Nuance, Encounter and Restorative Justice: How the Black Horsemen of Philadelphia reshape mythic narratives and reclaim spatial agency

If woven together, the three stories I have told within the three dissertation articles produce a historical, cultural and personal product for the Black horse riding community and for the city of Philadelphia. Throughout the research process, I documented and also helped create community. As a neighborhood non-profit, the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club (FSURC) builds social capital daily. I was able to assist club members during speaking engagements at educational institutions, community gatherings and fundraisers. The core of environmental justice work rests within the community it creates. The eventual culmination of these three articles tell the story of on-the-ground activism in conjunction with academic analysis. My positionality as researcher sometimes helped, and other times hindered the organizational process as I learned how to facilitate less and listen more. In the end, my role became that of a storyteller: which is an organizational tactic on its own. The formalization of the FSURC as an institution was further established, and new stories (such as the “ride out” to the Laurel Hill East Cemetery) were created based on research findings. The stories contained within the three articles matter on their own, and as a collection. In academia, stories can clarify the ways in which the personal and theoretical coexist.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Berne, Courtney

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Shell, Jacob, 1983-

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hayes-Conroy, Allison, 1981-
• Chmara-Huff, Fletcher
• Attoh, Kafui Ablode, 1983-

• Geography
• African American studies
• Environmental justice
• Cowboy
• Ethnography
• Horsemen
• Kinship
• Map
• Philadelphia

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/11292

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/11292