Letters to the Editor | Dec. 29, 2023

When my first grandchild was born, I knew I wanted them to celebrate a tradition that went beyond buying expensive presents and honored the journey, legacy, and culture of African American families such as my grandparents. For more than two decades now, my family has celebrated Kwanzaa. This year, as I looked at our old kinara covered in layers of red, black, and green melted wax, I remembered how as a child I’d watch my grandmother bring her treasured and fragile Christmas tree ornaments up from the basement.

I’ll never know all the memories those ornaments held for her. And how much of her life story of leaving the South in her teens to come to Philadelphia to live with plantation-reared cousins was connected to the tiny glass globes wrapped in tissue paper. On this year’s Kwanzaa Eve, I gathered my Kwanzaa decorations with the same reverence my grandmother had for the celebration of Christmas. I’ve come to understand that the tree she lovingly decorated each year was a testament to her journey from the fear and racism in the Jim Crow South to a new beginning and hope for the future.

As my family gathers during the seven days of Kwanzaa this year, my grandchildren will hear the stories of sacrifices made by their great-grandparents and other long-gone family members who laid the groundwork for their descendants. They had intentionally forged a path to ensure that the generations to come could enjoy a spirit of warmth, nurturing, and love that we celebrate during this Kwanzaa.

Karen Warrington, Philadelphia

According to Inquirer reporting, the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office hasn’t held a sale in years and won’t say why. The simplest way to remedy the issues around sheriff’s sales is to simply let real estate brokers list the properties. Allow buyers to purchase properties at market prices, especially owner-occupants. There is a lack of real estate supply that agent-sold properties would provide to the market, giving much-needed tax revenue to the city. Vacant properties are not like fine wine — they do not get better with age. Please urge City Council to adopt this change.

Jayson Massey, Philadelphia

I applaud The Inquirer and its investigative journalists William Bender and Ryan W. Briggs for their work on exposing the neglect bordering on corruption in the Sheriff’s Office. Hopefully, the new administration will take the action needed to do what is right. The scandalous behavior at this office has been documented for a long time. If changes aren’t made it will send a dismal message from the new administration.

It was with the usual sense of resignation and a more pronounced than usual “Philly shrug” that I read about the unexplained prolonged “pause” in tax sales by our Sheriff’s Office, which continues to cost our city millions of dollars per year. The Inquirer has repeatedly reported on the incompetence of Sheriff Rochelle Bilal and her staff, so a failure to fulfill even the most basic role of the office is not surprising. What was stunning to me was the inability of anybody up and down the whole government food chain to put forth any explanation for this abdication of responsibility. How can there be an office with absolutely no accountability to the public for the performance of its duties? One hopes for two things in the coming year: First, that the new administration holds the sheriff’s feet to the fire for the task of recouping these lost millions, and second, that we finally abolish the corrupt and inefficient office of the sheriff and other row offices that have long since outlived any usefulness to the city.

Jeffrey R. Jaeger, Philadelphia

For 20 years, an American global health program has defied the trend of ever-narrowing political divides in Washington while expanding the boundaries of public health across the world. Its mission — to stem the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic — united activists and evangelists, celebrities, and people just like you and me. Yet today, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has helped save 25 million lives, is in jeopardy.

A key accomplishment of President George W. Bush’s administration, PEPFAR would not have been established without the hard-fought compromise of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Grassroots AIDS activists who struggled against stigma as they fought for a stronger domestic response joined evangelical faith leaders to call for U.S. investment in the fight against HIV/AIDS around the world — the right and compassionate thing to do.

I’m a pastor at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Devon, and I have seen the impact of PEPFAR firsthand. During a visit to Tanzania, my family and I spent time at an orphanage getting to know the children who lived there, as well as the women who cared for them. Many of those women also worked at the orphanage during the peak of the AIDS epidemic and told me about the desperation of so many sick children and nothing they could do but care for them until they died. Today, 20 million people have access to antiretroviral treatment because of this program, and 5.5 million babies have been born HIV-free. That’s the PEPFAR difference.

PEPFAR’s authorization expired earlier this year, and its continuation has been stalled by politics in Congress. I strongly urge U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, and their fellow lawmakers to reauthorize PEPFAR and support this critical moral legacy of America’s global health leadership.

Matt Staniz, Devon

I am in the twilight of my life. I have experienced many phases of lifetime challenges, met them straight on, and for the most part, have been successful. I am educated and well-read. I have traveled around the world on photo assignments and have found people in all countries are the same. Same desires: family, relationships, love of friends and countrymen, an abode, and a job — basics of living. The saying “expect the unexpected” is a constant conundrum. From the moment we leave the womb, we are different and thrust into the vast unknown. The present world circumstances, especially politically, are the worst and most challenging I have ever seen. The far-right has created a world of hatred, ethnic wars, and mass indiscriminate killing of “the opposition.” Our next election brings a choice: life or death.

Philip Lustig, Downingtown

The Inquirer lauds Mayor Jim Kenney for his signature achievement of establishing free prekindergarten. Initiating a new program by raising taxes isn’t something that deserves praise, because it’s been used by politicians forever. A new program without raising taxes is one that deserves recognition. Kenny increased the budget by more than 50%, but no one seems to ask where all the money went. He couldn’t seem to squeeze pre-K into that extra money for some reason. The Police Department received hundreds of millions in additional spending, but are we a safer city? Are we a better-run city? I don’t think so. In the end, Kenney will be remembered most as a mayor who gave up on the city when the citizens needed him most.

Charles Brennan, Philadelphia

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