Come Share This Moment: Joyful Abundance, June 6, Philadelphia-Five poets, five composers, and the extraordinary voices of the Mendelssohn Chorus by Octavia McBride-Ahebee

 For the better part of a year, I’ve been quietly working on a project that has meant a great deal to me, and I’m pleased to finally share it with you.

I was honored to be one of five poets commissioned by the Mendelssohn Chorus as part of its Joyful Abundance initiative, a major artistic work commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Each of us was paired with a composer and a poet mentor to create an original piece that will be performed by the Mendelssohn Chorus, which consists of 150 voices and this year celebrates its 152nd anniversary.

My poem invites us to acknowledge that while the nation’s founding carried both promise and contradiction, many descendants of those excluded from its earliest vision have helped bring its ideals closer to reality.

As we reflect on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “America’s Civilized “by Harmonia Rosales reminds us that the nation’s story has always been shaped by Indigenous and African peoples, even when history sought to place them at its margins.

The collaborative process has been deeply affirming. To write in conversation with composers and poet mentors, thinking together about this country’s ideals, contradictions, exclusions, and possibilities, has felt like a rare gift.

And yet, there is also a particular vulnerability in this process. One turns over not only words, but intentions and emotional truths to another artistic body to bring to life in its own way. In my case, I will not hear how the chorus has interpreted and rendered my piece until just two days before the public performance.

Rosales’ “Perseverance on Turbulent Waters” is an homage to survival: to those who endured displacement, violence, and rupture and still carried memory, and hope forward.

There is trust in that and anticipation too and perhaps even a little trembling.

I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

In addition to sharing information about the project and how you can attend the public performance, I’m also sharing artwork by Harmonia Rosales, an artist who should absolutely be on everyone’s radar. Her work powerfully evokes the histories, beauty, resilience, and presence of Indigenous and African peoples whose labor, lives, and cultures were foundational to the making of this country, even as they were so often erased from its official narratives.

Please join me and many others for the public performance of this extraordinary project, Joyful Abundance, on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at 4:00 p.m., here in Philadelphia. I would love to share this moment with you. Below is a link where you can learn more about the project and find information about attending the performance. Mendelssohn Chorus

If you’re interested in attending and would like a 50% discount code for tickets, feel free leave a comment below, and I’ll gladly send one along.

Here is a link to learn more about her work: Harmonia Rosales

*Take a moment too to explore my content on Substack:

https://octaviamcbride.substack.com/p/the-last-king-of-rwanda-a-story-of

A New Nonfiction Piece in Philadelphia Stories by Octavia McBride-Ahebee

 

Honored to be included in the current issue of Philadelphia Stories. Grateful to share a piece rooted in West Philadelphia and Caribbean foodways.

Earlier, I shared that I had a nonfiction piece published in the latest issue of Philadelphia Stories.  Physical copies were distributed earlier throughout many branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia system and cafes. I’m happy to share that the issue is now available online for free. See link below:

There’s something beautiful about seeing local stories

moving through local hands;

 a reader with the latest issue 

of Philadelphia Stories in a South Philadelphia café.

In the piece, I write about an unplanned visit to a small Dominican meat market in West Philadelphia, where I was welcomed by a lovely Jamaican elder. The essay reflects on layered diasporic histories shaped by colonialism, heard in the mingling of languages and accents flowing through the tight aisles of Caribbean foods. Yet what remains most vivid is the joy found in shared oxtail and chicken feet recipes, the echoes of Igbo tongues braided with Irish brogues, all moving to the rhythm of merengue, in a West Philadelphia Black neighborhood.

Link to current issue of Philadelphia Stories: Current Issue of Philadelphia Stores

Named a PA Humanities Window Keeper Civic Honoree

PA Humanities inaugural Window Keeper: Civic Honorees. Honored to be included. Here is a link to learn more: The Window Keepers

What does it mean to be recognized as an individual for work that is deeply collective?

I’m grateful to share that I’ve been selected by PA Humanities as one of its inaugural Window Keeper: Civic Honorees, a recognition of everyday leaders across Pennsylvania whose work strengthens community life and civic imagination.

While this honor is awarded to me as an individual, I am especially moved that one of the projects cited is a collaboration that involved many including poets Yolanda Wisher and Enoch the Poet.

I was part of a phenomenal team of Philly poets, students, and community partners whose work led to my students’ poems being installed in a local playground which is an act of placing young voices into public space and affirming that their words matter. This project, like so much of my work, is never mine alone.

That is the spirit that shapes my practice. Whether through short fiction, audio storytelling, or community-based projects, I work in relationship with history, with place, and with people. I move in the collective, even when the recognition carries a single name.

If you’d like to learn more about the students’ poetry installation project, please see video below.

The Last King of Rwanda’s Final Years in a Black American Community by Octavia McBride-Ahebee

 

I’ve just completed a serialized audio story inspired by Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, Rwanda’s last king, and his years living in a working-class Black community in Virginia. Give it a listen.

If you’re new to my work, begin here.

I’m a writer and educator drawn to stories that move across borders. My work sits at the intersection of migration, memory, and community, often tracing the quiet ways people carry one another through displacement and change.

I’m honored to have recently been selected for the PA Humanities’ Window Keeper: Civic Honors, which recognizes everyday leaders across Pennsylvania. For me, storytelling is part of that work which includes listening closely, honoring what is often overlooked, and making space for connection.

My most recent project is a serialized audio short story inspired by Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, Rwanda’s last king, and his last years living in a working-class Black community in Virginia.

This is a story of:

• exile and belonging

• the long shadow of colonialism

• and the generosity of everyday people

It asks what happens when histories meet not in textbooks, but in living rooms, kitchens, and neighborhoods.

If this story resonates, I invite you to subscribe and stay with the work. Here is the link:

https://octaviamcbride.substack.com/p/the-last-king-of-rwanda-a-story-of