In Skyscraper Jails, scholars and organizers Jarrod Shanahan and Zhandarka Kurti detail how progressive forces in New York City appropriated the rhetoric of social movements and social justice to promise “downsized” and “humane" jails. The principal advocates of these new jails were not right-wing politicians, but prominent city activists and progressive non-profit organizations. Join the authors for a discussion of this unique moment for anti-jail activism and what it means for moving forward.

Please register for this event here.

Join Philly Socialists and South Philly Autonomous Cinema for a screening of Fertile Memory (1980), the feature debut of director Michel Khleifi. Lyrically interweaving documentary and narrative, Khleifi lovingly creates portraits of two Palestinian women, Sahar and Romia, whose individual struggles both mirror and challenge each other in the shared political landscape that has torn apart their lives.

All donations will go toward Gaza Champions and the Sameer Project.

SPAC registration can be found here.

Registration through Making Worlds is also appreciated! Donations through this link help us provide free event space to the broader community and sustain our programming efforts. We deeply appreciate your support!

Spend the afternoon getting to know other tatreez artists as we stitch in resistance!

Please register here.

The Decolonial Book Club (DBC) has turned one, so it is time to celebrate! After a year of monthly Zoom meetings, join old and new DBC members for COVID-cautious socializing. All members of the decolonial community are welcome. Masks will be required. We will have a free book raffle, zines, and political posters by the incredible Kris (IG @doginthecathat), who drew the DBC logo redesign, to give away. Be in community with your fellow radical book lovers and make connections as we organize to resist this new political frontier.

You can find DBC’s event registration page here.

If you’d like to donate to Making Worlds, you can also register for the event here. Donations help us provide free space to the broader community. We deeply appreciate your support!

From Philly to Palestine, both the United States and the Zionist entity deploy monstrous carceral strategies against Black liberation and Palestinian resistance. Join us to look at the writings of US political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, wrongfully imprisoned in SCI-Mahanoy, in conversation with writings from the late imprisoned communist Walid Daqqa, who died after being imprisoned for 38 years, and currently imprisoned secretary of the Popular Front Ahmad Sa'adat.

Please register here.

How do epidemics shape the way we live? A History of the World in Six Plagues studies how pandemic disease permanently shaped and changed humankind. My argument is that these six fronts—Cholera, Sleeping Sickness, the quote-unquote Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19 marked disturbing moments when global governments allowed human rights to recede in service to capital. At the same time, people were left to suffer the consequences of pandemic disease.

Join us at Making Worlds for a riveting discussion between author Edna Bonhomme and critic Kristen Martin about how capital shapes epidemics and pandemics past and present. 

Please register for the event here.

Through a series of generative writing prompts and discussion of poems that engage African-American ancestral narratives, poet and audio storyteller, Sojourner Ahebee, will guide workshop participants in identifying a single ancestral story that’s been important to their family or their family’s way of life, and support participants in generating a narrative poem to hold this precious story.

This workshop is limited to 15 participants. Register today to secure your spot!

Registration is appreciated!

More than fifty years after the declaration of the War on Cancer, we are nowhere closer to victory. The problem lies in the way cancer is understood and the “cancer-industrial complex” that has been established to address it. The cancer-industrial complex arises from the symbiosis of private corporations, nonprofit organizations such as universities and foundations, and public governmental regulatory bodies in the post-genomic era. This network profits off a vulnerable population who exist in a market that is structurally rigged against them given their physical and socioeconomic conditions. Under the auspices of scientific research and technological progress, much of which is well-meaning, a critical extortion takes place. 

Registration is appreciated. Donations through this link help us provide free event space to the broader community and sustain our programming efforts. We deeply appreciate your support!

Join us for a reading and discussion with Arjun Shankar, author of Brown Saviors and Their Others (Duke 2023).

Registration is appreciated!

Intro to Ayurveda is a teach-in about the healing methods brought to us by centuries of ancient wisdom from India. This workshop is an offering to the community to assist in self-healing during times of sickness and stress. Suggested donation 10 + dollars

Registration is appreciated!

Registration is appreciated.

