From Panther to Panther: Legacies of Resistance

On May 28, 2022, a historic conference took place outside Mumbai, India bringing together leaders of the Black Panther Party and the Dalit Panthers, on the 50th anniversary of the revolutionary group’s founding, which aimed to abolish caste-based discrimination in India. The meeting symbolically and concretely solidified a connection uniting the anti-caste and anti-racism movements, advocating for transnational liberation.

Chicago-based SpaceShift Collective invites you to a multidisciplinary program, which explores the profound influence of the Black Panther Party on the Dalit Panthers through story, sound, performance, artmaking, and conversation. Together, we will expand our understanding of how the Black Panther Party’s advocacy for Black empowerment, self-defense, and social justice resonated with the Dalit Panthers in their own struggle for equality and dignity.

The afternoon program will highlight the cultural and ideological cross-pollination between the two movements. It will feature contemporary artists, activists, and scholars who will reflect, through their own practices, on the global solidarity of oppressed communities. We will pay tribute to these movements, whose legacies continue to inspire the fight for transnational justice today.

Presenters: 

Soumya Shailendra, Scholar (Chicago)

Shrujana Shridhar, Artist & Illustrator, Founder of Dalit Panthers Archive (Mumbai)

Maulikraj Shrimali, Dramatist, Scholar (Chicago)

Damon Locks, Visual Artist, Musician, Educator (Chicago)

Michael D. McCarty, Storyteller (Los Angeles)

Host or Publisher SpaceShift Collective