it be your own people is a cinematic assembly of actions & reference materials contextualizing the love needed to thrive particular to people in a city called Philadelphia, and even more particular to Black North Philadelphians. We make a shrine for ourselves as descendants channeling the energy of those millions of Black folx who left the american South, fleeing the predetermined violence of that space. Traveling a calibrating sequencing of images and symbols, we generate a shrine for the lovers- my mother's parents who met in the 1940s as temporary residents and newly immigrated UpSouth workers at the Divine Lorraine Hotel
Media materials are assembled, disassembled and assembled again to articulate the world of its subjects. The calibrating portal environment is created in collaboration with an ensemble of writers, family members, technicians and time keepers. This work is a meditation in presence, rhythm, intervention, devotion, critical fabulation, chromotherapy, ecology, possibility, desire and difficulty
Media materials are assembled, disassembled and assembled again to articulate the world of its subjects. The calibrating portal environment is created in collaboration with an ensemble of writers, family members, technicians and time keepers. This work is a meditation in presence, rhythm, intervention, devotion, critical fabulation, chromotherapy, ecology, possibility, desire and difficulty
IT BE YOUR OWN PEOPLE
production crew
production crew
muthi reed, conductor & curator
https://cargocollective.com/krewecoumbite
muthi reed is an ethnographic artist performing ritual in the spiritual technologies of Alabama Black Primitive Baptists, their grandmother's people. Their work is shaped in relationship, modeling Biskaabiiyang, Anishinaabeg meaning the enactment of returning to ourselves. Through practices of cousinage, neighborliness, fellowship, and reminiscing, muthi sources media material as light + sound surface and texture for support with real time embodied channeling and collaboration. Their work is designed for altering perception, space, time, positionality and presence through performing complex variations
https://cargocollective.com/krewecoumbite
muthi reed is an ethnographic artist performing ritual in the spiritual technologies of Alabama Black Primitive Baptists, their grandmother's people. Their work is shaped in relationship, modeling Biskaabiiyang, Anishinaabeg meaning the enactment of returning to ourselves. Through practices of cousinage, neighborliness, fellowship, and reminiscing, muthi sources media material as light + sound surface and texture for support with real time embodied channeling and collaboration. Their work is designed for altering perception, space, time, positionality and presence through performing complex variations
Tafari Robertson, production manager, sound recordist/sound engineer
https://tafaridiop.com
Tafari Robertson is a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist, cultural producer, and speculative historian with expertise in event programming, graphic design, and multimedia. His work investigates the dynamics of Black cultural production and sovereignty through a Pan-Africanist lens. Often Robertson’s work is found through site specific media installations and community engagements. Utilizing anti-work methodologies, he meanders through a process including but not limited to kite-flying, illustration, relationship building, radical organizing, writing, and administrative critique.
https://tafaridiop.com
Tafari Robertson is a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist, cultural producer, and speculative historian with expertise in event programming, graphic design, and multimedia. His work investigates the dynamics of Black cultural production and sovereignty through a Pan-Africanist lens. Often Robertson’s work is found through site specific media installations and community engagements. Utilizing anti-work methodologies, he meanders through a process including but not limited to kite-flying, illustration, relationship building, radical organizing, writing, and administrative critique.
Hajjah Aiken, production assistant & sound recordist
Hajjah-Immanuel Aiken is a multidisciplinary artist who is inspired by the intersections of identity, memory, and culture through film, theater, music, and art. Drawing from her Black and Native American heritage, She brings a unique perspective to each medium she touches. Hajjah-Immanuel has had the opportunity to work on projects that reflect themes of ancestral connection, spiritual reclamation, and social justice. Hajjah-Immanuel is currently pursuing a double major in Film and Theater with minors in Music and Fine Art
Hajjah-Immanuel Aiken is a multidisciplinary artist who is inspired by the intersections of identity, memory, and culture through film, theater, music, and art. Drawing from her Black and Native American heritage, She brings a unique perspective to each medium she touches. Hajjah-Immanuel has had the opportunity to work on projects that reflect themes of ancestral connection, spiritual reclamation, and social justice. Hajjah-Immanuel is currently pursuing a double major in Film and Theater with minors in Music and Fine Art
Angela Davis Johnson, art director
https://www.angeladavisjohnson.com/
Angela Davis Johnson mmek is a community-informed, interdisciplinary artist who migrates. Her work is rooted in the traditions of Black american South and is inspired by the collective memory of the African Diaspora. Davis Johnson uses historical images, paint, found objects, fragmented songs and poetry, body movement, and gestures to bridge the happenings of the past, present, and future. Co-creator of Hollerin Space, an interactive archival performance, her work has been featured and exhibited in galleries, museums to front porches and rivers.
