Freedom of Information Act

Trump Wants to Whitewash History

President Trump’s latest diktat claims there is “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is in the crosshairs. First proposed by Black Civil War veterans, NMAAHC was more than 100 years in the making. The Smithsonian museum traveled a “long road to hard truth.”

Trump’s “corrosive ideology” is the hard truth about American history.

Writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin testified in support of legislation to establish the National Commission on Negro History and Culture.

Baldwin observed:

[Black] history … contains the truth about America. It is going to be hard to teach it.

[…]

I am the flesh of your flesh and bone of your bones; I have been here as long as you have been here – longer – I paid for it as much as you have. It is my country, too. Do recognize that that is the whole question. My history and culture has to be taught. It is yours.

[…]

Everyone has basic emotions of hate, fear, and love, and I think the whites in this country have used the machinery of propaganda very skillfully. You find blacks who want to know something about their history and you find whites who don’t understand or who are fearful. They will publicize this sort of thing as a hate gathering and a hate meeting, when actually it could possibly be a historical meeting that whites and blacks could learn from.

From the forced removal of indigenous people to the enslavement of Africans, “race-centered ideology” is woven into the fabric of the nation.

Signer of the Declaration of Independence and second President of the United States John Adams said:

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Slaveholder Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It is an objective fact that Jefferson was accompanied by his enslaved personal servant, Robert Hemmings.

It is an objective fact that more than 60 percent of the signers of the Declaration of Independence enslaved Black people.

It is an objective fact that the nation’s founding principles did not include Black people. It is a national shame that “our shared past” includes ratification of the U.S. Constitution that counted the enslaved as three-fifths of a person.

It is an objective fact that George Washington hounded self-emancipated Ona Judge until the day he died.

It is an objective fact that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his enslaved concubine Sally Hemings.

Resisting DOGE at National Park Service

It’s Sunshine Week but there’s nothing but clouds in Washington, where President Trump and Elon Musk are spreading chaos and sowing fear. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has illegally fired tens of thousands of federal employees, including 1,000 National Park Service workers.

Judge William Alsup ordered the immediate reinstatement of unlawfully terminated employees:

It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that is a lie.

A group of NPS rangers is fighting back. The Resistance Rangers said in a statement:

Resistance Rangers will not see this ruling as a win until illegally terminated employees from all agencies outlined in the court’s rulings are reinstated in their roles, with back pay and their records cleared. As Judge Alsup noted, it is critical that these employees have the false accusation of “poor performance” removed from their records.

The unlawful terminations impact more than NPS rangers who work at national parks. Park rangers are stewards of national monuments and historic sites, including the African Burial Ground, Statute of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the President’s House, Independence Hall and the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank.

The Portrait Gallery has been closed due to a staff shortage since 2024. NPS terminations include two employees at Independence National Historic Park.

The Portrait Gallery is one of the few places where the story of Moses Williams is in public memory. I have nominated Williams for a Pennsylvania historical marker.

Enslaved by “Artist of the Revolution” Charles Willson Peale, Williams was a master silhouette artist who operated a physiognotrace (face tracing machine) at Peale’s Museum which was located in the building now known as Independence Hall.

A NPS ranger demonstrates the physiognotrace at the Portrait Gallery.

I will submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of the Interior for records related to the unlawful termination of Independence National Historic Park workers, the President’s House, Independence Hall, and the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank.

Sunshine Week 2025

March 16-22, 2025 is Sunshine Week, a time to celebrate transparency, and the public’s right to know what government officials are doing and saying behind closed doors. PHL Watchdog is a Sunshine Week partner.

For more than a year, the City of Philadelphia and SEPTA have fought release of communications with the Philadelphia 76ers related to their now abandoned plan to build an arena atop Jefferson Station. While the Save Chinatown Coalition has given up the fight to obtain records from SEPTA, giving up is not in my DNA. The City and SEPTA eventually will have to give it up and produce the records.

On March 17, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records will host a panel discussion, Getting to Know Pennsylvania’s Transparency Laws, moderated by Paula Knudsen Burke, senior supervising attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Knudsen Burke represents me on the City’s and SEPTA’s appeals. The event is free and open to the public. Go here to register to attend in person or virtually.

