Black people in Philly kept telling me, "talk to Andrea", so I did! Andrea Walls hits the mic with this question during my interview episode with her as part my ‘Black joy stories in Philly’ section of this podcast and a warm conversation (and building friendship) grows from there…I came to Andrea’s work by attending the 2021 Black Joy symposium in Philadelphia and felt so many alignments with her approach to learning from and center joy as critical practice.This is a long conversation (imagine: it was edited down but we had A LOT to say) about healing, story-sharing, and doing work that embraces the nuance, complexity, and contradiction that is the human experience.  Activity: If you can, get a scoop of ice cream before u hit play and just vibe with us!   PS. Andrea’s favorite flavor last I checked is: salted caramel!!

Trigger: deep discussions about grieving while Black. Deep discussions about Black joy (theory and practice). 

Ways to support Andrea: 

Website: https://linktr.ee/phillywalls

https://www.museumofblackjoy.com/

Special thanks to Center for Media @ Risk at the Annenberg School for Communication at UPENN.

Dean Jackson for mentoring my work in Philly by providing all the contacts and connections I needed. And Jasmine Erdener on editing!