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Below is the educational program of the Sankofa Communist Party. The program consists of 73 books organized into six educational tiers. Please make sure to read: A Comrade’s Guide to Studying Marxism as well.
We recommend beginning with Tier 1: Marxist Fundamentals and reading the works in the proposed order. Once completed, proceed to Tier 2: Fundamentals of Organization. Within Tier 2, we encourage comrades to follow the general sequence while also mixing and matching books based on their interests and organizational needs.
After completing Tier 2, the books in Tiers 3, 4, 5, and 6 may be read in a more flexible "zig-zag" fashion and in whatever order best suits the reader. This structure is designed to ensure that knowledge is built systematically, with each concept serving as a foundation for the next, while still allowing enough flexibility for consciousness and understanding to develop across different areas of study.
This curriculum was carefully curated to provide a comprehensive Marxist education. It incorporates the histories and experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latino Marxists and peoples, while maintaining a central focus on the core theorists of Marxism. The works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, V.I. Lenin, G.W.F. Hegel, and Leon Trotsky remain essential components of the program, as their contributions form part of the theoretical foundation necessary for the development of Marxist cadre.
We have also included books that examine questions of women's liberation, sexuality and queerness, ecology and climate change, colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, racism, religion, and spirituality. These readings are meant to broaden understanding, encourage critical engagement, and help readers grapple with difficult theoretical and historical questions.
The goal of this educational program is not merely to accumulate information, but to develop disciplined revolutionaries capable of applying Marxist theory to the concrete conditions of their communities and the broader struggle for socialism. Make sure to tap the book titles to open the dropdown to see where a book can be purchased, or read for free.
Table of Contents:
Tier 1: MARXIST FUNDAMENTALS
These books, alongside the article written by our cadre, provide the foundational grounding for an aspiring Marxist. This section contains many of the core works that have shaped the Marxist tradition, including The Communist Manifesto, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The State and Revolution, Value, Price and Profit, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, and many more.
We have also included the works of Walter Rodney, whose writings expand Marxist analysis into the history of colonialism, imperialism, and the development of Africa. Alongside Rodney, comrades will also engage with the work of Rodney Allen, whose writings examine Black America and the historical exploitation and oppression of Black people in the United States.
Lastly, we conclude this section with a small introductory guide to Karl Marx's Capital. Rather than diving immediately into all three volumes, this text serves as a beginner-friendly overview of Marx's critique of political economy and prepares comrades for deeper study in the future.
Together, these works are intended to build a solid theoretical foundation. They introduce the basic concepts of Marxism, familiarize comrades with its major thinkers, and provide the pillars necessary for further study throughout the educational program.
We have provided these fundamental books for you free of charge here: 
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Tier 2: FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZATION
The time to get organized is now, and not a moment later. These are the works selected for the Marxist revolutionaries in the making, ready to move and be moved. These works go into the fundamentals of organization, how an organization should be structured, how a successful party is built, and the history of communist organizing and unions. A highlight on this list is Bolshevism: Road to Revolution by Alan Woods. It covers the history before the Russian Revolution and the party's formation; it focuses on the lessons, strategies, and tactics used by Lenin and other Bolsheviks, as well as their setbacks and challenges.
Tier 3: DIALECTICAL PHILOSOPHY
These works demonstrate the great importance of a dialectical materialist outlook applied to the history of human development. Here you will see how the dialectical method is demonstrated. A highlight on this list is Reason in Revolt by Alan Woods and Ted Grant. This book goes into the science of dialectics, connecting new modern science and discoveries back to dialectical philosophy. Topics are touched on in mathematics, physics, religion, reason, and logic, among others.
Tier 3: HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
The working class needs a way to study history, one that directly challenges the mainstream, manipulatively constructed narratives of the elite ruling class. These texts illustrate important historical periods across different geographical areas and the class struggles fought within them. It covers defeats and wins, colonial history of oppressed peoples, and delves deeper into the forces behind revolutionary historical events.
Tier 4: MARXIST ECONOMY
Last but not least among the three great pillars, Marxist Economics is shown to apply strongly across multiple geographical contexts in these foundational works. A book we wish to highlight here is Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B DuBois. This book is considered to us to be the African-American version of Capital Vol 1. Despite DuBois never really calling himself a Marxist until later in life, it is clear by this book alone that he used the pillars of Marxism to concretely analyze the situation of formerly enslaved African-Americans and their contribution to the building of America and therefore, it is a book we suggest.
Tier 5: THE GREATS
Sankofa means to go back and get it. We return to these materials to learn more about the revolutionaries of previous eras, their lessons, their journeys, and the larger context in which they reached the conclusions they did in their lifetimes. A book we wish to highlight here is Malcolm X: The Last Speeches. Towards the end of his days, he was moving towards socialism. This book showcases his rapid development of consciousness and the strong conclusions he started to draw towards the end of his life.
Tier 6: MARXIST CADRE LEVEL
For the revolutionary leaders of today and tomorrow. For those who are committed to a lifetime of revolutionizing work. For those who stay ready. Once one has finally made it through most or some of the books on this list and feels well-equipped, we encourage them to plunge into the magnum opus works of Marxist philosophy and eventually Karl Marx's greatest work of art: Das Kapital. Now, of course, this journey will not happen overnight, but once it does, a whole world awaits you comrade.
Letter to Comrades
Thank you for taking the time to work through this educational program. And if you have not made it through all of it yet, that is totally okay.
Marxism is vast. It is a living, breathing science after all. With each new generation, the struggle for socialism has produced new thinkers, new revolutionaries, and new theorists. The body of Marxist thought has continued to grow and expand, becoming an ever-growing universe of ideas, experiences, victories, defeats, and lessons.
However, just as the planets orbit the sun, we continue to orbit around the foundations laid by Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. Every revolutionary on this reading list stood upon the shoulders of these four before them and, in turn, contributed something new to the movement.
As time goes on, Sankofa itself will produce its own body of work and add to that tradition.
So do not be hard on yourself. This is a journey. It is a process. You are not simply reading books—you are participating in an inner revolution, transforming the way you understand the world and your place within it.
The struggle for socialism is not won in a day. It is built through study, organization, discipline, and action.
Keep reading.
Keep learning.
Keep organizing.
And never forget that you have comrades standing beside you every step of the way.
The journey to become a genuine Sankofa Communist Warrior has only just begun.
Let's go, Sankofa!
I will leave below an excerpt from Leon Trotsky’s Attention to Theory.
“Those who have learned to look back with such a clear eye on the past of the whole world, including human society, the animal and plant kingdom, the solar system and the endless systems around it, will not search for the keys to grasping the mysteries of the universe in the ancient “sacred” books, in these philosophical fairy tales of primitive childishness. And whoever does not recognize the existence of heavenly mystical forces capable of arbitrarily invading personal or public life and of directing it in one direction or another, whoever does not believe that need and suffering will meet some kind of supreme reward in other worlds, will securely and firmly plant his feet on our earth, will be bolder and more confident in seeking a foothold for his creative work in the material conditions of society.
A materialist outlook not only opens a wide window onto the whole universe, but also strengthens the will. It alone makes the modern man human. It is true that he is still dependent on difficult material conditions, but he already knows how to overcome them, and consciously takes part in the construction of a new society, one based simultaneously on the highest technology and the highest solidarity. “
