Last summer I was blessed enough to be among the first cohorts for Now Memories: Spiritual Anthology of Black Herbal Wisdom, hosted by Nana Catherine’s Apothecary. Each week we would gather, a gaggle of passionate Black femmes, budding spiritual herbalists, …
Who gets a say in a Black woman’s embodied politics?
At the time of my last blog post, I was anticipating doing an oral history interview with Louise Madison’s granddaughter, Carol. Carol and I have been in contact off and on for about the past 15 years as each of …
Structuring my questions about the “wayward and wild”
“…promiscuous, reckless, wild and wayward…”
I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to approach the oral history interview I have scheduled with Louise’s granddaughter at the end of January. I’ve known Carol for maybe 15 years, since her first email …
Both the Researcher & the Archive
Both the researcher
and the archive.
Webs of innanets,
your conversations
meditations and memories too
are essential to the accuracy
of historical accounts.
You are a better source of information than you might allow yourself to be.
I was in …
Old Black Business
My fellowship activity will amplify North Philly Black and Brown legends, social health, economy, pleasure, presence, and well being. I am remembering how care and beauty were made and performed by the Black North Philadelphians who raised me while living …
The Spidering Life of Louise Madison
In 2005 I wrote an article for the journal of the Philadelphia Folklore Project, Works In Progress, that captured some of the history and lore about Louise Madison (1911-1970), a Philadelphia tap artist who is the centerpiece of my …
Announcing the Activist-Curator Fellows
I’m pleased to introduce to you eleven fighters using weapons like art, poetry, dance, food, land reclamation, cultural organizing, and history as they battle for a more just and equal Philadelphia. They were selected from 86 applicants and are …