https://www.angeladavisjohnson.com/
Angela Davis Johnson mmek is a community-informed, interdisciplinary artist who migrates. Her work is rooted in the traditions of Black american South and is inspired by the collective memory of the African Diaspora. Davis Johnson uses historical images, paint, found objects, fragmented songs and poetry, body movement, and gestures to bridge the happenings of the past, present, and future. Co-creator of Hollerin Space, an interactive archival performance, her work has been featured and exhibited in galleries, museums to front porches and rivers.
ze X, construction manager
https://app.staffmeup.com/profile/zyairax
Zyaira Africa X is an artist and filmworker from Philadelphia. Their work over the last decade has focused in set design, construction and decoration for film, television and installation. Ze has worked on the sets of local productions and with production companies such as Apple TV and HBO. A multi-media artist that studied at the University of the Arts, Ze uses mediums such as collage, poetry, experimental video and "world building" materials like lumber, concrete, brick and glass to explore the ways that Black living spaces are built, preserved and remembered.
https://app.staffmeup.com/profile/zyairax
Zyaira Africa X is an artist and filmworker from Philadelphia. Their work over the last decade has focused in set design, construction and decoration for film, television and installation. Ze has worked on the sets of local productions and with production companies such as Apple TV and HBO. A multi-media artist that studied at the University of the Arts, Ze uses mediums such as collage, poetry, experimental video and "world building" materials like lumber, concrete, brick and glass to explore the ways that Black living spaces are built, preserved and remembered.
Sage Crump, producer
https://www.culturalstrategy.space/
Sage Crump is a culture strategist, artist and movement facilitator who expands and deepens the relationship between the cultural sector and social justice organizing. Sage is a member of Complex Movements, a Detroit-based artist collective whose interdisciplinary work supports visionary organizing. Sage is principal and co-founder with artist muthi reed of The Kinfolk Effect [TKE]. TKE is an incubation space for multimedia installation work that examines the movement of Blackness through time and space. She is currently the Director of Racial Justice and Movement Building at the National Performance Network. Sage is former Chief Architect of Emergent Strategies Ideation institute. She is a former member of LeftRoots, a member of the Guild of Future Architects, Women of Color in the Arts, and a board member with the Center for Cultural Innovation, Art2Action, Double Edge Theatre, and Mark-n-Sparks. Her work incorporates complex sciences, emergent strategy, and creative practice to imagine the world we want to live in and build strategies and practices that will get us there.
https://www.culturalstrategy.space/
Sage Crump is a culture strategist, artist and movement facilitator who expands and deepens the relationship between the cultural sector and social justice organizing. Sage is a member of Complex Movements, a Detroit-based artist collective whose interdisciplinary work supports visionary organizing. Sage is principal and co-founder with artist muthi reed of The Kinfolk Effect [TKE]. TKE is an incubation space for multimedia installation work that examines the movement of Blackness through time and space. She is currently the Director of Racial Justice and Movement Building at the National Performance Network. Sage is former Chief Architect of Emergent Strategies Ideation institute. She is a former member of LeftRoots, a member of the Guild of Future Architects, Women of Color in the Arts, and a board member with the Center for Cultural Innovation, Art2Action, Double Edge Theatre, and Mark-n-Sparks. Her work incorporates complex sciences, emergent strategy, and creative practice to imagine the world we want to live in and build strategies and practices that will get us there.
