During a meeting on Thursday, April 17, 2025, hosted by the Delaware Valley Alliance, focusing on fighting for economic justice, one of the guest speakers was PA State Rep. Napoleon Nelson. Nelson is the current chairman of the PA Legislative Black Caucus. He represents constituents in the 154th legislative district, which covers Montgomery County, and his district office is in Glenside, PA. Here’s some of what Rep. Napoleon Nelson said during this critical community meeting at Ezekiel Baptist Church on Grays Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia.
“We have 38 members of the PA Legislative Black Caucus, in the House and the Senate, covering everywhere from Norristown and Cheltenham out to the Hill District in Pittsburgh and all in between. Part of our work is making sure that we talk to our communities about those items that are critical to us, and we’re saying, ‘Don’t get distracted.’ We have to make sure that we are getting folks jobs. We have to do our work, and I promise you, we’re going to do our work. We’re going to roll up our sleeves and do everything we have to, fighting against some folks who don’t want any of this to happen. We’re going to put the work in to make sure that we get the opportunities so that more folks can work in PennDOT who look like us, can contract with PennDOT, can work for the Department of General Services, Department of Health and Human Services, the Education Department, the School Districts, Philadelphia Streets Department, etc. We want to make sure that we get opportunities to (not only) bring more dollars into the Black community; we are going to make sure that we focus our collaborative efforts around keeping dollars within the Black community. When we do that, we also need to make sure that we don’t lose the urgency of this moment. We still need to work together to fight back.”
Rep. Napoleon Nelson added, “I started by saying don’t be distracted by what we see happening in Washington. But I also don’t want us to ‘not be concerned’ about this. We need to get folks jobs because there’s nothing I should expect anyone else to do. I’m not asking anyone to come out and vote Democrats. The Democrats are the ones who watched you go from having a job to losing a job, to losing your house, to losing your car. If that‘s what we sat back and watched, and while we did that, we said, ‘Just keep voting for us and watching all that happen.’ I don’t deserve it However, while we do the work, what we can’t then have is folks who sit back and say, ‘I actually got mine now I moved out to a house in Cheltenham Township. I moved out to the county. Life is pretty good right now.’ No. This moment still needs everyone. So, while we make sure we’re going to do the work, please let’s also remember we still need more people supporting organizations such as O.I.C., an organization that is all about job training and job placement. We need more people who will come out for the NAACP. We need more people who will come out for the Urban League. We need more folks who will come out and support the United Negro College Fund. We need more people who will come out to demand that our schools are actually teaching our young people, not just about life skills, but make sure that they’re teaching them to read. We have too many people who are graduating from high schools across Pennsylvania that are still functionally illiterate. We’ve got an awful lot of work to do, but it does start with making sure that we get folk food on their tables and a job that they can be proud of.”
Leaders of The Delaware Valley Alliance say with the right training and tools, historically oppressed people can use their talent to have the strongest influence on policy and cultural change. The Delaware Valley Alliance is the blueprint for an economic model that addresses the systematic barriers that keep people, especially those in poverty and in the justice system, from fully participating in today’s economy and, in doing so, creating a stronger America. This initiative will position the workforce today, tomorrow, and in the future to harness their economic power into political power.
Others who participated at this community town hall on April 17, 2025, included Melissa Robbins, who acted as the mistress of ceremonies, PA State Senator Anthony H. Williams; Louis J. King, II, President of O.I.C. of America; Kevin Faucet from the office of PA State Rep. Regina Young, retired Philadelphia City Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell and businessman Stanley Straughter.
If you want to learn more about the Delaware Valley Alliance, log on at www.dva@oicofamerica.org.
