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HomeAuthorsThomas D Reifsnyder

Articles by Thomas D Reifsnyder

Featured Stories

Powelton Village: A Neighborhood In Transition

May 9, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder and

Usually when a person’s name is drawn from a hat, they gain something. But when Linn Washington had his name called hours before one of Philadelphia’s most controversial events, he almost lost his head. Literally.

Featured Stories

Mantua: After-School Programs Filling Void Left By Closure of University City High School

April 19, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder

For 41 years, the 14-acre plot on Filbert Street between 37th and 38th streets was home to University City High School, Charles Drew Elementary School and The Walnut Center. Today, those buildings have been erased from

Featured Stories

Mantua: “I Just Want to Be That Image For Them.”

March 30, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder

After enduring a troubled childhood in West Philadelphia, near 56th Street and Lansdowne Avenue, 19-year-old Rodney Mobley began utilizing his past experiences to positively impact his community. He now serves as the community connector and engagement coordinator for People’s Emergency

Mantua

Mantua: “They Help Me and They Say, ‘Don’t Be Afraid.'”

March 11, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder and

When Saquan Dixon walks through the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, he feels a vibe much different from the Kensington neighborhood where he was raised. Neither Mantua, also known as “The Bottom,” nor his neighborhood in

Featured Stories

Mantua: “My Parents and Grandparents Trained Me to Survive.”

February 19, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder and

Nine years ago, De’Wayne Drummond nearly lost it all. A lifelong resident of the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, Drummond had unknowingly fallen asleep in nearly six pints of his own blood at his home

Education

Mantua: “You’re Never Really Alone if You Come to Work Here.”

February 5, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder and

Branon Gilmore makes enrichment for youths and adults in the Mantua area his priority every day when coming to work in the morning. Gilmore, 44, is the Center Director for the West Philadelphia Community Center on

Featured Stories

Lancaster Avenue: Five Great Eateries Worth Visiting

February 2, 2016Thomas D Reifsnyder and

The Lancaster Avenue corridor in West Philadelphia is  home to many small businesses, including ethnic restaurants, specifically Korean and Jamaican. While these restaurants may not look like the jazziest places to dine from the outside, local

Recent Posts

  • People stand on a sidewalk beneath a pale gray sky. The street behind them is between two tan stone buildings with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on their ground levels, and the multicolored glass exterior of a parking garage shines further down the street, next to some taller red brick buildings. Glass windows are visible behind the people on the sidewalk. Some of them wear raincoats or windbreakers, and some of them hold umbrellas of various colors. Two men in the right half of the image, one southeast Asian and one white, wear clerical collars. They are all waving wooden rods with thick red ribbons tied to the ends of them in the air. Most of the people present appear to be white and/or over the age of 50. One bearded, middle-aged man in a gray and black windbreaker and black pants points a camera towards the bottom right corner of the image, where a blue banner reads “GOD STANDS WITH THE OPPRESSED.” To the banner’s left, a canvas with a monarch butterfly painted on it is draped over a concrete sidewalk barrier. A blue bicycle is parked behind the man with the camera, and a black car in the street drives past the group of people.
    ‘These are our people’: Weekly vigils unite faiths on ICE’s doorstep
    July 7, 2026
  • “To Be Here” weaves a web of Philadelphia experiences, told by and for the community
    July 3, 2026
  • The crowd during a performance by The DOJD, Claire Brown's band, in a West Philadelphia basement. (Image-Jacob Magaldi)
    How Philadelphia’s DIY music scene is helping fund gender-affirming care
    June 7, 2026
  • Video Style Guide: Pictures-Video-Photography
    May 27, 2026
  • Inspired by ACT UP, this queer Philly collective is throwing mutual aid parties 
    May 4, 2026
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