Non-profit

Indy Liberation Center

Website:

www.indyliberationcenter.org/

Location:

Indianapolis, IN

Tax ID:

92-2495490

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Type:

Grassroots Organizing Group

Formation:

2021

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The Indy Liberation Center, also known as the Indianapolis Liberation Center, is a grassroots activist organization that assists left-of-center groups in the Indianapolis region by providing meeting spaces and organizing events. 1 It describes itself as a “growing collective of revolutionary fighters and dreamers from various segments of the working and oppressed classes.” 2 Members include Indianapolis chapters of the activist group ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. 3

Background

The Indy Liberation Center, also known as the Indianapolis Liberation Center, is a grassroots activist organization founded in 2021 that claims to support and house members of other left-of-center organizations. It claims to work with these groups in order to “overcome the divisions imposed on us by the oppressing classes.” 4 It describes itself as a “growing collective of revolutionary fighters and dreamers from various segments of the working and oppressed classes.” 5 The Indy Liberation Center is supported by member organizations, volunteers, and individual donors. 6

Member Organizations

The Indy Liberation Center is made from, and works with, several local and national-level organizations within the Indianapolis region:

ANSWER Indiana is the local chapter of national activist front ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism),  founded following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as an anti-war movement. The Indiana chapter was formed in 2017 with the goal of ending “white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialist war, and the domination of the banks and corporations.” 7

FOCUS Initiatives (Forever on Course United in Solidarity) is an activist group that protests mass incarceration. It claims that “people are incarcerated not for what they do, but for who they are” and that police target certain communities to maintain the “white supremacist, capitalist power structure.” 8

Free Shaka Shakur is an activist group that advocates the release of Shaka Shakur, a New Afrika revolutionary and co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective. He is also an organizer with IDOC Watch. 9 New Afrika is a separatist movement in the United States that claims to have defined an area in the Southern United States as “New Afrika.” 10

IDOC (Indiana Department of Correction) Watch is a social justice activist group that claims prisons are a form of social control that support a “white supremacist power structure.” 11 12 It campaigns for a mass release of prisoners from Indiana’s prison and jail system as well as the closure of Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) facilities. 13

The Party for Socialism and Liberation Indianapolis is a local branch of the national PSL group that claims it wishes to “abolish the corrupt, rotten and anti-people capitalist state.” 14 It runs the Liberation News which publishes “militant journalism” and analyses on political developments in support of the socialist movement. 15

Events

In 2023, the Indy Liberation Center hosted over 100 events, actions, and campaigns within the region. Focus areas included pro-Palestinian protests as well as demonstrations against police brutality and mass incarceration. 16

In October 2023, the Indy Liberation Center participated in a rally that was advertised as being against “racist police killings” by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The Indy Liberation Center, the Party for Socialism and Liberation Indianapolis chapter, and community members demonstrated in front of the Indianapolis state prosecutor’s office. 17 18 19

In September 2024, the Indy Liberation Center sponsored a Wikimedia edit-a-thon with the Wikimedians of Indiana User Group that was advertised to “reclaim Indiana radical history” as well as preserve its history of “resistance against oppression.” 20

Also in September 2024, the Party for Socialism and Liberation Indianapolis chapter hosted an event at the Indy Liberation Center featuring local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union president Michael Torres, where he discussed issues with the 2025 Budget for the city of Indianapolis. Torres claimed the budget did not support “working and oppressed people.” 21

Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks against the State of Israel, 22 the Indy Liberation Center released a statement praising the attacks. The stated, “Today, we witness a historic win for the Palestinian resistance… This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors.” 23

On October 12, 2023, the Indy Liberation Center organized a pro-Palestinian protest in Indianapolis along with activists from the Butler University branch of Students for Justice in Palestine, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the ANSWER Coalition. 24

In January 2024, the Indy Liberation Center hosted a “Free Palestine” rally in Indianapolis. Member organizers and participants included the Indiana branch of the ANSWER Coalition, Indy Healthcare Workers for Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace, and student groups from Indianapolis high schools and colleges. 25

