Emerge PSAs
The Emerge Campaign aims to foster inspiration and hope, acknowledging not just the impact of the intersections of COVID-19 and systemic racism in America, but the innate strength and resilience of people of color challenged by both pandemics. Fellows in the Guild, a workforce development curriculum for citizens returning from incarceration, were paired with a writing coach to develop and polish their original PSAs.
The campaign began as a project focused on resilience, public health, and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, and has evolved to address the systemic racism plaguing our country and offering a platform of expression for Black voices. In these 9 original PSAs, Guild fellows explore and try to answer the question “How will we emerge?”
Led by community partnerships with Philly-based hip-hop legend Philly Freeway, Hip Hop Artist/Activist Mary Baxter, Hip Hop Artist/Activist Ant Brown, Poet/Curator Nina “Lyrispect” Ball, Poet/Pew Fellow Ursula Rucker, WURD 900am, and Guild Members: Taliah Neal, Wayne Gainey, Saul Miller, Tamir Redding, the PSA campaign was broadcast on radio and social media platforms and posted on boarded up storefronts around Philadelphia throughout July 2020.
Additional installations and workshops took place at The Episcopal Academy, 1785 Bishop White Drive, Newtown Square, PA and at America’s Kids storefront at 24 S 52nd Street in Philadelphia.
