West Philly resident Rob O’Brien passed away on June 1 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was a long-time activist and teacher who organized a series of rallies and vigils on the Rutgers campus, where he was an instructor, in the wake of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi’s suicide. Rob died of a heart attack. He was 44.

In honor of Rob his family and friends are hosting a Pot Luck Celebration at the William Way Community Center. Please bring a dish to share with everyone. There is also a blog set up for the memorial.

The following information was submitted by Rob’s family and friends:

Rob was living at 48th and Hazel at the time of his death. He loved Dahlak, both the food and the bar. Ask anyone who’s been at the Dahlak bar in the past few months if they remember the guy with curly blue hair and all the tattoos, and you’ll probably hear from several people. He was trying to organize a community education series at Dahlak, a series of film screenings and discussions. (The first and, as it turns out, only, one of those happened on May 10th.)  He also loved Fuh Wah and knew all the staff there by name.

Robert Thomas O’Brien (born October 2, 1967) was Ph.D. Candidate at the Anthropology Department of Temple University. He was Assistant Instructor of Anthropology at Rutgers University (Jan 2007-Sept 2011), Adjunct Professor at the Department of Culture and Communications of Drexel University (Jan 2003-June 2009) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Anthropology of Temple University (Sept. 1999-Dec. 2006).

He was the author of “Unemployment and Disposable Workers in Philadelphia: Just How Far Have the Bastards Gone?” published in 2006 in the journal Ethnos, and was the co-author, with Judith Goode, of “Whose Social Capital? How Economic Development Projects Disrupt Social Relations,” a chapter in Social Capital in the City.

Rob was a very active member of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), through the Society for the Anthropology of Work (where he was an officer of the Board), the Society for North American Anthropology, and the Committee on Labor Relations, of which he was a founding member. In 2006 he was the recipient of the Carrie Hunter-Tate Award for academic and professional service from the National Association of Student Anthropologists.

Rob was a committed, life-long activist. He spent his early 20s working for Greenpeace, first as a grassroots organizer. He later rose to the position of Co-Director. From the mid-1990s, he was involved in work, research, community service and activism around poverty, drug use and health care. He served as Executive Director and Board member of Prevention Point Philadelphia, a harm reduction/syringe exchange program. He was a co-founder of the Philadelphia County Coalition for Prison Health Care, was a member of the AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition, and was a volunteer with Catholic Worker.

Beginning in 2000, with his work with the Temple University Graduate Student’s Association – American Federation of Teachers Local #6290 – Rob became increasingly involved in academic labor issues. From 2004 to 2010, he published, along with Kerim Friedman, the blog “AAA Unite.” Through this blog he reported on the AAA’s efforts to find conference facilities in unionized venues, the boycott to Coca-Cola and its products that he helped organize, and other actions supported by the AAA Committee on Labor and other anthropology action groups.

Rob brought the same passion and commitment to his teaching, and he was very inspiring to students who pursued activism and research of their own.  At Rutgers University, Rob and his students called attention to bullying against queer youth, and organized a series of vigils and protests after the suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student.  Rob worked intensively with upper-level undergraduates at Rutgers in classes on medical anthropology, gender and sexuality, and others; and he also supervised honors theses and independent studies. In 2011 he was the Anthropology Department nominee for the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award.  In the 2010-2011 academic year he also served as a Rutgers University LGBT Liason.

At Rutgers, Rob shaped students’ thinking in critical and creative directions. Students have circulated testimonials on his email list:

“I am a former student of Rob’s and he was one of my favorite professors during undergrad,” wrote one alumnus, “His classes were part of the reason I stayed in Anthropology and much of what he said during class has stayed with me to this day.”

Another graduate summarized Rob’s impact as follows: “There is so much knowledge I have obtained because of him and so much knowledge that he helped turn into wisdom within me that I was always grateful for.”

A third student wrote: “I visited him in the hospital in the fall of 2009, and found him on his computer, trying to explain Foucault to a student via webchat. Rob went so far out of his way to help all of us, even when he was hurting terribly.”

Rob left Rutgers on a medical leave in September 2011.

Rob died of a heart attack on June 1st, 2012, at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His body was donated to Science Care, and his organs to Gift of Life. He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Catherine Ann and Bob Hemmelstein, his father and step-mother, John and Carol O’Brien, his sisters, Staci Lea Bustle & Christine O’Brien Holland, and his brother, John Francis O’Brien III.

