Brandon Anaya

Black Restaurant Week, an event that showcases Black-owned restaurants and culinary businesses in the city, took place from June 4 to June 13. 

The protest was organized by Black liberation advocacy group MOVE, in collaboration with Black Lives Matter Philadelphia, following the discovery that the Penn Museum stored the remains of at least one child killed in the bombing.

While the Penn Museum and University administrators have apologized for holding the remains, the Africa family and members of the West Philadelphia community demand further action.

Penn Museum apologized for using the remains for research and teaching purposes, rather than returning the remains to the Africa family.

The protest was organized by Police Free Penn and Black Lives Matter Philly after a recent report, authored by a Penn student, found that the Morton cranial collection holds the skulls of 14 Black Philadelphians which were robbed from their graves in the 19th century. 

Vice President for Public Safety and Superintendent of Penn Police Maureen Rush appointed McCoy as the Division of Public Safety's first commanding officer of diversity, equity, and inclusion in January.

Experts believe that distrust in vaccines is a contributing factor to racial inequalities in Philadelphia's vaccine rollout, as well as a lack of accessibility to vaccines and information on them.

Penn's actions regarding the pandemic have affected the West Philadelphia community in a variety of ways, ranging from its employment of local residents to its economic effects on local businesses.

While some first years say the ability to meet others in person for the first time has been crucial in easing the transition to college life from an isolating first semester at home, others describe difficulties in balancing social distancing guidelines and forming new friendships. 

Cortes' chief objectives are to implement programming that connects Penn's Latinx community with the greater Philadelphia Latinx community, and also to turn the cultural center into a Black affirming space so all students can feel welcome.