of art.

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.

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Tags: Cathy J. Cohen, Chicago, CHICAGO JUSTICE GALLERY, Liberation Stories, Liberation Stories: Book Tour, Marzena Zukowska, near west side, Rachel Jacoby, Shanelle Matthews, Tre Bosley, UIC, Zaineb Mohammed