Want to get involved in action and community this month? You’ll find other PCM members leading and/or attending the following events around the city and throughout the month:
PCM Co-sponsored Events:
MLK Day at the Woodmere Art Museum
Monday January 16, 2017
12-4pm
Visitors in the gallery will be surrounded by an exhibition of John W. Mosley (1907–1969), one of the premier photojournalists of 20th-century Philadelphia. Mosley chronicled the vitality of the black community and life in the segregated city from the 1930s through the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. During MLK Day, children and their families are invited to draw inspiration from Dr. King’s themes, words, and activism to write letters to Philadelphia’s Mayor Jim Kenney.
Listen to stories about Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Harriet Tubman, and many others who fought for freedom and civil rights; then create an art project commemorating these American heroes. Hear storyteller Denise Valentine pay tribute to the messages of Dr. King and performs traditional folktales and songs that illustrate the importance of family, community, and good character. Her stories are flavored with colorful people, talking animals, humor, suspense, and action, all brought to life with music and movement. They reveal acts of resistance, resilience, and reciprocity that have sustained African Americans through their long struggle for freedom.
MLK Day at Pleasant Playground
Monday January 16, 2017
10AM-12:30PM
Join PCM at Pleasant Playground on Monday, January 16th from 10am to 12:30pm for a family-friendly celebration in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., organized by Mt. Airy, USA with generous support from Weavers Way Co-op.
Activities for all ages will include:
*Story time with special guest readers
*Book swap
*Art-making stations
*Face painting
*Food and refreshments courtesy of Weavers Way
Volunteers are also invited to help out with a cleanup of the playground and on Chew Avenue. For more information, to volunteer for the cleanup, or to assist with children’s activities, please email [email protected] or call 215-844-6021 ext. 225.
Philly Kid’s Solidarity March
January 18, 4pm
Liberty Bell, 6th & Market Sts.
All Philly kids along with their families and friends are welcome to participate in this kid-centric, but anti-ageist solidarity event. By spotlighting our youth on Wednesday January 18th, we will help Philadephia carry the momentum of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day efforts on Monday January 16th into the many resistance events being held in our city as well as Washington, D.C. over January 20th-22nd, the U.S. Presidential Inauguration weekend.
Children deserve the opportunity to publicly extend their own messages of empathy, compassion and resistance as well as receive hope even as they spread brotherly love. This platform exists for kids to express themselves through displaying homemade signs and banners, singing rally songs and chants together, and making new friends and allies.
The next generation is already here ready to stand for planetary and racial justice and alongside the most marginalized among us. Coordinated by -and also held for- both organizations that champion amplifying the voice of children in activism and similarly engaged private citizen families, this event responds to an important moment in our unfolding history, encouraging children and families to find and use their voices as well as see and feel the support of their City. This event is expressly inclusive. Come participate and support Philly’s kids!
We will gather in the grassy area near Market St. Once assembled, kids and their families will lead a march around the block, congregating again to close at the original location. Event is weather permitting.
Networked Events:
MLK D.A.R.E. March
Independence Mall
Monday January 16, 2017
12-2pm
Making America Better through racial justice, economic justice and corporate accountability
The MLK D.A.R.E. Coalition calls on all those who believe in justice to join us in Philadelphia on January 16th, 2017 for a Day of Action, Resistance, and Empowerment. Join us in the necessary work to oppose policies based in hate. Join with us in bold acts of liberation and freedom. Take action for MLK Day.
Where will we march?
The March for a Better America will begin at the slave quarters on Independence Mall (6th and Market St.) at 11:30 AM and conclude at Mother Bethel AME Church (6th and Lombard St) for an outdoor rally. At the rally we will unveil our 21st Century Declaration of Rights which will call on politicians, community leaders, and common citizens to support the basic human rights we cherish like affordable housing, health care, and quality public education for all.
In this critical time, we cannot just say what we are against but must article what we demand. The march kicks off our 100 Days of Faithful Resistance which mirrors the first hundred days of the new administration. And if you can’t march, for whatever reason, meet us at the demonstration!
PCM will create a gathering area before and after the march and a “family contingent” within the march- walking together with our children reclaiming MLK’s activist legacy! Look for the white balloons!
The People’s Inauguration
New Sanctuary Movement
Friday January 20, 2017
12-2:30pm
JOIN US AS WE TAKE A COLLECTIVE OATH TO STAND UP TO ANY INJUSTICE AGAINST ANY COMMUNITY!
We are calling everyone who is ready to send clear message that we demand accountability from our government. We will not stay quiet when our communities are under threat. We are calling Individuals, Faith Congregations, Schools, Artists, Organizations, groups to joins us on January 20th. Location TBD
PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOUR GROUP IS INTERESTED!
We will not walk backwards, we are moving forward in unity and finding ways to support each other. We are stronger when we work to understand each other’s struggles, each other’s work, each other successes and failures. We are stronger when we individually commit to transform ourselves and then transform our communities. We are stronger when after our individual transformation we come together and collectively take an oath to defend our most deep humanity and dignity not only ours but everyone around us. We become stronger when we build relationships where we trust each other and always give the benefit of the doubt when mistakes occur. We become stronger when we do our work from a space rooted in grounded values of humanity and fierce love not only for our supporters but love for the ones who are against us.
Black Lives Matter Week
January 23-January 27
School across the city
Join educators, community members, and students across Philadelphia in support of Black Lives Matter Week.Philadelphia continues to be a city plagued by some of the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, and violence. The Racial Justice Committee of the Caucus of Working Educators is organizing a week highlighting the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement in order to continue purposeful action against the adverse outcomes derived from perpetual structural racism evident in public education and our society as a whole.
The week will begin on January 23rd, a day that we are asking that educators across the city join us in wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts and buttons. There will be events throughout the week, as well as curriculum resources for daily lesson plans and activities based upon the 13 Guiding Principles of Black Lives Matter. As we get closer to the week, resources and the calendar of events will be posted at workingeducators.org/racial-justice. We hope that you will join us as we collectively assert the value of Black lives in our schools and communities.
Visit our FAQs page for more information on the campaign, and check back for more information on upcoming events. Email [email protected] for more information or to add your school to the list of participating institutions.
PCM encourages members to reach out to their school communities and see what, if anything, your child’s school is planning to do during Black Lives Matter Week.
Supporting Philly Immigrant Students: Education Town Hall
January 24 from 6-7:30 PM
Community College of Philadelphia
Last year, our town halls established a community agenda that put a full-time nurse and counselor in every public school, restored water access in our school buildings, and worked to end split grades and massive overcrowding.
On January 24th, Council members Helen Gym, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Jannie Blackwell, the Philadelphia School District, the Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC), and the United Voices for Philadelphia will host a Town Hall to discuss the needs of immigrant students.
Parents, students, and community members are encouraged to come to the Community College of Philadelphia (1700 Spring Garden Street, Phila., 19130) on January 24th at 6:00pm to share their stories and to weigh in on the needs of immigrant students.