ERIKA CHONG SHUCH | INTERVIEWED BY ROWENA RICHIE PHOTO BY HECTOR ZAVALA
labor through the lens of Black women’s experiences. Driven by archival research (material and embod- ied) and site-respon- sive performance, and grounded in the principles of commu- nity-based participa- tory dance research, ICHW collabora- tors connect the sto- ries of women past and present to sites in Atlanta embedded with their carceral labor. Like GAIPP, our collective is made up of dance artists, archivists, activists, educators, architects, histori- ans, and justice-im- pacted citizens who endeavor together
changes and budget cuts to fed- eral institutions like the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Parks Service, the Depart- ment of Education, and the National Archives and Records Administra- tion to name a few. They introduced a long list of words and phrases used to review federally funded programs like the NSF, including “women,” “race,” ”black,” “diver- sity,” “historically,” “cultural dif- ferences,” and many more. 9 These words allow us to name our experi- ence and hold institutions account- able to the way they treat us. By using these words to flag and dis- mantle programs, the Trump admin- istration has now weaponized these words in the effort to erase the expe- riences of anyone that is not like them. When systems of oppression attempt to disembody us from our experiences, past and present, it puts our future in jeopardy. Dance keeps us in our bodies. It lets us connect. It is a way to remember who we are. I am grateful for every collabora- tor, mentor, and ancestor who has helped cultivate embodied memory work practices as modes of vision- ing. Now, more than ever, I under- stand what my father knew, we need to look back to move forward. JULIE B. JOHNSON , PHD, is a dance artist and educator whose work centers on participatory dance and embodied memory mapping to am- plify the histories, lived experiences, and bodily knowledge of Black women as a strategy to- wards collective liberation for all. She does this work joyfully with community partners through her creative practice, Moving Our Stories (es- tablished in 2015), and at Spelman College where she serves as an Assistant Professor of the Department of Dance Performance & Chore- ography. She brings this work to the publishing realm as a Co-Founder/Consulting Editor of The Dancer-Citizen, an online open-access schol- arly dance journal exploring the work of socially engaged artists. Julie earned a PhD in Dance Studies at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.
Cover of Dr. Julie B. Johnson's father's book, published 2009, featuring the author's great great grandparents.
in the labor camps by sabotaging equipment, burning prison uni- forms, and protesting corporeal punishment (whippings). Working on GAIPP changed me at a cellular level, I will never see this country the same way again. In conjunction with my partic- ipation in GAIPP, I initiated Idle Crimes & Heavy Work through my creative practice, Moving Our Stories and worked with key Atlanta-based community partners such as Giwayen Mata (an “all- sistah, dance, percussion, and vocal ensemble”) and The Chattahoochee Brick Company Descendants Coa- lition (a grassroots organization working to honor and preserve sites built by convict labor), to name a few. 7 Idle Crimes & Heavy Work (ICHW) is a collaborative dance research endeavor that explores Georgia’s history of incarcerated 7 I give thanks to these wonderful thought partners and collaborators; Tambra Omiyale Harris, Artistic Director of Giwayan Mata; Donna Stephens and Genia Billingsley who created the Chattachoochee Brick Company Descendants Coaltion; Victoria Lemos, historian, tour guide, and host of the Archive Atlanta Podcast; Robert Thompson, historian and tour guide with Insight Cultural Tourism; and the team of Community Visioners, including: Lauren Neefe, Holly Smith, Dr. shady Radical, Dr. Vernelle Noel, Hawkins, and Christiana McLeod Horn.
to understand our own relationship to the U.S. carceral system – how it has impacted us and our communi- ties as citizens of this country built on forced labor and entangled in the prison industrial complex. We use embodied memory mapping, archi- val research, interactive performance, workshops, dance films, and com- munity gatherings to build empathic bridges of connection between past and present. We dedicate our own creative labor to restoring erased his- tories and emblazoning the experi- ences of incarcerated Black women on the cityscapes of our community as an act of resistance through com- munal dances of love, liberation, and joy. 8 We look backwards to reckon with the past, and along the way, we discover ancestors’ strategies of survival that may be the key to our future liberation. As I write this, the Trump admin- istration is conducting rapid, wide- sweeping, and devastating policy
9 Joel Achenbach, “Here are the Words Putting Science in the Crosshairs of Trump’s Orders.” Washington Post . Feb 4, 2025; Karen Yourish, Annie Daniel, et al. “These Words are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration.” The New York Times . Mar 7, 2025.
8 This sentence also appears on the author’s website, www.juliebjohnson.com, www.idlecrimes.com, and in previous publications.
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