Valerie Harris

Valerie is a writer, teacher, publisher, and film producer. She is committed to telling the stories of her communities of origin: West Philadelphia and Darby Township. The nature of Valerie's art and social change work is collaborative, representing the sharing of a variety of voices, experiences and perspectives. Her work as a community-focused teaching artist affects communities in many ways by facilitating self-expression, healing and inspiring on a personal level, which leads to collective empowerment. Valerie began writing plays in the 1970s, and saw her works performed nationally. Over the years, she has worked on a number of writing and publishing projects related to art, women, and the African-American community. Valerie's work assists communities in appreciating the cultural landscape—histories, traditions, struggles and creative expressions—and seeing themselves as active participants in it. For example, she led students in her Teen Writers Academy to publish an anthology, which she distributed to local public libraries. She also teaches writing workshops at the Paul Robeson House for seniors, working people, immigrants and caregivers. Currently, Valerie is working on the Darby Township Community History Project, which began as a writing workshop with African American seniors and has since evolved into an oral history project and community history film project. She plans to hold public screenings of the film and publish an accompanying book.

Valerie will produce a community-based oral history project with long-time African-Americans residents of Darby Township and former residents of the adjacent neighborhood of Eastwick in Southwest Philadelphia, focusing on the historical presence of blacks in both communities; the displacement of the Eastwick residents in the 1960s; and the current political marginalization of blacks in Darby Township. The project will culminate in a multi-media presentation, including video documentation, photo exhibition of archival and new prints, and an accompanying book that includes memoir writing by participants.

Valerie will publish a literary anthology of writing by young people participating in her Teen Writers Academy, an intensive writing workshop series for the teenagers in West Philadelphia. Her workshops encourage young people to use writing as way to see the possibilities and poetry in their lives, allowing for creative, revealing and healing writing. This anthology will focus on the collective experiences of making written work public through publishing. In addition to celebrating the teens’ writing, the process of seeing their work in print may well change how they see themselves and their lives.