This essay explores the collective worldmaking practices of an online community created for and around chronic illness and disability, hosted on the social media platform Discord. By employing digital ethnographic methods, I analyze alternative communication practices common to the group as resistance to dominant societal norms. Drawing from public sphere theory, I argued that, through the collective generation of shared normative understandings, this group constitutes an enclaved disabled counterpublic in which new forms of accessibility and citizenship are (re)imagined. I identify the group's creative communication practices centering around alternative norms of disclosure, epistemology, and temporality. Consequently, this essay demonstrates how such communication practices operate as a kind of disabled resistance, explaining how disabled collectives resist violence from hegemonic structures and elaborate shared worlds through communicative action. To this end, I suggest that this Discord server further provides understandings for how disabled counterpublics creatively operate in and imagine futures outside of neoliberal societies.

Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother offers a profound exploration of systemic oppression and the transformative power of storytelling in empowering marginalized communities. Through the narrative of Mandisa, a Xhosa mother reflecting on her son’s involvement in a tragic murder, Magona gives voice to the silenced experiences of black South African women during apartheid. Framed as a letter to the victim’s mother, the story fosters a dialogue that bridges personal grief with collective historical trauma, while highlighting the resilience of marginalized communities in the face of systemic injustice. The concept of “unsilencing” is central to Magona’s work, emphasizing the reclamation of erased voices and histories as a means of fostering social change. By addressing themes of motherhood, identity, and survival, Mother to Mother demonstrates how personal narratives can inspire empathy and collective reflection. Mandisa’s story showcases maternal resilience as a form of resistance and highlights how communities, despite enduring structural violence, find ways to foster solidarity and empowerment. This presentation will explore Mother to Mother as an example of social innovation through literature, illustrating how storytelling can drive social change by amplifying marginalized voices and promoting cross-cultural understanding. By engaging with Magona’s narrative, the audience will examine the role of personal and communal stories in addressing social issues, empowering communities, and fostering inclusive, community-driven solutions. This discussion aims to inspire reflection on how narratives of resilience and empowerment can promote justice and systemic transformation.

Archaeological sites in Jamaica represent 2,500 years of human occupation on the island. However, unlike in some global regions (Moshenka 2017), to date there has been comparatively little attempt at communicating archaeological research to broader publics (Atkinson 2006). My ethnographic research examines public perceptions of archaeology, the past, and heritage sites in Jamaica. Influenced by recent literature on public archaeology and on praxis anthropology, my research has two main goals. Primarily, I will utilize ethnographic methods to a) explore current perceptions of archaeology among Jamaicans in Kingston and in rural communities. I wish to garner public opinion surrounding the preservation of historical sites and ascertain the overall public opinion on the importance of properly maintaining material culture. Second, I will create proposals for and engage in community outreach directly connected to a forthcoming bioarchaeological project (called Past Ports), this project investigates migrations in the western Caribbean. I have been graciously invited to collaborate with this research project to develop public-facing programs that raise awareness about archaeological research and heritage resources on the island. My research draws on recent scholarship in public archaeology and praxis anthropology. However, rather than imposing a model for public archaeology from elsewhere, my proposals for longer term community engagement activities will be grounded in and informed by the interests of community members and heritage professionals in Jamaica. Literature Cited Atkinson, Lesley-Gail, ed. 2006. The earliest inhabitants: The dynamics of the Jamaican Taino. University of West Indies Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Moshenka, Gabriel 2017 Key Concepts in Public Archaeology UCL Press, London.