Philadelphia honors a community activist: Sears Street becomes Ella Best Way
Ella Pridgen-Best founded "Don't Shoot, I Want a Future," a non-violence group that served at-risk youth in South Philadelphia.
She was an antiviolence activist and a passionate bicyclist, a mother and grandmother, a generous humanitarian and selfless community servant who fed and clothed the needy.
To honor all that the late Ella Pridgen-Best did for Philadelphia, the city Saturday renamed a block in her honor.
The 2700 block of Sears Street in South Philadelphia became Ella Best Way at a dedication ceremony attended by elected officials, community organizers, and family members.
A Philadelphia native, Pridgen-Best and her husband, Norman Best, founded Don’t Shoot, I Want a Future in 2007, an organization that held activities such as book clubs, kickball clinics, and basketball leagues for at-risk youth, with a goal of reducing violence in South Philadelphia.
A graduate of South Philadelphia High School in 1979, she worked for 19 years as an intake specialist at Berger Montague, a law firm based in the city. In 2016, Pridgen-Best graduated from Harcum College. She died of cancer in April at 58.