babies: Philadelphia Metropolis

Race Hatred 2.0

By Nita Jalivay.» Like many teachers, I enjoy using technology as a tool to boost my students' level of understanding and engagement in class. I admit I am not the most computer savvy instructor, but I navigate just fine through the myriad websites that offer teachers portals to other worlds, ones through which we voyage with our students. The internet has enabled my kids - many of whom have rarely had the opportunity to leave Philadelphia - to trek with me through the jungles of the Amazon; to hike the Australian outback; and to climb Table Mountain in South Africa. We have a beautiful time learning and exploring together, with YouTube documentaries serving as our global passports. The images beaming back at us from faraway, exotic locales reinforce the connectedness of our humanity to that of our fellow world citizens. Sometimes, though, I am loath to search my favorite sites for certain types of content-specific material. For instance, when I recently showed my summer school class some YouTube footage on American slavery (the film having been written, directed and produced by a black artist), at the bottom of this very intelligent story were the sickest, most racist comments that one could conjure up. Line after line, my students - all of (Comments)

My Philadelphia: Spring Garden

We hadn't particularly meant to move to Spring Garden. In fact, we lived here for months--surrounded by drop cloths and buckets of joint compound and the implacable seepage into everything of the dust and grit produced when you demolish or repair walls made of plaster and horsehair, or so somebody said at the time--before we knew we had. (It's bounded by (Comments)

My Philadelphia: West Philly

By S.G. Grant» We continue our series of Cover Stories on Philadelphia neighborhoods with S.G. Grant's essay about West Philadelphia. It's not the buildings and the businesses that attracts her, but the people -- in all their varied forms, colors and origins. Read on for Grant's census of modern West Philadelphia (Comments)

Young, Black and in Danger

YOUNG, BLACK AND IN DANGER  MEN IN PRISON, ON DRUGS, IN THE STREETS AND  IN THE MORGUE: THE NUMBERS ARE ALARMING. Jul 15, 1990 By Thomas Ferrick Jr. and Jerry W. Byrd , Inquirer Staff Writers  In relentlessly increasing... (Comments)

Being an Adult

By Jody Bowden» Being an adult with a capital "A" is hard. But, I had settled into that role, albeit begrudgingly, over the past 10 years or so. Along with my husband, we budgeted, found stable decent-paying jobs, paid off student loans, paid taxes, and acted like grown-ups most of the time. Buying a house, getting married, first baby, second baby, third baby, selling our first house and buying our second (bigger) house, getting a dog... Yes, we were adults. Life had a predictable pace; never a dull moment with three kids in the house, but things were good. Still, nothing in my adulthood could have prepared me for hearing the words "you have cancer" when I was just 35 years old. It was one of those moments that become frozen in time, (Comments)