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Balancing Gentrification on Germantown Ave.
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With the goal of preserving the treasured diversity of Mt Airy, Samantha & Antoine Joseph ask, “Can we begin with one building to combat the rapid erasure of African American history and culture?” The Sun Building at 6663 Germantown Ave. is over 100 years old and in recent history has been a Black-owned space that showcased our history and our voices. In the 1950’s the building served as an antique shop owned by a Black educator, who to this day has a scholarship named after him. Then in the 1990’s the building became the headquarters of the Philadelphia Sunday Sun, a Black community newspaper, founded by the former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP.
Samantha stated in the Mt Airy Times recently: “We want people to know and appreciate this neighborhood. We welcome you to be part of this community that you moved to. Renovating the Sun building to remain a community and cultural space keeps some visible history of who we are and how you can be integrated here, rather than be gentrifiers.”
Join us over Zoom as we listen to the Josephs’ inspiring story, and hear how systemic racism continues to affect their plans and aspirations. This is the sixth event in the Tikkun Olam@GJC series, Facing Systemic Racism. Link for registration to come.
About the speakers: Antoine grew up in Mt Airy and is currently working as a mechanical engineer at a Center City firm. Samantha grew up in New York, is pursuing a PhD at Drexel, and is a community health researcher. She fell in love with both Antoine and Mt Airy and together they purchased their own home in East Mt. Airy 7 years ago.