OPEN CALL FOR STORIES / CREATIVE ACCOUNTS OF THE 2020 PHILADELPHIA BLACK UPRISING + THE LEGACIES OF BLACK RESISTANCE IN PHILADELPHIA
The Paul Robeson House & Museum in partnership with Blue Stoop plans to archive the Black-led individual and collective stories of the Uprising that has gripped our city and our people since the summer of 2020 in an upcoming anthology tentatively titled “How We Stay Free.” The book is slated for publication in 2021 by Common Notions along with an affiliated project website.I am a radical. I am going to stay one until my people are free to walk the Earth.
—Paul Robeson.(1949)
“How We Stay Free” aims to chronicle acts of Black resistance throughout 2020, following the persistent state-sanctioned tyranny in Minneapolis, Louisville, and throughout the world. It is being written in concert with the ongoing, intergenerational legacies of the Black liberation struggle in Philadelphia / Lenapehoking.
We are looking for creative, on-the-ground (and in-the-house...) accounts of the experiences of Black Philadelphians during this turbulent and transformative time, seeking to spotlight the various, interconnected types of labor and embodied experiences that make freedom movements possible. We recognize that even as we seek to archive these stories, this moment is as yet unfinished. The book will also offer stories that showcase the ways that activist labor must continue in order to sustain the horizon of Black liberation.
We invite Black people from all walks of life and utilizing all expressive forms to share their experiences to forge an interwoven, intergenerational, multi-genre account of the political upheaval and racial uprisings. We welcome writers and non-writers. Really anyone with a story to tell. With our limited capacity, we want to support emergent storytellers in narrating their experiences to the full integrity of their visions. We intend to ground contributions within accessible, everyday inspiration for cultivating ongoing political action. No resume or credential is required.
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Video: Philadelphia Inquirer, “Protestors gather at MOVE Bombing site on Saturday,” (6/14/2020)