When cinephile and Germantown resident Stephanye R. Watts entered the world of independent cinema, she discovered a troubling pattern. “I started to notice there were no other Black people in the theater, unless they were like 60-plus,” Watts says. “Black millennials are on the internet, talking about wanting to see more Black films, and …
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When a fellow volunteer at the Crossroads Kitchen Project announced that she didn’t like rice, Philipa Laster sensed a challenge. Laster, a native of Nigeria, grew up eating rice every day. She began thinking about a dish that would change her colleague’s mind. Masa cakes, a traditional northern Nigerian food that Laster’s mother made weekly,
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Early in 2026 in the Oxford Circle neighborhood, 115 Philadelphians representing 15 different nationalities sat down to enjoy dinner at the first in a series of 21 events across seven diverse neighborhoods. The social impact project, called “Breaking Bread, Breaking Barriers” and conceived by president and CEO of The Welcoming Center (TWC) Anuj Gupta, rests
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An empty shopfront on South Street is in the midst of transformation. Ennis Carter, the founder of Social Impact Studios, a Philadelphia-based “creative hub,” affixes bolts of colorful paper to a wall and unfurls a vibrant, refrigerator-sized hand-painted canvas beneath a banner proclaiming “Made with Artistry & Activism.” For the month of July, the space
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On June 5, 1926, a family of five from Iowa, the McHenrys, arrived in Philadelphia to visit the recently opened Sesquicentennial International Exhibition. John Wanamaker, who had proposed the idea 10 years earlier, envisioned the greatest world’s fair in history — an “astounding presentation of the capacity and productive power of the United States,” he
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As the oldest of nine children, Shevy Sputz was her mother’s kitchen assistant in their Brooklyn household. Sputz’s mother, a talented cook and baker, wisely gave her daughter responsibility for making desserts. Decades later, that early family apprenticeship and an heirloom recipe led to the formation of Sputz’s burgeoning Fairmount-based business, Shevy’s Babka Paradise. Although
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Shortly before my 24th birthday, I decided to replace my iPhone with a flip phone. I have abstractly considered making the change on numerous occasions, tired of the Internet following me around everywhere I go, always on the verge of being mindlessly lured to it. During the short portion of my life when the Internet
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Mazel tov to Grid on issue #200, quite a feat for print journalism! Thanks for inviting me to update my article on frugal living from the magazine’s inaugural issue. Frugality is often associated with stinginess, not surprising in our hyperconsumerist culture. For me, with my longtime focus on greener living, being frugal is about efficient
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Even the most talented chefs began their food careers as eaters. Well before they were able to cook, they witnessed the magic of combining ingredients into delicious dishes, made for them by family, friends and other cooks. For some, need, desire — or even nostalgia — converts us from eaters to makers of the foods
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Ebo Nunoo’s grandfather was part of a generations-long line of cocoa farmers in rural Ghana. In search of more opportunity, he moved his family to Accra, the nation’s capital, and became a shoemaker. Decades later, his grandson Ebo left Accra for the United States to attend college and find his own opportunities. It’s unlikely that
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