from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Living and Fighting

Housing

In Philadelphia, the struggle to stop the eviction of the UC Townhomes continues. On Monday:

Over 100 protestors interrupted Penn President minutes into her first-ever Convocation speech, bringing the ceremony to an abrupt end. [During a speech on] incoming class’ diversity, a group of protestors — including members of the Class of 2026 — stood up and began chanting “Save UC Townhomes!” and “Stop Penn-trification!” The Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes, a group of residents protesting the sale of 70 units of affordable housing, organized the demonstration in an effort to bring awareness to the local residents who are scheduled to be evicted on Oct. 8.

Land Struggles

In Philadelphia, anger is growing at a new development project that threatens the South Philly Meadows, a former golf course that has been reclaimed by nature. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Philadelphia Police are investigating the vandalism of construction equipment at FDR Park, where crews broke ground this week on a controversial project to create a 33-acre wetland. Police responded to the incident, which involved damage to a Bobcat and digging excavator, Thursday morning. In addition to graffiti and broken wires, police said sugar was poured into a tank. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. The incident comes as some park users are mobilizing to oppose the project…The Philadelphia International Airport is funding the project to offset any wetlands and waterways affected by its air cargo facilities expansion.

Banners went up in solidarity with the fight against Cop City in the Atlanta forest. From Scenes from the Atlanta Forest:

Banners went up in the trees in South Philly’s FDR Meadows, where nearly 200 acres of wetlands and meadows, which serve as habitat for endangered migrating monarch butterflies and many other species of wildlife, are threatened by the city’s plans to bury the earth in astroturf for more sports fields and other capitalist ventures. Public outcry in Philadelphia has already forced the city to compromise on their original plans, but we will accept no compromise in defense of the meadows and monarchs. Solidarity from Philadelphia to Atlanta. We live here.

For more information, check out Save the Meadows.

Upcoming Events

  • September 11th: Running Down the Walls, Philadelphia, PA. More info here.