ACANA HOLDS HISTORICAL GROUND BREAKING
CEREMONY FOR AFRICA TOWN IN PHILADELPHIA,
PA!!
On
Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, November 25, ACANA
(African Cultural Alliance of North America) held a historic ground
breaking ceremony for AFRICA TOWN in Southwest Philadelphia. A
gathering of dignitaries, including members of the Mayor's
Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs, State Rep.
Jordan Harris, State Senators Anthony Williams, Vincent Hughes, former
City Council Rep. Jannie Blackwell, among others, were in attendance. Even the bitter coldness of the day did not keep members and well wishers away from this auspicious event.
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HISTORIC GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY OF AFRICA TOWN CENTER
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Stan
Straughter, President of the Mayor's Commission on African and
Caribbean Immigrant Affairs, and Voffee Jabateh, founder and CEO of
ACANA, have been planning for this event for nearly a decade - and it
has finally arrived. With a grant for $9 million to begin what will be a
precedent setting development to celebrate the first ever AfricaTown
development.
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Architects with ACANA CEO Voffee Jabateh and Stan Straughter
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Two months prior, on September 28th, Acana held a Check Presentation Ceremony for Africatown. Present were State Senators Anthony Williams and Vincent Hughes who acknowledged the significant State and Federal Support for ACANA’s Africatown initiative. Over the ensuing two months ACANA continued to develop plans and raise funds to move the project forward.
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Rendering of Future AfricaTown Center DOLAKEH
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The ground breaking ceremony - part of a three-phased development on the 5400 Block of Chester Avenue - was held Friday, November 25, during Thanksgiving Weekend, to acknowledge the receipt of Congressional Community Project Funding by Congress person Mary Gay Scanlon. The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) Grants, jointly supported by State Senators Anthony Williams, Vincent Hughes, Sharif Street; and State Representatives Jordan Harris and Joanna McClinton, and American Rescue Plan Act funding supported by Senator Williams and Senator Hughes amounted to $9MILLION!! With the aggregate funding from the City, State and Federal sources, ACANA is now able to gain site control of a substantial portion of the 5400 block on Chester, SW Philadelphia.
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State Senator Anthony Williams and Community
Activist Diva Tamara Staley
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Youma Ba - Founder of ECHOES OF AFRICA
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| THE HON. JANNIE L. BLACKWELL |
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This development is now called Dolakeh Square in Africatown - a flagship mixed-use retail/office and cultural/social services development, which will also include low/mod income housing, an Africa Trade Center, and an African grocery store. This will be the foundation of “Africatown,” which, like the Chinatowns and Koreatowns across the urban landscape in many metropolitan areas of the United States, will be a cultural, business, destination and tourist center in Philadelphia. The Dolakeh Square in Africatown - which in the Mano language of north-central Liberia means “working together" - will provide visible evidence of a significant investment and brand this Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood as “Africatown,” reflective of the expanding immigrant communities from West African and the Caribbean. Consistent with the name of the development, the Dolakeh Square in Africatown will unite the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood and become the premier platform for significant community revitalization.
As mentioned earlier, ACANA - which is also a non-profit organization that serves African and Caribbean immigrants by providing access to social and legal and health services, and organizing African art and culture events - has been developing the concept of AFRICA TOWN for years, in hopes of developing a destination attraction in Southwest Philadelphia, as a must-go-to designation area for national and international tourists and Philadelphia locals.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
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| Gloria DULAN-Wilson |
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