Wilbert Hart, one of the original members of the Delfonics, poses with Gregorio Pac Cojulun in Malcolm X Park during Ali Hackett’s Wednesday Night Workout. The last Wednesday night of the season is this week! Please join us.
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Last night, Nate Murray (above) and his band played the last concert of the 10th annual Summer Heritage Jazz Series. Thanks to all the great artists who made it out this season! And a special thanks to Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell for helping make the series possible (and [...]
At his “Night of the Stars” in Malcolm X Park, DJ Ali Hackett told a story about a Bunny Sigler performance he saw at a club in Philadelphia. Sigler was invited to sing, but he was hesitant. Under pressure, he got up and sang a song that consisted entirely [...]
Tony Moore, of the charitable food bank Veterans United, distributed free yogurt to an appreciative crowd in Malcolm X Park last night.
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New neighbors on 51st Street introduced their very talented Cockatoo to the pleasure of an afternoon in Malcolm X Park. The park is no stranger to exotic creatures!
[...]DJ Ali Hackett is back tonight with more oldies and line-dancing. Join us and enjoy the cool weather! 6-9pm under the Gazebo.
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Tonight, from 7-9pm, Ms. Barbara Walker performs as part of the Malcolm X Park Summer Heritage Jazz Series. As usual, the show is FREE. Malcolm X Park is at 51st and Pine in West Philadelphia. See you there!
[...]Come out to Malcolm X Park (51st and Pine in West Philadelphia) tonight to dance to the oldies!
Always free and always fun, whether you dance or not! Starts at 6pm, but folks start showing up around 5. See you there!
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Jegator–a two-year-old alligator–and Jeff, his owner, enjoy a lovely Sunday afternoon in Malcolm X Park:
[...]Wednesday night: DJ Ali Hackett returns! He’ll be spinning oldies until 9pm under the gazebo. Delaware valley-area line-dancers are out in force for these events, and even if you don’t dance, they’re fun to watch!
Thursday night: The Summer Heritage Jazz Series continues with a return engagement from Reference Point! The [...]
It’s the Wednesday workout! Music and dancing FREE for all ages tomorrow night in Malcolm X Park:
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Despite the threat of rain, an enthusiastic crowd turned out last night for the Wednesday Night Workout with DJ Ali Hackett! The music and dancing returns every Wednesday all summer long from 6-9pm in Malcolm X Park.
Tonight, we’re pleased to welcome Shirley Lites to the Summer [...]
DJ Ali Hackett returns to Malcolm X Park tonight from 6-9pm with a crate full of oldies and a crowd of dedicated line-dancers (of all abilities) hot on his heels. Oldies Night in Malcolm X Park is FREE and open to everybody, and you don’t even have to dance! The [...]
Today, from Noon to 9pm, is the 6th Annual Ma’at Celebration for African Independence Day in Malcolm X Park. As in years past, there will be children’s activities, live performances and vendors of various kinds:
Here are some scenes from the 2007 edition:
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When the rain started this evening, it was game-over for these card players who huddled under the covered table to stay dry. The line-dancing was cancelled this evening, but it’ll be back again next week!
[...]Two great events this week in Malcolm X Park:
Wednesday night – 7-9pm kicks off the first of a FREE ten-Wednesday stand of oldies line-dancing nights under the gazebo featuring DJ Ali Hackett! This will blow your mind, guaranteed. Here’s a scene from last year:
Thursday night – 7-9pm Michelle Beckhem [...]
The latest installment in the Friends of Malcolm X Park Summer Heritage Jazz Series is tomorrow night, and you won’t want to miss the Barbara Walker Story! As always, the show is Thursday from 7-9pm under the gazebo in Malcolm X Park (between 51st and 52nd, Pine and Larchwood in [...]
Click here to view the embedded video.
Check out the Barbara Walker Story this Thursday night! 7-9pm Free in Malcolm X Park.
[...]Despite the threat of rain, we had a nice crowd last night for Reference Point. The dedicated crowd just gathered in a little tighter under the gazebo as the weather worsened, and a great time was had by all! See you again next week (Thursday from 7-9pm) for the Barbara [...]
At the Summer Heritage Jazz Series concert last night, the 18th Police District was out in force showing off its new (ish) Segways. This was the first time I’d seen them in the park, but the officers assured me they’d been patrolling with them for the last couple of months. [...]
