High school students from Marianna Bracetti Academy and Friere Charter School at the Young Educated Leaders Leading (YELL) Anti-Gun Violence Rally, last June.

Most people haven't given puppetry much thought since they were fans of Lambchop, Gonzo and Prince Tuesday.

But here in Philadelphia, Spiral Q Puppet Theater has been using large-scale pageants and puppets to serve urban communities since the mid 1990's. The idea might seem a little crazy; one would suppose that a group of do-gooders might be of greater use organizing a soup kitchen or affordable daycare. However, a short conversation with Beth Nixon, Spiral Q's justice works coordinator, and a little imagination are all that's required to see how the idea makes perfect sense.

Getting involved in the production of a parade or pageant empowers both participants and spectators. "In terms of our work," Nixon says, "social justice means everyday citizens of Philadelphia have a chance to tell their stories and let their voices be heard. We provide the space, materials and encouragement for people to express themselves through the arts."

Young people are especially likely to benefit from the kind of transformation that happens when they discover the possibility Spiral Q offers, of presenting the urgent issues of their lives. When the vocabulary of protest and discourse fails, a vocabulary of images and action can create an even more powerful form of expression.

During last June, for instance, the group organized the Young Educated Leaders Leading (YELL) Anti-Gun Violence Rally with high school students from Marianna Bracetti Academy and Friere Charter School. Nixon recounts the story of their process from plan to parade with enthusiasm. She says, "The students and teachers planned an event that included poets, spoken-word artists and the testimonials of victims, but they didn't have funding or puppets. We brought them in to brainstorm ideas for making the puppets."

When Spiral Q works with any group it is always a true collaboration. The issues and objectives of the group or community are central to the planning. Spiral Q relies on its experience to help shape a vision of the rally, parade or pageant being planned and provides the materials and know-how to make it happen.

The teens knew that they were angry about the damage guns and violence had caused in their community, but it was only through sessions with Spiral Q that a positive message began to take shape. At first, that shape was mostly philosophical, but meetings with Spiral Q helped concrete figures emerge. Nixon says, "We wanted to boil it down to a basic message and devise a way to represent the idea visually. Through our discussions, the kids established the idea of strength and positive alternatives to violence as their most basic messages. Superheroes became their symbols. We had three or four building sessions and made these huge puppets with words like 'skateboard,' 'dialogue,' 'dance' and 'community' written across their chests." Promoting artistic expression as a means of underwriting messages is a powerful thing for a student or for anyone who has felt silenced or frustrated.

Spiral Q provides a refreshing new perspective on speaking out and contemporary communications. They aren't asking anyone to give up her Blackberry, but they are asking people to realize that cell phones and instant messengers are not the only means by which we can get ideas across to each other. "One thing that has been lost in American reliance on the TV, cinema and Internet is that these have become the only legitimized forms of mass communication. Spiral Q raises awareness of other ways to communicate. This is a form of media that reflects real people and doesn't rely on pixels or RAM. It's accessible." This democratic, hands-on method of getting together and making a point has proven to be as life-sustaining for a community as a soup kitchen or any other act of service.

When your mission as an organization involves helping other groups develop their thematic objectives, it becomes possible to lose your identity. While Spiral Q is shaped by the groups and issues with which it deals, it must also know where to draw the line. In the interest of staying true to the goals of community service and social justice, Spiral Q has had to turn down potentially lucrative projects.

"We haven't been approached by the KKK or anything, but the Sunoco Welcome America people called and asked us to do a puppet for their event. We hung up the phone. No thanks. A big pharmaceutical company wanted us to make them a puppet of a big dancing pill or something. We're broke, but we're not that broke." While it's clear that students need help, while oil companies don't, it is these day-to-day decisions that make the small organization what it is.

With a small staff of only four or five, Spiral Q relies heavily on the commitment of volunteers and spontaneous participation. Its annual celebration "Peoplehood," began as a parade on the steps of the Paul Robeson House on Walnut Street and proceeded with colorful ostentation to the pageant in Clark Park.

Unable to create actual, free-standing activism groups, Spiral Q consistently nurtures and unifies fledgling communities, wherever the seeds of activism and justice have already been planted. Its artful acceptance of the invitation by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance to participate in the May 7 rally in Love Park helped to unify the arts and culture groups protesting the budget cuts proposed by Mayor John F. Street. Teenagers from the Village of Arts and Humanities on Germantown Avenue were recruited to carry a giant puppet along with other "neighbors" who were invited to build puppets during the group's Open Build Sessions. Most of Street's proposals were overturned later, during July. Taking the unexpressed spark of something a few people want to say and turning it into a blaze of creativity that alters the urban landscape, Spiral Q has earned the attention of other groups wishing to associate their names with the organization. The Peoplehood extravaganza was populated with the carnival, giant-puppet-operating support of Abington Art Center, ACT-UP, Audenreid Beacon, George Washington Beacon, Girard Medical Center, New Jerusalem, SCAN, the North Philly Stompers, the Gold Coast Buccaneers, the Parkside Cowboys, Pentridge Children's Garden, Project H.O.M.E., the Village of Arts and Humanities, who were executing the grand finale to Spiral Q's season.

Nixon thinks that people misunderstand what is happening at Spiral Q. She says, "People have this misconception that we're doing The Lion King." In reality, it seems that the works of Disney couldn't be more different than the creations born out of Spiral Q. She explains, "One of the most exciting things for me is that no two shows are ever the same. It's people telling their own stories, in their own voices. It's not the people on TV we should be looking to for inspiration and answers, it's each other."

To get involved with Spiral Q or learn more, e-mail them at spiralq@spiralq.org call 215-222-6979. They are located at 3114 Spring Garden Street 2nd Floor, in west Philadelphia. Check out their website at www.spiralq.org.

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