“I am here today, not to give you answers,” Reed writes. “I am here today, not to give you an easy word or a quick fix. I came here today to agitate. I come here today to radicalize you. Because I believe that the solution can be found through collective action. Through organizing.”

The luxury condo building in the middle of Union Seminary, affectionately known as the “tower,” is slowly opening up to residents. Black studies scholars help us make sense of such a display of capitalism and contradiction.