Join Alex Stewart (Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance) for a discussion with Maliha Safri and Craig Borowiak on their book, Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation, co-authored with Marianna Pavlovskaya and Stephen Healy. With federal institutions under assault by regressive forces, cities offer vital spaces of economic solidarity and resistance. Focusing on Philadelphia, New York, and Worcester, Solidarity Cities maps hidden solidarity economies that sustain urban communities amid entrenched racial and economic fault lines.

Registration is appreciated!

Join us in welcoming filmmaker Gloria Rolando to Making Worlds for a screening of her film Reshipment (2014, documentary, 1 hour) with Q&A to follow. 

Gloria Rolando is an Afro-Cuban artist and activist whose work as a director spans over 35 years. Reshipment chronicles the journey of thousands of Haitians who traveled to Cuba in the early 20th century to find work and how this mass immigration has impacted Cuban culture today.

Doors at 5:30 PM. Screening begins at 6:00 PM.

Registration is appreciated!

Join us for a reading from the recently published A Black Philadelphia Reader with editor Louis Parascandola and authors Amy Jane Cohen and Yvonne. A landmark work featuring Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sonia Sanchez as well as numerous underrepresented Black Philadelphians, this collection is the first anthology of Black Philadelphia writers to ever be published.

Registration is appreciated!

Making Worlds is celebrating its five year anniversary this February! Join us Friday, February 14th from 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM for music, drinks, and samosas. 

Become a sustaining member today to receive a free drink at the event!

Registration is appreciated!

Join us for a discussion about Another World Is Possible and the lessons Americans can learn from other countries with author Natasha Hakimi Zapata in conversation with Kim Kelly, labor journalist and author of Fight Like Hell. Based on original reporting, Another World Is Possible examines innovative programs, in countries from Costa Rica to New Zealand, and Estonia to Singapore, that offer real-world solutions for public health, climate change, housing, education, addiction, and more.

REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED

Join us for an enlightening talk that delves into the revolutionary intersections of free jazz, Afro-Futurism, Afro-Presentism, and their deep connections to decolonial struggles in the United States. This discussion will explore the musical contributions of legendary artists like Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Max Roach, and Sun Ra, focusing on how their innovative sounds serve as both a cultural response to Black oppression and a powerful assertion of Black power. We will examine the origins of jazz, its evolution into free jazz, and its role as a vehicle for pro-Black and anti-colonial activism. 

REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED HERE

YES! is proud to release "Let's Talk About Abortion!"" by Isy Abraham-Raveson and Rebecca Klein - our new coloring book for kids featuring Philly sights and real people's abortion stories. We will read the book aloud, hold a Q+A, and provide a coloring station for folks to start making the book their own. Join us to build skills in talking about abortion with young people and to celebrate the importance of abortion care. All ages welcome!

REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED

Renowned theorist Anselm Jappe explains how contemporary capitalism has turned everyone into a narcissist.

The Greek myth of Erysichthon describes the fate of a king whose hunger drove him to eat until the only thing left to devour was himself. This image—of a society spiraling inexorably in a self-destructive dynamic—forms the starting point of Anselm Jappe’s investigation into the relationship between contemporary capitalism and subjectivity, or our personal experience of the world.

REGISTRATION IN ADVANCE APPRECIATED

Join Sophie Lewis, Jess X. Snow and Esteban Kelly in conversation with author Dean Spade author of Love in a F*cked up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together. 
Around the globe, people are faced with spiraling crises, from the pandemic and climate change-induced disasters to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, genocide, racist policing, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality.

REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED HERE 

*Please test, wear a N95 mask and don’t come if you are having any symptoms

Join us for this special standup comedy show featuring anti-zionist Jewish comedian Michael Schirtzer of The Palestine Pod. And for the first time EVER the standup debut of Mike Africa Jr.!!

The show will also feature a few local Philly comedians. Join us as we roast the state of affairs and laugh in the face of empire.

Michael Schirtzer is a standup comedian and Jewish antizionist activist for Palestine. His videos about Palestine and standup clips have garnered millions of views across various platforms. He is active with mutual aid groups in Los Angeles like Food Not Bombs.   Mike Africa Jr. is a Philadelphia legend, and currently the Legacy Director of MOVE.   The night will feature a few local Philly comedians.

Registration is appreciated here.

