🌊 The Tweet That Cost a Rockstar His Job (1)

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Life in Philadelphia’s most notorious neighborhood

Walking down Philadelphia’s Kensington Avenue, you step on orange plastic pieces. They’re everywhere – what appear to be little orange pen caps on the street and the sidewalk.

Then as you walk toward Allegheny Station, you see what they came from: Syringes.

The needles are scattered around. There are so many that you have to keep your eyes on the ground to avoid stepping on them. Their source becomes visible further up the block, where emaciated people are hunched over, standing in the middle of the sidewalk and sticking the needles into their arms. The people who are not shooting up are helping their friends do so. Many have the needles tucked behind their ears for when they need their next hit.

People are swaying on the sidewalk. Some have collapsed into the middle of the street or are asleep in wheelchairs. Dozens more lay unconscious in their homes – tents on the roadside. Drug dealers stand on the corners, selling the fentanyl and other narcotics that turn people into this.

This goes on not for a block or two, but for over a dozen.

We had a guided tour through this neighborhood and documented it here.

A few minutes’ walk away, Pastor Carl Day is trying to help people born into the despair of such places from becoming products of them.

That’s what Day says happened to him.

Born to a father who was in and out of prison and an 18-year-old mother, Day said he had to make difficult choices from a young age.

“When people say they become a product of their environment, you know, I literally succumbed to my environment,” Day told Roca.

He had a son at 19 when he was out “running the streets.” At age 22, Day was charged with attempted murder. Soon after, he was charged with armed robbery. Thrown in prison and facing the realization that his life may have been squandered already, Day turned to God.

Shortly before going to jail, Day went to church. He doesn’t know why, but the church’s pastor singled him out after a single service: “I feel like God really wants you to help me start something for young adults,” Day recalled the pastor telling him.

“‘God's calling you to really help, to build with these young folk, these young adults,’” the pastor told Day. “I was just laughing cause I'm like, ‘Dude. I got a gun in the car.’”

But before Day had a chance to take the pastor’s word seriously, he was in prison.

Day was acquitted of attempted murder but spent 13 months in jail on the robbery charge, after which he spent a year on house arrest. When that was over, he was determined to help other young men avoid making the same mistakes that he did.

Pastor Day has been successful at doing so, becoming one of the United States’ leading anti-gun violence advocates. His efforts have helped hundreds of young men get off the streets and start their own businesses. That’s made him a prominent figure: As we were interviewing him, President Biden’s staff called to set up a meeting the following day.

On the newest episode of We the 66 – separate from our Kensington video linked above – Pastor Day shared the story of how he went from an accused shooter to one of the country’s foremost activists. It’s available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.

Sincerely,

–Max F and Max T

RocaNews Co-founders

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