‘How We Stay Free’

Philadelphia

“How We Stay Free,” a photo and video exhibition featuring Mike Arrison, Harvey Finkle, Joe Piette and Sunny Singh, opened to a lively crowd at the TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image in Philadelphia on April 9. The not to be missed program runs through June 27, 2026, at 1400 N. American Street.

The program was hosted in partnership with educator and activist Christopher R. Rogers, who published “How We Stay Free: Notes on A Black Uprising” in 2022. Rogers was inspired by the movements in response to the murders of George Floyd, Walter Wallace Jr., and other Black people. The book archived community resistance and featured contributions from artists, writers, poets and scholars.

The photo exhibition of the same name explores the legacy of civil disobedience in Philadelphia through the lens of these photographers and videographers and their powerful images of Black Lives Matter protests, demands for Palestinian liberation, and actions against gentrification, including the No Arena in Chinatown movement.

Spanning several decades, the images, in color and black and white, show activists from earlier peace movements; demonstrations for the MOVE organization and against police brutality; a takeover of City Hall by workers with disabilities; marches for workers’ right to unionize; and more.

Taken together, the images on the gallery walls stress the power of a collective response in order for people to be free. Many of the people who came to see the exhibition were excited to find themselves captured in the images.

While the photos from Arrison, Finkle and Piette were displayed on several walls of the exhibit, one area was set aside for an amazing interactive installation titled Thread of Resistance created by videographer Sunny Singh.

The viewer can select from pinpoints on the screen divided by their focus on struggles against police brutality, abolition of prisons, solidarity with Palestine, protests for housing rights and against gentrification and more. Videos of speakers from those struggles appear on the large wall.

Movement Photographers of Philadelphia

The four participants in the exhibition are members of Movement Photographers of Philadelphia, a collective of photographers and videographers dedicated to documenting movements for social change in Philadelphia. They document marches, rallies, vigils, sit-ins, meetings, blockades, etc. The group has covered movements for immigrant rights, labor, racial equity, climate change and environmental justice, anti-fascism and poverty — struggles that are interconnected.

Some of the first black-and-white photographs one sees upon entering the exhibition are the works of the group’s 93-year-old member Harvey Finkle, one of Philadelphia’s most well-known photographers, with numerous books published of his work.

Over the decades Finkle helped establish the Bread and Roses Community Fund and worked with various social justice organizations, including Disabled in Action, Project HOME, Kensington Welfare Rights Union and Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty. In the 1980s he began documenting the experiences of newly arriving immigrant communities in Philadelphia.

Following the birth of his two children, who were both born deaf, Finkle became an activist for the deaf community. His support for disabled rights was also reflected through several photos documenting a “sleepover” by disabled workers at Philadelphia City Hall.

Photojournalist Joe Piette, whose work is regularly featured in Workers World newspaper, has gathered nearly 35,000 photos of protests, demonstrations and political gatherings. These photographs serve as a visual tool against capitalism and imperialism.They capture anti-racist, anti-war, pro-labor, environmental and social justice causes, especially the movement for Palestine and freedom for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Piette was born in Canada to Québécois parents and moved to the U.S. as a child. He was drafted into the Air Force during the Vietnam War and felt compelled to challenge the forces behind that unjust war after returning home. He worked as a letter carrier for 30 years until retiring in 2011, allowing him to more actively pursue his love of photography. Piette is active with several groups including Workers World Party, Mobilization4Mumia and the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Mike Arrison is an activist of Irish and Puerto Rican heritage. He studied art throughout high school and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a photography program at Drexel University. The first protest he photographed was the Occupy Movement in 2011.

Arrison’s display included both color prints and black-and-white photos from the encampment for Palestine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2024.

Filmmaker Sunny Singh is the creative force behind hate5six, a YouTube channel focused on producing and archiving live hardcore punk performances. Having filmed over 7,300 performances, Singh uses videography to amplify marginalized voices and images from the front lines of various movements.

He regularly produces short films in solidarity with various Indigenous liberation struggles, including a recent interview with Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier, who was released in 2025 after nearly 50 years in prison. He also livestreams the annual National Day of Mourning protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Singh’s work has been featured in Rolling Stone and The New Yorker. His project with Rage Against the Machine was recognized by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

For more information on Movement Photographers of Philadelphia, go to @phillymovementphotographers. Contact by Email at [email protected].