Introduction, Devin Welsh

Robeson ’21 Voices and Portraits

In these pages, members of Paul Robeson High School’s Class of 2021 tell us who has helped them through this year, what they hope the future holds, and what they’ve learned living through the pandemic. The idea for this work came out of a TRIPOD session when Amina, Lyric, and Tariq shared with the group what it was like to be a senior during this COVID year. These graduates have endured—without being lifted by moments with friends in the hall or after school, without being able to look toward milestones like prom or senior trip. And yet, after all that’s been taken from them, they have come through the other side triumphant.

It felt unreal to share a physical, if distant, space with these people I had worked with online for months, and even more so to see them smile and hear them laugh in spite of everything. What keeps coming back to me are the moments of recognition we had after only seeing each other’s faces on Zoom. During those three days in February, photographer Danielle Morris helped me create a studio atmosphere in Room 100 so every student who walked in had their moment in the spotlight and felt a little bit of the celebration they so deserve. Dejah McIntosh ’19 came back to the school to assist with the shoot. She was brilliant behind the camera and in bringing the seniors’ personalities forward, making them feel fly as can be.

Danielle and Dejah, the Robeson students, staff, and faculty, Lori Waselchuk from Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, ArtistYear and AmeriCorps, and the whole Writers Room team made this project a possibility. I am immensely grateful to each of them.

—Devin Welsh

75 Robeson Portraits