Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
ManUpPHL wins major City grant for anti-gun violence work
Yesterday when I learned that ManUpPHL was among several community organizations to receive City funding to fight gun violence, I was moved. Moved not only by the $242,000 grant, which will go to pay stipends and create employment opportunities for the men we serve, but by the journey we’ve taken to grow this movement. I…
Read More With 400 homicides in Philadelphia, we must do all we can to make the murders stop
Philadelphia hit 400 homicides this weekend. We haven’t seen those kinds of numbers since 2006, and even then, it was at year’s end. We are in the kind of homicide crisis that reminds me of the crack era, when drug dealers were slugging it out over territory and cash, and the lawlessness could at least…
Read More New Philly police contract brings more of the same and little reform
The new police contract is done. It was written by a panel of arbitrators, not by the city, which is strange, since the people who pay contracts are usually the ones who write them. But that’s not the way it works with police. In truth, nothing works normally with police. The city wanted all…
Read More Hurricane Ida sweeps through East Coast, results in record breaking damage.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through Philly, Jersey and Delaware, killing five people, creating seven tornadoes, and leaving behind record flooding that turned parts of the Schuylkill expressway and other roadways into rivers. I’ve never seen anything like it, because nothing like this has ever happened here. But it’s only going to get…
Read More If gun control isn’t a solution, what is? Philadelphia’s Homicide Crisis
In the midst of the gun violence that’s killing so many people in Philadelphia and beyond, there isn’t much talk about gun control anymore. We do the occasional goods for guns exchange, or law enforcement might conduct a raid and display the guns they’ve confiscated. But it’s been a long time since we’ve had…
Read More What is a helping hand when no help is wanted? Kensington Drug Crisis
Safehouse wants to open safe injection sites so heroin users in Kensington can shoot drugs while medical personnel watch. The neighbors are against it, and so am I, but this week, Safehouse petitioned the Supreme Court to weigh in on their plans. If the court approves the plan, Kensington will remain at the mercy of…
Read More ManUpPHL took action on gun violence. You can join us, too
Yesterday we did something unusual. We did a call to action on gun violence. Not a call to make speeches or to shout for someone else to do something. Not a call to shout slogans or to criticize other efforts. Not a call to name the reasons why we can’t do anything about our plight.…
Read More When the fight against gun violence is personal
Sometimes I get frustrated, because when I talk to young men about gun violence, I sometimes hear a hopelessness that makes me think that I want change more than they do. And I’ve been talking to a lot of young brothers lately. Through ManUpPHL’s Listening to the Streets program, I’ve learned that gun violence…
Read More If we’re declaring a gun violence emergency, don’t just flood Black neighborhoods with cops
With gun violence in Philadelphia out of control, politicians and members of the media are calling on the mayor to declare a state of emergency. So far, the mayor has refused to do it, and unless we’re talking about something other than flooding our neighborhoods with cops, I think he’s right, and here’s why. Declaring…
Read More The gun violence must stop, and here’s what we’re doing about it
We must stop killing each other. Because if we don’t win that battle, none of our other wins will matter. We can’t keep going through weekends like the one we just had, where nine shootings left 3 dead and eight wounded. We can’t keep going through years where the level of gun violence is higher…
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