Due to some rain-outs early in the summer, the Summer Heritage Jazz Series is on an every-week schedule for the remainder of July. Tomorrow night, we welcome well-known West Philadelphian and perennial favorite Glen Bryan! Here’s a clip from their performance during the 2008 season:
As always, the Thursday night [...]
The Malcolm X Park weight club is an informal group of guys who meet most weekday mornings in Malcolm X Park to lift weights and socialize. Featured are Vernon, who founded the group, and his friends Black, New Boo, and Jake. Music is by Aeon, a musician, producer and DJ [...]
At what turned out to be the first concert in the 2009 Summer Heritage Jazz Series (due to rain) Bill Booker and friends played this lovely tune, Ladybird, by Tadd Dameron. See the Schedule of Events for the entire schedule of summer concerts. They’re on every other Thursday night from [...]
With the warm weather, the Malcolm X Park weightlifters are back in action. I interviewed them briefly this morning, and I hope to have a video together shortly.
Left-to-right: Vernon, Jake, Black, New Boo.
[...]Finally getting this little video together:
Volunteers from the Friends of Malcolm X Park, UC Green, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the surrounding neighborhood and from across the city gathered in Malcolm X Park to help plant two young Sugar Maples. The trees were a surprise donation to the park, left over [...]
…who you’ll run into at a Friends of Malcolm X Park jazz concert!
(left to right) Jan Jeffries, Marcy Francis and a friend came out for Bill Booker’s concert on June 25th. Francis has a new album out, with executive producer Leonard Nelson Hubbard (aka Hub) former bassist [...]
Here’s Bill Booker in Malcolm X Park from two years ago:
Come on out tomorrow night for another FREE concert from the Friends of Malcolm X Memorial Park from 7-9pm!
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I love dogs and you love dogs, but not everyone does…Some people are terrified by off-leash dogs! Do the right thing and keep them leashed. And we share this park, so clean up after your animal!
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(With a nod to Better Off Soaked, the blog dedicated to broken umbrellas.)
This crew took off before I could inquire further about what they were shooting.
[...]I’d never heard of or seen this extraordinary contraption before reading this. But evidently somebody thinks it’s just the thing for a short route between the Philadelphia Zoo and part of Fairmount Park:
PHILADELPHIA - Super bikes may be making a comeback in Philadelphia.
A City Council committee plans to consider a [...]
This one snuck up on me, hence the late notice! The National Council of Negro Women presents Family Day today in Malcolm X Park fro 10am -5pm. There’ll be a drill team performance by Command Performance, a step show by Zeta Phi Beta, a Flea Market, and a variety of [...]
Found this lovely little critter while planting the park’s two new Sugar Maples on Monday. Any idea what it will turn into?
[...]Thursday night, from 7-9pm, Michelle Beckham kicks off the 2009 Season of the Summer Heritage Jazz Series in Malcolm X Park! The music is FREE and all are welcome. Look for the Friends of Malcolm X Memorial Park t-shirts and ask about becoming a member. Here’s the Friends’ Vice [...]
About a dozen eager volunteers joined in to make light work of the two Sugar Maples unexpectedly remaindered to Malcolm X Park from the Market-Frankford El beautification. Every tree needs a name, of course, and these were dubbed Jimmy and Dante. Thanks to everyone for the assistance!
This beautiful animal was patient with some truly adoring little kids all day Saturday in Malcolm X Park.
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Strictly speaking, driving your Mister Softee truck INTO the park is not allowed. Strictly speaking.
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These three friends came out to Malcolm X Park yesterday to enjoy the crazy carnival rides, food and activities at the Provider to Provider initiative.
[...]From 10am to 3pm today, the Provider to Provider Initiative is staging what can only be described as an extravaganza. This may be the first time in the history of the park that it has hosted actual carnival rides! In addition, there’ll be pony rides, music, dancing and food. [...]
On Saturday, June 6th, Provider to Provider will offer support resources for home-based childcare providers in Malcolm X Park. If you, or someone you know, could use a little help dealing with the stresses of running a small home-based childcare operation, this seems like a really useful events. Here’s how [...]
There have been no sightings of Malcolm the Falcon in the park yet this summer. The squirrels were decidedly less concerned with these two ducks who seem to have gone a bit off course:
[...]I’ve made a long-overdue update to our schedule of events here in Malcolm X Park, including all of the Summer Heritage Jazz Series events. I’ll be updating with additional public events not sponsored by the Friends of Malcolm X Park as I hear about them:
Note that this calendar is always [...]