This study group is an invitation for care workers and care practitioners to come together in the pursuit of understanding the structures that undergird our systems of care, specifically the medical-industrial complex. Over the course of four sessions, we will read sections of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, to understand the impact of racial capitalism on our social and collective bodies. More information: honeyseeddeepcare@proton.me

* January 26th: Introductions + purpose of the group/space
* February 9th: Introduction + Digestive System
* February 23rd: Connective Tissue
* March 9th: Endocrine System + check in point

REGISTER FOR THIS STUDY GROUP HERE

Join Philly Socialists and South Philly Autonomous Cinema for a Gaza Benefit fundraiser screening of Divine Intervention (2002) from Palestinian director Elie Suleiman. Tickets $10-20 sliding! All proceeds to a couple of campaigns tied to Gaza Champions (https://www.championgaza.xyz/).

Divine Intervention is a surreal black comedy, offering up vignettes of Palestinian life. 
Palestinian director Elia Suleiman utilizes irreverence, wit, mysticism and insight to craft an intense, hallucinogenic, and extremely adept exploration of the dreams and nightmares of Palestinians and Israelis living in uncertain times.

You can directly donate to this fundraising at this link.

Registration to attend the event is appreciated, your contributions support the labor and maintenance of Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center.

Join us on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center for a special community pop-up event hosted by UC Green's Herb Bar! As winter settles in and the cold and flu season kicks into gear, take a moment to care for yourself and your loved ones at our Make and Take Tea Blend Station. Choose from a curated menu of herbal tea blends known for supporting immunity, fighting off colds and flu, and optimizing respiratory health. Whether you're seeking a soothing sip or a boost to your well-being, there's something for everyone.

This event is donation-based, with all funds raised going towards UC Green’s equity fund. Your contributions will help us remove barriers to planting in our community, including the removal of dead trees and grinding old tree stumps, ensuring a healthier, greener environment for all. Come for the tea, stay for the community, and support our mission to make our neighborhoods thrive!

You can donate directly to support UC Green here.

Registration to attend the event is appreciated, your contributions support the labor and maintenance of Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center.

Join Philadelphia Area Stitchers on Sunday, January 12th from 12 -3pm. Let’s get together for an afternoon filled with tatreez! If you practice tatreez please come and bring your project, along with your supplies…we’d love to hear and see what you are working on! Although this isn’t a tatreez class, if you don’t know how to tatreez you are still welcome to come! Our Tatreez Circles always serve as a safe space for pro-Palestinians. If you come remember to wear something Palestinian if you can, a thobe, keffiyeh, your favorite t-shirt…anything! This is a safe space for Palestinians and non-Palestinian allies as well. Hope to see you there!

Registration in advance is appreciated

Join artist, educator, and writer Dr. Kim Wilson for an in-person event to discuss her book, We Grow The World Together, co-edited with Maya Schenwar. This remarkable collection of essays includes contributions from some of the most influential abolitionist theorists and movement organizers. The essays illuminate the ways in which caregiving and struggles for liberation intertwine, offering both transformative ideas and practical tools for building new worlds even in the direst of circumstances. 

REGISTRATION IN ADVANCE IS APPRECIATED HERE

Join Philadelphia Area Stitchers on Saturday, December 21st from 12 -3pm. Let’s get together for an afternoon filled with tatreez! If you practice tatreez please come and bring your project, along with your supplies…we’d love to hear and see what you are working on! Although this isn’t a tatreez class, if you don’t know how to tatreez you are still welcome to come! Our Tatreez Circles always serve as a safe space for pro-Palestinians. If you come remember to wear something Palestinian if you can, a thobe, keffiyeh, your favorite t-shirt…anything! This is a safe space for Palestinians and non-Palestinian allies as well. Hope to see you there!

Registration in advance is appreciated

What the opioid epidemic teaches us about the addiction at the root of our social life—and how we free ourselves from it. Join us at Making Worlds in a conversation Annie Spencer author of How to Break an Addiction and David Spataro, organizer, and community college professor.

REGISTRATION IN ADVANCE APPRECIATED

How To Break An Addiction paints an original and dynamic portrait of the nature of the opioid crisis while offering original commentary on what the crisis portends about the present historical conjuncture. Interrogating long- and short-run, macro and micro, national and global, structural and personal factors, it takes the ongoing US opioid crisis as a jumping off point to illustrate the profound conclusion: capitalism at its core is an addiction.