I attended Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2026 Budget Address at the Pennsylvania General Assembly which afforded me a firsthand look at the legislative priorities shaping our Commonwealth.
Faith and activism converged over the weekend at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church during its 2026 “She’s My Sister” event. Founded by First Lady Dr. Ellyn Jo Waller, the “She’s My Sister” (SMS) ministry has spent nearly two decades evolving from a local awareness group into a powerhouse of advocacy and restoration for victims of human trafficking.
On a Saturday afternoon at Penn’s Gutman College House, a group of Black boys is doing something radical. They are learning to hold a violin bow or read sheet music; preparing to sit in a PEACE circle with total strangers and to facilitate a community-building circle session to complete their rite of passage.
When algorithms trained in the past decide what is easy to say and acceptable to show, they press people toward templates. We see the same captions, the same aesthetics, the same “relatable” confessions. Identity becomes a set of interchangeable styles. The self becomes a prompt.
When Maureen Murugi Smith left Kenya for Philadelphia in July 2015 to join her husband, she arrived with the hopes familiar to many immigrants. She dreamed of starting over, finding work, and building a sense of community. What she did not expect was that the very organization that welcomed her into the city would one day become the place where she would help hundreds of others find their own voices just as she had done.
“I was a leader called for such a time as this,” she said. “But I had to ask: ‘Am I also the leader for the future?’”
At a Temple University event, Dr. Reynaldo Anderson connects Afrofuturism to real-world threats from climate change, uninsurable property, and AI-driven disinformation.
In today’s interconnected world, few stories embody resilience, representation, and purposeful leadership like that of Dami Ayeko.
As the Yoruba warn, closing the eyes does not make the sun set; looking away will not make social media and artificial intelligence disappear. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shapes public conversation, and her cautions about these powerful tools deserve respect. They also deserve calibration. Communities that rely on them to connect, organize, and create need guidance that is accurate, workable, and fair.
When you walk into a Brown’s ShopRite or Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia, you are stepping into a hub of opportunity and community. At the center of this work is Stacey Dowling, the Community Engagement Director at Brown’s Superstores.
