An interdisciplinary intersectional interrogation and examination of systemic inequity and social justice in local and global contexts. Provides a foundation for the field of critical equity and solidarity studies through a concentrated focus on theory and practice as it relates to major concepts, historical perspectives, key debates and radical grassroots community resistance to inequity. Introduces and foregrounds the concept of critical equity as both a theoretical framework and as a lived contestation of the structural nature and effects of systemic inequity. The concept of self-defense articulated historically by the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense among others is a key component.