Our Community Archiving Lab for Culture and Justice has reminded us of the importance and urgency of archiving our Afro-Diasporic histories- especially in times when our legacies and institutions are under threat of erasure.
Join us on Saturday, November 15th for a special edition of Sou Sou! Saturdays titled “Crafting Memory” — co-presented with PMCA (Harlem Place, Memory & Culture Archive) and guided by our Community Archiving Lab for Culture and Justice.
This intergenerational gathering invites our community to explore the power of archiving as an act of cultural preservation:
🎞️ Community Digitization Day (All Day)
Bring your photos, slides, negatives, CDs, DVDs, or video tapes (DV, VHS, Hi8) to be digitized and preserved.
Sign up for a digitizing appointment HERE
🎨 Poster-Making Artivism Workshop (11:30 AM - 1 PM, All Ages)
Led by artist and CCCADI alum Crystal Clarity, this session looks at CCCADI’s rich history of poster art, and guides folks through the process of creating their own.
📚 Archiving 101 (2 PM - 4 PM, High School & Up)
Learn how to begin preserving your own artwork, family memories, and archival materials with practical tools and guidance from the PMCA team.
🎨 Kids’ Art Corner (All Ages, All Day)
A creative space for our youngest artists to express themselves while workshops are in session.
📅 Saturday, November 15, 2025
🕚 11 AM – 5 PM
📍 CCCADI Firehouse (120 E 125th St.)
💫 FREE | RSVP via Link in Bio
About Sou Sou! Saturdays:
Inspired by the financial resource-sharing traditions known throughout the African Diaspora by such names as "Colecta", "Box Hand", "San", "Partna", or "Sou-Sou", this family-based art and education program reinterprets Sou Sou as an exchange of cultural resources. Sou Sou! Saturdays celebrates and honors our connections by upholding our traditions of collective growth, mindfulness, celebration, and creativity with families of all ages.
About our partner, PMCA (Harlem Place, Memory & Culture Archive) :
The Place, Memory, and Culture Incubator (PMCI) is a new initiative within the Spitzer School of Architecture. Funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, it seeks to redefine the role of preservation in the face of ongoing urban transformations in Harlem. The Incubator aims to interact with Harlem communities to transform the ways in which students engage and connect with their deep-seated histories. Design studios will record, visualize, and preserve heritage while projecting innovative, resilient cultural and spatial futures.
The PMCI’s approach is collaborative, ensuring that insights are shared with the broader Harlem community through exhibitions, symposia, a Living Digital Archive, public art, and education programs. Through this outreach, the Incubator furthers its commitment to fostering environmental and social justice in Harlem, promoting positive change and sustainable development within the community.