Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters

Artists Felix St. Fort and Gabe Tiberino have joined forces in a new mural honoring the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters. Rather than focus solely on their namesake, this mural highlights the unseen women and young people behind this iconic 1960’s Philadelphia civil rights group. Under the leadership of the indomitable Cecli B. Moore, teens and young adults successfully desegregated Girard College in 1965. They got into “good trouble,” as civil rights legend John Lewis so famously called it.

This incredibly timely subject will connect today’s youth with the civil rights and voter registration work of the young people from over 50 years ago.

St. Fort and Tiberino used a mixture of portraits and graphic elements, such as Adinkra symbols, to create a unique mural. Adinkra symbols represent different concepts or ideas and originate from West Africa, specifically a region that is now called Ghana. The Freedom Fighters determined 10 Adinkra symbols that reflect the values and lessons of their civil rights work in North Philadelphia: Knowledge, Unity, Perseverance, Power of Love, Fortitude, Service, Democracy, Justice, Excellence, and Encouragement. Each mural kit has one symbol and all 10 Adinkras featured in the mural.

To encourage community participation in the age of social distancing, Mural Kits were distributed be found at local public schools and trusted neighborhood partner sites.

Kits included a small, paint-by-numbers adinkra symbol printed on a special material called “parachute cloth,” along with three paintbrushes and three paint colors.

School Partners 

Girard College
The Jubilee School
Vaux Big Picture High School