Stephanie Malson, cinematographer/director of photography
https://siftmedia215.org/stephanie-malson/
Stephanie Malson is a multi-hyphenate creative producer and artist who is drawn to the mediums of writing, moving image, and photography. Her directorial and producing work has screened nationally and internationally. Ourika!, a short film Stephanie produced, was an official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. In 2023, she was named a Producing Fellow for the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, presented by BlackStar Film Festival and Comcast’s Black Experience on Xfinity, where she produced the film All That’s Left. Stephanie holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Rosemont College.
https://siftmedia215.org/stephanie-malson/
Stephanie Malson is a multi-hyphenate creative producer and artist who is drawn to the mediums of writing, moving image, and photography. Her directorial and producing work has screened nationally and internationally. Ourika!, a short film Stephanie produced, was an official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. In 2023, she was named a Producing Fellow for the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, presented by BlackStar Film Festival and Comcast’s Black Experience on Xfinity, where she produced the film All That’s Left. Stephanie holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Rosemont College.
Charlie Raboteau, video editor
https://www.soulmotionproductions.com/about
https://charlieraboteau.bandcamp.com/track/electrome
Charlie Raboteau is a filmmaker, a photographer, and a musician, who specializes in highlighting hyper-local stories with a focus on people doing work in their communities. He provides visual and audio content for clients to showcase their work and passion in the best and truest light possible in order to build social, economic, and cultural capital. Charlie’s aim is to help foster positive change and draw attention to the culture and resources that make Philadelphia such a creative and vibrant city.
https://www.soulmotionproductions.com/about
https://charlieraboteau.bandcamp.com/track/electrome
Charlie Raboteau is a filmmaker, a photographer, and a musician, who specializes in highlighting hyper-local stories with a focus on people doing work in their communities. He provides visual and audio content for clients to showcase their work and passion in the best and truest light possible in order to build social, economic, and cultural capital. Charlie’s aim is to help foster positive change and draw attention to the culture and resources that make Philadelphia such a creative and vibrant city.
Marqueta Aiken, gifting & events producer
Marqueta Aiken is a Special Event Coordinator/Consultant, and a Licensed Massage Therapist, who uses her skills and abilities to promote, encourage and inspire health, wellness, acceptance and love through transitional periods of life.
Marqueta Aiken is a Special Event Coordinator/Consultant, and a Licensed Massage Therapist, who uses her skills and abilities to promote, encourage and inspire health, wellness, acceptance and love through transitional periods of life.
Kevin Diehl, sound conduction crew
https://kevindiehlmusic.com/
Kevin Diehl is a Philadelphia-based drummer, percussionist, composer, electro-acoustic practitioner
https://kevindiehlmusic.com/
Kevin Diehl is a Philadelphia-based drummer, percussionist, composer, electro-acoustic practitioner
Alfie Pollitt, sound conduction crew
https://www.unitycommunity.com/alfred_alfie_pollitt.htm
Alfred Pollitt, known to many in the music world as "ALFIE", has been studying and playing music since receiving his first piano lessons at the tender age of three. A native of Bryn Mawr, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Alfie was surrounded and inspired by all types of music and was given classical piano instruction from his mother and father, both respected and influential members of the Philadelphia art and music communities. Since his first piece of musical composition in 1958 entitled "15th Street", Alfie has written well over one hundred songs
https://www.unitycommunity.com/alfred_alfie_pollitt.htm
Alfred Pollitt, known to many in the music world as "ALFIE", has been studying and playing music since receiving his first piano lessons at the tender age of three. A native of Bryn Mawr, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Alfie was surrounded and inspired by all types of music and was given classical piano instruction from his mother and father, both respected and influential members of the Philadelphia art and music communities. Since his first piece of musical composition in 1958 entitled "15th Street", Alfie has written well over one hundred songs
Josh Graupera, sound recordist
https://www.joshgraupera.com/
josh graupera (they/them) is an artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Their practice explores the relationship between visual art and participatory action, using drawing, printmaking, and facilitation practices. They enjoy working with people to explore worldbuilding techniques to create new systems and structures in speculative worlds as well as our own.
https://www.joshgraupera.com/
josh graupera (they/them) is an artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Their practice explores the relationship between visual art and participatory action, using drawing, printmaking, and facilitation practices. They enjoy working with people to explore worldbuilding techniques to create new systems and structures in speculative worlds as well as our own.
