Jessica Blatt Press

Philadelphia

Director of Special Projects and Deputy Editor, Writer-at-Large, Senior Staff Writer at The Philadelphia Citizen

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Articles

Rooting For Our Home Team

1 month ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Do Something Sign up for Visit Philadelphia’s newsletters here!Follow Visit Philadelphia on Instagram.
Black Brain Campaign Connects Black Therapists and Clients

1 month ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Farida Boyer was just 10 years old when her father was murdered. Racked with pain and confusion, she started acting out in school. “I wouldn’t say I was a menace, but my behaviors changed. I wasn’t such an angel,” Boyer says. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I was obviously experiencing trauma.”Still, the West Philly native always got good grades and did well in school. Is it any wonder, then, that as Boyer moved through her education, she was ultimately drawn to helping professions?
Martin & Malcolm & America Book Club

2 months ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

February marks Black History Month — an observance that has increasingly become both polarizing and pandering. But its roots actually date to February 1926, when the scholar Carter G. Woodson established Negro Achievement Week. As Woodson envisioned it, it would be more than a one-off campaign.
Name the Most Outstanding City Workers for Integrity Icon

2 months ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Join Us Save the date! The 2025 Integrity Icon Celebration and Awards Ceremony will be taking place on Thursday, May 22 at the Fitler Club Ballroom, 1 South 24th Street, Philadelphia. Feb.
Drs Alexis Thompson + Stephan Grupp

Jan 21, 2025 | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Imagine giving birth to a child, only to learn that they’d face a life of chronic, often debilitating pain — and a life expectancy of at least 20 years less than their peers. That’s been the reality for any parents of a child with sickle cell disease (SCD) — the genetic condition that predominantly affects people of African descent — for as long as scientists have known of the illness.
Philly Citizen Highlights Softball in 12/31 "Citizens of the Week" Article

Jan 7, 2025 | bvmsports.com | Jessica Blatt Press

It was just after Christmas in 2018, and Charlie Felton, then just two-and-a-half, stood in the doorway of her Chalfont home, her blue eyes bright behind her pink glasses, her pigtails in place. "Mommy, my head hurts," she said. Charlie's parents, Amanda and Chris, thought maybe it was Charlie's new glasses; they took her to her eye doctor, who didn't like what she saw. Ultimately, the Feltons wound up Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where Charlie began a series of harrowing tests.
Teacher Njemele Tamala Anderson

Jan 5, 2025 | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

“A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled.” — James BaldwinWalking into Njemele Tamala Anderson’s classroom, Bill Withers’ Lovely Day, playing from a speaker, you just might think you’ve entered a graduate level seminar at Penn. Here, students are connecting the text of Bettina Love’s We Want To Do More: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom with their own lives and the world around them.
Citizens of the Week

Dec 30, 2024 | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

It was just after Christmas in 2018, and Charlie Felton, then just two-and-a-half, stood in the doorway of her Chalfont home, her blue eyes bright behind her pink glasses, her pigtails in place. “Mommy, my head hurts,” she said. Charlie’s parents, Amanda and Chris, thought maybe it was Charlie’s new glasses; they took her to her eye doctor, who didn’t like what she saw. Ultimately, the Feltons wound up Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where Charlie began a series of harrowing tests.
Meet the Citizens of the Year

Dec 18, 2024 | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

“It’s often very easy to see what’s right in front of you and to make a difference in the space where you currently live,” says Dr. Alexis A. Thompson.
Meals as Medicine

Dec 15, 2024 | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

You could call Kevin Kilmartin a bit of a foodie. Now 68, he fondly remembers wowing celebrity chefs Masahuru Morimoto and Gordon Ramsay when he entered his wasabi-dusted, sesame-crusted ahi tuna and papaya salad in a local food competition in 2017. “Morimoto tasted my dish and said he’d work for me any time,” Kilmartin says with a chuckle one December morning from his South Philly home.