Opinion
KEEP (News)
Yesterday’s Police Press Conference Wasn’t Accountability. It Was Crisis P.R.
When the Philadelphia Police Department tear-gassed protesters on the I-676 highway on June 1st, the third day of demonstrations in Philadelphia over the death of […]
Mayor Jim Kenney Should Resign After the City’s Gross Violation of Civil Rights
On a sunny Monday afternoon, a group of diverse, peaceful protesters is marching together, demanding justice for Black lives. They engage in collective chants, hold […]
Kenney Said Vigilantism “Will Not Be Tolerated.” So Why Is He Still Tolerating It?
As I scrolled through videos on Tuesday of indignant white men wielding weapons at Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia, I recalled something Mayor Jim Kenney […]
Dear COVID Quitters, We Couldn’t Have Gotten This So Wrong Without You
Here’s to the COVID quitters, who have grown bored with this lethal pandemic, who are done with Netflix binging, mac ’n’ cheese and Zoom sex, […]
Yes, Defund the Police, But Here Are More Ways to Abolish Cop Culture
At this point, “defund the police” has become a household term as conversations about fighting against racial injustice have advanced. The details and meanings of […]
White People, Please Stop Declaring Yourself Allies
There is no other way to put this than bluntly: Racism is a white person’s problem to solve. While racism harms Black and brown people […]
Michael Nutter’s Powerful Response to the Police Killings of Black Americans
When, America, when? When, America, will you get tired of kneeling on the necks of the Black people you captured and brought here for your […]
White People, I Still Don’t Believe You
“This shit reminds me of KONY 2012,” one of my friends told me over the phone when describing the latest rise in white people protesting against […]
You Can Be Supportive of the Rioters and Angry With the Looters at the Same Time
“A riot is the voice of the unheard.” Most of you have probably heard this lesser-known Martin Luther King quote by now; the riots in […]
Mayor Kenney, Tear Down the Rizzo Statue Right Now
As a black woman living in America, I know what it feels like to be gaslit. I felt the twinge of psychological manipulation when Amy […]
Philadelphia’s Anti-Racism Riot Was a Cry From a City That’s Had Enough
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a riot as “a tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with a […]
By Hiding Positive Coronavirus Test, Pa. Republicans Proved They Consider Democrats Illegitimate
The Pennsylvania legislature does not have a reputation as one of the world’s great deliberative bodies. But even if we lower the bar from “great” […]
I Won’t Vote for Joe Biden, the Lesser Racist, Until I Have To in November
As a millennial black voter, I take every election very seriously. When my mail-in ballot arrived last week, it listed three Democratic presidential candidates: former […]
Now Is the Time for Penn and Philly’s Other Big-Money Nonprofits to Pay PILOTs
When enjoying the classic card game of spades, most players wait until the very end of a round to play their most competitive hand. Those […]
My Morning Moka Pot Is the Calm Before the Storm
Welcome to Ritual, Be Well Philly’s column of essays about the low-tech, inefficient things we do that pleasurably slow us down. From taking the long […]