Philly’s Youth Unite at Ginger Arts to Preserve Chinatown’s Legacy

Since the announcement of the proposal to build a sports arena adjacent to Philadelphia’s Chinatown, which threatens to displace nearby diverse and working class neighborhoods, there has been an increase in community organizing and activism. In response to this project, Taryn Flaherty and I founded Students for the Preservation of Chinatown (SPOC) in October 2022, a collective of college students committed to celebrating and defending Chinatown. Earlier generations not only fought and won against previous attempts of predatory development – from the Vine Street Expressway in 1973 to the Phillies Stadium in 2000 and Foxwoods Casino in 2009 – they stayed and built the institutions in Chinatown where these developments would have been.

After two years of being on the front lines fighting the arena, SPOC reflected on the direction the organization wanted to take. While we recognized the importance of fighting against the things we didn’t want in our neighborhood, we realized it was equally important to nourish and sustain the neighborhood. As youth who grew up in Philadelphia, we recognized the need for third spaces – communal gathering spaces – in Philadelphia. Youth violence continues to increase in the city, while city-funding for third spaces such as libraries and recreation centers is simultaneously decreasing. Also inspired by Chinatown’s legacy of resistance, we decided to build the Ginger Arts Center, a community youth and arts center located in Chinatown.

Ginger Arts Center opened its doors on June 1, 2024, committed to preserving culture and providing community for the youth in Chinatown and, more broadly, in Philadelphia.

Ginger Arts Center is run and staffed by SPOC and Students against Sixers Arena (SASA) – our high school youth collective – alongside other community volunteers. The interconnectedness of the struggle to save our Chinatown and our mission at the Ginger Arts Center has led to our youth growing into natural leaders in activist spaces, amplifying the voices of Philadelphia youth by speaking at rallies and town halls.

Photo courtesy of Ginger Arts Center

Ginger Arts Center Grand Opening, June 2024.

Since June, Ginger Arts has hosted a plethora of free programming – such as art workshops, teach-ins, financial fluency lessons, and technology workshops – that are often overlooked in Philadelphia public schools. In addition to free workshops, Ginger Arts Center is open six days a week for any youth to come in to use the space to do homework, use available resources, and be in community with each other.

The Ginger Arts Center aims to combat racism through providing a safe space with diverse programming for youth of color. In Philadelphia, youth of color are disproportionately disinvested in, and our space aims to address this.

Our goal is to ensure that youth in Chinatown and Philadelphia are supported to continue the rich tradition of activism and resistance to racism in Chinatown. To learn more about the center, visit the Ginger Arts Center website or the Ginger Arts Center Instagram.