Extravagant prom send-offs as spatial carework: Black Mothers’ transformation of urban space into sites of joy and excess

• In Event: Futures Real and Imagined

Description for Program

This paper explores the phenomena of extravagant prom send-offs in Philadelphia, focusing on two Black mothers, Saudia Shuler and Treva Harris, who allegedly spent over $25k each on their children’s senior prom celebrations in 2017 and 2024, respectively. These events transformed urban streets into fantastical scenes -- Dubai and Cinderella's castle -- not only to recognize their children's achievements but to create ephemeral sites of joy within predominantly Black neighborhoods. Through the lens of “rebellious hospitality,” I conceptualize these marvelous displays as a form of spatial carework, where Black women use audacity, opulence, and whimsy to temporarily remake the urban environment, inviting neighbors to a uniquely Philadelphian experience. This place-making activity provides an alternative view of existing in and identifying with Black urban space - one that resists dominant narratives of danger, decay, and despair - while nurturing a sense of place and possibility for Black residents. Drawing from news articles and social media posts, this paper analyzes the cultural significance of prom send-offs in Black communities, their role in fostering local identity, and classist criticisms these prom moms face for prioritizing extravagance over survival. I argue that Black urban spaces are not always defined by dispossession and scarcity, and these prom send-offs are neither trivial nor wasteful within the complexities of Black life. Instead, they reclaim and reinvigorate Black urban space and identity, using unruliness and excess to resist cultural and spatial erasure.

Author

• Jennifer Williams, Loyola Marymount University