Interview: A Dialog with Social Justice Stitching Academy Explores Neighborhood Activism and the Energy of Remembering By way of Quilts
Craft
#activism
#stitching
#social justice
All photos courtesy of SJSA, shared with permission
When witnessing inequity is like digging into an already numb wound and taking part in surface-level social justice is as straightforward as recycling digital shares, the Social Justice Stitching Academy provides the facility of contact. The group works with youngsters and youths to make quilt blocks that specific injustices of their lives, and Colossal contributor Gabrielle Lawrence just lately sat down with program director Stephanie Valencia to debate the undertaking’s mission in a brand new interview supported by Colossal Members.
They communicate concerning the work of honoring the victims of violence and their households by way of group artwork, supporting younger entrepreneurs with inventive or social justice-oriented companies, and most significantly, giving folks one thing to carry on to.
So typically, when somebody loses a cherished one, you cherish their objects for some time. After which ultimately, their objects find yourself in a field, at the back of a closet, or in an attic someplace. This actually does give the household one thing to carry on to and use each day. Past consolation, it’s reflection, in addition to reminiscence. Each time they see or contact that quilt, they will keep in mind the great occasions.
Finally, SJSA empowers youth to make use of their voices and requires tactile processing of points that always appear larger than all of us. Each sew is felt, and it isn’t a follow that members should endure alone. From design to completion, every individual is required to spend time sitting with these tales in a bodily manner, which creates room for grief, remembrance, training, and critique.
#activism
#stitching
#social justice
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