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This page supports the March 2023 screening and discussion of the film Concerning Violence. The event was co-organized by Professor Suzanne Sicchia, the Health & Society Student Association, the Critical Book Club, the Critical Collective, and TAIBU Community Health Centre, and moderated by Professor Neil Roberts.

Access the film using the link below and browse items in the library collections to explore works on colonialism, decolonization, revolution, and independence. You will also find works by and about African political thinkers, revolutionaries, and leaders.

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About the Film | Stream the Film

Further Reading: Frantz Fanon | African Philosophers & Political Thinkers | Neil Roberts | Lewis R. Gordon

About the Film

From the director of The Black Power Mixtape comes a bold and fresh visual narrative on Africa, based on newly discovered archive material covering the struggle for liberation from colonial rule in the late '60s and '70s, accompanied by text from Frantz Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth".

Director Göran Hugo Olsson gathers footage of anti-imperialist liberation movements from the 1970s onward, drawn from the Swedish Television archives, and crafts a powerful document that brings us face-to-face with the people for whom Fanon's writings were not just rhetoric, but a reality.

Stream "Concerning Violence"

Access the film on the Kanopy platform

Further Reading: Frantz Fanon

Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon; Charles Lam Markmann (Translator)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, Storage ; GN645 .F313
ISBN: 0802150845
Publication Date: 1994-01-07
A major influence on civil rights, anti-colonial, and black consciousness movements around the world, Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for its scientific analysis and poetic grace when it was first published in 1952, the book remains a vital force today.
Toward the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon; Haakon Chevalier (Translator); Francois Maspero (Introduction by)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; DT30 .F2713 1988
ISBN: 0802130909
Publication Date: 1994-01-11
This powerful collection of articles, essays, and letters spans the period between Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Fanon's landmark manifesto on the psychology of the colonized and the means of empowerment necessary for their liberation. These pieces display the genesis of some of Fanon's greatest ideas -- ideas that became so vital to the leaders of the American civil rights movement.
The Wretched of the Earth by Homi K. Bhabha (Foreword by); Jean-Paul Sartre (Preface by); Frantz Fanon; Richard Philcox (Translator)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; DT33 .F3613 / U of T Scarborough Library Storage ; DT33 .F3613 2004
ISBN: 9780802141323
Publication Date: 2005-03-12
First published in 1961, Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth is a masterful and timeless interrogation of race, colonialism, psychological trauma, and revolutionary struggle. Bearing singular insight into the rage and frustration of colonized peoples, and the role of violence in spurring historical change, the book incisively attacks the twin perils of post-independence colonial politics: the disenfranchisement of the masses by the elites on the one hand, and intertribal and interfaith animosities on the other.
The Fanon Reader by Frantz Fanon; Azzedine Haddour (Editor, Introduction by)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; HT151 .F36 2006
ISBN: 0745315658
Publication Date: 2006-08-20
Frantz Fanon is a key figure in postcolonial and cultural studies. Born in 1925 on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, he passionately identified with Algeria's struggle for independence against the French. He became the leading voice in black liberationist writing. With the publication of this book, it is now possible to access all his important writings in one source.
Voices of Liberation by Leo Zeilig; Mireille Fanon-Mendes France (Introduction by)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; JC273 .F36 F736 2016Y
ISBN: 1608466132
Publication Date: 2016-04-12
Voices of Liberation: Frantz Fanon is a rich exploration of Fanon's life and times, combining interviews with those who fought alongside him with selections from his work. This book gives and giving new insight into the extraordinary life and ideas of one of the twentieth century's most important revolutionaries.
Frantz Fanon: The Militant Philosopher of Third World Revolution by Leo Zeilig
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; CT2628 .F35 Z45 2016Y
ISBN: 9781848857254
Publication Date: 2016-01-30
Frantz Fanon is best known as one of the leading twentieth-century political thinkers and activists against colonialism and imperialism and as the author of the iconic book "Wretched of the Earth". Leo Zeilig here details the life of Fanon - from his upbringing in Martinique to his wartime experiences and work in Europe and North Africa - and frames his ideas and activism within the greater context of his career as a practising psychiatrist and his politically tumultuous surroundings. The book covers the period of the Algerian War of Independence, national liberation and what Fanon described 'the curse of independence'. Highlighting Fanon's role as the most influential theorist of third-world liberation.
Frantz Fanon and the Psychology of Oppression by Hussein Abdilahi Bulhan
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, Storage ; CT2628 .F35 B85 1985
ISBN: 0306419505
Publication Date: 1985-10-31
This is a biography of Frantz Fanon. It presents an absorbing and careful ac count of several impressive themes. First is the review and assessment of Fanon's life. Second is a theory of psychology, by the author, which will augment and prove useful to theorists and practitioners who focus on Third World people. And lastly there is a broad and systematic integration of many areas of scholarship including philosophy, anthropology, political science, history, sociology, mythology, public health, and economics.
Frantz Fanon by Alice Cherki; Nadia Benabid (Translator)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; CT2628 .F35 C4713 2006X
ISBN: 9780801440380
Publication Date: 2006-03-27
One of Fanon's few surviving contemporaries, Alice Cherki worked closely with Fanon at the psychiatric hospital in Blida and then later for the Algerian cause in Tunisia. This book is a record of "an epoch, a life, and a body of work often viewed as inadmissible." Cherki offers a unique assessment of Fanon's complex personality, illuminating both his psychiatric practice--of which she says, "Fanon possessed a tremendous intuition about the unconscious and a great erudition in psychoanalytic theory"--and the sources of his political activism, of his intellectual career as a pivot of the quickly changing world.

