Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Empty Lot of the Week-- October 1st

James Forten School NIMBY Lot

414-416 South 6th Street


                         James Forten gets no goddamn respect. He was an African American figure about 1000 times more important than the same old handful of black leaders trotted out every February. This badass was a Revolutionary War hero, one of the earliest abolitionists, started one of the earliest (if not the first) racially diverse workplaces in America, and is arguably directly responsible for the entire black population of Philadelphia (and Pennsylvania). Did I mention that he lived seven months of his life in a dungeon in the lower decks of a British ship? Or that he once walked from Brooklyn to Philadelphia? Or that he was one of the richest self-made men in America? So what does James Forten get for all his great works, his suffering, his contribution to American life? AN EMPTY FUCKING LOT!!!!
                    Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

1 comment:

  1. Hey, GroJLart, I love all of your posts here, especially the dead-ass proposals. I have a question for you, if you don't mind looking into it for me. On Philly Shark, there's a post about the Cira Center South project (my personal favorite building in Philly) and it has the Grove and the Walnut Street Tower shown, but it also has what looks like a taller version of the original Cira. I haven't seen this one anywhere but on Philly Shark, and I just wanted to know what happened to it. Please reply.
    Here's the link to the article:
    http://phillyshark.blogspot.com/2013/06/cira-center.html

    ReplyDelete