🖼️ A commitment to Black art | Morning Newsletter
And DC 33 contract talks yield no deal.
The Morning Newsletter
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And we’re back, Philly. The holiday weekend is set to close with more sun and high temps near 90.
Despite federal cuts and executive orders taking aim at diversity and inclusion efforts, Philadelphia’s art organizations continue to center the stories of Black Americans.
And District Council 33 restarted contract negotiations with the city on Saturday, the fifth day of its members’ strike, yet there’s still no deal. Meanwhile, a second union for city workers is holding a strike authorization vote.
Plus, an undocumented Montgomery County woman was released from federal detention after being held over a $77 bail. Now, she’s thinking of the women still inside.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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From Woodmere Art Museum to the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia arts organizations say they remain committed to Black art and artists.
🖼️ That’s despite rhetoric and actions from President Donald Trump, whose administration has cut funding related to diversity efforts and targeted groups such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
🖼️ Local cultural leaders say their efforts to showcase work by Black artists, and to ensure all visitors feel they have a place at their institutions, are core to their missions.
🖼️ Notable quote: “When people see themselves represented in art in museums, in government buildings, on television, it speaks to their audacity of hope,” the African American Museum in Philadelphia’s CEO told The Inquirer. “That is what makes art powerful.”
Columnist Elizabeth Wellington has more on Philly orgs’ responses to federal attacks.
Contract negotiations between the city and DC 33 resumed Saturday afternoon, but there’s still no deal. Here’s what’s transpired over the past few days:
Protests on parade: Striking municipal workers brought their protest to the city’s July Fourth parade as union leaders indicated a potential willingness to budge on the key issue of raises. LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan, set to co-headline the Wawa Welcome America concert, both pulled out ahead of the show in solidarity with the workers.
Tensions remain high: The day before, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker gave an impassioned speech defending her administration and blaming DC 33 for a breakdown in talks. A judge on Thursday also ordered striking Medical Examiner’s Office workers to return to their jobs in response to a lawsuit by the city that said bodies were piling up in storage.
Talking trash: Without sanitation workers to collect garbage, mounds of trash are taking their toll as Philadelphians navigate pest control and dumpster feuds. Officials said Friday that they received multiple reports overnight of trash on fire at collection sites.
Meanwhile: A second union for Philadelphia city workers, District Council 47, is holding a strike authorization vote. And on Saturday, Democratic City Committee chair Bob Brady said he wants the DC 33 strike to end, and has been in touch with union leaders — but not the mayor.
See Inquirer.com for the latest.
Plus, a history lesson: DC 33 made concessions in 1992. Decades of resentment since led to Philadelphia’s current strike.
What you should know today
A man was shot and killed by police after he allegedly fired at officers on Friday in Fairhill, according to police. On Thursday, a 15-year-old boy died after he was shot several times and then dumped from a car in an alley in Northeast Philadelphia, police said.
A shooting incident early Saturday at a South Philly lounge stemmed from a knife fight that spilled onto a balcony, police say.
The Philadelphia homicide detective who shot and killed a man who approached his car at a stoplight last year has been cleared of wrongdoing, sources told The Inquirer.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the lone Pennsylvania Republican to vote against Trump’s sweeping domestic spending and tax policy package Thursday, citing changes to Medicaid. An estimated 300,000 state residents could lose Medicaid coverage under the bill.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a $4 million investment in Rhoads Industries that would bring 450 new jobs to the Navy Yard.
As Pennsylvania gets closer to regulating the slot-machine look-alikes, some lawmakers say they’re facing intimidation from the industry’s supporters.
After a fire broke out early Friday at the historically designated Art Alliance building on Rittenhouse Square, neighbors are mourning the now-charred and shuttered property.
SEPTA will charge customers to park in its lots and garages on weekends and holidays starting Monday.
🎤 I’m passing the mic to immigration reporter Jeff Gammage.
Andrea Lozano-Alanis was released from an ICE detention center more than a week ago, but part of her heart, she says, remains with the women she left behind.
Some have been inside the Moshannon facility for months, and several phone her every day for encouragement. Others gave up their fight to stay in the United States and accepted deportation, worn down by isolation and hopelessness.
For Lozano-Alanis, 31, the undocumented mother of a 7-year-old autistic son, her battle is in some ways just beginning: to be able to support her family, to try to stay in this country, to create a future.
She’s fighting not just for herself, she says, but for others like her, people who entered the United States with big hopes but no legal permission. — Jeff Gammage
Read on for Lozano-Alanis’ story.
❓Pop quiz
What do South Philly’s 19th Street Baptist Church and Shiloh Baptist Church have in common?
A) They will both be demolished
B) They will both be preserved
C) They will both be reopened for church services
D) They were both designed by Frank Furness
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia-tied bar
VAST CARMEN
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Maija Ross, who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: Washington Square West. Tria’s soon-to-be former location in the neighborhood will this fall become a cocktail bar by Next of Kin Hospitality.
Photo of the day
Crowds gathered across Philadelphia on Friday to celebrate Independence Day, from the parade to the fireworks, even as the scheduled concert’s headliners canceled their performances.
🎶 Speaking of those artists, today’s track goes like this: “Don’t call it a comeback / I been here for years.”
One more musical thing: For some contemporary jams, consult pop critic Dan DeLuca’s roundup of potential songs of the summer 2025, which features a handful of Philly-tied artists. (My vote’s on HAIM, though.)
Have a good one. I’ll be back with you tomorrow to start off the week right.
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