Freedom Archives When We Win – Community Film Series

When We Win features films, guest speakers, and community dialogue, these events provoke and explore vital questions about liberation, decolonization, and political commitment, and the realities of revolutionary struggle.

Throughout the year we will be exploring themes central to political organizing and community resistance, including:

The centrality of land and place-hood
Learning from ancestors
Networks of solidarity
Honoring survivors of state violence
Imagining and envisioning the future

Together these films and the insights they offer invite us to ask: who are we struggling with, and who are we struggling for? How do we define our goals, and how do we achieve them? What is our vision for the future? What does winning look like?

The When We Win film series is a collaborative effort between the Freedom Archives, the Center for Political Education, and La Peña Cultural Center.

February

Films:

Eyes of the Rainbow (1997)
Selected feature from The Belly of the Beast

Gloria Rolando’s 1997 film offers an intimate interview with Assata Shakur who narrates her life story, reflects on her politicization within the Black Liberation Movement, and shares how living in Cuba expanded her cultural worldview and political commitments.

This main feature was complemented by an interview from Cuban news outlet The Belly of the Beast discussing how the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) exemplifies Cuba’s commitment to healthcare as a human right and demonstrates international medical solidarity.

Formerly-held US Political Prisoner Veronza Bowers opened the evening with a beautiful tribute on flute honoring Assata Shakur’s recent transition and her significance to all who struggle.

To close the evening Nathaniel Moore and Nadya Tannous spoke about how their experiences in Cuba deepened their commitment to fight in solidarity with the Cuban people and center internationalism in their political work.

Resources:

March

Film:

Mālama Mākua (2025)

Mālama Mākua is a community organization fighting for land reclamation in Mākua Valley, a region of Western O’ahu which has been occupied by the U.S. army since World War II. Laurel Mei-Singh’s film chronicles decades of diligent activism by the Mākua community towards the demilitarization of their land.

U’ilani Wesley, Executive Director at Xa Kako Dile community farm, joined us to reflect on the necessity of honoring the ‘āina (land) and people both of Mākua and in our own local communities.

The film was followed by a discussion about the ongoing struggle against the US military, the importance of intergenerational community-building and resistance, and ways we can support the people of Mākua.

Resources:

April

Films:

The Land You Are On
In the Land of My Ancestors
Zuguleaiñ: hablaremos (“we will speak”)

The Land You Are On, produced by Sogorea Te Land Trust, introduced our April focus on Indigenous-led movements for cultural sovereignty and land reclamation. Illustrating the settler occupation of Turtle Island through maps and photographs, this video is a movingly succinct representation of both the scale of settler violence, and the endurance of Native resistance.

Kanyon Coyotewoman, the daughter of Anne Marie Sayers, introduced In the Land of My Ancestors, a documentary about Indigenous stewardship of Indian Canyon. A celebration of Sayers’ life and legacy, this film also highlights the land-based education, cultural programs, and activism led by the community in Indian Canyon.

Our full length feature, Zuguleaiñ: hablaremos (“we will speak”), documents language revitalization and land preservation work of the Mapuche people in Chile. We heard from filmmaker Kelly Baur and one of the Mapuche educators, Silvia Calfuqueo Lefio, in conversation with Vick Montaño from Sogorea Te.

Resources:

May

Film:

Passion for Justice (1993)

On May 19th, When We Win celebrated four revolutionary ancestors: This is the shared birthday of Ho Chi Minh, Lorraine Hansberry, Malcolm X, and Yuri Kochiyama.

We were honored to be joined by Audee Kochiyama-Holman, who shared family stories and introduced the film Passion for Justice, which documents the life and work of her mother Yuri Kochiyama.

The film traces Kochiyama’s process of politicization and the deepening of her revolutionary convictions. Embodying a commitment to internationalism and cross-movement solidarity, Yuri’s work included decades of contribution to the Black freedom struggle, Puerto Rican independence movement, and support for political prisoners throughout the world.

Diane Fujino, Yuri’s biographer, joined us virtually to speak about Yuri’s commitment to struggle. Yuri was not a superhero, Fujino observed, but rather an “ordinary person who made extraordinary choices.”

Resources:

Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project.

June

Films:

I’m Free Now, You Are Free (2020)
What These Walls Won’t Hold (2023)

I’m Free Now, You Are Free is a short documentary about Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa – a formerly incarcerated political prisoner from the MOVE Organization. This film meditates on Black family preservation as resistance against the brutal legacies of state-sanctioned family separation.

Adamu Chan’s What These Walls Won’t Hold depicts life in San Quentin State Prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, combining Adamu’s media advocacy inside of San Quentin, personal experience surviving the pandemic and the stories of his friends and comrades attempting to secure their freedom. Grounded in personal narrative and intimate insights, the film is an expansive and candid glimpse into the realities of imprisonment and cross-wall organizing.

Adamu Chan was joined by UC Berkeley professor Dr. Ameer Loggins to discuss the crucial role of art and cultural preservation in social movements and community organizing.

Resources:

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