Jessica Blatt Press

2 weeks ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

If you’ve spent any time following The Citizen, you know that one of our signature programs is Ideas We Should Steal, which lives as both a column on our website, and as a beloved annual Festival. Both cast a spotlight on unique ideas outside of Philadelphia that are having an impact on problems our city also faces – and explore if and how Philly could potentially adopt and adapt similar solutions.

2 weeks ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

When Ellen Peter unexpectedly became pregnant with her fourth child, she was scared. The child’s father had abandoned her and, working for $11 an hour, she was in deep financial hardship, couch-surfing with friends with no stable place to call home. Uninterested in terminating her pregnancy, she started looking for resources for expecting mothers in Philadelphia.

3 weeks ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

When City Controller Christy Brady announced at a May 22 press conference that the School District of Philadelphia had lost $700,000 to wire fraud, it didn’t take long for the angry chorus to chime in. “Here’s a District forever going to Harrisburg with their hand out, and they can’t manage what they do have?” one District parent harrumphed. “The USS PSD is leaking again. No wonder Tony [Watlington] & Co. always have their hands out begging!” a commenter on Facebook identified as Jim Perry posted.

1 month ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Growing up in South Philly and then the Northeast, Theresa Byrd always loved styling hair — she had her first clients in middle school. By the time she got to Howard University, where she had plans to become a pediatrician, she still held on to her love of hair. “On Friday nights, my dorm turned into a salon,” she says. Across town, growing up in West Oak Lane, lived Jennifer Boisseau, who also loved hair. “I would practice hairstyling with my Crimp ’N Curl Cabbage Patch Kid,” she says with a laugh.

1 month ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Jessica Blatt Press

Math doesn’t lie. And after the November 2024 election, the numbers said it all: A staggering 92 percent of Black women voted for Kamala Harris — while the majority of White women voted for Donald Trump. It was a depressing outcome for Black voting women, who have been overlooked for centuries by policies and politics shaped predominately by White men. But South Philly native Jasmine Sessoms refuses to give up hope.