Two large, painted signs sit at the entrance to the César Andreu Iglesias Community Garden, a large community garden roughly the size of a city block located in North Philadelphia. “WELCOME. BIENVENIDOS. GROW SHARE GATHER,” reads the first in lavender and green. Beside it, in yellow and red, a second sign declares, “ESTE TERRENO NO ESTA EN VENTA” (this land is not for sale). A raised fist—the universal symbol of solidarity—is painted beneath the text. Together, the two signs convey complementary messages about the garden. The first conveys an openness to others, a welcoming of neighbors and visitors into the garden space and into community. The second sign declares the community’s commitment to defending garden land from market forces. The signs are a welcome, a warning, and an invocation of communal intentions.
The marks of community are everywhere. Picnic tables, a small stage for community performances, a traditional shared barbecue pit, and a corrugated boxcar converted into a brightly muraled solar-powered art center dot the garden. Signs around the garden celebrate art, healing, and justice: “Poetry plot,” “Dream seeds,” “Collective,” “Light,” “Healing,” “Create,” “World,” “Breathe.” The garden draws youths, middle-aged individuals, and older adults. Garden participants are Black, Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and white.
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