Menika Dirkson

For decades, Philadelphia has struggled with poverty and gun violence. Social uplift organizations of the past have demonstrated that racial equity is the key.

From the 1920s-1940s, North, West, and South Philadelphia saw its Black population increase by 50-80% as white flight occurred.

Although freed from slavery, Louis Congo's job as public executioner ensured him a life as a pawn of French officials and retaliation from those he disciplined.

"A lot has been hidden from Black Americans. And so there is always a longing to know who you are and where you come from.”

Philadelphia’s PAL and the Black Panther Party’s efforts to mold black youth into their own image.