Blueprints for Liberation: What Maroon Communities Teach Us About Building a New Future

And How Parallel Systems Inspired by Black Resilience Can Guide Our Liberation Work

OHHHH you cant imagine what liberation could look like? No worries, there are plenty of examples in true Black history. Welcome to a new worldview. Happy Black History Month!

Maroon Communities: Blueprints for Liberation and the Power of Building Parallel Systems

Throughout history, systems of oppression have always met resistance. Among the most powerful examples of self-liberation are the Maroon communities—self-sustained, independent groups of formerly enslaved people who not only escaped captivity but thrived outside of colonial control. These communities did more than just exist on the margins of society; they fought, they protected their own, and they built something entirely new. In these stories, we find not just echoes of resilience but the blueprints for modern-day liberation.

Maroon communities serve as a testament to what is possible when people refuse to settle for reforming an inherently oppressive system and instead embrace the radical act of building anew. Their existence challenges the very foundations of supremacy culture—perfectionism, individualism, and power hoarding—and replaces them with cooperation, mutual aid, and collective sovereignty. They remind us that liberation is not a passive process but one rooted in intentional disruption and creation.

The Parallel System: Why Reform Will Never Be Enough

We live in a world deeply entrenched in systemic oppression, from capitalism and white supremacy to patriarchy and ableism. These systems, like the colonial forces of the past, are designed to perpetuate themselves at all costs. They are not broken—they are operating exactly as intended.

Which is why reform will never be the answer. Reform asks us to make adjustments, to soften the edges of violence, to negotiate within a framework that was built to exclude and exploit. But how do you reform systems built on stolen land, genocide, and centuries of human suffering? To quote Audre Lorde, "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."

Instead, we need parallel systems—a conscious, deliberate effort to build structures that exist outside and beyond the control of oppressive institutions. Maroon communities did not ask for permission or wait for the colonial powers to change their policies. They fled, they fought, and they created sanctuaries where they could live in alignment with their own values and cultural practices.

This is the work of liberation: to dismantle what is harmful while simultaneously imagining and creating what is healing. And that is where the blueprint lies.

The Blueprint for Liberation

The Maroons offer us guidance on what it means to truly build a liberated future. Their survival depended on several key principles, which we can adapt as we imagine and construct our own parallel systems.

1. Collective Care and Mutual Aid

Maroon communities thrived because they understood that survival was a collective endeavor. Food, shelter, protection, and healing were shared responsibilities, distributed according to need and capacity. This stands in direct opposition to capitalism’s emphasis on individualism and competition.

In our liberation work today, mutual aid networks continue to be a radical act of care and defiance. They remind us that we don’t need permission from the state to care for one another—we can do it ourselves, just as the Maroons did.

2. Cultural Preservation and Reclamation

For Maroons, maintaining their cultural practices was essential to their freedom. Language, music, spiritual practices, and community rituals were preserved and passed down as acts of resistance. They reclaimed what had been stripped from them and created a space where their humanity could thrive.

Our modern liberation work must also include cultural reclamation. Colonization has sought to erase and appropriate our traditions, but we have the power to reclaim and rewrite those stories. By returning to ancestral knowledge and practices, we not only honor those who came before us but also create a framework for sustainable healing.

3. Strategic Resistance and Self-Defense

Maroon communities were not passive in their resistance. They fought back against colonial forces, using guerrilla tactics, knowledge of the land, and collective strategy to protect their communities. This was not violence for the sake of violence but a necessary defense against an existential threat.

Building parallel systems requires us to be strategic about what we protect and how we resist. Whether it’s through organizing, legal defense, or direct action, self-defense is a critical part of liberation. And it doesn’t always look like physical combat—sometimes it’s about defending the right to exist, to rest, to dream.

4. Intentional Community Building

Maroon communities were built on the principle of interdependence. They understood that liberation was not an individual journey but a collective one. This is a powerful reminder for those of us engaged in modern liberation work: We cannot do this alone. We need each other.

Intentional community building means fostering relationships rooted in trust, accountability, and shared vision. It means creating spaces where people can bring their whole selves without fear of rejection or assimilation. These communities are the heart of any parallel system—they are where liberation lives.

Imagining the New Beginning

To embrace the blueprint of the Maroons is to embrace the destruction of the current system. Not as an act of chaos, but as an act of creation. There is power in destruction when it is rooted in vision—when we tear down the walls of oppression, we make room to build something new.

We are not here to tweak policies or beg for incremental change. We are here to imagine the unimaginable, to revel in the idea of creating a new beginning. This is not about reform; this is about rebirth. We are architects of liberation, and it is time to build.

So let us build food systems that nourish rather than exploit. Let us build housing cooperatives that provide shelter without profit. Let us build schools that center decolonized education and holistic healing. Let us build justice systems rooted in accountability and restoration, not punishment.

Let us be bold in our imagination and fearless in our execution. The Maroons did not wait for freedom—they created it. And so can we.

Bonus:

This journey through the lessons of Maroon communities highlights that liberation is possible when we are willing to imagine and build outside of oppressive systems. For me, this exploration started with teaching my own children about their history outside the lens of oppression and decentering whiteness in their Black history, but I quickly realized how much these stories could inspire us all to take action.

That’s why I’m sharing a 28-Day Journey Through Black Resistance and Liberation—a curriculum I designed to guide you and your littles through a decolonized exploration of history, centering Black resilience and freedom. Each day provides age-appropriate lessons (my kids at home are 5,8,12), resources, and activities that connect the past to the present.

If you’re ready to take this journey, you can access the 28-day curriculum and bring these transformative lessons into your home or classroom. Liberation is a collective effort, and it starts by teaching the truth of our history and reclaiming the stories that guide us forward.

✨ Learn more and start the journey today: [Link to curriculum] ✨

In solidarity and liberation,
Desireé B. Stephens CPS-P
Educator | Counselor | Community Builder
Founder, Make Shi(f)t Happen