Arts and culture journalist and former Deep writing fellow Kristopher Monroe has penned an article in today’s Savannah Morning News describing Block by Block and reviewing our recent East Side Block Party.
The centerpiece of the party…was the performances by more than 30 teens from Deep’s Block by Block program…an ambitious youth leadership program that uses what’s called Participatory Action Research to investigate the personal struggles within communities and uses person-to-person communication as a means of collecting information. It places culture at the center of research and emphasizes active engagement.
Block by Block youth and teaching artists spent the past eight months listening to stories from east side residents and exploring those stories through methods that included writing and visual art. The resulting work is collected in a full-color 230-page book that includes art, prose and poetry titled “Reclaiming Savannah’s East Side” (the same was done for Savannah’s west side). The performances at the block party also grew out of those community interviews and for those in attendance, it was a vigorous example of the incredible power of speech — particularly speech that seeks to combat the damaging words that have been slung for generations.
Read the full article: “Deep Center Celebrates Savannah’s East Side with Block Party.”