The Department of Aviation’s Racial Equity Advisory Council (REAC) is back with another robust series of programs, activities, and exhibitions available to employees throughout the month of February for Black History Month 2023, with a special emphasis on Black history in Philadelphia. Please check back often, as events and participants will be updated.
Celebrate Black History Month Across Philadelphia
Get your friends and family involved in Black History Month. There are events happening across Philadelphia --many free of charge. Check out events planned by the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation and other cultural organizations.
Have a favorite local restaurant, shop or museum to recommend to your colleagues? Which Philadelphia singer or band is on repeat in your playlist? Have you found a bingeable TV series or movie to stream with a Philadelphia connection? Share your favorites with the airport community. Email [email protected] by February 24 and look for the final list on February 28.
Fri-Yay Black History Gameday, Friday, February 24, Noon
Join the Training and Development team for a special edition of the Fri-YAY! Water Cooler Conversation. There will games, friendly competition, and a chance to win bragging rights with your colleagues.
Click here to join the Teams meeting.
Just Mercy Virtual Book Club Discussion, February 23, Noon-1 p.m.
The Book Club is back! Our newest selected reading is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned. Just Mercy tells the story of the EJI, from the early days with a small staff facing the nation’s highest death sentencing and execution rates, through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects designed to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice.
Just Mercy is available without cost via The Free Library of Philadelphia (E-Book) and for purchase at the following local black-owned bookstores via bookshop.org ( Harriet’s Bookshop: and Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Book). The book is also available on Amazon and other major retailers. You can watch the movie released in 2019 starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson.
REAC members Elizabeth Moselle and Tamara Whitfield will co-facilitate the brownbag discussion. Look for an invitation with Zoom link via email. If you have already completed the book or seen the movie, we still encourage you to join the discussion to share your perspectives and insights!
REAC Virtual Roundtable, Tuesday, February 28, 2-3:30 p.m.
Join Department of Aviation Deputy Chief Revenue Officer Adam Mitchell (above, far right) as he moderates a discussion on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) with leaders from across the City of Philadelphia. Panelists include (above from left):
- Josie Pickens, Chief DEI Officer, City of Philadelphia Office of the Mayor
- Valerie Hosendorf, Deputy Director, City of Philadelphia Office of Human Resources
- Lynn T. Newsome, Deputy Commerce Director for the Office of Economic Opportunity
- Mike Lee, Esq., Chief of Staff, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
Spotlight on the PHL Airport Art Program's Artist Exhibitions
The Department of Aviation's award-winning Arts & Exhibitions Program, led by Director of Guest Experience Leah Douglas, will feature the following artists throughout the airport during Black History Month:
THE COLORED GIRLS MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA - SIT A SPELL, top of Terminal C
Founded in 2015 by Vashti Dubois, The Colored Girls Museum resides within a Victorian twin house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. TCGM's purpose is to honor the living history of Black girls and women: the “ordinary extraordinary colored girls” of the African diaspora who have contributed so much to this country’s prosperity, yet too often remain overlooked and under-appreciated. This installation is borrowed from “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a traveling exhibition that typifies TCGM’s transformative approach. With the understanding that Black girlhood is often fraught with societal hardships that can interfere with health and well-being, the show features the work of six Black women artists who were paired with African American girls between the ages of 10-18. The resulting portraits evoke both movement and rest, contemplation and action.
PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL RECORDS 50TH ANNIVERSARY, Terminal A-East
Philadelphia is proud to be the home of the legendary label Philadelphia International Records (PIR) known for creating The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP). Songwriters and music producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell nicknamed The Mighty Three, are referred to as the masterminds of the Black-owned label known for its unique sound and vision based on messages of love, peace, empowerment, pride, and strength. For more than five decades, PIR’s music has captivated people of all generations, from all over the world. With countless classics, international acclaim, and their continuing legacy, PIR has made an indelible contribution to the world of music and the City of Philadelphia.
