To be a radical–to be an activist fighting for policy change and social justice–is to be a work in progress. It means being on a life-long journey of self-education, learning more about systems of oppression, how you carry them with you, and the strategies to push for policies that promote social justice.
But knowing where to start on your journey of self-education can be difficult. The abundance of information can be overwhelming, and our time to self-educate is limited. Additionally, many activists – especially young and impressionable activists – have turned to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok for information, theory, and modes of practice. Unfortunately, many are unreliably sourced, present opinions as facts, and can grossly oversimplify complicated situations. Knowing where to start and how to navigate the abundance of information is a challenge. That’s where Radical in Progress comes in.
Radical in Progress is a passion project-turned-social enterprise run by a volunteer team that understands the importance of social justice education. Radical in Progress currently exists as an educational website providing free study guides of must-read social justice literature, but we have plans to grow in the future in hopes that we one day become synonymous with the phrase “educate yourself.”
Radical in Progress was founded by Gari De Ramos, a writer, digital organizer, and former ‘I can’t believe it's been four years since I’ve finished a book for pleasure’ kind of reader. Amidst the calls to self-educate during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Gari started making study guides for herself to look back on when future-her inevitably forgot what the books were about. But then, she realized these study guides could and should be shared with the world. Radical in Progress has been in the works since July 2020 and launched on January 10, 2021.
