Land Circle Activation Launches in Philadelphia

Organizers, artists and land practitioners convene at Iglesias Garden in Philadelphia, for connection, celebration, knowledge-sharing and healing.

This summer, grassroots and Indigenous environmental leaders from throughout Lenapehoking will hold three public events for connection, celebration, knowledge-sharing, and healing: a Summer Solstice, Juneteenth Celebration, and a panel on community land protection and stewardship. These Land Circle Activation events will occur at Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden, a multi-generational community of growers and neighborhood organizing project, in a pop-up hub space supported by the Climate Justice Initiative (CJI). 

CJI is a major project from the Environmental Justice Department at Mural Arts Philadelphia, foregrounding climate justice in land, air, and trash practices. The multi-year project highlights local environmental and climate justice movements and engaged communities via public art, gatherings, teach-ins, networking, and visioning— acting from the urgency of the climate crisis and its disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities. CJI supports the vision and needs of community leaders and artists as collaborators and co-conspirators through models of horizontality, autonomy, and collectivism. 

Land Circle Activation 

Hosted by Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden with the Climate Justice Initiative 

425 Arlington St, Philadelphia

Holding Ground in Philadelphia & Lenapehoking 

Friday, June 10, 6-8 PM. Rain Date: Saturday, June 11, 4-6 PM. 

Open to Public, Register Here: https://bit.ly/3a0eFsQ

Learn about the benefits of community agriculture and Indigenous stewardship in Lenapehoking. Hear from panelists providing spaces for community members to own and reconnect with the land, tending it for food, healing, and justice in and around the city. The four panelists have generated ownership through various strategies from land swaps and land back to land banks. These spaces provide a more just future amongst a rapidly changing landscape and act as cultural hubs for local residents.

Moderated by:

Kermit O, Land/Food/Environmental Justice Organizer

Panelists:

Chief Mann (Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm)
Cesali Morales (Norris Square Neighborhood Project)
Anthony Patrick (Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden)
Boogie Rose (Community Healing Garden) 

Organizers/Artists:

Climate Justice Initiative’s Strategy Circle: Shari Hersh, Jonathan Leibovic, Gamar Markarian, Adriana Moran Garcia, Dakota Plourde. 

Juneteenth Celebration by Natives in Philly

Sunday, June 19. Rain date: Sunday, July 3. 

Limited invitation. Contact: NativesinPhilly@protonmail.com 

Holding community space to celebrate Black and Indigenous people to envision collective futures, for folks to share crafts & culture, and to share food important to Lenape peoples. As Black and Native peoples coming from Indigenous and land-based communities, the ability to gather and share knowledge of the land and land use in the city is integral to the ability to protect and preserve it.

Organizers/Artists: 

Felicia Teter, Kitty Heite, Priscilla Bell

Summer Solstice by Iglesias Garden

Saturday, June 25, 12-8 PM. Rain date: Sunday,  June 26, 12-8 PM

Limited invitation. Contact: iglesiasgarden@gmail.com

A  space for folks to reconnect with the Earth and give an opportunity for healing. We invite communities to visit with our fruit trees, medicinal herbs, Aztec sculptures, cornfield, art, and open space, amidst music, dance, and food.

Organizers/Artists: 

Anthony Patrick, Lauren Troop, Cesar Viveros

A project of the Environmental Justice Department, Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Funders: PTS Foundation, The JPB Foundation