A list of Sunshine Week activities is available here.

My New Year’s Resolution

This year marks the 10th anniversary of PHL Watchdog. In the words of legendary gospel singer James Cleveland, “I don’t feel no ways tired.”

As a longtime advocate for transparency and accountability, every year I resolve to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” That includes submitting as many open records requests as necessary to shed light on what is being said and done behind closed doors.

Some agencies may want to falsely label me a “vexatious” or “repetitive” requester. As vexing as the Right-To-Know Law is for corrupt public officials, I have no “vexatious intent.” The public has the right to know whether officials are acting in the public interest or doing the bidding of special interests.

In 2025, I resolve to keep on pushing.

AccessFest is a virtual conference hosted by Investigative Reporters & Editors. The conference will take place online, October 17-19, 2024. AccessFest “focuses on expanding IRE’s efforts to provide more accessible training centered on belonging, equity, and inclusion in the newsroom and through better news coverage of inequities in the communities journalists serve.”

With 57 sessions, AccessFest covers a wide range of topics, including:

Data journalism
Investigative reporting tips
Diversity and inclusion in newsrooms
Covering marginalized communities

As an independent journalist and watchdog, I am particularly interested in the Freelance and Open Records tracks. The full schedule is available here.

To register for AccessFest 2024, go here.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Arena Proposal Enters Its Terrible Twos

The Philadelphia 76ers announced their proposal to build a basketball arena atop SEPTA’s Jefferson Station on July 21, 2022. Public records show 76 Place representatives had been meeting with SEPTA and Philadelphia government officials as early as April 2022.

The 76ers have spent millions on unsuccessful mayoral candidate, lobbyists, lawyers, architects, traffic engineers, consultants, public relations, Astroturf community meetings, canvassing, and race-baiting billboard.

Two years later, their millions have brought the 76ers no closer to getting the approvals necessary to build an arena that would benefit no one other than the billionaire owners themselves. So like a two-year-old, the owners are throwing a tantrum. They reportedly are in negotiations to build an arena in Camden, New Jersey where their headquarters and practice facility are located. ROI-NJ reports:

The sources indicated that talks have picked up recently, in part because HBSE’s efforts to build a new arena in Center City Philadelphia have hit repeated roadblocks, despite the fact that the owners have indicated they would self-finance the $1.3 billion proposed project.

[…]

The clock appears to be ticking on 76 Place. In order to be ready for 2031-32 season, construction likely would need to begin in 2025. That means approvals from the city need to come this year.

76 Place hype man David Adelman has said there is “no Plan B.” Fact is, the 76ers proposed building an arena at Penn’s Landing in 2020 (Plan A). 76 Place is Plan B. The move to Camden would be, well, Plan C.

To mark the second anniversary of 76 Place, I will submit new FOIA and Right-To-Know Law requests to the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, SEPTA and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Black Music Month: Let the Sunshine In

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Black Music Month. The celebration of African American musicians and their contribution to American culture is the brainchild of music mogul and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Kenny Gamble, radio personality and media coach Dyana Williams and Cleveland DJ Ed Wright.

The first celebration was held on June 7, 1979. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter hosted a dinner and concert on the White House’s South Lawn.

I love music. I also love transparency and accountability in government. Sunshine is said to be the best disinfectant (h/t Louis Brandeis). So Black Music Month and, indeed, every month, let the sunshine in.

Sunshine Week: John Coltrane House Update

March 10-16, 2024 is Sunshine Week, a time to celebrate transparency, and the right to know what government officials are doing and saying behind closed doors. I used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Pennsylvania’s Right-To-Know Law to tell the story of the deteriorating condition of the John Coltrane House and the drama over ownership of the National Historic Landmark.

John Coltrane’s beloved “Cousin Mary,” Mary Alexander, sounded the alarm about the physical deterioration of the property as early as 1987.