Further Reading: African Philosophers & Political Thinkers

The Political Thought of African Independence by Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker; Chelsea Schields (Assisted by)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; DT31 .P59 2017
ISBN: 9781624665400
Publication Date: 2017-09-01
The Political Thought of African Independence: An Anthology of Sources brilliantly frames the debates that captivated the world as former European colonies in Africa began their transition to sovereign rule in the 1950s and '60s.
Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire; Aimé Césaire
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; JV51 .C413 2000
ISBN: 1583670246
Publication Date: 2000-11-01
This classic work, first published in France in 1955, profoundly influenced the generation of scholars and activists at the forefront of liberation struggles in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Nearly twenty years later, when published for the first time in English, Discourse on Colonialism inspired a new generation engaged in the Civil Rights, Black Power, and anti-war movements. Aimé Césaire eloquently describes the brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of "progress" and "civilization" upon encountering the "savage," "uncultured," or "primitive."
Resistance and Decolonization by Amilcar Cabral; Dan Wood (Translator); Reiland Rabaka (Introduction by)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; DT613.78 .C32613 2016
ISBN: 9781783483754
Publication Date: 2016-03-30
How can a people overthrow 500 years of colonial oppression? What can be done to decolonize mentalities, economic structures, and political institutions? In this book, which includes the first translation of the text Analysis of a Few Types of Resistance as well as The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence, the African revolutionary Amilcar Cabral explores these and other questions.
Claim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral by Firoze Manji (Editor); Bill Fletcher (Editor)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; DT613.76 .C3 C575 2013
ISBN: 9782869785557
Publication Date: 2013-10-01
2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Amilcar Cabral, a revolutionary, poet, liberation philosopher, and leader of the independence movement of Guinea Bissau and Cap Verde. Cabral's influence stretched well beyond the shores of West Africa. He had a profound influence on the pan-Africanist movement and the black liberation movement in the US. In this unique collection of essays, contemporary thinkers from across Africa and internationally commemorate the anniversary of Cabral\'s assassination. They reflect on the legacy of this extraordinary individual and his relevance to contemporary struggles for self-determination and emancipation.
Concepts of Cabralism by Reiland Rabaka
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; DT613.76 .C3 R33 2014X
ISBN: 0739192108
Publication Date: 2014-07-16
By examining Amilcar Cabral's theories and praxes, as well as several of the antecedents and major influences on the evolution of his radical politics and critical social theory, Concepts of Cabralism: Amilcar Cabral and Africana Critical Theory simultaneously reintroduces, chronicles, and analyzes several of the core characteristics of the Africana tradition of critical theory.
Julius Nyerere, Africa's Titan on a Global Stage by Ali A. Mazrui (Editor); Lindah Mhando (Editor)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; DT448.25 .N9 M37 2013X
ISBN: 1611630851
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Julius K. Nyerere rose to global greatness in what was at the time one of the poorest countries in the world. He led the way in uniting two countries into one (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) and emerged as in the vanguard of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. He also became one of the most eloquent voices of the Global South in its demands for fairness and justice in the global economy. This collection of essays captures Nyerere's invention of a new indigenous ideology (ujamaa), his promotion of an indigenous language policy (Kiswahili), his remarkable influence in Pan-African politics, and Nyerere's special place in the history of the 20th century. Because the essays were written across time, they capture the unfolding narrative of continuity and change. T
Building a Peaceful Nation by Paul Bjerk
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; DT448.25 .N9 B54 2015X
ISBN: 9781580465052
Publication Date: 2015-02-15
Paul Bjerk's volume chronicles this history and examines the politics and policies of Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere. One of the great leaders of modern Africa, Nyerere unified the diverse people who became citizens of the new nation and negotiated the tumultuous politics of the Cold War. In an era when many postcolonial countries succumbed to corrupt dictatorship or civil war, Nyerere sought principled government. Making difficult choices between democratic and autocratic rule, Nyerere creatively managed the destabilizing forces of decolonization.
Congo, My Country by Patrice Lumumba
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; DT657 .L813 1962
ISBN: 9780269026072
Publication Date: 1962-01-01
In his only book, a man who dedicated himself to Africa made a declaration of faith. Lumumba wrote the book in 1956-7, although it was only published in Belgium after his death in 1961. His ideas are seen developing and changing; and we can study for the first time the attitude of the Congolese élite on the eve of Independence.
Lumumba Speaks by Patrice Lumumba
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, Storage ; DT663 .L8 A2513
ISBN: 9780316536509
Publication Date: 1972-01-01
Lumumba Speaks is a collection of the African leader's speeches, letters, and essays from 1958 to his death in 1961. During this period, Lumumba's powers as a speaker became famous. Through his words, arranged chronologically and with commentary by Jean Van Lierde, a dramatic history of the Congo unfolds, a turbulent record of the desperate struggle for economic and political independence against the machinations of business interests and the plottings of Lumumba's opponents.
A Companion to African Philosophy by Kwasi Wiredu (Editor)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, Storage ; B5305 .C66 2004
ISBN: 0631207511
Publication Date: 2004-01-09
This volume of newly commissioned essays provides comprehensive coverage of African philosophy, ranging across disciplines and throughout the ages. Offers a distinctive historical treatment of African philosophy. Covers all the main branches of philosophy as addressed in the African tradition. Includes accounts of pre-colonial African philosophy and contemporary political thought.

