Once-opposing Grays Ferry groups unite to change their neighborhood

Development proposals and zoning cases were rolling into Grays Ferry on a regular basis, sometimes as often as two or three times a month, forcing residents in the 10-block span from South Harmony to 26th Streets to gather in community meetings.

The tension in the air was palpable, animosity brewing among the residents of different parts of the largely segregated neighborhood. They would be gathering to give feedback on development projects, but even when they shared similar stances, a century-long history of racial division rooted itself in the present, making progress in advocating for the neighborhood scarce.

“Developers got what they wanted out of us, like a cheap price — there was no unified front,” said Brian Clinton, who is white and whose family has lived in Grays Ferry for generations. “We realized that it just wasn’t really working.”

After being in the same room for development meeting after meeting, the representatives of individual groups across the neighborhood got to talking, and decided to form the Grays Ferry Coalition.

“Where in the past, we were all divided and everyone hates each other, now we’re all on the same text thread, email thread, and if one person is having an event, it turns into everyone’s event rather than division,” Clinton said.

Lanier Park was the dividing line.

On one side were the projects, where residents were predominantly Black. On the other side was the Irish community. When Charles Reeves was growing up in Grays Ferry from the 1960s on, he lived in those projects — and, as a Black kid, he couldn’t go in the park, or else he “got a hockey stick.”

Starting in the early 1900s, when Black residents started moving into the then-predominantly white, Irish neighborhood, racial tension became rampant in Grays Ferry. The neighborhood made major headlines twice in an 80-year span of racial riots: once in 1918, when a white mob threw a rock through a new Black resident’s home; and again in 1997, when a Black family was attacked and beaten by a group of white men.

“We’re able to get information out to the community faster with a broader audience.”

Those divisions embedded themselves across neighborhood groups for years, so when the coalition was forming, Reeves, who heads the Tasker-Morris Neighbors Association among other community groups, had his work cut out for him.

“That racial component always played a part in our community, so it’s hard for me to convince the people in my community that we can trust each other — that’s the way we grew up,” Reeves said. “But once we sat down and figured out it was us against them rather than us against us, we had the structure and numbers.”

When Meeka Outlaw was growing up in Grays Ferry, she realized there were many programs and resources that her neighbors didn’t know were available. So Outlaw, who is Black, started Residents Organized for Advocacy and Direction (ROAD), focusing on filling the outreach gaps by connecting community members to information and resources they needed.

“Before we all started all working together, it was a bit contentious between the organizations,” Outlaw said.

“If one person is having an event, it turns into everyone’s event rather than division.”

A lot of the tension was specifically with the Grays Ferry Community Council (GFCC), Outlaw said — the oldest registered community organization in the neighborhood, which was predominantly white for much of its history. The GFCC’s outreach in Black communities particularly was poor, with residents unaware of resources or initiatives taking place in the neighborhood.

“We felt like [GFCC] really didn’t have the best interest of the Black community at heart,” she said. “But with new leadership in [GFCC] came about change, especially with us all starting to work together.”

Carmine Zulli, president of the GFCC, said one of the strategies the coalition pursued was to focus coordination efforts closest to the areas where zoning matters are being heard. But by combining organizations, the coalition has also been able to leverage each group’s strengths.

“We all have different skills. Some are more connected to the community, others are more administratively skilled,” Zulli said. “We used to see fierce opposition to zoning matters that people didn’t understand. Now things are flowing smoothly, we’re able to get information out to the community faster with a broader audience, and it’s really working.”

They each have their own passions and interests. Reeves, for example, is focused on providing resources and opportunities to youth in the neighborhood, while Outlaw’s passion is ensuring there’s affordable housing. Clinton was characterized as being more business-minded, and Zulli is perhaps most familiar with the ins and outs of zoning and development. They don’t always agree with each other, and neither do the communities they represent — but they’re able to work together and support each other’s goals.

The relationships today, versus when Zulli first became president of GFCC, are drastically different.

By working together, the coalition has also been able to establish more equity among communities in the neighborhood.

“[In the past], if something was coming to Grays Ferry, it would go to them first,” Reeves said of opportunities previously being more accessible to white communities. “We didn’t really have a structure to attempt that. They already had a structure. We didn’t know how to navigate that yet.”

Not only is the coalition able to streamline planning and information regarding zoning and development, but the group also has been working so efficiently that it has been able to focus on bettering the neighborhood in general. The group has organized multiple neighborhood cleanups, sponsored a youth volleyball league, and raised money to donate to a neighborhood boxing gym, for example.

“I think we get along fine now because we learned how to respect each other,” Reeves said.