Poets Sarah Browning and Raina León create the new monthly poetry series combining poetry and social justice.
There have been monthly poetry series in Philadelphia and shows hosted by The Philly Pigeon, Mad Poets Society, and others. But Northwest Philly has been missing a recurring reading series, and local poets Sarah Browning and Raina León are stepping in and starting one, focusing on artists who combine their work with activism and social justice.
Browning and León will partner with Young American Hard Cider & Tasting Room to host the Wild Indigo Poetry Series monthly. The series will begin on Sunday, September 15, 2024, from 5-7 p.m. with featured poets Denice Frohman and Gabriel Ramirez.
Browning used to live in Washington, D.C., and co-founded and ran the well-known Split This Rock poetry and social justice organization, famous for its Split This Rock poetry series. The organization is dedicated to poetry that provokes social change.
Browning has also been a cultural organizer and activist for many years and is actively involved with Northwest Philly organizing for Reclaim Philadelphia, a political organizing group dedicated to working on economic, racial, and gender justice.
After finishing her M.F.A., she knew she wanted to start a new poetry series and had some main objectives. The first was creating an inclusive space that was multiracial and varied in poetry genre (spoken word to experimental and everything in between). The second was centering on social justice. She also wanted it outside of her Chestnut Hill neighborhood, and convenient to get to.
She knew she wanted to collaborate, curate, and co-host with a poet of color, and León was the first person to come to mind. They had known each other for years in the poetry world and realized they were neighbors when León moved back to her hometown.
León, an Afro-Latina poet, educator, and cultural organizer, also had experience running poetry series and doing community engagement and outreach. She also knew many poets connected to social justice work through her varied experiences. Together it was a natural fit.
“As my activism in Reclaim became more northwest of the city focused, I started thinking about the ways in which we can start or build on the incredible work that activists in Philadelphia have done for generations, of course, centuries of building multiracial community, and that we as artists can imagine it and model it in ways that are joyful, challenging, comforting all at once,” said Browning.
León points out that as they started planning for this series, she was inspired by her work with the book publisher and founder of Nomadic Press, J.K. Fowler, in California. His motivating factor was always thinking about place, not only the humans in the place but the relationship to the land on which we are based.
“And the reason behind (the name) Wild Indigo is we wanted to also be mindful of our relationship with the natural world. So thinking about non-human beings that grow in Philadelphia that are deeply rooted in this community, well, wild indigo is one of those plants,” said León.
Browning says featured poets will include renowned Philadelphia poets and visiting artists. Germantown award-winning poets Sonia Sanchez, Nzadi Keita, and Ursula Rucker are confirmed for the fall line-up. Other artists include Roberto Carlos Garcia, Carmen Calatayud, Niki Herd, and Miller Oberman. There will also be an open mic.
León says many of the poets are also involved in work on issues such as Palestinian liberation, hurricane relief, liberation work in Puerto Rico, and other cultural and movement work.
“One thing that I would want to add is this, which is another thing that I hope is a part of the community, is the presence to know that we see one another, that we hear one another,” says León.
Browning agrees and knows that creating space for folks to express themselves, to hear and be heard, is always powerful.
“Language is one of the great tools that we have for the imagination, and it gets co-opted all the time by those who would wield power over us and make us believe that the status quo is inevitable. But we know it’s not because we can create these alternative spaces, alternative worlds, and the artists are leading the way,” said Browning.
The series will be sponsored by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) and Reclaim Philadelphia. Pre-registration is not required for the readings, and a $5 or more donation is suggested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. There will also be voter registration forms at the reading.
There will be an accessibility ramp at Young American for the event, and hopefully, with more funding, they will have an ASL interpreter at each event. They are also trying to set up a Zoom option for folks who cannot make the event in person for any reason.
Check out their Instagram for any up-to-date information and to learn specifics about future readings.
