Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter aka Isis tha Saviour and Mel box Carter aka Black Rapp Madusa create imagery and music in response to their personal lived-experiences as Black women, using their wordplay and platforms as instruments to progress social change. Isis and Madusa are both prison reform advocates and are active supporters of the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, helping to ensure that women in prison are treated with dignity. Partial proceeds for this screening will go to Mary’s Daughter for the Formerly Incarcerated (MDFI), an advocacy-based, non-profit serving as an intersectional platform for currently and formerly incarcerated Black womxn, trans and non-binary people of color.

Aint I a Woman: a Musical Film (USA, 2019, 15 min)
by Isis tha Saviour
Aint I a Woman is an autobiographical narrative based on Isis’ experience as an incarcerated women at Philadelphia’s Riverside Correctional Facility. Through lyricism and corresponding imagery, Isis recounts her experience and the lack of humanity felt while having to give birth while shackled in prison.

Blak Pride: The Anthem (USA, 2018, 5 min)
Produced by Ziggy Sawdust, Directed by Blak Rapp Madusa
M.A.D.U.S.A. is an acronym for “Making A Difference Using Skills and Activism.” In her words, “The Anthem is about being unapologetically blak and remembering to SLAY like my ancestors did.”

Blak Summer (USA, 2015, 4 min)
Produced by Ziggy Sawdust, Directed by Blak Rapp Madusa
Through spoken word and melodic lyricism, Blak Summer is a call for social change, intertwining the artists’ lyrics with images of the the city of Pittsburgh.

Preceded by You Can Go Left or Right (USA, 2019, 7 min)
by filmmakers at Philadelphia’s Riverside Correctional Facility for Women, Directed by Erika Tsuchia-Bergere and William Wallace III with Aaron Igler and Matt Suib for Hidden Lives Illuminated

STORYVILLE: BLAK RAPP M.A.D.U.S.A. and ISIS Tha Saviour: Resistance through Hip Hop