The Zip Code Memory Project: Practices of Justice and Repair

02/17/2025

FIVE YEARS AFTER COVID LOCKDOWN
THE ZIP CODE MEMORY PROJECT AND
WHY MEMORY MATTERS SO MUCH NOW

Join Us in New Haven for a Screening of Together, Not Alone & A Roundtable On Why Memory Matters Now.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 — 3:15 Pm to 6:00pm
Yale University HQ L90 — 320 York Street, Lower Level

The Zip Code Memory Project was a Social Engagement Project that sought to find community-based ways to memorialize the devastating losses resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic while also acknowledging its radically unequal effects on Upper New York City neighborhoods. Our efforts resulted in two years of art-based community-building, a film, and an exhibition at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine. That was then. Now, at five years after lockdown, there is even more need to remember how social and economic differences determined what we went through, insisting on a better path and imagining justice and repair.
 
SCHEDULE
3:15: WELCOME
3:30 – 4:15:  TOGETHER, NOT ALONE 
Screening and Talkback with Filmmakers JUDITH HELFAND and GABRIELA CANAL
4:15 – 4:30:  Participatory Exercise
Led By Performance Artist MARÍA JOSÉ CONTRERAS, Columbia University
4:30 – 6:00:  Roundtable and Audience Discussion with The Zip Code Memory Project;
Moderator: Matthew Jacobson, Yale University
MARIANNE HIRSCH, Columbia University
SUSAN MEISELAS, Artist
LORIE NOVAK, Artist
ISIN ONOL, Curator, The School of Visual Arts
LAURA WEXLER, Yale University

06/30/2024

We at the Zip Code Memory Project mourn the passing of our friend and collaborator, activist and community organizer Dr. Marilu De Jesus Galvan. Her life’s work will forever pulsate in all we do whenever we create in community, and she will forever be in our hearts.

From the Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano .dominicano
English:
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Dr. Marilu Galvan. She was our executive director, senior member of the board of directors, founding member of Centro Civico and life-long active member of multiple hispanic community organizations: Lawyers association, Lion’s Club in uptown Manhattan, desfile de la hispanidad, etc. She was born in Santo Domingo, DR and at age 12 she immigrated with her family to New York. She obtained her basic education at the Jesus & Mary Academy in Massachusetts and the Joan of Arc School in Manhattan. She obtained her B.S. in City College, a Masters of education from NYU, and a J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School. She was a trained educator who worked in all levels of education: elemental, intermedial, and high school, which was the most important part of her teaching journey as she dedicated most of her time and efforts in that school level. Multiple generations of youngsters were her students at both Brandeis High School and George Washington High School. She was also an adjunct professor at John Jay College. She was a real activist and community organizer whose main objective was the education and empowerment of the community. She is survived by her two children, Lisandra and Carlos Alberto Ramos, husband Dr. Manuel Acevedo, and 5 grandchildren.

📷 by

03/06/2024

SUNDAY MARCH DAY 2-4 p.m. FREE
In Person at JCC Harlem. Together, Not Alone
https://mmjccm.org/programs/together-not-alone-jcc-harlem-film-screening-family-workshop-4th-anniversary-covid-19

– A kid-friendly event devoted to remembering and unmasking our collective COVID-19 experience on the fourth anniversary of the pandemic and the NYC lockdown. Together with film director and activist (and ZCMP film director) Judith Helfand, JCC Harlem staff, individuals, members of families (chosen and kin), friends, neighbors, and community leaders, along with elected officials and public health leaders, will have an opportunity to take the time and find the courage to recall the harsh revelations laid bare by COVID-19. Co-sponsored by JCC Harlem and SAJ

This family-friendly event, partially funded by JustFilms/The Ford Foundation, grew out of the mission and vision of The Zip Code Memory Project.

We will screen the ZCMP Together, Not Alone, a 19-minute short film about a group of New Yorkers [strangers at first] who break their COVID-19 isolation together, not alone
https://mmjccm.org/programs/together-not-alone-jcc-harlem-film-screening-family-workshop-4th-anniversary-covid-19

10/23/2023

george emilio sanchez - November 3 in Harlem!

