‘Where I’m coming from’: What life was like in Philadelphia

by WorldTribune Staff, January 22, 2024

Things weren’t always like this.

In a July 2023 Gallup poll, Philadelphia was among nearly a half-dozen of 16 big cities where fewer than half of Americans viewed the city as safe. That feeling has spread to nearby Norristown.

A video of an execution that took place in Norristown on a street one block from where he lived as a child was posted to X by Human Events editor Jack Posobiec on Monday.

In a follow-up, Posobiec wrote the following on Telegram:

Growing up in a town just outside Philly, I used to know everyone on my street and play outside until the lights came on. But something happened — jobs started drying up and crime started rising, even violent crime.

My parents moved us out when things kept getting worse. I used to walk down Powell Street to the library once a week and get lost in the stacks of books. Sometimes I’d pull my wagon behind me to fill it up with new literary finds.

After homeless people started stabbing each other there, my mom didn’t want me going anymore.

My Catholic school had closed down a few years before, and we transferred to another Catholic school a few miles away where it was safer. We had a great community where kids walked to school and families knew each other. That one’s closed now, too. And our high school.

After high school I went to Temple in North Philly. And then I really found out what crime was like. But I didn’t understand yet why no one did anything about it. It was like leaders just left all these places to die.

My dad worked at the State Hospital, and so had my Nana. I was always proud they helped people who had psychiatric issues. Then one day he told us the hospital was getting defunded. I asked what would happen to all the patients. He said “They’re graduating them,”

We used to play little league at Ackey’s Field right across from the hospital. They’d had issues with escapees before but with this, they didn’t want us being around in case former patients lingered around. And they did.

Ended up being able to join the military. Was fortunate enough to see the world. Got to visit my family’s homeland of Poland. Lived in China, even. But I never forgot what happened to the town where I grew up. They took it away.

Now that I have a family of my own and 2 little boys, the concepts of community, tradition, and faith are so much more real. And there are still good places for us to go.

But that doesn’t mean what happened to my town didn’t happen. And they all got away with it.

So if you ever wanted to know. That’s where I’m coming from.

Your Choice

Publishers and Citizen Journalists: Start your Engines

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