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====== About West Philly ======
 
====== About West Philly ======
 
West Philly is a really special place. For decades, it's been the home of artists, hippies, radicals, families, communes, anarchists, immigrants, punks, musicians, and more -- the heart of the counterculture of Philadelphia. Once upon a time, it was the fancy streetcar suburb for the urban gentry, which is why we have so many enormous and beautiful Victoria houses. We have a strong sense of community here, along with frequent community events and block parties and such (closer to the date, I'll add some of these events). Lots of these activities happen in one of our two big parks: Clark Park (the bigger of two) and Malcolm X Park; there's also a lot of tinier ones scattered here and there.
 
 
It's not all utopia here of course; the forces of gentrification have been changing the landscape of the neighborhood for a long time, and more radically in the last 10-15 years. The University of Pennsylvania is one of the biggest drivers of this, but there are numerous forces at work including real estate speculation and local political corruption. What this looks like is the Black and Brown community members (the majority of West Philly) have been pushed further west, southwest, and north, while the tree-lined streets closer to Penn have become whiter and richer.
 
 
One of the most notorious and horrifying things to ever happen in Philadelphia happened here in West Philly in 1985; when the city of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on the home of the Black radical group MOVE, killing 11 people (including 5 children) and destroying dozens of homes in the neighborhood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE. Sadly there has never been any accountability or repair to the MOVE family or any of the hundreds of people who lost their homes in the fire, and the city and the University of Pennsylvania continue to cause harm, most recently with the revelation that both have kept MOVE victim remains without the family's knowledge: https://whyy.org/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-desecration-of-move-bombing-victims-remains/. For more on the MOVE bombing, I highly recommend the film "Let the Fire Burn".
 
 
It means so much to me that we get to have this meeting in West Philly, my home. I'll add more here later about our local culture and things to do. I can't wait to welcome you all!
 
 
 
====== Things to do in West Philly ======
 
====== Things to do in West Philly ======
  

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