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Philadelphia’s Black-owned radio station takes on environmental racism and injustice

On October 12, Indigenous People’s Day, radio station WURD (96.1 FM/900 AM) held an on-air Environmental Justice Summit in partnership with Bartram’s Garden and From the Source Reporting Collaborative. Part of the station’s EcoWURD initiative, the day-long summit included speakers and panels discussing high-level topics such as leadership in environmental justice as well as grassroots

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3 mins read
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Program instructors teach students how the city’s waterways shaped our past and affect our present

Some classrooms keep guinea pigs or guppies as pets, but last year at Cook Wissahickon School in Roxborough, sixth-graders tended young freshwater mussels. “The students feed them and then, when they reach a larger stage, the Fairmount Water Works will place them in a creek,” says Jose L. Ramos, a middle-years reading and English language

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3 mins read
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Germantown mutual aid program dreams of a permanent “free market” for the people, by the people

Something special happens at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Church Lane every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. A collective of neighbors and volunteers gather in The People’s Lot, with cardboard box cutouts that read “Free Food,” but that’s not all that brings people in. If you travel to The People’s Lot, you will see an

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4 mins read
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A Life of Quiet Giving: Dana W. Tobin, 1946-2020

I was saddened to learn the news that Dana W. Tobin, a Grid subscriber, recently passed away. I knew him only through a few email exchanges and one phone conversation, but even with that limited interaction, it was easy to see that he was a kind, thoughtful and modest person who possessed a curious mind

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2 mins read
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Block captains look out for their streets—and their neighbors

Philadelphia’s quiet heroes include block captains, volunteers who, under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC)—a division of the Streets Department—rally their neighbors to keep their blocks attractive. Now, in addition to beauty, some block captains help ensure food and a sense of security for their neighbors in the face of the COVID-19

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5 mins read
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An interview with Philadelphia educator Keziah Ridgeway on how teachers can move past America’s tradition of whitewashing history lessons

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This jingle echoed through my head as a kid every Columbus Day when our history teacher would devote a whole lesson to the man who discovered America. Christopher Columbus was a visionary, a pioneer who spawned the dawn of a new world that would eventually become the United

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6 mins read
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West Philly residents who showed up to protest a “Proud Boys Rally” found a pleasant surprise this weekend

In early September, a flyer circulated announcing a “Proud Boys Rally” on Saturday, September 19, at Clark Park. Almost immediately, counter-events with names like “Families Against Fascism” and “Defend West Philadelphia” popped up, urging residents in the community to occupy the park that day with a unified message: hate has no home here. This past

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3 mins read
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