Arielle Julia Brown, dramaturgical advisor
https://www.ariellejuliabrown.com/
Arielle Julia Brown is an artist, curator and creative wayfinder who directs and supports cultural spaces as sites for radical imagination, vision building and social transformation in her communities. Arielle’s practices traverse cultural strategy, research, evaluation, performance curation, dramaturgy, facilitation and performance making. Working most frequently in performance, philanthropic, memory work and cultural organizing spaces, Arielle’s offerings help create the conditions for the truthtelling necessary for the building of Beloved Community. Arielle is the founder and director of Black Spatial Relics, a convener and presenter of Black radical performance.
https://www.ariellejuliabrown.com/
Arielle Julia Brown is an artist, curator and creative wayfinder who directs and supports cultural spaces as sites for radical imagination, vision building and social transformation in her communities. Arielle’s practices traverse cultural strategy, research, evaluation, performance curation, dramaturgy, facilitation and performance making. Working most frequently in performance, philanthropic, memory work and cultural organizing spaces, Arielle’s offerings help create the conditions for the truthtelling necessary for the building of Beloved Community. Arielle is the founder and director of Black Spatial Relics, a convener and presenter of Black radical performance.
Owen Taylor/True Love Seeds, green partner
https://trueloveseeds.com/
Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Our seeds are grown by more than 50 small-scale urban and rural farmers committed to community food sovereignty, cultural preservation, and sustainable agriculture
https://trueloveseeds.com/
Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Our seeds are grown by more than 50 small-scale urban and rural farmers committed to community food sovereignty, cultural preservation, and sustainable agriculture
Tim Bieniosek, tech engineer
http://www.bieniosek.com/
Timothy Bieniosek is a computer scientist and educator for the engineering of interactive installations, physical computing, algorithmic, data-driven, and time-based creative works, and other explorations in the intersection of art and technology
http://www.bieniosek.com/
Timothy Bieniosek is a computer scientist and educator for the engineering of interactive installations, physical computing, algorithmic, data-driven, and time-based creative works, and other explorations in the intersection of art and technology
Scribe Video Center, executive producer
https://scribe.org/
https://scribe.org/
William Michael, 2025 North Philadelphia History Festival project manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-michael
https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-michael
Louis Massiah, director of Scribe Video Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
the Family, executive producer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IT BE YOUR OWN PEOPLE
production assembly
production assembly
Germaine Ingram, ensemble writer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Ingram
A life-long Philadelphian, a performing artist, vocal/dance improviser, writer, song writer, archivist, oral historian, and social practitioner. In 2024, I was awarded a Philadelphia Cultural Treasures Fellowship for more than 20 years of artistic practice in Philadelphia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Ingram
A life-long Philadelphian, a performing artist, vocal/dance improviser, writer, song writer, archivist, oral historian, and social practitioner. In 2024, I was awarded a Philadelphia Cultural Treasures Fellowship for more than 20 years of artistic practice in Philadelphia.
