Loving Black History & Local Philadelphia History

In Part III of the Philadelphia Communities mini-series, Rehana Odendaal interviews Kalela Williams, a local history enthusiast and founder of the Facebook page Black History Maven. Their  conversation at the Free Library of Philadelphia covered Kalela’s interest in African American history, some of her favorite pieces of Philadelphia history as well as conversation about why the past matters to Philadelphia Communities today. Read the Transcript Here.

An Interview with Adam DePaul, Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania

In Part II of the Philadelphia Communities mini-series, Penn Graduate School of Education students Jessica Ch’ng and Kareli Lizárraga interview Adam DePaul, a leader in the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. In this conversation at the Lenape Garden, Adam discusses his leadership in the nation and his personal journey with identity. He describes the contradictions of governmental recognition for indigenous peoples, bridging culture with academia, and his hopes for the nation. Read the Transcript Here.

An Introduction to the Work

Who gets to belong in Philadelphia? What communities and what people are seen as valuable? What communities and people are seen as disposable? What historical sights are the ones that are deem worthy of saving/preserving?  In this podcast mini-series, a sequence of interviews and discussions, we hear the stories behind the histories of what is currently Philadelphia and think about ways of engaging with history and space. In this installment, Part I, ABC students Jessica Ch’ng and Rehana Odendaal discuss the theme of our working group, communities of present-day Philadelphia, and provide an overview of our syllabus and podcast series. Read the Transcript Here.

Hosted by the Teacher Organizing group of the Fall 2019 ABC course, this podcast explores social justice in education unionism. We hear from panelists, John Braxton; former co-president of the Faculty and Staff Federation of The Community College of Philadelphia, Jia Lee; United Federation of Teachers and a member of MORE Caucus NYC, Daniel Symonds; Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and a member of The Caucus of Working Educators and Devin Daniels and Audrey Jaquiss; GETUP Graduate Employees Together at UPENN. Together these activists share their experiences and motivations in their fight for social justice. 

Bok Technical High School - a walking tour

What do we choose to memorialize? Why should we memorialize? Who should make these decisions? What are the consequences of memorializing something that is a part of a living, breathing community, with real needs, lives and experiences?  Even if we choose to memorialize these high schools, is that enough? In Part II of this mini-series, Rachel and Marissa will introduce you to our second high school, Bok Technical High School, its background, and the conditions of its closure in 2013. We encourage you to visit the high school as you listen to the audio guides, to fully experience and immerse yourself in the podcast. Read the Transcript Here. 

West Philadelphia High school - A walking tour

In 2013, the city of Philadelphia was faced with a challenge: many of the cities elementary, middle, and high schools were underenrolled and underperforming. This mini-series, consisting of two guided walking tours, encourages listeners to remember, honor, and memorialize the closed spaces with their bodies and minds. In this installment, Part I, Sanah and Maya guide you through West Philadelphia High School, its current status as luxury lofts, and what this means for its former students, now housed in a new building a few blocks away. We encourage you to visit the high school as you listen to the audio guides, to fully experience and immerse yourself in the podcast.  Read the Transcript Here.

In this ABC podcast episode, Philly in Focus: Student Activism, we discuss Philadelphia as a center of student activism. Exploring past and present activism we delve into the 1967 Student Walkouts we meet with Dr. Walter Palmer. Moving into contemporary times we discuss the recent Amy Wax Law controversy, and finish with a dynamic conversation with a current high school student activist and co-creator of UrbED.

Art and Poetry, the Uncomfortable, the Unjust, the Personal, the Intimate, the Critical, the Hopeful. In this podcast, we explore the pedagogical underpinnings and transgressing revelations of two class sessions of activism and education. Inspired by bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and the critical pedagogies throughout cultures of resistance, we discuss the theory, practice, action and purpose of educating, weaving snippets of the class sessions together with commentary and discussion.

Hosted by LaShawnda, Erin, Amiri, and Michaela, this episode features two conversations with queer folx. In conversation with working group members, the guests explore queer theory and its applications to everyday life in Philadelphia. What are the limits and value of queer theory language? How do contexts like work and school shape what we desire from others and for ourselves?  The guests offer a critical and personal reflection on struggle, space, and culture practice of queerness. 

What should the relationship between a university and its surrounding community look like? Is Penn actually a model, as it is so often described? This episode of ABC interrogates Penn’s community relations with a guided walk through Penn’s spatial politics, a debrief of Penn’s construction, development and physical expansion, and a critical discussion of what’s happening and what’s next. What might we produce, and reproduce, when we refer to Penn as a physical space? Who benefits from the university’s relationship with Philadelphia? How does the university govern its students’ relationships with Philadelphia? In this episode, students Dorothy, Connor, Henry, and Betsy bring their research and personal histories to work these critical questions.