“New Freedom is a new vision. We understand “vision” to be an act or power that anticipates what will come to be. New Freedom is living heritage: honoring the past in service of the future. From the Black Bottom to University City, the New Freedom District emerges from the complex lives of both unsung West Philadelphia residents and nationally renowned Civil Rights leaders to inspire a new generation of civic and spatial stewards to maintain their cultural connections to legacy neighborhoods in West Philadelphia. The New Freedom District has never lacked for visionaries, but now is an opportune time for more institutions to help formalize their big ideas.

In the Spring of 2022, the New Freedom District founders and stakeholders partnered with the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design to research, design, and define the New Freedom District. After several years in the making - first as a tour brochure created by the New Africa Center in 2016 and eventually as an interdisciplinary academically-based community partnership in 2023 - the New Freedom District Cultural Plan narrates the themes and shared dreams for preserving spaces of meaning: 

1. Youth expression, 

2. Active Corridors, 

3. Heritage Trails, 

4. Faith and spirituality, and

5. Small businesses preservation. 

Rather than presume to predict how these themes identified through community meetings will be realized, this New Freedom District Cultural Plan depicts the scenes of a story emerging in the public imagination of the West Philadelphia landscape.”

• Dr. Matt Kenyatta, “Executive Summary” - New Freedom District Cultural Plan 2023 - Phase 1 (August 2023)

During my consultancy and partnership, I have helped:

1. Recruit over two dozen university students to provide design, architectural, and community organizing capacity to the community client (New Africa Center) since 2021 by teaching three consecutive planning courses and co-teaching in several others (e.g., architecture, landscape architecture, preservation, digital fabrication)

2. Author a 61-page Cultural District Plan endorsed and respected by City Councilmembers

3. Spark a public-private partnership between University of Pennsylvania’s PennPraxis and New Africa Center

4. Community organizations apply for millions of private, governmental, and philanthropic grants to establish a New Freedom District Association

5. Coordinate and promote key public activations such as (community murals with real estate developers, design charettes with architects)

6. Establish key brand identity (e.g., graphic designs, color palette) and digital infrastructure and presence (e.g., Instagram)

7. Clarify the design concept with intellectual structures and authority, lending additional polish and validity to the vision within the educational, business and design professions of Philadelphia.

8. Sparked additional artistic partnerships with young people to be involved within key spaces (e.g., after school programs at recreational centers like Rose’s Clubhouse and summer film programs with Philadelphia Film Factory).

The marathon continues. TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING NEW FREEDOM PLANS, the New Africa Center at ICPIC@RCN.COM.

NOTE: There is a separate course-based website I created in 2021 (Design for Living Heritage) with the full project details available, but it is being transitioned elsewhere to house the work long-term. In the meantime enjoy some samples of the highlights from 2022, 2023, and 2024 collaborations I managed.