On how to live while being thrown away: Black people who use drugs and the politics of anti-disposability, North Philadelphia, circa 2007 to 2010

Drawing on 3 years of fieldwork (2007-2010) in North Central Philadelphia with homeless and transiently-housed Black people who use drugs, this article explores the politics of mutual aid and community survival during a period of city-sponsored redevelopment. Drawing on Black feminist theory, I show how this community responded to and resisted their marginalization from urban space and Philadelphia history through developing a theory and practice of collective care. Resisting narratives that would position them as worthless throwaways, my informants responded to and reworked dominant narratives about what being a Black person who uses drugs means. As redevelopment threatened their neighborhood with increasing velocity, I reflect on how policing and incarceration disrupted my informants'-and my-relationship to history and urban space. I argue that in the shooting galleries, I learned the politics of anti-disposability: the right to live (and not just die) a junky.

Automated summary

Based on a three-year fieldwork in North Central Philadelphia, this article investigates the politics of mutual aid and community survival among homeless and transiently-housed Black drug users in the context of city-sponsored redevelopment. Drawing on Black feminist theory, the study reveals how this community developed a theory and practice of collective care to resist marginalization and challenged dominant narratives about their identity. The article also reflects on the impact of policing and incarceration on the relationship with history and urban space.