NowWe're
APRBLEM
“You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for hourse and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. "Floods" is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were, that valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there and the route back to our original place. It is emotional memory--what the nerves and the skin remember as well as how it appeared. And a rush of imagination is our "flooding." "
Toni Morrison
NowWe’reAPRBLEM (NWA) is a community archive masquerading as an arts-based research project that centralizes the stories of those at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. It is also the child I’ve been chasing after, learning from, and watching grow, all while trying to make sense of all the changes. I wasn’t sure of where we were headed, but here we are.
This work began with a series of questions:
How do community archives resist the symbolic annihilation of marginalized groups?
What impact can community archives have on the individuals represented within them as well as the collective community?
Can storytelling in various formats heal?
Can collaborative work change the consciousness of those involved? If so, in what ways?
How can people make space for themselves and for others?
Can we build community through collective creation?
How does creating a space for womxn of marginalized groups impact the womxn themselves? Does it do for them? If so, then what does it do?
Answer: Yes.
“Yes” because look at what we’ve done. Look at what has come of our presence, persistence, vulnerability, courage, community, and commitment to the continuation of our (read: familial—biological and not) resistance. We did this.