Attendees of The Clearing Retreat hosted by ConsenSIS in July 2022 at Awbury Arboretum in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tieshka K. Smith.

Attendees of The Clearing Retreat hosted by ConsenSIS in July 2022 at Awbury Arboretum in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tieshka K. Smith.

Trapeta Mayson, Ursula Rucker, and Yolanda Wisher in Germantown, 2015. Mark Palacio.

Trapeta Mayson, Ursula Rucker, and Yolanda Wisher in Germantown, 2015. Mark Palacio.

“Sistren: Black Women Writers at the Inauguration of Sister President Johnnetta B. Cole” 1988. Top row: Louise Meriwether, Pinkie Gordon Lane, Johnnetta Cole and Paula Giddings. Middle row: Pearl Cleage, Gwendolyn Brooks and Toni Cade Bambara. Bottom

“Sistren: Black Women Writers at the Inauguration of Sister President Johnnetta B. Cole” 1988. Top row: Louise Meriwether, Pinkie Gordon Lane, Johnnetta Cole and Paula Giddings. Middle row: Pearl Cleage, Gwendolyn Brooks and Toni Cade Bambara. Bottom row: Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Mari Evans. Susan J. Ross.

1988 Nassau Bahamas, Essence Writers' Retreat. Seated from left: Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Betty Winston Baye, Stephanie Stokes Oliver, Sonia Sanchez, Thulani Davis, Ntozake Shange, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Bebe Moore Campbell. Second row, from left: Toni

1988 Nassau Bahamas, Essence Writers' Retreat. Seated from left: Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Betty Winston Baye, Stephanie Stokes Oliver, Sonia Sanchez, Thulani Davis, Ntozake Shange, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Bebe Moore Campbell. Second row, from left: Toni Cade Bambara, Elsie Washington, Barbara Smith, Marlene NorbeSe Philip, Bonnie Allen, Sherley Anne Williams, Cheryll Y. Greene, Ayesha Grice, Phyl Garland, Ivy Young, Elaine Brown. Last row: from left Susan L. Taylor, Lena G. Sherrod, Renita Weems, Jean Wiley, Audrey Edwards, Jill Nelson, Vertamae Grosvenor, Octavia Butler, & Lucille Clifton. Octavia E Butler Legacy Network and The Free Black Women's Library

Members of The Sisterhood, 1977. Front row from left: Nana Maynard, Ntozake Shange, Louise Meriwether. Back row from left: Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Alice Walker, Audrey Edwards, Toni Morrison and June Jordan. Harvard University, Schlesinger Library

Members of The Sisterhood, 1977. Front row from left: Nana Maynard, Ntozake Shange, Louise Meriwether. Back row from left: Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Alice Walker, Audrey Edwards, Toni Morrison and June Jordan. Harvard University, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

The Combahee River Collective in 1974. Left to right bottom: Demita Frazier and Helen Stewart. Left to right top: Margo Okazawa-Rey, Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, Chirlane McCray, and Mercedes Tompkins. Margo Okazawa-Rey.

The Combahee River Collective in 1974. Left to right bottom: Demita Frazier and Helen Stewart. Left to right top: Margo Okazawa-Rey, Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, Chirlane McCray, and Mercedes Tompkins. Margo Okazawa-Rey.

June Jordan, Alice Walker, Lucille Clifton and Audre Lorde sing together at the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival in 1973. Emory Libraries.

June Jordan, Alice Walker, Lucille Clifton and Audre Lorde sing together at the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival in 1973. Emory Libraries.

Margaret Walker (pointing) with Mari Evans, Sonia Sanchez and June Jordan at Phillis Wheatley Festival, 1973. Roy Lewis.

Margaret Walker (pointing) with Mari Evans, Sonia Sanchez and June Jordan at Phillis Wheatley Festival, 1973. Roy Lewis.

LISTEN: HOLD STEADY

Audio excerpt from “Sisterly Affection,” a monumental soundscape created by ConsenSIS with composer Kendrah Butler-Waters in Fall 2022.