While we appreciate your mention of Uhuru Furniture, which is a store full of interesting, low-cost, used furniture and collectibles, unfortunately, most of what you said about the store was inaccurate.

Your paper missed a great story by not telling what Uhuru Furniture really is all about. Uhuru Furniture and Collectibles is a unique store that is all high-quality furniture, collectibles, housewares, antiques, artwork and more. People love this store, some come in every day, or every week; they bring friends and family from all over the world. It is small and tightly packed in a Center City location at 1220 Spruce, and, literally, a truckload of merchandise comes in every day. Many customers boast that their entire house is furnished by Uhuru. People shop and donate regularly, some of our customers have become volunteers, and all of our volunteers are shoppers. Everything in the store is donated, and our teams pick up all over the region from the Main Line to Delaware County to the Northeast.

We are a project of the African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF), which is a nonprofit organization that is black-community-led with three stores nationally and programs in Florida and California as well as here in Philadelphia.

The mission of APEDF is to address the grave disparities in health, health care, social justice and economic development of the African community. The programs it supports include a community fitness, natural foods and wellness center in St. Petersburg, Fla., which holds free health programs. APEDF sponsors a youth basketball team and led work to get eight new black-owned businesses started. APEDF sponsors a youth martial arts program and is initiating free mobile health screenings in Oakland, Calif.

APEDF supports black community centers, called Uhuru Houses, all of which are located in the poorest and most neglected areas of their respective cities. In Philadelphia we have held many events on human-rights issues to inform and motivate our broad community to action.

In the heart of the racially divided City of Philadelphia, here is a store dedicated to righting the wrongs of this country by raising funds for programs for justice led by African people themselves. It is genuinely environmentally positive because it turns stuff that may otherwise be thrown away into resources for justice.

It is a place staffed by volunteers, including high school students, grandparents, people from Japan, China, people of all nationalities who often speak many languages, coming in to do something for real social change, with shoppers and donors from all walks of life. Shopping at Uhuru Furniture is always a positive experience; we have a lot of stuff you can't find anywhere else, we have great music, we take customer service seriously, we have same-day delivery, and your money really means something.

Poli Sigh

After reading last week's interview with Bob Casey Jr., I'd like to present what I think he MIGHT have said, based on his published opinions.

BC: We're just one vote away from seeing the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. Hurrah! For years I have fought against abortion.

Interviewer: Even in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother?

BC: Of course. Why do you think that the Christian Coalition gave me the highest rating of any candidate? I'm endorsed by the PA Pro-Life Federation. Women of Philadelphia, march along with me in the battle to defeat the right of women to control their own reproductive freedom. Forget, if you are Republicans, that Laura Bush and Barbara Bush are not with us. Their husbands should gag them. Vote for me on May 21.

I find it extremely hard to believe that your "alternative" paper didn't include one reference to Mumia Abu-Jamal's case in either of your prolix interviews with Democratic gubernatorial candidates Bob Casey Jr. and, especially, Ed Rendell, who helped prosecute him. How unfortunate.

Comedy Is Hard

As a newcomer to the comedy world, I hardly qualify as one to criticize anyone associated with Philadelphia-area comedy, but I was deeply disappointed in the contents of Jon Hart's article. I would imagine that in an area this size, there would be plenty of venues for comedy, and enough demand that all could successfully coexist, making Philadelphia audiences the ultimate winner. However, as Hart capably illustrated, one needs a bunker, not a stage, to successfully survive the local comedy scene.

There is no need to go into the specific personalities here, as Hart did a thorough job of that in his article. However, is there a real need for some of the people in the article to disrespect their colleagues to the degree outlined? I am sure that each of the individuals mentioned in the article is capable of running a successful booking agency, or a comedy club, regardless of what the others do. Having dealt with one of the people unfairly maligned in the article, comedy booker Dolly Garber, I can personally vouch for her character, and I know that she is above stealing anyone else's "gig," because she doesn't need to. The "yenta," as she is called in the article, and which I consider to be a Yiddish term of affection, is in the process of developing her own comics and building her own network of clubs. Dolly will go out of her way to help a new comic, as evidenced by her comedy college and open-mic nights, and her future success is assured, just as anyone's is who knows exactly what they are doing.

I am sure that the present state of Mr. Pickle's health is not improved by all this controversy, and that Philly comedy would not be the same if he ceased to perform. So I suggest that he, and, actually, everyone concerned, read his call for peace at the conclusion of Hart's article and get on with the more important business of making people laugh. I'm confident that the FBI and Hatfield Police Department would wholeheartedly agree.