Derek Thompson, ensemble writer
https://www.philadelphia-theater.com/shows/the-met-philadelphia/the-diary-of-black-men
Writer. Actor. Collaborator. I've written, collaborated, and directed a few of my own film projects and served in the production of many others
https://www.philadelphia-theater.com/shows/the-met-philadelphia/the-diary-of-black-men
Writer. Actor. Collaborator. I've written, collaborated, and directed a few of my own film projects and served in the production of many others
Tony Royster (Mr. Y NOT), ensemble writer
https://www.whourockinwit.org/
TONY ROYSTER AKA MR Y NOT - Director & Founder of POSITIVE MOVEMENT ENTERTAINMENT- Lives life through drums, love, and positive vibes! Promoting a positive message, put down the GUNZ & pick up some DRUMS for a better community
https://www.whourockinwit.org/
TONY ROYSTER AKA MR Y NOT - Director & Founder of POSITIVE MOVEMENT ENTERTAINMENT- Lives life through drums, love, and positive vibes! Promoting a positive message, put down the GUNZ & pick up some DRUMS for a better community
Cassie Owens, ensemble writer
https://cassieowens.com/
Cassie Owens is a storyteller, filmmaker and organizer from Philadelphia. In her journalism career, Owens often covered the myriad communities that exist within Black Philadelphia. In 2019, at the Inquirer, she co-produced Legendary, a short-film that won the Shine award at the BlackStar Film Festival. She currently works at Free Press, where she collaborates with journalists, community members, therapists and organizers to change harmful crime coverage, the first project of its kind in Philadelphia. Owens loves her people, cultural history, gardening and ancestral recipes.
https://cassieowens.com/
Cassie Owens is a storyteller, filmmaker and organizer from Philadelphia. In her journalism career, Owens often covered the myriad communities that exist within Black Philadelphia. In 2019, at the Inquirer, she co-produced Legendary, a short-film that won the Shine award at the BlackStar Film Festival. She currently works at Free Press, where she collaborates with journalists, community members, therapists and organizers to change harmful crime coverage, the first project of its kind in Philadelphia. Owens loves her people, cultural history, gardening and ancestral recipes.
Raquel Jessie, ensemble writer
Raquel is a regenerative land steward and entrepreneur whose work centers the restoration of reciprocal relationships between people, land, and the more than human world. Through movement, storytelling, and embodied practice, she tends the dreams of the living, the dead, and the yet to be born through soil regeneration.
Raquel is a regenerative land steward and entrepreneur whose work centers the restoration of reciprocal relationships between people, land, and the more than human world. Through movement, storytelling, and embodied practice, she tends the dreams of the living, the dead, and the yet to be born through soil regeneration.
Nana Baakan Agyirwah, ensemble writer
https://substack.com/@topicsfromatoz
An independent entrepreneur. I am a Mental Health Professional and Spiritual Counselor. I also am a desktop publisher, writer, poet, video editor, educator, psychic and social change agent.
https://substack.com/@topicsfromatoz
An independent entrepreneur. I am a Mental Health Professional and Spiritual Counselor. I also am a desktop publisher, writer, poet, video editor, educator, psychic and social change agent.
Stephen Drain, ensemble writer
A guerrilla grower, solar-punk Afrofuturist, hunter, artists and student of the sky. I envision a future where sustainable practices and collective action shape a thriving world. Whether I'm studying the history of labor movements, indigenous growing traditions or bird migration, I seek knowledge that bridges the past and future. In every space I am working toward a world where ecosystems and communities flourish together
A guerrilla grower, solar-punk Afrofuturist, hunter, artists and student of the sky. I envision a future where sustainable practices and collective action shape a thriving world. Whether I'm studying the history of labor movements, indigenous growing traditions or bird migration, I seek knowledge that bridges the past and future. In every space I am working toward a world where ecosystems and communities flourish together
Gary Smalls, executive producer
IT BE YOUR OWN PEOPLE
special thanks
special thanks
Amanda Houston
Montgomery, Alabama
Accra Zuberi
https://www.behance.net/AccraZuberi?locale=en_US
Tshay
https://www.tshay.co/about
Dean Moss
https://www.deanmossgametophyte.org/about
Lela Aisha Jones
https://www.flygroundera.com/
Reverend Rhetta Morgan
https://www.reverendrhetta.com/
Márquez Rhyne
https://www.thisisreframe.org/authors/rhyne
Jennifer Turnbull
https://www.jenniferturnbull.me/
CJ
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cj-speaks-presents-spoken-word-of-philly-hosted-by-poet-cj-at-the-movement-tickets-1996482418658