Jacob Neumann provides a thoughtful reading of "Paulo Freire in the 21st century: Education, dialogue, and transformation" [v48 n6 p634-644 2016]. His comments on the importance of contextualising Freire's work and the value of openness in engaging Freirean ideas are insightful and helpful. His use of the term "apolitical" is, however, rather more problematic. Drawing on points made in "Paulo Freire in the 21st century," and with links to Freire's wider philosophy and pedagogy, this article argues that education from a Freirean perspective is always political.