Writer’s Room Anthology

This year I was apart Drexel University’s Unmapping Fellowship. For my project, I hosted a series of cyanotype workshops exploring the complicated history of The Black Bottom neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Cyanotype is an old-school alternative photography process that utilizes a UV light source, such as the sun, to create blueprints. The Blues of the Bottom series aimed to educate residents of what is now commonly known as University City, about the historic displacement of this rich community. Using archival imagery of the landscape and neighborhood-resident interviews, these intergenerational workshops sparked several meaningful discussions around displacement, home, gentrification, and redlining. They also offered nostalgic accounts of what was lost and insights on how it can be preserved. The plan was always to continue these workshops in different settings to raise awareness of how the city of Philadelphia has historically and systematically destroyed communities in the name of progress. They highlighted some of this work in this years beautiful Anthology 11.