Great news for Malcolm X Memorial Park and local community advocates! The 188th District was recently awarded a state grant of over $76,000 which will be used to bring important improvements to the park. The grant will be used to repair the park gazebo, bathrooms and lighting. State Rep. Rick Krajewski, whose office worked on securing the grant, posted the following message on social media:

“If we want to fight for our young people and build a real sense of public safety for all, we need to make more investments like this one. Congrats to the Friends of Malcolm X Park! This will make a big difference for the 188th.”

Friends of Malcolm X Park is a volunteer-run group who organizes various events and activities at the park, including regular cleanups, and advocates for new resources. In recent years, the park has been home to such events as community/health fairs, outdoor theater shows by Theatre in the X, Juneteenth Festival, outdoor film screenings, and many recreational activities.

The West Philly-based Black theatre company, Theatre in the X, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month by presenting Zooman and the Sign, a rarely-staged work by the legendary late Philadelphia-born playwright Charles Fuller. The performances will be offered to audiences for free at Malcolm X Park from August 17-20.

In the play set in Southwest Philadelphia in 1979, Zooman senselessly terrorizes his community. When he kills a 12-year-old Black girl on the street, all witnesses refuse to talk. Bereaved and infuriated, the dead girl’s father posts a sign accusing the entire community of cowardice in the face of escalating violence. The play was first presented off-Broadway by Negro Ensemble Company at Theater Four in New York City on December 7, 1980.

Theatre in the X company members said they feel that their play is relevant to the issues of community violence currently taking place throughout the city.

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The Friends of Malcolm X Park, a community organization that advocates for this historic West Philly park and organizes events and activities, is seeking volunteers who can dedicate some of their spare time to the park. It can be just a few hours or a more significant commitment – any help will be appreciated. Neighbors who are seeking to be more active in the community and interested in volunteering with the group are asked to fill out an online engagement survey.

The link to the survey is here. Volunteers of all ages, skills and abilities are welcome.

Established in 1993, Friends of Malcolm X Park has been involved in many community events, such as the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival, Thursday Night Jazz in the Park, Love Your Park Day and other park cleanups, and more.

To learn more about the organization, visit their website, https://www.friendsofmalcolmxpark.org or follow them on Instagram.

This Saturday, April 22 is Earth Day, and here are a couple of West Philly events where you can celebrate it.

Kimberly McGlonn outside the new store.

• Grand opening celebration for Grant Blvd’s new flagship store will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Shop Penn Retail District on Earth Day. The sustainable clothing brand will use the new space on 140 S. 34th Street to create jobs making items like zero waste shirting and men and women’s work wear pieces. The store in University City will also provide both pricing and fabric story transparency for garments, so shoppers can understand the cost of the items.

Created in 2017, Grant Blvd is one of the largest female Black-owned businesses in Philadelphia and North America’s first Black-owned B Corp in the fashion industry. For more information about the business and its founder and CEO Kimberly McGlonn, read our story here. Continue Reading

Some major Juneteenth celebrations will be held in West Philly this Sunday. The Philadelphia Juneteenth Parade & Festival is returning after the pandemic-related hiatus. The 2022 Juneteenth Parade participants will march along 52nd Street – from Jefferson to Pine. The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. and will conclude at Malcolm X Park where the festival will take place (from 12-8 p.m.).

The Juneteenth Parade will include non-profit organizations, youth groups and schools, local politicians, as well as dance and music groups. The festival at Malcolm X Park will feature music and dance performances, local merchants, food vendors, and more. Residents can also get tested and vaccinated against COVID. Continue Reading

Theatre in the X is returning to Malcolm X Park after a year hiatus and will present three evenings of a new production, The West Philly Meeting. The new play by the innovative Black theater troupe was created with the West Philly community in mind and is based on the community input.

The process began in early 2020 with in-person West Philly community meetings that helped devise the new theatre piece. Two significant and tragic historic events are the basis for the new play – the 1985 MOVE bombing and summer 2020 protests and teargassing of protesters by the police on 52nd street, according to an article by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The new piece, written by Dwayne Alistair Thomas and directed by Katrina Snobe, brings the characters and the audience together to find “the solution to heal what ails them.” Continue Reading