When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Law Student Work @ ICA Boston

Seven (7) law students in our Summer Quarter 2019 Laboratory Seminar in Applied Design and Legal Empowerment were tasked with working with local artist and Tufts/SMFA faculty member Anthony Romero, and in the Northeastern University Archives & Special Collections to answer the question “what might we learn from the rich history of successful East Boston activism that can be deployed to empower current residents to assert their legal rights in proactive defense against displacement by redevelopment?” The student team designed a suite of materials made up of a promotional banner, a “know-your-rights ‘zine” and a re-envisioned edition of the East Boston Community News, all which were incorporated into Romero’s contributions to the ICA’s exhibit on migration through the lens of contemporary art.