Leadership

Derek Ford is the organizational relations director and a co-founder of the Indy Liberation Center founders. 26 He’s a faculty member of DePauw University and a department member of the Hampton Institute specializing in Marxism. 27 He also works as a co-coordinator of Free Shaka Shakur, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, an organizer with the International Manifesto Group, and a host of Reading Capital with Comrades. 28 29 Reading Capital with Comrades is a podcast series that reads the text of Das Kapital (Capital) by Karl Marx and discusses it “from the perspective of revolutionary socialist fighters in the U.S. today.” 30

References

  1. “Our Mission and Vision.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/about/
  2. “Lead Organizers.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/lead-organizers/
  3. Indy Liberation Center – Organizations drop down list. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/
  4. “Our Mission and Vision.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/about/
  5. “Lead Organizers.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/lead-organizers/
  6. “Support Our Liberation.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indylibcenter-sustainer.square.site/
  7. “Answer Indiana.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/answer/
  8.  “Our Philosophy.” FOCUS Initiatives, LTD. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.focusinitiatives.org/about-us/
  9. “About Shaka Shakur.” Shaka Shakur website. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.shakashakur.org/about-shaka-shakur/
  10. “Why We Say “Free the Land!”” Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://freethelandmxgm.org/why-we-say-free-the-land/
  11. Indiana Department of Correction website. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.in.gov/idoc/home/
  12.  “Political Line.” IDOC Watch. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.idocwatch.org/political-line/
  13. “Freedom Now! Campaign for Mass Release.” IDOC Watch. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.idocwatch.org/freedom-now/
  14. “Program of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.” Party for Socialism and Liberation. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://pslweb.org/program/
  15. Liberation News website. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.liberationnews.org/
  16. “2023: A turning point in the people’s struggles.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/2023-a-turning-point-in-the-peoples-struggles/
  17. Stephen Lane. “Indianapolis police shooting spree intensifies; victims ‘ communities build new movement.” Liberation News. November 13, 2023. https://www.liberationnews.org/indianapolis-police-shooting-spree-intensifies-victims-communities-build-a-new-movement/
  18. Anna Chalker. “Indianapolis Liberation Center holds rally for Gary Harrell, others killed in officer-involved shootings.” WTHR. October 28, 2023. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indianapolis-liberation-center-holds-rally-for-gary-harrell-and-other-officer-involved-shootings-in-indianapolis/531-b48e2e44-30db-420f-81da-105d75caf8dd
  19. Garrett Simms. “Who will be the next IMPD chief?” Indianapolis Recorder. January 4, 2024. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indianapolisrecorder.com/challenges-for-next-impd-chief/
  20. “Reclaim radical Hoosier history at Wikipedia edit-a-thon.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/wikipedia-reclaims-radical-history/
  21. Facebook – Indianapolis Liberation Center. Posted September 26, 2024. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/IndyLiberationCenter/
  22. “Oct 7: One Year Later.” Forward. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://forward.com/series/october-7-israel-hamas-gaza-attack-anniversary/
  23. “Day of Resistance: Free Palestine!” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/day-of-resistance-free-palestine/
  24. “Day of Resistance: Free Palestine!” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/day-of-resistance-free-palestine/
  25. Katy Wiseman. “‘Nothing good can come of this’: Gaza ceasefire rally points finger at Indiana senators.” Indy Star. January 8, 2024. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2024/01/08/monument-circule-rally-ceasefire-gaza-israel-palestine-points-finger-at-indiana-senators-todd-young/72132100007/
  26. “Lead Organizers.” Indy Liberation Center. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://indyliberationcenter.org/lead-organizers/
  27. “Academia.” DePauw. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://depauw.academia.edu/derekrford
  28. “Derek R. Ford.” X. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://x.com/derekrford
  29. “Ford, Derek R., PD.D. – Faculty Bio.” DePauw University. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.depauw.edu/academics/education-studies/faculty-staff/detail/1859753069496/
  30. “Reading Capital with Comrades: A Liberation School podcast series.” Liberation School. April 26, 2021. Accessed September 27, 2024. https://www.liberationschool.org/reading-capital-with-comrades-podcast/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: March 1, 2024

  • Available Filings

    No filings available.

    Indy Liberation Center

    1800 N MERIDIAN ST
    Indianapolis, IN 46202-1443