1838BlackMetropolis

For America’s 250, we refused a simple celebration.

We chose to ask a harder question—how was democracy actually built?

And then we chose to answer it the only way that made sense: from the ground up.

We built curriculum rooted in place, in people, in practice.
We placed it in the hands of teachers so it could move beyond us.

We centered students—because they have always been at the center of this story.

We opened the door through the Institute for Colored Youth.

We brought Octavius Catto and Caroline LeCount into the room—not as distant figures, but as presence, as challenge.

We carried this work into schools. Then into the streets.

Over 350 students walked the Black Metropolis—
tracing the ground where democracy was being built in real time.

And we brought them to Mother Bethel—
not just as a site, but as a living record of what it means to build anyway.

To organize anyway.
To claim space anyway.

Now, we bring it all together.

A graduation.
A public examination.
A return to a tradition that never disappeared—only waited to be remembered.

This is not just history. This is practice. This is ICY.

Get your tickets now; link in bio.

💫 Collab Shoutouts

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

School District of Philadelphia

Mother Bethel

Black Journey Walking Tour

✨ What happens when a young person sees themselves in the past for the first time?

For 2026, we wanted students to see that history is not distant. It belongs to them.

So we brought two graduates of Philadelphia’s Institute for Colored Youth back into the classroom. Through historical reenactment, students met Caroline LeCount and Octavius Catto and heard them reflect on what it was like growing up in Philadelphia in the 1850s and 1860s.

This week our reenactors visited Mastbaum, SLA Beeber, and Olney High School, where students asked thoughtful questions and went deep into the history.

🎥 Footage courtesy of the Mastbaum Film & Video Program supported by WHYY

Huge thanks to Ms. Walker, Dr. Kenney, and Ms. Zieve for making this possible for their students.

And deep gratitude to the Philadelphia Funders Collective and the School District of Philadelphia.

Because when students meet the young people who came before them, the past suddenly feels alive and the story becomes their own.

📍 Philadelphia
📚 Institute for Colored Youth

PublicHistory 1838BlackMetropolis TeachBlackHistory HistoryMatters

9th and Lombard was liberation HQ in the 19th century. First the Creole affair was motivated by picture of Cinque in Robert Purvis’ house at this location in 1841 (See or blog on that). And in 1858 John Brown, Henry Highland Garnet, William Still, and Stephen Smith met at Stephen Smith’s house. they were probably talking about the upcoming raid on Harper‘s Ferry. This is just one of those incredible spots that will be visiting and talking about on our new Arrivals tour which will launch in the spring.

explains the energy that we feel when we walk the spaces the ancestors walked. This is why we say that we reclaim these spaces because energy never dies, and we say their names in these spaces so that we can come closer to vibrating along with them, this is a belief, a core belief of 1838 Black Metropolis.

We are in deep appreciation to brother Umoja and sister Dr walls for the invite into this program and for the Love. Thank you! 🙏🏽