“A Greater Love”: How an Intergenerational University-Community Writing Program Centers Black Joy Through Abolitionist Praxis

• In Event: Black Liberatory Futures: Composing the Self and New Worlds

Abstract

Although research has documented how university-community engagement (UCE) can foster sustainable development and social change, the discourse has yet to utilize an abolitionist lens that centers Black joy as a form of repair and remedy. In this multimodal narrative study, we highlight how a university-community writing program has cultivated an abolitionist praxis of freedom dreaming and world-building through their arts-centered activities, dialogue, and intergenerational relationships. As evidenced by six years of deep participant-observation and an examination of artifacts and focus group data, our analysis revealed that participation in this UCE program promoted personal and collective investment in civic issues and ideas for social change. We conclude with a call to action for more spaces that center Black joy.

Authors

• Mariaeloisa Carambo, Drexel University

• Kimberly Sterin, Drexel University

• Damaris C. Dunn, Drexel University

• Ayana Allen-Handy, Drexel University

• Rachel Wenrick, Drexel University

• Carol Richardson McCullough, Drexel University

• Victoria Huggins Peurifoy, Writers Room

• Pamela Blanding Godbolt, Writers Room

• Norman Cain, Writers Room

• Brenda Bailey, Writers Room

• Andrea Walls, Museum of Black Joy