Dear West Philly Local editors,

Last week, in a City Council member’s office, I was told they got more calls from West Philadelphia about funding libraries than from any other part of the city! Probably because of you running my library story earlier this year – thank you!

Here’s another announcement:

Join Free Library ‘Friends’ and Staff, before City Council’s Budget Vote Thursday, June 13th. We will gather INSIDE of City Hall on the 4th floor, at 9:30 AM. Please bring your ID to get into the building. All are welcome!
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A group of community organizations are standing with residents of Dorsett Court (4710 Locust St.) and Admiral Court (237 S. 48th St.) apartment buildings who were recently given bogus eviction notices to scare tenants out and make way for the sale of the buildings. A court decision has staved off eviction for at least a few more weeks.

Residents and supporters gathered in front of the buildings, which are adjacent on the corner of 48th and Locust, at a rally yesterday organized by the Philadelphia Tenants Union (PTU), a grassroots organization focused on protecting renters from unfair evictions. Community Legal Services and the Public Interest Law Center are also assisting the roughly 70 residents who received the eviction notices. Some video of the event is available on the PTU Facebook page.  Continue Reading

In response to the recent protest and tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, Philadelphia religious organizations will be holding the following events this week:

On Wednesday, Aug. 16, a march and rally under the banner of “Unmasking White Supremacy in Philadelphia” will take place beginning at 7 p.m. The following agenda has been scheduled, according to the event organizer “POWER”, an interfaith organization:

7:00 p.m. – Gather outside Congregation Rodeph Shalom Synagogue (615 N. Broad Street)
7:15 p.m. – March down Broad Street as “we unmask white supremacy in Philadelphia institutions”
8:00 p.m. – Rally and action inside Arch Street United Methodist Church (55 N. Broad Street)  Continue Reading

Councilwoman Helen Gym will host a community gathering “to protect healthcare and education” tonight at Malcolm X. Park (52nd and Pine) from 6-8 p.m.

The gathering is one of three she will host over the next few weeks as part of “Resistance Summer.” The gathering comes as the U.S. Senate decides whether to go ahead with a debate on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

Feel free to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on for the event.

Gym will also be in Vernon Park in Northwest Philly on Aug. 7 and Columbus Square in South Philly on Aug. 9.

Printing out inspiration for our sign-making table tonight (thanks @StreetsDept!). See you at 6pm in Malcolm X Park. #ResistanceSummer pic.twitter.com/8XQk1L1Rhi

— Helen Gym (@HelenGymAtLarge) July 25, 2017

West Philly Strike and Rally flyer.

In an effort to provide an opportunity for West Philly residents and businesses to protest the decisions by the current administration and to show solidarity with the general strike that is taking place across the country, a West Philadelphia Community Strike and Rally is being planned for Friday, Feb. 17.

Neighbors and businesses in West Philly will be gathering for a rally in Clark Park from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. the rally that will include interactive work by Theater of the Oppressed, puppets from Spiral Q, and a speaker from local activist organization West Philly Forward Together. Participating local businesses will be closing their doors from 12 – 2:00 p.m., if not for the entire day, according to event organizers, local activists Thomas Morello and Jessica St. Jacobs.

“Another aspect of this event’s purpose is in the location, as travel to Center City presents a barrier to some members of our community and does not highlight and empower our specific neighborhood as such,” Morello wrote in an e-mail.  Continue Reading

Photo from the Wiota St. Garden’s Facebook page.

Community members are invited to attend a rally in West Powelton on Sunday, Sept. 18 in another attempt to save the Wiota Street Community Garden from development. The garden was established in 1984 on a vacant lot at the corner of Wiota St. and Powelton Ave. and has been providing area residents with fresh produce for eight months of the year since then. Plans were revealed in 2014 to build housing on the site of the garden, but tenuous community consensus to preserve the garden was reached at a December 2014 public meeting with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. However, the garden has again come under threat as reported recently by Hidden City.

The rally will be held at the garden (4022 Powelton Ave.), beginning at 4 p.m., and the organizers are asking the participants to bring a picnic.  Continue Reading