‘No empire lasts endlessly’: this is what gives ESSENCE ‘Black Futures Now’ honorees hope for our future

ESSENCE concluded Black History Month with an impassioned conversation about our radical Black future.

The panel featured a number of the honorees from the inaugural “Black Futures Now” list, celebrating 11 progressive and radical thinkers and activists fighting for economic and social justice.

Actor and activist Kendrick Sampson, former New York State Assemblymembers and Councilors Inez and Charles Barron, and Wayne State University professor Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly participated in a conversation with senior news and politics editor Malaika Jabali that addressed whether electoral politics might be effective for progress and how one can stay motivated in light of the each day struggles of black Americans.

The panelists began the conversation by discussing what gives them hope for our future.

As Burden-Stelly noted, “It’s darkest before the dawn. It seems to me that more and more people – especially young people, especially racialized people – are coming to a radical consciousness. “Historically… these are times when our people have been active and busy.”

The Barrons reiterated how their story inspires them. “We survived all the atrocities. We have survived all threats. We have not given up… The Sankofa in me says we will look back, take what we need from the past and bring it to the future,” Ms. Barron noted.

“Nothing in history says our oppression is permanent. It’s temporary and we’re winning. Mr. Barron added. “No empire lasts forever. The American Empire is falling.”

In addition to starring within the hit HBO show Insecure, Sampson participated within the SAG/AFTRA strikes in 2023. “I love the rise of the liberation and labor movements. They are completely interconnected. You see 5,000 drivers going on strike in Texas [against] Anheuser-Busch. You have teachers unions. I think there is an enlightenment happening.”

WATCH the complete conversation in this article.