Also this issue:

Wheels To Go
A planned auto-share program would help save money and the environment.
-Daniel Brook

The Bell Curve
City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

Onward Christian St. Soldiers
The Y fights on for independence.
-Daryl Gale

New Trial for Dying Con
A judge rules that Fred Thomas' rights were violated.
-Jenn Carbin

The New Russian Front?
Russian mobsters -- possibly in cahoots with Israeli organized crime -- are getting a bigger piece of the action.
-Brendan McGarvey

June 6-12, 2002

on media

Village Voice

Philadelphia's African community has a new newspaper.

by F. Stuart Ross

In February of this year, the first issue of Heritage hit newsstands across the Delaware Valley. The 12-page quarterly newspaper bills itself as “the voice of the African communities,” and just a few weeks ago, a second issue was published.

“We Africans have been craving for a newspaper that talks about issues concerning African people,” said one New Jersey-based reader.

The paper, which is published here in Philadelphia, intends to “bridge the gap … that has been created by the lack of adequate information dissemination regarding African immigrants.” It also intends to highlight “the growing African dimension in the Delaware Valley.”

While it might come as a surprise to some Philadelphians, a large number of Africans have settled in the area. According to a recent study published by the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies (“Extended Lives: The African Immigrant Experience in Philadelphia”), community leaders estimate that there are between 40,000 and 55,000 African immigrants in Greater Philadelphia -- the figure doubles when looking at the entire Delaware Valley region.

In Philadelphia, most African immigrants are from Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia and Ghana. There is also a growing number of refugees from countries such as the Sudan and Sierra Leone who have settled in the city. One should note, however, that there are immigrants from nearly every African nation living here.

“It is our hope,” said an editorial in the paper’s first issue, “that through [Heritage], we can effect positive changes in the African communities and the broader American society.”

The first issue of Heritage featured articles on African politics, sports, immigration matters and events happening in Philadelphia’s African community. The second issue has continued in much the same vein. Both carry advertisements paid for by local African-owned and -operated businesses.

The paper itself is African owned and operated. Its administrator and business manager, Bernadine Ahonkhai, is from Nigeria. Ahonkhai is a long-time community activist who has been active with organizations such as the Coalition of African Communities and the Nigerian People’s Forum.

The paper’s managing editor and its editor in chief -- Sam Togba Slewion and Massa Washington -- are both from Liberia. In fact, the two editors began their journalism careers in the war-torn West African nation and have a number of years of experience behind them. (Slewion also happens to be the coordinator for the Association of Liberian Journalists’ tri-state branch.)

(ross@citypaper.net)