LOVE LIGHT IN FLIGHT, Terminal E
Philadelphian Anthony Carlos Molden is a self-taught artist who uses mixed media to create his paintings and sculptural work. Here, he has created totem-like reliefs made of found objects sourced from construction sites, trash piles, and his network of friends who send him items for possible use. Molden has said that the totems are inspired by his “ancestors and influenced by the materials—their textures, shapes, and forms.” Light is an integral part of his totems as the embedded illumination not only adds more color, but the light provides motion and brings the work to life.
DNA FLORAL - TO MY DIVINE LIGHT, Between Terminals A-East and B
Philadelphia botanical artist Domino Yarra uses dried plant materials as her medium to create unique tabletop arrangements and larger scale floral compositions. Like the business approach for her company DNA Floral, Yarra has similarly created floral designs that are “pure and natural; and explores not only the character of flowers, individually and in combinations, but also the aesthetic relationship between flowers and the setting.” Using brightly saturated background colors, brings focus to the shapes, tones, textures of each design. Recently giving birth to her first child, Yarra has dedicated this exhibition to “my son, the divine light of my universe.”
MarketPlacePHL Featuring Black Authored Books
During the month of February, MarketPlacePHL is celebrating Black History Month by featuring Black authored books at the airport’s bookstores. Employees and passengers are encouraged to scan provided QR-codes to win one of the featured editions.
Department of Aviation Employee Spotlight
Q&A with Camille Tomlin, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, IT Department
- Q: Why is Black History Month important to you?
A: While I celebrate Black history every month, I think it’s wonderful, we, as a nation, collectively, acknowledge the history and celebrate the accomplishments of Black Americans. - Q: Please tell us one of your favorite African-American iconic or historical figures.
- A: It’s too hard for me to pick one! Toni Morrison, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin – they are all geniuses at eloquently describing the lives of Black folks (I highly recommend everyone read their books!).
- Q: Feel free to briefly share anything else you'd like to share (i.e. favorite food or meal to celebrate, activity of acknowledgment or celebration, etc.)
- A: There is so much great local, Black history in Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia has a searchable database of historical Black newspapers, including The Philadelphia Tribune where you can browse articles from 1912.
City of Philadelphia Employee Spotlight
Michael A. Carroll (left) is the Deputy Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia's Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (oTIS). In this role, he leads oTIS staff in developing strategies and implementing policies to build a safe and equitable multi-modal systems across Philadelphia’s diverse and vibrant neighborhoods.
Deputy Carroll coordinates and sets the policy direction for critical functions, including the Streets Department (both Transportation and Sanitation), the Philadelphia Water Department, as well as the Office of Complete Streets. His oversight includes infrastructure systems that are made up of more than 9,500 transit stops, 2,575 miles of street, 320 bridge structures, 450 lanes miles of bike facilities, 1,000 Indego bikes and 100 Indego stations, and 6,500 miles of sewers and water mains. Deputy Carroll also coordinates with internal City departments, external agencies such as SEPTA, PennDOT, Amtrak, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, as well as with policy makers on the local, state, and national levels.
In late 2022, the City of Philadelphia convened the Infrastructure Solutions Team (IST), a cross-departmental group that will ensure the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) builds wealth for Philadelphia residents who have long been excluded from opportunity, especially people of color. To do this, the IST is focused on reducing the barriers that minority owned businesses experience in public contracting and helping minority owned businesses expand and grow as BIL dollars are invested in Philadelphia. The IST is also working with a range of partners including local workforce development, federal agencies, and labor organizations to prepare the pipeline of workers needed for BIL projects. The City is committed to ensuring that Philadelphia residents, especially people of color, have abundant pathways to careers in infrastructure with family-sustaining wages.
Deputy Carroll graduated with a Bachelor degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University and Master’s degrees in Transportation Engineering and Transportation Planning from the University of Berkeley.