Protesters march and rally against Sixers' plan for a downtown arena, saying it would harm their communities

The demonstrators came from all over the city and elsewhere, endured a soaking rain and wind gusts that announced the seasons were changing, and marched thoroughly drenched from City Hall to the Chinatown Arch.

Along with sending a message to City Hall that they wanted no part of a $1.5 billion arena project for the 76ers, the protesters aimed to underscore that what generations of Philadelphia may know primarily as a restaurant district, in real life is one of the city’s legacy ethnic neighborhoods.

After three hours of rallying, protesters ended the day singing “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

An acoustic guitar was played onstage as the crowd followed the organizers' chants.

Being a teenager in a city where there aren’t many places for people under 18 can be hard. But for Faye Liu and Erica Zhong, a new layer is added when what they feel is one of the few places teenagers can exist is at risk.

“It makes me feel angry,” said Zhong. “If there is no space for people to find culture, grab food, have family reunions, build community, where are youth suppose to go?”

Harry Leong, director of the Chinese Christian Church and Center and president of the Philadelphia Suns, Chinatown's youth basketball program, said that the arena "is using basketball as a way to tear down this community."

Leong added that the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC devastated that city's Chinatown after it opened as the MCI Center in 1997. The proposed arena here, he said, would do the same.

Speakers representing Philly’s student, LGBTQ and immigrant community, all hammered home the theme of the day: Solidarity.

Yoojin Park, a Korean drag king also known as Eugene RideHer Betta, said predatory development has already attacked queer businesses of color in the gayborhood, and the arena would only erase more in Chinatown.

Following the march around Center City, the wet but fired-up crowd assembled under the Chinatown Arch, where the remainder of the speaking program picked up.

Students Against Sixers Arena spoke about how despite generations of exclusionary practices, Asian Americans have built thriving communities like Chinatown. But after all their parents sacrificed their communities are still at risk.

Saturday's march began amid rainfall, as participants paraded around City Hall chanting and holding signs.

"It's raining, it's pouring, Parker is snoring," one group chanted, referring to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who has not taken a firm position on the proposed Center City arena’s construction.

As clouds rolled in on Saturday's rally and the first raindrops began to fall, some participants began leaving.

Mel Harriston, of UC Townhomes, may have gotten the last word before the rain:

“It’s time to show the 76ers that if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” said State Rep Rich Krajewski, firing up the crowd as the skies darkened.

“We stand united with the Save Chinatown Coalition,” said Rev. Greg Edwards of Power Interfaith, the multiracial, multi-denomination organization, who said the arena would “undermine the legacy and quality of life of Chinatown, tearing apart its social and cultural fabric.”

“I’m in the streets with my people,” Philadelphia Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke said from the stage. “And when you get in the streets we have a saying, ‘Tell me what democracy looks like!”

People shouted back, “This is what democracy looks like!”

A group of Apache opened the rally with a prayer, having diverted their journey to the U.S. Supreme Court to take part in the rally.

“Your struggle is my struggle,” Wendsler Nosie Sr. told the crowd. “Your struggle is no different from my struggle.”

Vivian Chang, 33, executive director of Asian Americans United and a leader in the Save Chinatown Coalition, boils down the fight against the arena to simple questions: “Are the same people still going to be able to live there? Will it still be affordable? Will they be able to replicate Chinatown’s festivals somewhere else?”

The answer to all those questions is no, said Chang, who grew up in Chinatown.

No severe weather is expected, but a line of showers moving west to east through the region is expected to reach Center City within the next hour, said Mike Silva, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

And another line may arrive after that one, he said. Showers may continue “on and off” until 5 or 6 p.m., he said.

A sea of white shirts flooded the north side of City Hall as hundreds on people gathered to advocate for “No arena in Chinatown.”

For many, the rally is more than a demonstration. It’s a way to contribute to the neighborhood they call home.

March organizers say they intend for the march to put a sharp question to the mayor and City Council: Who do you work for? The common people who live and work in the city? Or the billionaires who own the Sixers?

The rally, said Mohan Seshadri, executive director of Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, is “an opportunity for the city itself to rise up and say, ‘No arena in the heart of the city.’”

People going to the march were energized by the release of a new citywide poll that shows 56% of Philadelphia voters oppose a downtown Sixers’ arena.

Only 18% support it.

Organized by Asian Americans United and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, the event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., starting at City Hall before proceeding east on Market Street. Participants will then head north on 11th Street to Race Street, then back south on 10th Street. The march is expected to end at the Chinatown gate near Arch Street, organizers said.

“We’ll rally with voices from diverse Philly neighborhoods then march into Chinatown with the power of the people,” Asian Americans United wrote in a social media post announcing the march.

March organizers aim to surpass the size and scope of the June 2023 demonstration that shut down Center City streets and packed the area east of City Hall with sign-waving protesters.

Saturday’s weather forecast calls for scattered showers and a high of 77 degrees – not quite the gorgeous weather that bathed marchers last year.

Chinatown residents and business owners have argued for two years that building a new Sixers arena on their doorstep would wreck a vulnerable and valuable immigrant neighborhood.

Now a new, city-sponsored analysis adds credence to those concerns.

One of the most powerful labor leaders in Philadelphia stood outside the City Council caucus room on Thursday, waiting to talk to lawmakers about a topic of mutual interest.

“A little thing called the arena,” said Ryan Boyer, chair of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council.