On Saturday, September 7th, the No Arena in Chinatown Solidarity Group hosted a rally and march as part of their ongoing effort to prevent the new development of a Philadelphia 76ers stadium, nicknamed 76 Place, adjacent to Philadelphia’s Chinatown. The rally began in front of Philadelphia City Hall where, by 12:45 p.m., protesters were already gathering en masse. The crowd was a sea of white, as organizers provided free t-shirts to passersby at a table next to the City Hall steps. Nearly every part of Philadelphia was represented at the rally, with protesters proudly showing support from South, West, and North Philly.
Photos via Zack Kreines
Around 1:00, an organizer announced the attendance of members of the Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Apache and other Indigenous peoples and allies working to prevent turnover of native lands to the mining company Resolution Copper. Soon after, a representative of the Stronghold got up to lead the rally in prayer. This was met by cheers and expressions of goodwill for the Stronghold’s upcoming Supreme Court date on Wednesday, September 11th.
Following the end of the Apache Stronghold prayer were a series of speakers, which kicked off at around 1:30. These included Philadelphia City Council member Nick O’Rourke voicing his support for the movement, as well as Bobby Chao, General Secretary of the Penn United Chinese Coalition. Reverend Dr. Greg Edwards of Power Interfaith Philadelphia also spoke, leading the crowd in chants such as “The city ain’t for sale!” and “No to the arena and yes to the people!” at around 1:50. Local medical student Pari Pancholy gave a speech about how the proposed arena would impact outcomes for Philadelphia hospitals, stating that “Organs and blood do not care if there is a basketball game.” For all those who spoke, translators were available to translate speeches into Mandarin, ensuring accessibility for non-English speakers.
Photos via Zack Kreines
As the rain began to pick up around 2:15, organizers began directing protesters onto the streets to begin marching. Multi-colored umbrellas and soggy signs in hand, protesters began marching down JFK Boulevard, before taking a quick turn onto North Broad Street. Between spurts of rain, the march wound its way down Arch Street, ending at the Chinatown Friendship Arch. There, a few more speakers went up to the podium, with the rally beginning to die down around 3:30. By 4:00, protesters had mostly dispersed though post-rainstorm spirits remained high, due much in part to the rally.