This weekend, a group of drummers performed in Malcolm X Park for a community anti-violence event:
[...]A little delayed, but here’s some fun footage of the Easter Bunny in Malcolm X Park a few weeks ago:
This morning, Malcolm X Park will see the addition of a handful of new trees to replace a few of those lost in recent years. If you’re feeling spry, come out and join the effort! 9am to about 1pm.
[...]UPDATE: Eggs will be given out under the gazebo around noon today. We’re working on rescheduling the activities and games until next Saturday after the Spring Into Your Park cleanup.
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The rain is disappointing, but the Easter Eggs will be given out rain or shine. We’ll be out there either way [...]
The Friends of Malcolm X Park are looking for volunteers for two great upcoming events:
On Saturday, April 11th, the 15th Annual Malcolm X Park Easter egg hunt and party will get underway with more than a thousand children and their parents visiting the park. This year, in addition to the [...]
1st Corinthian Baptist Church, neighbor to Malcolm X Park, was in the news today. Here’s the story from 6abc:
SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA - February 7, 2009 (WPVI) – A former West Philadelphia church official has been charged with stealing more than $100,000 in church funds to buy vehicles for [...]
The park’s not draining so well these days, so despite Doug, the Seasonal Maintenance Attendant’s best efforts with the salt, we’ve had a fairly treacherous sheet of ice on most of the walkways in the park for a few weeks now:
The warm weather should help!
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If you’ve been through Malcolm X Park recently, you’ll surely have noticed that one of the benches has been converted to a sizable…bunker? The man who’s been sleeping there–with his adopted kitten “Hotep”–introduced himself to me as The Reverend Doctor Professor Solid Gold. (It’s unbelievably cute: he [...]
The Concerned Citizens of the 5000 Block of Osage Avenue–adjacent to Malcolm X Park–have strung lights across the street for decades.
Update 2: Okay, the camera’s running most of the time now. If anyone wants to kick a few bucks my way, I’ll consider upgrading to something remotely operable with night vision, just for fun.
Update: This webcam’s not so good at night, and I’m not sure Justin.tv is the right [...]
Hope everyone enjoyed the festivities last night! Once again, sorry for the little hiatus. If I can get to it, I’ll try do a year-in-review.
The Philadelphia Weekly’s cover story this week profiles Brendan Skwire, the voice behind Brendan Calling, a blog that covers, among other things, the neighborhood of Kingsessing, a few blocks south of Malcolm X Park. As the article points out, he has been a vocal critic of Mayor Nutter’s [...]
Though Crispy Sweetie at 52nd and Addison across from Malcolm X Park is still bagging and tagging their signature kettle corn, they’re also rolling out some exciting new–and totally homemade!–offerings that promise to vault it from humble (if slightly exotic) snack shop to legitimate breakfast and lunch [...]
The Friends of Malcolm X Memorial Park enjoyed their annual holiday party, held this year again at Cafe Harlem in Yeadon, PA.
Left to right: Turquoise, Nate, Greg, and Linda.
Party organizer Helen Goodwin (of Stress Free Travel), standing, assesses whether Park President [...]
Here’s Kizzy Raw with “A Quick 16″
Click here to view the embedded video.As a special bonus, Kizzy Raw is also, according to this video, the “only girl in Philly ridin’ dirt bikes.” Dispute that claim if you like, but enjoy:
Click here to view the embedded video.Keep up with [...]
Walking home from the El last night, I happened past the site formerly occupied by the Cookie Jar, at 52nd and Chestnut. In its heyday, it must have been a grand place for generations of children, showing traces, even in its shabby condition, of a fully [...]
This dog has been a regular visitor to the park for at least the last five years. He reportedly lives in a garage over on Delancey but makes regular jaunts into Malcolm X Park to forage for trash. This photo nicely captures his usual mode, skulking:
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The Friends of Malcolm X Park showed up in force at the 2008 Party for the Parks at Galdo’s in South Philly. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for putting on another great event! According to PHS calculations, volunteer park organizations like the Friends of Malcolm X Park [...]
Last year, the Friends of Malcolm X Park did our best to cope with the stunning volume of leaves produced by the more than 100 giant trees in the park. In one clean-up day, we raked up 141 bags worth of leaves.
This year, we got a huge gift of [...]
