Join Us in making Black Noise ****

Join Us in making Black Noise ****

Collective Climb empowers youth and communities in Philadelphia through community-based and diversionary implementations of restorative justice

< Hear from Gaia, an alum of the Restorative Community Project, on what this means >

Note: Only press play if you are in a place safe for expressions of Black joy

  • Black Noise

    I feel the scattered rustling

    of Poplar trees

    As I listen to my tape CD

    Black noise

    They type you feel

    You don’t necessarily hear

    But it is enjoyed

    Black noise runs through generations

    Through blood streams

    The same way our blood streamed

    Down poplar trees

    It streams through my tape CD effortlessly

    In my mind it plays on rewind

    Our excellency

    I cannot shake this noise

    It is embedded in me

    It is my tendency

    to honor everything before me

    Through my being

    It is my fire

    It is my choir

    That sing ancestral melodies

    It is the sound

    That is my reminder

    That something has been passed down to me

    And everytime I happen

    To listen to my tape CD

    I’m reminded of the rustling of poplar trees

    And I can only call it

    Black Noise

So What do we do ?

  • The Restorative Community Project (RCP) is our paid fellowship for BIPOC teen girls/femmes to consider how restorative practices can transform us, our relationships, and the neighborhoods we call home.

  • The Restorative Justice Diversion Program tends to felony-level harm in the community, not the carceral system by receiving referrals from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for arrested youth and the person they harmed. Once the responsible party has practiced direct accountability and both parties have the material and emotional support needed to thrive, we close the case. Participants have their records expunged 6-months upon completion.


  • The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) grants graduates of RCP or the diversion program paid opportunities to organize events or co-facilitate cases for our diversion program.

  • Collective Kickbacks are community events/workshops designed to bridge relational gaps by building trust and centering joy.

When meeting young people, families, and survivors for the first time, we often ask: What is the story behind your name? This question is to say, we genuinely want to know about you, your lineage, and the dreams they had for your existence. As such, we want to tell the story of our name:

“woforo dua pa a, na yepia wo”

“If you climb a good tree, we will lift you up.”

In essence, we are climbing towards a world where the only systems are those cultivated out of love for each other.

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