Liberation from the Inside Out

What does it mean to work toward justice when the very tools we use to think, feel, and move through the world have been shaped by the systems we seek to dismantle?
This course begins with that question — and stays with it.

Liberation from the Inside Out brings together structural analysis and inner work. Drawing on decolonial theory, indigenous knowledge systems, and somatic practice, we will examine how systemic oppression operates not only in institutions and laws but also within our bodies, beliefs, and sense of self.

Crucially, we will also ask: what does it look like to begin freeing ourselves from there?

Each session combines lecture and critical discussion with embodiment exercises and reflective writing — because transformation that lives only in the mind rarely travels far.
This course is designed for students in the humanities and social sciences, as well as for anyone engaged in activist or care work. No prior background in spirituality or decolonial theory is required — only a willingness to think carefully and feel honestly.

Instructor: Martha Laraba Sambe is a researcher, writer, and spiritual practitioner from Southern Kaduna State, Nigeria, based in Hamburg. She works at the intersection of the systemic and the sacred — as an economist, development researcher, and author of Dear Bode: What the Fire Gave Me. Her research spans South-South migration, gender-based violence, and queer language archiving.

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