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Pennsylvania

Activists Take Over Harris’ Campaign Office Demanding: ‘Release One NOW!’

September 17, 2024 Joe Piette, Workers' World. , , , , ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Southeast Asian community members and allies held a peaceful sit-in for over three hours inside the Harris/Walz campaign office in the Brewerytown section of Philadelphia on Sept. 9. They were demanding the Biden/Harris administration release Southeast Asian refugee Sereyrath “One” Van from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and order a moratorium on deportations through the end of their term. The sit-in began when six Southeast Asian community members and allies attending a weekday canvassing session at Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign office sat down on the floor, held up signs and chanted: “Release One NOW! Moratorium NOW! Not One More!”

The People Versus The Billionaires

September 11, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers' World. , , , , , ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Several thousand people turned out for the Save Chinatown Coalition rally on Sept. 7 to protest the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a new $1.55 billion arena near Chinatown called “76 Place.” While the National Basketball Association team’s billionaire owners repeatedly say a new arena at 10th and Market streets would provide “economic opportunity for surrounding areas,” community residents, who have been fighting this proposal for over two years, argue that it would be an “existential threat” to this historic Philadelphia neighborhood. The impact studies commissioned by the city, released in late August, support the residents’ arguments.

‘Gross Human Rights Violations’ At ICE Detention Center

September 10, 2024 Joe Piette, Workers' World. , , , , , ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - When immigrants are picked up from their communities and eventually detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, Pennsylvania’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, they are forced to endure “punitive, inhumane and dangerous conditions.” The charge of “widespread human rights violations” was made in a report by the Stephen and Sandra Sheller Center for Social Justice, with support from the Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union. Entitled “In the Shadow of the Valley: The Unnecessary Confinement and Dehumanizing Conditions of People in Immigration Detention at Moshannon Valley Processing Center,” the report was released at a press conference at Temple University Beasley School of Law on Sept. 4.

Plant Eligible For $2 Billion In Public Funds Is Union Busting

September 5, 2024 Kalena Thomhave, Portside. , , , ,
When Stan Upshaw got a job at Eos Energy Enterprises Inc. in 2020, he hoped for good pay and benefits, like the ones that went to union workers who decades ago built American manufacturing. After all, Eos’ zinc battery plant in the Pittsburgh suburb of Turtle Creek had already received a nearly $400 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, as well as millions in subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act. At Eos, Upshaw said he didn’t see the “good clean jobs” the act was meant to create. Instead, he saw management ignore seniority — and force workers to train new supervisors rather than promote from within, he said.

The Battle For Car-Free Streets And Community Celebration

July 23, 2024 Asia Mieleszko, Resilience. , , , , ,
I first found myself in West Philadelphia in 2019 during Porchfest, an annual music festival that exists because approximately two square miles of Philadelphians collectively decide it should. And so it does, whether the city grants the annually requested street closures or not. In 2019, almost every other street was closed to motorized traffic, lined with rehomed cones and handmade signs stretching from one end of the intersection to the other to communicate the closure. Free from cars, the streets welcomed sprinklers, grills and bouncy castles. Swarms of kids muraled the asphalt with chalk while musicians crooned from the hallmark wooden porches of West Philly’s twin Victorian homes.

NEA Educators For Palestine Call On Union To Un-Endorse Biden

July 11, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers World. , , , , , , , ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Hundreds of educators held a pro-Palestine rally outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on July 3. They were participating in the National Education Association Representative Assembly, where they planned to introduce 10 New Business items (NBIs) involving education around Palestine, U.S. military spending in support of Israel, support for boycotts targeting Israel  and solidarity with Palestinian unions and with teachers in the U.S. engaged in protests against the genocide in Gaza. The rally was called by NEA Educators for Palestine, who are also pushing the U.S.’s largest teachers’ union to hold a secret ballot vote to rescind its endorsement of President Joe Biden.

In Philly, The People’s Budget Increases Civic Engagement And Moves Money

June 24, 2024 Ryan Moser, Next City. , , , ,
If you’ve walked through LOVE Park during May and June the last two years, you have undoubtedly seen a long shipping container anchored in the northwest corner of JFK Plaza, a cherry-red beacon sitting in the shadow of Philadelphia’s historic City Hall. Part public art installation and part information center, the corten steel box is the temporary office of The People’s Budget, one piece of an initiative led by artist Phoebe Bachman of Mural Arts of Philadelphia, and funded by the City of Philadelphia. Founded in 2020, The People’s Budget empowers Philadelphians to participate in the city’s yearly budget process and join the conversation to decide where city funds are spent.