Further Reading: Neil Roberts

A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass by Neil Roberts (Editor)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; E449 .D75 P65 2018X
ISBN: 9780813175621
Publication Date: 2018-06-29
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a prolific writer and public speaker whose impact on American literature and history has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass's profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued. In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author's autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery.
Freedom As Marronage by Neil Roberts
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; F2191 .B55 R62 2015X
ISBN: 9780226201047
Publication Date: 2015-02-11
What is the opposite of freedom? In Freedom as Marronage, Neil Roberts answers this question with definitive force: slavery, and from there he unveils powerful new insights on the human condition as it has been understood between these poles. Crucial to his investigation is the concept of marronage--a form of slave escape that was an important aspect of Caribbean and Latin American slave systems. Examining this overlooked phenomenon--one of action from slavery and toward freedom--he deepens our understanding of freedom itself and the origin of our political ideals. Roberts examines the liminal and transitional space of slave escape in order to develop a theory of freedom as marronage, which contends that freedom is fundamentally located within this space--that it is a form of perpetual flight.

Further Reading: Lewis R. Gordon

Existence in Black by Lewis Gordon (Editor)
Call Number: Robarts Library, Stacks ; B936 .E85 1997X
ISBN: 1136785965
Publication Date: 1996-10-23
First published in 1997. Existence in Black is the first collective statement on the subject of Africana philosophy of existence. Among questions posed and explored in the volume are: What is to be done in a world of near universal sense of superiority to, if not universal hatred? What is black suffering? What is the meaning of black existence? The introduction argues that a response to these questions requires an existential journey through the resources of identity questions in critical race theory and the teleological dimensions of liberation theory.
Fear of Black Consciousness by Lewis R. Gordon
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, Course Reserves ; HT1575 .G67 2022
ISBN: 9780374159023
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
Lewis R. Gordon's Fear of Black Consciousness is a groundbreaking account of Black consciousness by a leading philosopher. In this original and penetrating work, Lewis R. Gordon, one of the leading scholars of Black existentialism and anti-Blackness, takes the reader on a journey through the historical development of racialized Blackness, the problems this kind of consciousness produces, and the many creative responses from Black and non-Black communities in contemporary struggles for dignity and freedom.
Black Existentialism by danielle davis (Editor)
Call Number: U of T Scarborough Library, 1st Floor ; B819 .B57 2019
ISBN: 9781786611475
Publication Date: 2019-02-06
Few contemporary intellectuals have attempted to inform theory, the academy and social change as does Lewis Gordon. Following his own path of Fanon, Cesaire and Said, Gordon's work is an urgent call to action that is critical 'in the trying times' in which we find ourselves. In this important book, international scholars from many disciplines and areas of life engage in Gordon's work to prod, rattle and rethink our thinking to inform and change our practices as humans in institutions, politics, and the personal, legal and social paradigms.