From time to time I would check on the Coltrane House. Without access to the property, I reported illegal dumping and other violations visible from the public right of way. I am a cold weather person but on a hot and humid morning in August 2019, I felt an overwhelming urge to stop by the Coltrane House. I later learned that Cousin Mary joined the ancestors the same day that I was snooping around her former home. I vowed then that I would do whatever I could to preserve the historic landmark in public memory.

I successfully nominated the Coltrane House for inclusion on 2020 Pennsylvania At Risk. Designation does not bring any resources; instead, it brings renewed media attention to a historic landmark at risk of demolition by neglect.

News stories about the designation were published in February 2020. I had a conference call with Ravi Coltrane to explore next steps on March 13, 2020. I have not spoken with him since that conversation. However, news articles about the At-Risk designation were included as exhibits to the case that Ravi and Oran Coltrane filed to gain possession of the property on April 27, 2022.

Fast forward to May 2023, the parties reached an agreement in principle. The outcome was predetermined given the existence of a valid will. Under the terms of their grandmother’s will, Ravi and Oran should have gained possession of the property upon the death of Cousin Mary on August 31, 2019.

Norman Gadson is still listed as the owner on property and tax records. Last week, the New York Times reported the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “will assist in coordinating and financing the transfer of Coltrane’s home from its current owner back to his family.”

The Coltrane House is the first site selected for the new Descendants and Family Stewardship Initiative. Brent Leggs, executive director of the Action Fund, said:

Descendants and families have been doing this work for centuries on an informal basis. The initiative is about empowering descendants and families through historic preservation more formally. Our role is to give them the resources and technical expertise they need to protect and preserve the physical evidence of the past and share their profound stories with the American public.

It has taken nearly four decades, but the John Coltrane House will finally be restored. As I told Valerie Russ of the Phliladelphia Inquirer, my work is done. Mission accomplished.

That SEPTA Train Doesn’t Stop Here

The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ordered SEPTA to conduct a good faith search for records responsive to my Right-To-Know Law request for documents related to the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a basketball arena atop Jefferson Station. The records include SEPTA General Manager and CEO Leslie S. Richards’ and Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer’s communications with City Councilmember Mark Squilla, David Adelman, and named lobbyists, lawyers and 76 Place development team. SEPTA was also ordered to turn over invoices, reports, feasibility studies, traffic impact studies, architectural designs and cost estimates.

I should have received the records no later than January 20, 2024. Instead, SEPTA filed a Petition for Review of the OOR’s decision in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania at the eleventh hour on January 19, 2024.

With service cuts and fare increases looming, SEPTA is fighting to withhold from the public information about the impact of the proposed arena on its operating and capital budgets. Six years of demolition and construction would disrupt service and ridership as Jefferson Station becomes a construction zone and buses on Market Street are rerouted. Meanwhile, the public transit agency is rattling the cup in Harrisburg and Washington.

In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, including Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, and Rep. Dwight Evans, wrote:

We are at a critical juncture for transit in the Philadelphia region. Without strong, sustained support at all levels of government, Pennsylvanians risk losing access to transit and all its benefits.

[…]

SEPTA’s service is essential for the entire southeastern PA region, providing more than 700,000 daily trips throughout a five county, city and suburban territory. A high-quality transit system is essential to maintain growth and economic vitality, both downtown and throughout the region. We cannot ease congestion or reduce emissions without transit. How will we host major events in Pennsylvania, including 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in two years, without a viable transit system?

In the absence of open records, the Sixers’ PR team has filled the vaccum with factoids. Fact is, 76 Place is a transit-oriented project “without a viable transit system.”

Service at Jefferson Station would be disrupted during demolition of the Fashion District shopping mall and construction of the arena. The project would require SEPTA to periodically turn off power at Jefferson Station and the 11th Street station. When that happens, riders would be told “that train don’t stop here.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), 76 Place hype man David Adelman floated the straw man claim of “a grand conspiracy.” Adelman said “we are talking to SEPTA about how to improve access and service at the station.”

Leslie Richards and Scott Sauer are fighting release of their communications with Adelman about the cost of improving access and service at Jefferson Station. Secretary Buttigieg should demand answers about the impact of 76 Place on the public transit agency. In the meantime, I will submit a FOIA request to the Federal Transit Administration.