Chinatown is ready to fight Sixers arena | Morning Newsletter

I hope you have weekend plans because the sun will be out the entire time. Temps will remain in the low to mid-80s.

I want to start out by acknowledging that there are heavy topics in today’s newsletter. I’m going to walk through both community and individual people’s struggles. These stories are also about being resilient (whether it’s to protect their homes or just to simply exist).

If you need a break at any point, I encourage it (not that you need my permission).

I have one request: Please reflect on these stories as you enter the weekend.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

For 150 years, the Chinatown community had fought for its life as big development project after development project targeted the neighborhood.

The most recent: The 76ers proposal for a new arena.

Chinatown is one of the remaining communities of color and low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia’s downtown. It’s also one of the few authentic Chinatowns left in the country.

“It’s [because of] a history and legacy of fight,” said Debbie Wei, cofounder of Asian Americans United. “Traditional arts and culture, and reclamation of culture and community, are underpinnings for how we fight.”

The community always took care of itself establishing businesses, places of worship, schools, and community centers to serve the neighborhood — filling service gaps left by the city. When outside threats came, they strategized.

The list of what the community fought off over the years includes two casinos and a baseball stadium. Cecilia Yep, “the grandmother of Chinatown,” at one point made a deal with the mayor in 1960 to provide more housing for displaced families, senior citizens, and low-income people when he wanted to make way for the Center City Commuter Rail Tunnel.

This isn’t even a complete list of how much they’ve fought. When they couldn’t completely stop some projects, they won scaled-back versions.

Read more as my colleague Massarah Mikati speaks to community leaders and details Chinatown’s secret to keeping their neighborhood.

Gun violence continues to be on the rise. It’s the heavy backdrop that has enveloped the city with an acute effect on children.

Numbers don’t tell the full story, but they do reveal how many children are weighed down by the emotional effects of witnessing and experiencing trauma.

Columnist Helen Ubiñas introduces us to Jessica Blair as she navigates caring for her three sons, who had to witness her partner and father of her two younger boys fight for his life after being shot outside their home.

The boys will have to carry that trauma as they begin school in a few weeks. They are one of the many examples of children carrying a heavy load while trying to balance schoolwork and to simply be kids.

Read more about the limitations of the school district and a frustrated educator trying to make a difference.

Pause: That was a lot. The rest of the newsletter will be lighter.

👀 Wondering: What’s in the warrant the FBI used to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

🥃 Drinking: A Root Beer Rickey. I started making the simple drink earlier this month. It’s fizzy and refreshing.

🎧 Listening: To Kehlani’s “everything” from her latest album, blue water road. FYI, she’ll be in town Monday for a concert at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia announced it will move to what location?

A. Trick question. It’s not moving

B. Inside the the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

C. The former Family Court building on the Ben Franklin Parkway

D. None of the above

Find out if you know the answer.

This chemical is used as machine lubricant (and smells terrible).

Hint: A leak happened this week Gloucester County

BULILROZ

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Tamika Montgomery, who correctly guessed Columbia Avenue as Thursday’s answer.

... and that’s your week! My colleague Tommy Rowan has you covered Sunday. I’ll see you back here Monday, after a quick trip to the Jersey Shore, where I’ll eat too much funnel cake.