Several thousand protest the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a $1.55 billion arena near Chinatown

The clear majority of march participants were young Asians, many who have grown up watching their parents and grandparents engage in these earlier struggles against efforts to destroy Chinatown.

A contingent of young speakers from Students for the Preservation of Chinatown opened up the second rally at the Friendship Arch following the march. Speaking collectively, these young activists asked why the billions of dollars that the city is considering for the arena should not go instead for air conditioning and libraries in public schools and playgrounds in the many city neighborhoods that have none.

Speakers at the closing rally included a medical student who addressed concerns that the arena would impact traffic to and from the nearby Jefferson hospital complex. Residents of Washington Square West and the Gayborhood, a historic LGBTQIA2S+ area, which would also be impacted, condemned the arena proposal. A speaker from the immigrant/migrants’ rights group Juntos compared this proposed gentrification to the globalization that has forced millions of South and Central American and Caribbean people to leave their countries.