education

West Philadelphia’s African-American Muslim heritage stretches back at least to 1949, with the establishment of the International Muslim Brotherhood. Founded by a North Carolina-born Baptist preacher who converted to Islam and, in turn, converted his entire congregation, the Brotherhood has long been a pillar for Muslims in the neighborhood. Keeping the Faith portrays the deep historical roots of the African-American Muslim community on Lancaster Avenue. It emphasizes the voices of the people who remember its beginnings and those who continue the work of preserving its legacy.

The Houston Community Center carries on a long and illustrious tradition of social service in this ethnically diverse South Philadelphia neighborhood. Founded in 1901 as St. Martha’s House, the organization functioned as a settlement house serving the predominantly Italian and Eastern European immigrant communities of the area. St. Martha’s provided education and health services and emphasized “integration and assimilation” programs for immigrants intended to ease their transition into an unfamiliar city and culture.

The African influence is rich at El Colobó, a garden in the Norris Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. Created by Grupo Motivos, an organization of women of Puerto Rican descent who formed a support network for the affirmation of their identity, El Colobó is the neighborhood’s first African garden. It is a place where community members gather to learn about their African heritage and celebrate the influence of African cultures in Puerto Rico and North America through art, dance, music and agriculture.

With its run-down housing, neglected infrastructure and isolated location, residents of Grays Ferry say the city paid little attention to their neighborhood before the infamous street confrontations between working class whites and blacks in the 1990s. The media dubbed Audenried High School a "prison on the hill" after a spate of violent incidents between students. A racially diverse but segregated South Philadelphia neighborhood isolated between a highway and a river, the phrase Grays Ferry had become a slur to some Philadelphians.

PASCEP is a 32-year-old, all volunteer education and outreach program that was created out of struggles in 1970s to make Temple University more responsive to the African American community in North Philadelphia where the University is based. Their video is a celebration of the history and the influence of this institution has had and all the incredible artists and educators who have come through PASCEP's doors.