A discipline-crossing introduction to civic media via accounts from grassroots practitioners
“Civic media” is the use of contemporary technologies to connect communities, inspire action, build civic capacity, and sustain social change efforts. Written by artists, creators, storytellers, organizers, and others working at the intersections of technology, social justice, and culture, this book summons civic media through the lived experiences of its contributors.
Latoya Peterson delves into the therapeutic power of gaming; Akilah Hughes discusses identity and community through the lens of her campaign to change her high school's racist mascot; and Tyree Boyd-Pates emphasizes the potential power of museum curation to challenge power dynamics and bridge digital and physical realms. Through the experiences of these grassroots practitioners and many others, We Are Civic Media offers accessible insights for those interested in understanding, respecting, and practicing civic media.
Introduction
Movement and Community
1. The Attempts to Hold it All: At the Intersection of Black Food Futurism and Civic Media (Nia Lee)
2. Being Together: The Revolutionary Love of a Poor People’s Movement (Anu Yadav)
3. Eavesdropping As Solidarity Tactic (Taz Ahmed)
4. A love offering to Miami's Black past, present and future (Nadege Green)
5. It’s Not Cool to Have a Racist High School Mascot (Akilah Hughes)
6. Care Work in Open Source Software: A Reflection on p5.js (Qianqian Ye)
7. Affective Underground (Terry Marshall)
Journeys and Reflections
8. Awakening the archives: A search for family, connection and meaning (Arianne Edmonds)
9. Making the Impossible Possible (Niki Franco)
10. The Lion and the Cobra: An Archive of Hope (Sydette Harry)
11. The Place Where the Water Runs Among the Rocks (Mari Mari NarvÁez)
Design and Care
12. Dream, Rest, Play: Reflections on Designing Liberated Spaces for Black Women (Jenn Roberts)
13. Care Better: Making Arts & Humanities Software for Actual Humans (Erik Loyer)
14. United in Flow: Accessible Pleasure, Game Design, and How We Heal (Latoya Peterson)
15. Reflections on Process (Susu Attar)
16. Outward Mobility: Regenerative Horizontal Moves in the face of Confinement (Quetzal Flores)
17. Conjuring Community in Apocalyptic Times: A Windy Roadmap on Facilitating Diverse Groups for Collaboration (Michelle Zenarosa)
Claiming and Reclaiming
18. Civic Media: A Space for Exploration (Sue Ding)
19. Civic Media and the Ethic of Care (Josie Duffy Rice)
20. We Are More Than Bones: How Digital Spaces Are Shaping Black Futures (Rashida James-Saadiya)
21. Museum Curation as Care: Civic Media, Black History, and Communicating Afrofuturist Imaginings (Tyree Boyd-Pates)
22. Our Civic Media: Portraying my community through my lens (SHAN Wallace)
23. How Big Does Civic Media Need to Be? (AX Mina)
Acknowledgments
About the Editors
Credits
Sangita Shresthova is the director of research and programs and a principal investigator for the Civic Paths group at the University of Southern California. She is the coauthor of Practicing Futures: A Civic Imagination Action Handbook and a coeditor of Transformative Media Pedagogies and Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change.
Dan Sinker is the founder of the influential magazine Punk Planet and served as director of journalism nonprofit OpenNews. He cohosts the current events podcast Says Who and has contributed to Esquire, The Atlantic, and The New York Times.
Pratik Nyaupane is a doctoral student at USC Annenberg, where he explores the intersection between society, technology, culture, and politics.
Sophie Madej is the program administrator at USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab. She has helped to implement and manage the Civic Media Fellowships from their inception.
Colin Maclay is a research professor of communication and the executive director of USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab. He works on innovation and change at the intersections of media, technology, and culture in support of human and planetary well-being.
