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This project is a creative study of how African American members of the Mantua neighborhood in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania define ancestor, and the specific symbols as well as metaphors that work to create broad ranging definitions that are present or shared amongst its people. Even more, it seeks to examine the histories and patterns of tension between “authorship,” as in who creates, and “collaboration,” as in who participates, within the context of contemporary socially-engaged art.
Through an analysis of municipal maps, census records, community development plans, and participant interviews, this study reveals multiple literacies present in the Mantua neighborhood. It mobilizes the concept of ancestor as a critical point of focus for producing ethically challenging dialogues, especially concerning African American interpretations and methods for communicating experiences of political, social, and cultural discontinues.