Opinion
How to Have a Hot Vax Summer and Be COVID-Safe, Too
“The streets are calling,” one of my best friends texted me last week when Governor Wolf announced that all statewide COVID mitigation restrictions (other than […]
Philly Needs More Ice-Cream Shops
Philly used to be an ice cream town. We practically invented American-style ice cream (which uses a custard base without eggs, unlike French-style). A hundred […]
Not Enthusiastic About Voting for Either Larry Krasner or Carlos Vega? You’re Not Alone.
With less than two weeks to go before the Democratic primary, I cut the suspense in my household by casting my mail-in vote. Voting for […]
Dear White People: Wanna DM Me on the Latest Racist Outrage? Read This First
Last week’s Derek Chauvin guilty verdict was a bittersweet moment for Black people in America. I felt a temporary sense of relief that some form […]
Philly Needs a Much Bolder Approach to Gun Violence. Here Are Three Big Ideas
As we witness the worst gun violence the city has seen in more than 50 years, Mayor Jim Kenney has committed to spending just 0.67 […]
The Pandemic Will End. Our Respect for Service Workers Should Not
Last weekend, my fiancé and I went to the movies together for the first time since the pandemic started. From the time we began dating, […]
Philly Politicians Are Condemning Derek Chauvin. Why Are They Silent on Local Police Brutality?
In the wake of the emotional testimony at the start of the Derek Chauvin trial, some of Philadelphia’s most influential and powerful politicians made sure […]
My Vaccination Card Makes Me Feel Like a VIP
As vaccinations have continued to increase, so has the number of people testing positive for COVID-19. Right now, daily cases are rising by at least […]
Why Is Larry Krasner Still Tight With Shaun King?
As the Democratic primary race for DA begins to heat up, the incumbent is off to a rocky start. Last Tuesday, community activists disrupted a […]
The Pandemic Made Me Realize I Hate Everything About My Old Social Life
As vaccinations accelerate across the region, I received my first invitation to a “vaccinated-only” private, in-person networking soirée scheduled for next month. The promise of […]
The Black Doctors Consortium Is Totally Self-Funded. Imagine What It Could Do With City Support
Black people have always had to make the most with the least. Disenfranchisement in education, health care and social services has historically put us in […]
Vaxathon Reveals There’s More to the Narrative About Black Americans and the COVID Vaccine
As the saying goes: If you build it, they will come — and last weekend, with its 24-hour “Vaxathon,” the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium built […]
Kenney Must Do More Than “Acknowledge” Philly’s Gun-Violence Emergency
A lot was made of Mayor Jim Kenney’s meeting with anti-gun-violence hunger striker Jamal Johnson this past Friday, and I’m still wondering why. The scene […]
Don’t Abuse Identity Politics to Defend Danielle Outlaw
Right now, I can’t get the words of legendary Black writer and Harlem Renaissance fixture Zora Neale Hurston out of my head: “All my skinfolk […]
Why Is Philly In Such a Mess Right Now? Because Our Politicians Have Lost Their Souls
“We need leaders with the courage to risk the thing that matters most to them: their own jobs,” former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell wrote in […]