Helen Ubinas
Columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer
Columnist at Philadelphia Daily News
Puerto Rican columnist who D.efinitely E.arned I.t #HispanicJob. Founder, Ñ Fund for Latinas in Journalism.
Articles
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1 week ago |
inquirer.com | Helen Ubinas
This isn’t the column I expected to write while waiting for the verdict in the trial of former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry. Dial, a white officer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2023 killing of Irizarry, a Puerto Rican man who was shot six times in the first six seconds of a traffic stop in Kensington. When the jury started its deliberations, I was steeling myself to write about how the system had let us down — again.
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2 weeks ago |
inquirer.com | Helen Ubinas
There’s nothing wrong with putting your money where your mouth is — if you’re actually saying something useful, and if it’s your money. And yet here in Philadelphia, the poorest big city in America, our elected officials are blowing millions of our taxpayer dollars on public relations dressed up as public information. As my Inquirer colleagues Ryan Briggs and Sean Collins Walsh reported in the kind of story that should make any hardworking Philadelphian scream, Mayor Cherelle L.
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3 weeks ago |
inquirer.com | Helen Ubinas
I can’t help but wonder what lyrics Qidere Johnson — a Philadelphia rapper known for his powerful verses condemning gun violence — would have penned about this moment. Since his death on May 11 — Mother’s Day — a pall has hung over his favorite corners of the city like a storm cloud: heavy with grief, thick with sorrow, and stretching all the way from the North Philly neighborhood where he grew up to City Hall.
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4 weeks ago |
inquirer.com | Helen Ubinas
Around the time Kevin Bethel was named Philadelphia’s new police commissioner in 2024, I issued a challenge: treat the families of homicide victims with the care and respect they deserve, but have long been denied. Start, I said, by improving communication between detectives and grieving loved ones who often reached out to me in desperation, hoping that I can help them learn more about the status of a particular case.
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1 month ago |
inquirer.com | Helen Ubinas
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was a teacher, so she might appreciate this analogy: After talking to Jasmine Rivera, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, I thought the mayor might deserve partial credit — graded generously — for avoiding the phrase “sanctuary city” while still hinting at the concept. Hey, as the saying goes, even Cs get degrees.
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Hey @SEPTAPHILLY @SEPTA_SOCIAL your conductor on the CHW into CC right now is downright delightful. Watching his personal “good morning” to passengers turn these frowns upside down. Thought you should know.
👀 https://t.co/gHlh5PvwxE
@NotesFromHeL @GovernorShapiro @PhillyInquirer I actually think he made the right decision. The story needs to be seen as a national story, not a local or even a regional one.
Glad the guv and his fam are safe. But dayuuuum @GovernorShapiro, how you gonna do @PhillyInquirer like this… Nice piece. Woulda been nicer in your hometown paper. Next time you wanna write, hit me up…I got connections over here. 😜 https://t.co/ZQl3lTuujy