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Re-Establish An Encampment

June 3, 2024 Brian Sherry, The Pitt News. , , , , ,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - At least 200 Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside of the Cathedral of Learning lawn on Sunday evening to re-establish a “Palestine solidarity encampment.” At least one person was arrested. This comes over a month after the previous “Gaza solidarity encampment,” which saw a large group of protesters set up camp in Schenley Park for nearly a week. The protests began at the Cathedral lawn around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday evening. The protestors set up wooden barricades and fences to block police from entering the encampment. As the evening went on, more protesters joined the initial group.

Philly Health Workers Say: ‘Bombing Hospitals Is A War Crime!’

May 28, 2024 Marie Kelly, Workers' World. , , , , , , , , ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Philly Health Care Workers for Palestine (HCWL4Pal Philly), Families for Ceasefire, Drexel University Medical Students for Palestine, and the Philly Palestine Coalition gathered at Seger Park, just blocks away from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on May 19. The purpose of the rally and march was to emphasize their unwavering support for health care workers in Gaza. Preparation for the event included art builds and securing speakers who could talk about the ongoing genocide and how it is has decimated the health care system in Gaza, targeting doctors, nurses and aid workers with unspeakable atrocities.

Penn For Palestine Encampment Still Going Strong

May 1, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers' World. , , , , , ,
Joining around 80 college campuses across the United States, University of Pennsylvania students, faculty and staff established a Penn for Palestine encampment on the campus April 25 to demand: the administration disclose what companies they have invested billions of endowment funds in and that they divest from any that do business with Israel. Earlier in the day, demonstrators marched from Philadelphia City Hall, led by students from Temple University and activists with the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition to UPenn. En route to UPenn, several hundred people marched through Center City and received an overwhelmingly positive and supportive response from people along the route.

Launch Of Pennsylvania ‘Uncommitted’ Vs. Biden

April 9, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers' World. , , , , , ,
Pennsylvania organizers from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and cities in between held a Zoom press conference April 3 to promote their write-in vote “Uncommitted” campaign for the April 23 Democratic Party primary for president. An “Uncommitted” vote demonstrates opposition to Genocide Joe Biden’s support for Israel. The goal of the campaign, endorsed by over 30 interfaith, multigenerational and multiracial groups across the state, is to turn out at least 40,000 people who vote “uncommitted.”

Activists Launch Own Investigation Of Mud Spill Near Gas Pipeline

March 25, 2024 Diane Bernard, DeSmog. , , , ,
On February 15, Pennsylvania’s environmental regulator received an anonymous complaint that a mysterious white material was covering the bottom of a creek in Chester County — a tributary of nearby Marsh Creek Lake located about a thousand feet from the underground Mariner East pipeline. A day later, an inspector from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed that the clay-like material was flowing from a nearby sinkhole into the stream and nearby wetlands.

Central Pennsylvania ‘Sundown Towns’ And The Legacy Of Racism

February 23, 2024 Ivey DeJesus, Portside. , , , ,
Growing up in the 1960s, the Rev. Roger Dixon heard the warnings every time the William Penn High School football team was set to play Cedar Cliff. “The older men used to say ‘don’t get caught up there after the game. You might get into trouble. They might try to arrest you,’” recalls Dixon, who is Black and graduated from William Penn in 1966. Rafiyqa Muhammad tells of a similar experience growing up in Harrisburg. “Our parents always told us about certain areas,” she said. “Our father would tell us don’t go here, don’t go there. Do not go over to the West Shore. I remember we would drive in and drive out. There was no going over and hanging out.”

As States Limit Black History Lessons, Philly Gets It Right

February 18, 2024 Sierra Lyons, Next City. , , , ,
The culture war in education that began in response to the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020 has had a chilling effect on how race is discussed in classrooms. Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills and at least 18 have passed laws restricting or banning the teaching of supposed critical race theory. Just 12 states (Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington) have Black history mandates for K-12 public schools. In addition, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine and Rhode Island have legislated Black history courses or electives during the last two years. But several of the 12 states have new laws on the books that limit their curriculum.

It’s Known As ‘Death By Incarceration’; People Want To End It

February 12, 2024 Victoria Law, Portside. , , , ,
“My life is either going to be a testimony or a warning,” said Derek Lee. Lee was speaking on a video chat from behind the walls of SCI Smithfield in central Pennsylvania. Now 35 years old, Lee has been imprisoned since he was 29. If nothing changes, he will grow old and die in prison. In 2016, a Pennsylvania court sentenced Lee to life without parole for a burglary two years earlier that ended with his accomplice fatally shooting the homeowner. Lee was not involved in the killing, but he was convicted of second-degree or felony murder—an unintentional death that happens when the defendant is committing a felony. In Pennsylvania, that means an automatic sentence of life without parole (LWOP).
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