Episode 1
Christopher R. Rogers and Kevin Upshur are dedicated organizers working in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood in Philadelphia PA. They represent over 40 years of wisdom gained through their activism in cultural, justice, and youth spaces.
Bios
Christopher R. Rogers, Coordinator, Friends of the Tanner House
Christopher R. Rogers, Ph.D is a Philadelphia-based cultural organizer and educator hailing from Chester, PA with more than a decade of experience in supporting radical arts, culture, and community-building. He's currently a facilitator with the W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School for Abolition & Reconstruction and co-coordinates the Friends of the Tanner House, Inc, incubating a revitalized National Historic Landmark rowhome that Dr. Carter G. Woodson once dubbed the "center of Black intellectual life in Philadelphia." His most recent book, My City Need Something: Portraits and Prose For Black Existence (Common Notions, 2026), is a call-and-response collaboration with photographer karim brown, creating a contemporary portrait of present-day Black Philadelphia.
Kevin Upshur, Founder, Strawberry Mansion Learning Center
Kevin Upshur has worked with young people for many years and has always had a vision to encourage people in his community to read. He is a graduate of Strawberry Mansion High school, and later on attended Cheyney University. For over 13 years Kevin has worked with the troubled youth, and has seen the need for guidance. His mother has always encouraged him to help and guide the young males into the right direction. In her honor he decided to transform the bar once operated and owned by his mother into a Community Learning Center. The Strawberry Mansion Learning Center is a positive resource that is dedicated to helping others and making the Strawberry Mansion area a better place.