Hello, everyone. The Reader Advisor is back bringing you the best semi-relevant sometimes-art-related content from around the web. This week I wanted to turn away from the nauseating glare radiating from Washington and dig into some local political coverage.
Let’s start with some positive news in the form of this amazing resolution in front of City Council right now:
Also naming Broad Street from Christian Street to Carpenter Street “Boyz II Men Boulevard” to recognize and honor of Boyz II Men’s legacy as an iconic R&B group and an example to Philadelphia’s aspiring musical artists.
[via City Council of Philadelphia]
The main story coming out of Philadelphia last week was Larry Krasner’s victory in the Democratic primary race for District Attorney. Jacobin offers a good assessment on the implications of Krasner’s victory especially in a historically law-and-order thunderdome that is Philadelphia:
It’s the city where police-chief-turned-mayor Frank Rizzo reigned throughout the 1970s, a human embodiment of reactionary backlash politics with a reputation for meting out beatings as a rank-and-file cop and who took glee in a public strip search of Black Panthers. He reportedly once pledged to make “Attila the Hun look like a faggot.”
[via Jacobin Magazine]
On the other side of the political spectrum, check out this opinion piece by local columnist and Sarah Palin cosplayer, Christine Flowers. Writing in her usual style, which I would describe as a less funny upside-down-world Tina Fey, this screed reads like the Facebook comments of your least favorite conservative Delco aunt. Flowers responds to Krasner’s election by comparing herself to the Greek princess Cassandra, whose dire prophecies go unheeded and from there just keeps on taking the high road right to paranoid prejudice city:
I am not one to mince words when I feel threatened, and I do feel threatened as I type out my manifesto. I feel that I will no longer be able to walk the city streets with any sense or guarantee of security, because there will soon be a chief enforcer who has spent a lifetime protecting the sort of people who are gunning for me.
[via Philly.com]
Last March, Sandra Cooks became the first black trans-women to chair a citywide commission when she took charge of the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs, a body meant to advocate for LGBT concerns within the city government. This week, Cooks resigned from the Commission after being voted out as chair. This article from the Philly Voice gives the best overview of the situation. You can also read Cooks’ full statement here at G-Philly. Whatever you do, however, don’t delve into the Philly Voice comment section unless you want to be reminded that people are terrible.
[via Philly Voice]
Lastly, a video addressing the most micro level of Philadelphia politics: parking spots.
[via Facebook]
