PHILADELPHIA—Despite the nervousness the rainy conditions caused, vendors and Northern Region Party organizers came together on April 20th to celebrate and host the Uhuru Health Fair in Clark Park. This is a special year since it marked the 20th anniversary of the market’s longstanding history in Philly.
The Health Festival provides the space for African people to buy and sell goods within our own community. It also informs and educates African people about health and wellness.
MC Solyana Bekele kicked off the program with salutations of Uhuru Movement leaders and co-sponsors and began the program with a chair yoga meditation led by Deonyse. Artists like Sinnia Brown and Alikho Igama returned this year and performed in a variety of genres like R&B and Hip-Hop. Our amazing program coordinator Comrade Cota also filled the park with music as shoppers walked around patronizing vendors.
Among the health vendors and co-sponsors were Moravia Health, Shever Jean Memorial, All African People’s Development & Empowerment Project (AAPDEP), Scoop Newspaper, and Laborers District Council. Attendees and vendors had the opportunity to get free medical testing and other health screenings.
Health and yoga instructors like Nate McIntyre also appeared throughout the program to get people moving and the blood flowing. Our regular vendor and cultural performer Shawn Alleyne of Pyroglyphics also attended. This market’s program was also marked by the presence of Northern Region party members speaking on behalf of the Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Campaign, the African National Women’s Organization, the International People’s Uhuru Democratic Movement, and memorializing fallen comrades Rasheed Bey and Kamau Becktemba.
The Children’s Circle, sponsored by ANWO’s Uhuru Kijiji Childcare Collective, was filled with children doing arts and crafts, storytime, and other activities led by Comrade Hada. This health festival is emblematic of the relentless struggle of the Uhuru Movement to continue our on-the-ground economic work in the wake of the FBI attack on our Party, the Uhuru 3 (Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess, Chair of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, and Jesse Nevel, Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement), and our economic institutions.
As the September 3 trial date nears, the Party’s institutions continue to thrive and mobilize African people into political life and fight against State repression on our freedom of speech, expression, and our work to build dual and contending power.
Build African Self-Determination!
Hands Off the People’s Market! Hands Off Uhuru!
Forward to the May 18 African Liberation Day Market!
