Leader in the Movement for Black Lives, Maurice Mitchell, spoke at the University of Wisconsin Tuesday for an event in collaboration with the School for Workers. Mitchell is the National Director of the Working Families Party, a left-wing political party promoting dignity, compassion and justice for all, according to the Working Families Party website.

The event, “How We Save Us: Rethinking Strategy and Collective Action in US Politics,” emphasized collective action among all people, rather than what Mitchell refers to as “the elites.”

There is a rigid caste system in this country based on wealth, and people are told to look up to the elites, Mitchell said.

“We were told in explicit and implicit ways that everything would be a right and that … there were adults smarter, wiser and almost genetically engineered to lead us [and] that we should relinquish every other concern,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell emphasized the dangers of blindly following the elites who have led the country into mortgage, opioid and economic crises to attendees. It is important to no longer assume there is a wiser politician or business leader who will take the wheel in moments of catastrophe, Mitchell said.

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There is a specific type of freedom, a positive freedom, that allows people to dream beyond the basic human needs, Mitchell said. This version rests fundamentally on shared trust and collective responsibility. Collaboration does not require in-depth knowledge of another person’s identity, according to Mitchell.

“This type of freedom through collective action doesn’t mandate that you understand or even accept every part of someone’s experience or identity in order to act in solidarity with that person,” Mitchell said.

Once the sense of alienation and loneliness is healed, acquainted people can connect and push through to victory in a sustained way, Mitchell said. This is the image when shifted away from the imagined American Dream and towards the possibility of American reality, according to Mitchell.

If society can build a multigenerational multiracial coalition that deepens community connection, the country will be able to build a strong resistance for struggle, Mitchell said. When student and federal governments fully communicate through shared compassion, that is the ultimate freedom.