Last night, Bread and Roses held their 17thTribute to Change. This annual awards ceremony recognizes social change leaders in Philadelphia. This year’s tribute was to David and Florence Cohen. David Cohen is our 90-year old Councilman-at-Large and Florence is an activist and was David’s Chief of Staff for 15 years. They met as young organizers and been married for almost 60 years.

There were over 400 people including all of the city’s progressive organization leaders, politcos, the Cohen’s neighbors and friends from their Ogontz/West Oak Lane/East Germantown neighborhood and lots of Bread and Roses supporters

The speakers, who included Shariff Street (on behalf of the Mayor), Pat Eiding, Mark and Sherrie Cohen and neighbors, and friends all told the tale of the Cohens: how they met, the organizing they did and what they stand for.

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We heard inspiring tales of the early organizing for social change for unions and in the neighborhood that led the Cohens into electoral politics. Tom Cronin, President of one the main city worker’s unions, AFSCME DC 47, summarized the achievements of the Cohens and ended by saying, “imagine what our city, country and world would be like if every one of our elected officials acted like David Cohen.”

That sentiment was shared by everyone in the crowd, but rather than being celebratory, it felt almost like we were putting to bed the issues the Cohens fought for and their acheivements to rest. It felt for a while like the end of an era.

That feeling changed when Florence and David finally spoke for themselves.

After many speeches, Christie Balka, ED of Bread and Roses, presented the Paul Robeson Social Justice Award to Florence and David.

Instead of recounting more war stories, Florence and David thanked everyone for coming and reminded the crowd that while their achievements were important, it was the living of it all that was, and still is vital. David said that it was his drive to guarantee that everyone “had a life” worth living, meaning one with equality and opportunity, that had kept him going.

The Cohens aren’t just political icons, they are progressives in the mold of Paul Wellstone who have leveraged the resources they have had access to as elected leaders to make systemic change happen. They have also not been afraid to work: knocking on doors, talking to real people and making the connections that build power at the local level.

Young Philadelphia progressives need to internalize the Cohen’s message: the ability and desire of one person to change in the world is the most important impulse that one can act upon. Even though there weren’t a whole lot of young Philadelphians in the room last night, I am confident that we will forge relationships with current progressive elected leaders (like YPP contributor Wilson Goode Jr.) and do even more to recruit new ones in the Cohen mold.

A Little Gossip: Nutter’s B & R appearance

Aside from Shariff Street, Pat Eiding and Tom Cronin, other city notables in attendance at last night’s event were City Democratic Committee Chairman Bob Brady and City Council member Michael Nutter and former Council Member Angel Ortiz.

I have recently been asked what I think of Michael Nutter for Mayor.

Ortiz’s speech made it very clear to me why Michael Nutter will be a tough sell for me. Ortiz talked a lot about difficult votes over the years where he and Cohen stood tall for what was right, even when what everyone else on Council did what was wrong.

Ortiz’s three specific examples from recent years were the decision to use city funds to build the stadium without guaranteeing a living wage for stadium workers, the construction of the Delaware Avenue Wal-Mart and the decision to allow the 13th and Market Marriot to be operated without a unionized workforce.

As far as I know, Michael Nutter, like the majority of Council, was on the wrong side of these votes.

As I have stated before, Philadelphia’s unrestrained real estate growth has been a solid engine for change in the city, but without a stable Philadelphia working class, the whole economy is likely to come down like a house of cards. We need to start doing things differently very soon if we are going to continue to do well.

We need a Mayor who understands this, and so far I am unsure where Nutter stands on a ground-up economic development model (this is an invitation for someone to share facts if they have them…).

And, so we don’t mix apples and oranges, Nutter does seem like a highly principled guy committee to ethics reform in our city. Reform, however, and an economic development model that understands that a rising tide lifts all boats are DISTINCT concepts.

PS- One More Thing…
If you couldn’t make it tonight, don’t forget to make a contribution to Bread and Roses. You can donate to Philadelphia’s most progressive foundation, funding social change in our city, by clicking here.