Join us for 'In the Court of the Conqueror' by george emilio sanchez, a powerful exploration of Native Nations' struggle for justice and sovereignty on Nov 3.

09/20/2023

Repost from
•
Recovery in Practice. A three-day gathering at Columbia University.

Connect with artists, activists, and researchers with lived experiences of recovery as they share their stories. Join The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities for three days of workshops, hot supper, art events, coffee tastings, and panels exploring what it means to practice recovery, create art, and build community. 

September 21-23 | The Forum at Columbia University | New York City

Please note that this event is open to the public, but registration is required.  

Event link: https://sofheyman.org/events/recovery-in-practice

07/22/2023

A much later . Repost from ❤️
•
For , we're honoring for their incredible work memorializing the devastating losses from the COVID-19 pandemic on Upper New York City neighborhoods.

Through art-based workshops, public events, social media platforms, and exhibitions, imagines zip codes not as zones of separation, but as interrelated spaces for connectivity and mutual care.

📸 by Sylvia Riveros ()

06/06/2023

Tonight! June 6, 6 pm ♥️ Rehearsing the Future at The Coop

Hemispheric Encounters Co-Investigators María José Contreras and Diana Taylor will share their work on The Zip Code Memory Project

This session will be presented in English with automated English transcription.

Rehearsing the Future at The Coop
Tuesday, June 6
6 - 7:15 PM ET

The Coop is a monthly virtual get-together for the Hemispheric Encounters Network (HEN) to present their research and works in progress to the artists/activists/academics/students involved with Hemi Encounters. Each month, a different participant or a panel will present their work in an informal, supportive setting.

04/04/2023

Join us in person ❣️

April 12, 2023
4:30-8 pm
The Forum, Columbia University

Co-sponsored by

04/03/2023

✨JOIN US APRIL 12 ✨

Join The Zip Code Memory Project as We Wrap Up and Reflect in Conversation with Related Pandemic Initiatives

4:30 - 5:45

RECEPTION AND REUNION
Enter our time capsule and Talk to the Future with Maria José Contreras

5:45 - 7:30

The launch of our new ZCMP website, zcmp.org
A showing of our short film, TOGETHER, NOT ALONE
Short presentations of related Pandemic initiatives:

A/P/A Voices – A COVID-19 Public Memory Project
Black America and Covid
NYC Pandemic Response Institute
NYC Covid-19 Oral History, Narrative and Memory Archive
Confronting Covid-19 Loss in Harlem.

7:30 - 8:00

Closing performance by Sing Harlem Choir.

📍The Forum, Columbia University, 601 W 125th St
🗓️ Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 4-30-8:00 pm

Co-sponsored by

04/01/2023

JOIIN US Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 4:30-8:00 PM
What We COULD Do:
The Zip Code Memory Project in Conversation with Related Pandemic Initiatives
The Forum, Columbia University, 601 W 125th St.

For the last two years the Zip Code Memory Project found ways to memorialize the devastating losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic while also acknowledging its radically differential effects on Upper New York City neighborhoods.

Please join us on April 12th as we wrap up and reflect on our project and meet related New York City Pandemic Initiatives.

4:30 – 5:45
RECEPTION AND REUNION
Enter our time capsule and Talk to the Future with Maria José Contreras

5:45 – 7:30
The launch of our new ZCMP website, zcmp.org
A showing of our short film, TOGETHER, NOT ALONE
Short presentations of related Pandemic initiatives
> A/P/A Voices – A COVID-19 Public Memory Project
> Black America and Covid
> NYC Pandemic Response Institute
> NYC Covid-19 Oral History, Narrative and Memory Archive
Confronting Covid-19 Loss in Harlem.

7:30 – 8:00
Closing performance by Sing Harlem Choir.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-we-could-do-the-zip-code-memory-project-in-conversation-tickets-598555444447> >

A special event at the Forum to celebrate our community and reflect on the pandemic through art, conversation, a screening, and reception.