 Information contributed by Christopher Carrico, Gabriela Vargas-Cetina, Staci Bustle, David M. Hughes and Anna Melton.

 
Public art pianos placed on corners, parks and pedestrian plazas from 30th Street Station to Clark Park were met with smiles, stares and intrigued musicians during their debut today.

The University City District is overseeing the project, which is entitled Heart and Soul and is similar in spirit to public piano project in several cities worldwide that combine visual and performance art.

“Hey, how’d you get that piano here?” one passerby asked a man playing the piano placed in the central plaza area of Clark Park, the piano that is farthest West.

Anyone can play the eight pianos until this project ends on June 17. They were transformed into works of art by local artists and placed at high-traffic pedestrian areas today. A list of the locations and bios of the artists are available here. See more photos below.

A standing-room-only crowd evenly divided for and against a proposed liquor store at 43rd and Chestnut will have to wait a few more days for a decision. The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA), which held a special hearing on the controversial proposal today, will make a decision in a private session likely within a week.

About 75 people attended the special hearing, including a large contingent of residents who attend the Masjid al-Jamia mosque at 43rd and Walnut and live near the proposed location. The liquor store would replace the Risque, an adult video store, and an adjacent check cashing place on the eastern end of a strip mall along Chestnut Street.

“We do not need another liquor store in our community,” said Larry Falcon, the pastor of Covenant Community Church and owner of the Toviah Thrift Shop near 42nd and Chestnut. “I’ve buried 18 kids in 11 years who were killed in drug or alcohol related homicides.”

Most of those opposed to the store were Muslim residents who said that the community organizations like the Spruce Hill Community Association, which approved the store in April, don’t represent their interests.

“You have to understand that the people who live near there see the world differently,” said a Muslim college student who asked not to be identified as the debate from the hearing spilled into the hallway.

Opponents of the store submitted a petition with some 600 signatures.

Proponents of the liquor store say it will serve an area that has no other liquor store following the closure of the one near 40th and Market. The proposal is for a store that would include increased square footage and a premium selection of products. A Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board official who testified at the hearing said that the proposed store would offer a “premium shopping experience.”

The location includes off-street parking and a loading area in the back of the store, both of which would ease traffic concerns, said property owner Ted Pagano. He said the University City District has also agreed to patrol the location to alleviate concerns about public safety.

Barry Grossbach, who represents the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) on zoning issues, said the SHCA has included stipulations in its approval that would require measures to prevent increased traffic problems and crime near the store.

Grossbach also added that no particular groups should have control over any parts of the neighborhood.

“It’s a live and let live neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t want to start a neighborhood war over this.”

A decision on the store is expected to be issued within a week. Risque is currently on a month-to-month lease and the check cashing establishment’s lease expires in August.

Update: Andy L. knows the hood! He solved this one pretty quickly. It’s the town crier bulletin board near 40th and Pine. See comments below.

Think you know the neighborhood? Where was this photo taken? Each morning we’ll zoom out a little until someone guesses right. Place your guess in the comments. One guess per person per day please.

Update: According to Sateesh Daniel of the West Philadelphia office of Organizing for America, all the tickets for Michelle Obama appearance at the National Constitution Center are already gone at his office.

Michelle Obama is speaking on Wednesday at the National Constitution Center. Tickets for the event are first-come, first-serve. They will be available beginning at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at five Organizing for America offices in the city.

For those in West Philly, the best bet is the office at 209 S. 52nd Street.

The doors to the event will open at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
 

The Mural Arts Program and Warrior Writers, a veteran-focused arts organization that fosters artistic exploration and expression, is hosting a community barbecue on Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Woodland Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets – the future site of the mural “Our City, Our Vets.”

The event is part of an ongoing effort to gather community support for veterans returning to Philadelphia. Veterans are encouraged to share their stories through visual art and writing in projects that will help the public better understand what they have been through. You can see some of the artwork created so far here.

Veterans have been attending workshops at Studio 34 since January to create their own pieces and help artists Willis Humphrey and Phillip Adams come up with a design for the mural, which will be installed on a wall at 4129 Woodland Ave. (the location of Saturday’s barbecue) in the fall.

During the barbecue the Mural Arts program will project images of the proposed mural and other art work by veterans. There will also be poetry reading storytelling and the chance to create some art of your own.