Philly
“In West Philadelphia born and raised on the playground…” Every time I see Will Smith or someone asks me where I am from this song rings in my head. Philly is my home, no matter where I travel to or live. I carry the Philly swag, which some people say is roughneck but I am not talking about that stuff. I am talking about the love, grit, brotherhood, and fight that Philly sisters and brothers bring to in so many situations. Whenever I am traveling internationally and someone says that they are from Philly or South Jersey there is immediate brotherhood. I can’t even explain to you how many times this has happened. The strangest time was in the middle of the South Atlantic at Ascension Island during a scientific field campaign where there were only 800 people on the island, and the only way to reach this island was by military airplane or ship. I was asking a guy about the island and asked where he was from? He said Philly – West Oak Lane. I also found out that the commander on the Island was from Camden. This tripped me out because to get to Ascension Island, I took a plane from Philly to Iceland, then England and took a research flight which stopped in the Gambia, flew across the Equator, and landed at Ascension Island.
Philly in the News
Philly has the notorious reputation for being bad, like throwing snowballs at Santa Claus at the Eagles game, but more recently the city unrest after the killing of George Floyd and the killing of Walter Wallace Jr. by the police leading to outrage and destruction across the city. The 45th president of the United States recently said in his debate with President-Elect Biden ” Bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
But good things also happen in Philadelphia. Let’s just start with the election and Philadelphia helping to decide the election for the nation.
Say what you want but my brothers and sisters went out to vote and it paid off. So a couple of things about the vote. The lines were long on election day (November) with people waiting hours to vote. But, many people sent in mail-in ballots by the bundles, respecting COVID-19 which has been rising at a frantic rate. Probably people who never voted before realized the importance of the moment and the consequence for future generations. Philadelphia is a struggling city with the highest poverty rate in the state, and we still put our fist up when there is injustice, and you gotta fight.
During the 1920s through 1950s Philly was a safe haven for people coming up from the South who needed cover from Jim Crow terrorism. Both of my parents came to Philly and my dad and many of my uncles went to fight in the second world war. These Philly cats when overseas to fight people that never knew but answered to call to serve the nation. My dad served as a squadron leader in the 653 Quartermaster Truck Company in the German Campaign –the dreaded battle of the Bulge (Ardennes GO 40 WD 45) along with the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns in Germany, received a purple heart, other metals, and a plate in the head after being injured. He was able to buy a house to raise a family in West Philly–known as the black bottom, work as a welder at the Navy Yard, and watch the neighborhood fall apart with massive white flight to the suburbs. The war injury, supporting six children and the stress of the neighborhood caught up to him causing a massive brain hemorrhage and death before me and my twin turned 10. But the Philly fight that he and mom, uncles, aunts, and friends still lives within me.
The new war is around social justice, racism, police brutality, fighting inequity, empowering communities, fighting climate change, helping to nurture and secure the current generations and future ones. Just as in the past and last Saturday, November, 7, the people from Philly are up for the fight. The true source of our fight is based on justice, historical inequity sister and brotherly
Happy Veteran’s Day. Never stop fighting Philly and keep your swag!!