Soul Force

On Tuesday, and every Tuesday, the Father Paul Washington committee wants every Philadelphian to call the Pennsylvania state legislators holding up gun reform.

The committee is lead by his two sons, and self-described best friends, Kemah and Michael, and is part of their father’s mission to save lives

Their motivation is simple: too many guns on the street, too many lives being taken.

“If there’s no crack on the streets, you can’t have crack addicts,” says Kemah, 56. “It’s the same thing with guns. If there’s no guns in the street, you can’t have the level of violence we see in the neighborhoods.”

The brothers, the oldest of five, grew up at 18th and Diamond, four blocks away from their father’s church, the historic Church of the Advocate, which was an island of hope for the struggling North Philadelphia neighborhood.

During his 25 years at the Advocate, Father Paul was a leader in the black community and the black power movemet. He ran a soup kitchen. The Church had sports teams and a myriad of activities for the neighborhood kids. In 1968, the church hosted the National Black Power Conference, and the Black Panther Party convention in 1970.

Until he passed away in five years ago, the church remained a haven.

“This comfort zone really gave folks an opportunity to grow positively,” Michael says, “but five blocks away there with a lot of problems, gangs and violence. They respected the church perimeter. Guys drinking wine on the corner would hide their bottle when Miss So-and-so walked by, but now, the whole community fabric has eroded.”

Michael, 48, says it started unraveling with the lost of jobs.

“In North Philadelphia you had factories like Stenton and Zenith and Westinghouse that made families stable,” he remembers. “Now they’re all gone. “

The committee’s campaign to blog Harrisburg's switchboards has been going on for about a month. They are pushing for two bills, House Bill 22, which would limit handgun purchases to one within any 30-day period, and House Bill 29, which requires gun owners to report lost and stolen guns and the state police to maintain a registry of all firearms lost or stolen in Pennsylvania.

Both bills have been stalling in the judiciary committee for ions. Last week, about a dozen members of the legislative black caucus walked off the house floor in protest over the lack of progress. The church plans to meet with the heads of the caucus next Wednesday.

Recently Diamond Street, from 16th through 19th, was renamed after Father Paul Washington Ave,” who often said, “Soul force does not depend on numbers.”

“A lot pf people think you need masses of numbers behind you to make change,” says Kemah. “Dad always said, ‘If you are doing something for God, He is the only one who needs to be behind you. He arms you with everything you need’.”

The surrounding community has seen its share of shootings and murder and robberies, and the brothers say only the community can heal itself.

“It’s just a community now without a lot of respect of self and life,” says Kemah, recalling his father’s day when men tipped their hats and opened doors for women. “My father loved life. He loved children and just to see them as they are now with no morals and no respect, I think he would really be hurt. It’s something he would cry about, and I know he would speak against it, and I know there would be some activity at the church around this.”

(Photo Credit: Mike Persico)