Support The Organization for Black Struggle

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About OBS

The Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) was founded in 1980. A group of veteran activists, students, union organizers and community members in St. Louis were seeking to address the needs and issues of the Black working-class. There was a vacuum of Black radical leadership that could boldly speak and act, unencumbered by government or corporate structures. In retrospect, this was a challenging period.

The FBI’s CounterIntelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO, wreaked havoc on the leaders and organizations of the Black Liberation Movement. By 1980 the right was beginning to consolidate its power politically, with a conservative in the White House for the next 12 years. The country was struggling to get out of the economic recession. It was out of this abyss that OBS was born.

Join OBS in the fight for social justice.

Upcoming events

Paris Crayton III’s Brothers of Affliction – Nov 5-8, 2026

Brothers of Affliction is a powerful and intimate drama about three estranged brothers brought together for one volatile night inside the home that still holds the scars of their childhood. Tyriq wants answers about the father who abandoned them, while Chris and Shane have spent years surviving by refusing to confront the past. As alcohol, anger, and old resentments loosen their defenses, buried memories surface, forcing the brothers to reckon with abuse, violence, abandonment, and the very different ways each learned to survive.

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OBS Appreciation Night Celebrating the Black Rep – Sept 23, 2026

Jazz, blues and gospel music carry us through Celie’s odyssey and all who affect her in this landmark musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Born into a life of brutality in the 19th century American South, Celie perseveres as everyone she loves slips through her fingers. Daring to survive against the odds, she discovers the power of her own voice and that love is worth believing in.

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Recent news & Views

Open Response to St. Louis City’s NAACP’s Call for Jail Expansion

As Black-led organizations that have been deeply engaged with systems of criminalization and incarceration over the past decade, we observed closely the recent reporting regarding your call for expansion of the City Justice Center (CJC), or construction of a new jail. We have reviewed your report supporting this recommendation. We have major concerns and objections, as well as a number of corrections that we wish to offer.

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Black Male Suicide Awareness Initiaitve

Committed to the Reduction
of Suicide Among African American Black Males