The 68th Annual Spruce Hill May Fair is scheduled for Saturday, May 9 in Clark Park. As always, the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) is inviting vendors, artisans and community groups/organizations seeking to do outreach and promotion to set up their tables at the event.

Space is limited and priority will be given to local community organizations and artisans (please no second-hand good or commercial products). This is a day to showcase works that local artisans have produced themselves. Also, vendor applications from businesses/organizations that plan to sell prepared food or beverage items at tables will not be accepted due to Health Department regulations. Food vendors with a free-standing and separately permitted truck/cart may still be able to participate (please contact SHCA).

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Here’s a great chance to support a local community organization and shop for a meaningful and not expensive Valentine’s gift. The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) is holding a Valentine Open House and “Buy Your Bestie a Book” sale on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 12-5 p.m. Tables of fine used books are for 50¢ to $1! The sale will support the association’s work in the community.

The event will be held at the Spruce Hill Community Center located at 257 South 45th St. (between Spruce and Locust). While you’re at the center, enjoy light refreshments and explore all the community services and causes that SHCA promotes.

For more details on what work SHCA does in the neighborhood, visit: https://www.sprucehillca.org.

Starting this week, Curio Theatre Company will present Sojourner, a one-woman show written by Richard Lamonte Pierce and starring award-winning actress Zuhairah McGill.

McGill portrays Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree, sharing the stories and experiences of the abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and author. The play explores Truth’s life, including her enslavement in the North, her dramatic escape, and her fight against slavery. It also delves into her interactions with historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

McGill originated the role and toured the play nationally, earning a 2002 Barrymore Award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play. She’s a Founder and Producing Artistic Director of First World Theatre residing at the Community Education Center in Powelton Village. She is a recipient of the 2023 Lunt-Fontanne Award and her honors also include multiple other theatre awards and nominations, including three DC Excellence in Black Theatre Awards and the Black Arts for Social Change Award.

The show runs February 7 to 14 at 7 p.m. and is open to audiences of all ages. There are two Saturday matinee performances at 3 p.m.. Previews will take place February 4 and 5 at 7 p.m. Opening night is February 6 at 7 p.m.

Performances are at Curio Theatre located at 4740 Baltimore Ave.

For more information and tickets, click here.

UPDATE: The meeting will take place on Zoom due to boiler issues in the church. Register here.

The Friends of Malcolm X Park, in cooperation with other local organizations and groups, is kicking off a series of community meetings focused on potential neighborhood issues related to ICE for the area from Baltimore Avenue to Market Street and 48th to 54th Streets.

The first meeting will take place Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. at Cookman Beloved Community Baptist Church (51st and Spruce).

Meetings will be dedicated to general community concerns. The Saturday meeting will also launch a conversation about “how to protect our neighborhoods from likely future ICE and DHS aggression,” according to the organizers.

Other organizations co-sponsoring the meeting include: Blackwell Culture Alliance Inc., Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia, and Cookman Beloved and Holy Apostles and the Mediator churches.

Here are some Martin Luther King Day of Service events and volunteer opportunities in West Philadelphia. If you’re hosting an event please feel free to add it in the comments section. More events and volunteer opportunities can be found on the MLK Day of Service website.

Friday, Jan. 16:

11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Hope PHL MLK Day Kick-off & Sneaker Drive

4017 Lancaster Avenue

Join Hope PHL’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) for a day of support, resources and community empowerment in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. In partnership with Black Men Run (BMR), Hope PHL’s NAC will also host a Sneaker Drive from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Please donate new or gently worn sneakers.

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The Free Library of Philadelphia has launched a new club focused on black genealogy, part of The Legacy Lab series. Club events will be held at the Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library and the Kingsessing Library and are timed with the nation’s 250th anniversary. The series offers community members opportunities to research, document, and celebrate their own family histories.

“The Legacy Lab demonstrates how libraries can expand access to powerful tools and for learning and discovery,” said Kelly Richards, President and Director, the Free Library of Philadelphia. “By offering free resources, guidance, and welcoming spaces, we are helping ensure that Black families explore their family histories, reclaim their narratives, and pass the knowledge on to future generations.”

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