garden community which was the largest
Latino poor rican population is dead
offensive eight after decades growing up
there was was great because as a kid if
he had vice we’d get it from the next
door neighbor if the next door neighbor
didn’t have beans that get it from us on
any other day when kids took nap you
will all sleep in the same bed together
black white or again we’ve all seen shed
bed so that’s great then things started
to change gentrification came to the
spring garden community and he hit hard
and it was violent because people were
being burned out of homes and forced out
of their homes I didn’t know this back
then but you know jobs were leaving and
then the the gangs there to protect us
now are dealing drugs of the corners and
there’s just uh the violence starts to
intensify that you need the ee n and I
was you know it as I grew up I was part
of that balance you know my head’s been
cracked open twice damage to
back but you know during that time I
thought there was something wrong right
so I had that difficult time and thank
God to a great parent I had great
mentors coming into my life and I left
the violence and went to college I went
to Community College for two years then
I went to university art or graduated
from and while i was going to working on
my TV a you know my friends were dealing
drugs in the corner you know I what I
was working at jobs in center city to
pay for my supplies and stuff at school
you know I was going funerals on
weekends so there was something wrong
right there is just something wrong with
this going on and then I’m a paladin I
see there’s something wrong and it
cannot community so so I graduated
college and then go work in the industry
I’m an artist I paint I graphic Emma
graphic designer and I’m just clashing
just pictures of stuff that I’ve worked
on with with the community so um after
college I’m working in industry in
center city and to me I go back to my
community there’s something wrong right
there’s just something wrong and I’m
like look I I gotta do something I got
to do something about this so so i say
i’m going to start volunteering so I
start to volunteer i’m going to give you
two examples of volunteering well that
doesn’t work and one that that does
impact so like there well first i did
some research too
research so a research in my community
you know we are in North Philly we have
a worse opiate epidemic we’re the second
poorest community of the children in the
nation they estimate about five hundred
thousand needles lay across the enteric
train tracks on second Indiana highest
dropout rate you name it we guide but
and at the same time we have more
nonprofit money coming into our
community than ever in the history of
Philadelphia but yet the problems are
worse so then this is why I start to
look at what can I do right so I start
to volunteer and so like these make a
million-dollar nonprofits they go well
let’s let’s have a clean-up day we’ll
get people from all over the region to
come up and clean up the neighborhood
and that happens right you go home and
you feel good now help clean up the
neighborhood good but then what happens
when you leave right the very next day
the trash is back the drug dealers are
back on the corner kids are still
dropping out of school there’s still a
lot of balance in the street so nothing
has changed right so that kind of stuff
just doesn’t work right so so then I
looked at other ways of helping and I’ll
give you the example of one of the last
things that I worked on which was saving
mattia but anyway there’s a hero on 17
Tomorrowland it’s the Statue of Liberty
with the boring and flag clicked on it
and it’s been in and that’s the old
battery that’s where I was raised and
that murals been there for probably 34
years so its historical we were
historical for the city and heart to me
so the developer or all these buildings
on my garden street and that’s when I
start to get phone calls to go like yo
they just purchased a building where the
mural is and they’re going to check that
our real what are you gonna do by I said
I think you what are you going to
do right so so then I get more phone
calls that I can’t believe it into us
collector do anything what go to do so
then we pull the meeting together there
about seven or eight hack most of the
guys are going on and we start talking
so here we found out the name of the
company’s name is ingre me so that’s
there are social media so its bottom on
social media that’s email them and say
please save our hero so we that’s one of
the things we organize them a bit then
we were going to have a big drug test so
after bombing them in social media we
started getting responses from entering
it was amazing I mean I was like they
said yeah we plan on keeping the neural
right so we’re happy and now the protest
is going to be a celebration so I called
company ingerman SI hay
appreciate what you guys are doing and
keeping that mural because its struggle
for us and it means a lot to us and I
said would you be willing to come out
this feedback celebration and he said
he’ll be out be out there Gil I’ll be
out there and support and at the same
time I get a call from Jane golden for
mural arts and she’s like yeah I’ve been
here how that was going on so I was
going on and I said well in humans going
to be saying the girl you know so we’re
going to have this celebration would you
be willing to come out and talk and
support the mineral that she goes feel
I’m going to be there so here we are
that they have celebration and the first
eager is a kid that was born and raised
in that community he starts talking
about how important memories are how
important history is then the guy from
ingerman comes up and talking he latches
onto those histories and memories and he
says both of our intention is to keep
that girl and where that will work with
the community we’re not just coming in
here and pushing everybody that we’re
going to come in here going to work at
the community and work in it it’s going
to be mixed income living so a lot of
people give a comeback to the units
which is awesome I mean he’s really
internet is doing a great job then y a
golden speaks and she says you know
talks about the importance of murals in
Philadelphia and she says well we’re not
just going to support you when I think
just to support but regular restore the
room so now this verse element and
everybody is dancing
we have loved LuPone videos de la kinda
playing out there and that’s it right
that’s I go home and I think Rob thats
great and then I started phone calls the
next day they’re like yo what I’m going
to do now I like me now what we have we
we want matter that what we didn’t do
that or keep up we are kicking it I said
well look you did you and I said what
what are you gonna do what are you
wanting so I got more phone calls and I
said okay let’s let’s get a meeting
together and see what people want to do
so we’re sitting at the table and one
group says what we want to do nutrition
because there’s a report in 20 2013 that
came out from the Philadelphia
Department of Health that says and North
Philadelphia has one of the highest
rates of cancer in the country right so
they want to do nutrition because
although the report says it’s probably
muted smoking cigarettes if you know
North Philadelphia you know yeah there’s
not a lot of pop without not cigarettes
so you know it’s some most of the people
i know they have cancer never smoked a
day in your life so but it’s it’s the
grocery stores is that will they guys
right they have all processed food you
know just keeping grapes on shelf is
difficult right because if you don’t
teach people how to eat right they’re
not going to do it by the grapes they’re
just going by the Twinkies delivered by
you know the so does you’re going to buy
all the process stuff that’s bad for you
so these kids are now
this summer they’re going to throw in
workshops all over North Philadelphia to
teach nutrition to the young people and
that’s one thing that came out of this
beer on Regulus it’s not just about the
wheeler to go and pack you know people
on marrying themselves and doing more
and then another group they came up with
the idea of doing like baseball cards
kind of like hero cards for a lot emails
because you know I might sue the school
district of philadelphia i graduated
with a 6th grade reading level and i
never learned about anyone who was
Latino and that bothered me you know
that’s one of the things I said there’s
something wrong here why is the you know
we learn about Lincoln you learn about
Marlon UK but what about somebody’s like
me you know or weaken robot Athena so
these kids they’re going to do these
cards we got some want to print them up
and also along to go to be doing
workshops with the children and saying
look these are people that are just like
you they have done amazing things and
again that came out of the mural so what
I guess what I’m going to ask you guys
is to do is to do your research
volunteer and impact right so do your research volunteer in that thang