Mayor Cherelle Parker gives Dawn Staley first-ever ‘One Philly Award’ and criticizes the U.S. Supreme Court at July 4th event

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Thursday gave North Philly native and three-time NCAA women’s basketball champion head coach Dawn Staley the first-ever “One Philly Award.”

“The idea is to give this award once a year on the Fourth of July to a Philadelphian who best demonstrates the qualities we seek in the Parker administration: civic-mindedness, trailblazing leadership, and a focus on serving the community,” Parker said, adding that Staley was worthy because of “her personification of Philly grit and resilience and Philly pride.”

Staley, 54, played basketball at Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School in North Philadelphia and the University of Virginia. She won four Atlantic 10 conference titles as head coach of Temple University’s team before departing for the University of South Carolina, where she has won three titles. Staley has also won three Olympic gold medals as a player and one as a coach.

» READ MORE: Dawn Staley has won — a lot. Her humanity is a major reason.

She accepted the award at a “Celebration of Freedom” event outside Independence Hall on Thursday morning, and praised Parker’s energy and thanked her for the “state of the city.”

“I haven’t been to Philly in a long period of time. I come in and out. But I got the lay of the land,” Staley said. “I’m always going to be proud of Philly no matter what because that’s where I’m from.”

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, who like Parker is the first woman to hold her office, also spoke, giving a celebratory air to an event featuring a trio of Black female leaders with Philly roots.

In her remarks, Parker said she felt that “everything is hanging in the balance right now,” from the right to vote to “a woman’s right to choose.”

She criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity and sounded the alarm about the need for civic engagement to preserve American democracy.

» READ MORE: Editorial: The Supreme Court affirms Trump’s monarchical vision of the presidency

“Whatever happened to one of the bedrock principles of American democracy, and that is that no one is above the law no matter who you are or the position you hold?” Parker asked.

Parker, who wore heels with the stars and stripes of the American flag on them for the occasion, was notably political for a city-sponsored Independence Day event, and she asked attendees to join her in the fight against what she described as an erosion of rights in America.

“Will each of you who are present and/or watching us today, would you join me in fighting for our fundamental rights?” Parker said. “The question that I just posed to you is exactly what our forefathers asked of their fellow Americans on July 4th, 1776. To me, that is the true spirit of Independence Day.”

After the event, Parker said that despite President Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance last week, she believes that he is still the right candidate for Democrats this fall.

“I’m not nervous about it at all,” she told reporters. “Joe Biden had a bad debate. He had a bad night. ... That doesn’t wash away or wipe the slate clean of the significant investments that he has shepherded into the city of Philadelphia as our U.S. president.”