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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by Bernard BrownWhat’s your favorite sign of spring? Flowers blooming? Bees buzzing? Raptors hurtling into the water, talons first, emerging with a wriggling fish to rip apart back at the nest? Spring has returned to the Delaware Valley, and with it our local ospreys.
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Given the unruliness of time machines, apt to choose their own destinations, you’ll need a bike, car or SEPTA to see the scattered sites where enslaved Black women helped to get colonial Philadelphia going.Take Black Alice, aka Alice of Dunks Ferry, who reached age 116, c.1686 to 1802, historians say. Her parents, from Barbados, arrived
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I came to publishing magazines as a result of the intersection of three personality traits. First, I love to share things that excite me. I get that from my dad, who is always pushing something, using hyperbole to describe a horseradish sauce, a sugar cookie or a TV show. He doesn’t rest until he’s cornered
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It started with a blank wall that needed a pigeon… or a rubber duck. Tattoo artist and muralist Evan Lovett could see the wall from the window of the Philadelphia Tattoo Collective where he worked in Kensington, just below the Berks El stop.“I got really sick of staring at it, since every time I see
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The wonderful "Where the Wild Things Are" screens July 13 in Penn Treaty ParkOK, you probably won't see me at the outdoor screening of Twilight—I prefer my vampires quippy (Buffy) or campy (True Blood), plus I'm allergic to the sound of screaming teenagers—but there are plenty of other excellent summer events coming to a park
MoreNice Things Handmade carries on a tradition in South Phillyby Claire Connelly
Saddened by the recent closings of some of Philadelphia’s favorite specialty shops, Elissa Kara made a bold move. In February, the local artist and restaurant veteran opened Nice Things Handmade, a boutique gallery on booming East Passyunk Avenue.
Mural Arts sets its sights on the city’s lunch trucks
After a while, Philadelphia’s omnipresent lunch trucks can blend together, fading into the backdrop of the city. Enter the Lunch Truck Project, a Mural Arts Program bringing vibrant colors and eye-popping designs to our city’s mobile meals.
MoreWendell Berry understands technology’s lure to farmers. In 1950, when he was 16, his father bought a tractor, and suddenly he found he was impatient with his mules. But what does a tireless machine do to a farmer’s relationship to the land? Land becomes something to overcome—a perspective shared by a traveler on an interstate
MoreOne of the most striking things about the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards Program launch was the trucks. Wrapped in vibrant, colorful patterns, the hulking behemoths were belle of the ball. That’s all thanks to a partnership between the Streets Commission, under the guidance of Clarena Tolson, and Philadelphia’s Mural Arts program.
MoreUmbrellas—designed as a convenient solution to getting caught in the rain—can be surprisingly unwieldy. On a stormy day, Philly sidewalks are filled with all shapes, sizes and varieties. But, when the wind is strong, the flimsy shields often can’t withstand the pressure, acquiring that all-too-familiar inside-out look. At that point, the city becomes an umbrella
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