Never quite got around to posting any video from the Nate Murray Band’s show that closed out the Summer Heritage Jazz Series in September. Here’s a little snippet:
[...]The very first video I produced for malcolmxpark.org back in April 2007 continues to be a story to this day:
Court Says Singletary Should Be Disciplined
A Philadelphia Traffic Court judge should be punished for soliciting campaign funds at a motorcycle rally and intimating that he would give [...]
There’s a sizable quantity of high-quality soil remaining in Malcolm X Park at 51st and Pine if you have any gardening needs. It’s left over from the tree planting a few weeks ago and needs a home. Come and get it!
[...]Sorry about the lengthy hiatus here at Malcolmxpark.org. The month of November was consumed with the First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art, but we’ll be back up to full strength here in no time at all. Thanks for checking in!
[...]On Saturday, Malcolm X Park will once again serve as the staging area for tree plantings that will take place throughout West Philadelphia.
Meeting at:
Malcolm X Park
Osage Ave & S 51st St
Sat Nov. 15, 2008 9:00am
Contact:
Sue Pringle
215-573-4684
smpringle@ucgreen.org
Planting 100 trees
If you’re looking for a tree-planting in [...]
Gregorio Pac Cojulun, Jr., president of the Friends of Malcolm X Park, received the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Certificate of Merit at ceremonies Nov. 11. Philadelphia Green Senior Director Joan Reilly presented the award to Cojulun for his outstanding contributions to parks programs throughout the city.
Posting to Malcolmxpark.org has been and will continue to be sporadic through the end of the 2008 First Person Festival at the Painted Bride Art Center. The Festival runs November 11th-16th and features, among other things obviously, Kettle Corn from our friends at Crispy Sweetie and a live [...]
It’s a little unclear what exactly happened here:
Pretty much every childhood toy is represented in this mess: Legos, Sorry, Hotwheels, etc.
[...]Thousands marched up and down 52nd Street last night from Spruce to Baltimore Ave, gathering at 52nd and Spruce outside Big George’s Stop ‘n’ Dine. Nothing but excitement and pure joy!
[...]Shortly after the announcement that Senator Barack Obama had clinched victory in the election, neighbors took to the streets with pots and pans, signs, and cameras, marching and chanting up and down 52nd Street. Here they gathered at 52nd and Spruce outside of Big George’s Stop ‘n’ Dine:
[...]This was the scene at about 8am this morning outside the Lodge at 51st and Spruce.
I was told that the line, at one point, stretched all the way down the block and around the corner onto 51st Street.
Lots of new [...]
It has taken its sweet time, but Malcolm X Park is finally starting to show a little of its beautiful fall color:
Belmont Charter School raps against violence: “Tomorrow”
[...]Somebody stole my commuter bike from Broad and Chestnut sometime Friday evening. Here’s what it looks like:
It’s an old KHS mountain bike converted to a road bike with black plastic fenders, drop handlebars, a ripped yellow seat, rear rack, two water bottle cages, and a rather [...]
The Spiral Q Peoplehood Parade, featuring the West Powelton Steppers:
And a bunch of naughty kids climbing up onto the gazebo roof in Malcolm X Park:
[...]The 52nd Street Business Association and Arts West, with The EL SEPTA @Work and Welcoming Center West present the 2008 Harvest Festival in Malcolm X Park next Friday, October 31st from 4-5 pm.
There will be a contest for Funniest, Most Creative and Best Homemade costumes, and as a special incentive, [...]
This looks like it’ll be fun:
“Hair Stories” is a series of candid, funny, and poignant interviews that chronicle the historical and cultural issues of beauty and “good hair/bad hair” standards in the African-American community. Yvette Smalls, the director of the video, is also a lecturer, [...]
“Found in Malcolm X Park” is an occasional feature on a piece of trash or other discarded item discovered in or recovered or from the park. This is the trunk and backrest for what looks to be a early to mid-1980s Honda Silver Wing Motorcycle:
I’m not sure how you pack this much green living into just three hours, but here you go:
That URL, by the way, has just two o’s in boost– www.weareboost.org –but I sort of like the enthusiasm of booost! Also, word on the street is that [...]
If you’re a high school student with dreams of attending college or if you know of someone who plans to further their education, don’t miss these two informative workshops to be held at Lucien E. [...]
Young Hot, from 52nd and Chancellor: myspace.com/younghot52
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