Re-examining Philly Statehood
I know what everyone is about to say, there is no way this is ever possible. I can tell you the resentment towards the State of Pennsylvania is growing strong in Philly. We have 1.584 million residents in Philadelphia, which would probably give us 2 or 3 Congressional Representatives in the US House, and 2 Senators if we became a state. We would be larger in population than 9 other existing states. We would immediately begin electing the most leftwing members of the House and Senate. We will also see not the republicans taking 2nd place in National elections. We may see Greens or Socialists taking 2nd place on those elections as we are seeing growth in third parties in this community. Philly is silenced politically by another state. We want our autonomy back.
What about police? We would have much more control over them. National Guard? Definitely not as big unless they use troops from out of the new state, and we wont have to deal with state troopers anymore.
Statehood immediately relieves us of outside forces besides federal agents. Statehood gives us more ability to lead the nation in mutual aid programs we have been fighting decades for. Give us the ability to change our city with our own autonomous ideals. People may say, not much will change? Well people in Erie and Altoona won’t be making decisions for people who live on the other side of of a mountain range. We can build a sanctuary state for immigrants. And we have all the resources to sustain ourselves.
States don’t always need permission from their own state to secede like other authors of this idea have suggested in how any movement of Philadelphia Statehood would be stopped by Republicans in the states congress. The reality is the only people who are stopping Philadelphia from becoming its own state is the people in the Federal Congress, and ourselves by not thinking it is a reality.
Pennsylvania stops us from being the City we want it to be and it is the most authoritarian state in the northeast US. I want to change how Philadelphians are policed by their state government. Because it might be impossible to secede from the United States, but it is far from impossible for us to leave the State of Pennsylvania. I’m tired of living in the state of prison towns, and surveillance testing. I’m tired of being bullied by all the Big Pharma in Pennsylvania with their laws while Philadelphians suffer from a war on drugs. The Big Pharma companies of Pennsylvania have gotten away with billions in drug dealing and bought monopoly over it. They are some of the biggest drug dealers in our nation. I’m tired of their attacks and manipulation on Philadelphia. I want us to control our own destinies and not people from hundreds of miles away.
Pennsylvania is a prejudiced state ranking in the top of armed militia instability, and ranking in the top of hate groups across the US. Philadelphian’s want nothing to do with this attitude of an impending civil war that some militant Pennsylvanian’s are actively discussing.
Events like the Move Bombing, the tear gassings of 676 and 52nd street, the surveillance deployment are all experiences the rest of the State of Pennsylvania doesn’t go through. But we have lived it. We have lived under authoritarian repression in Philly for decades.
This is the city of the Underground Railroad. This is the City where people took refuge. Pennsylvania doesn’t honor that with Berks and York Detention Centers. Most Pennsylvanians voted for a border wall and heightened policing of people who call Philadelphia home. We are sick of it.
Schools? Well there is now 6% of our cities funding going to Harrisburg. That wont happen in a Philadelphia State. We will have the ability to decide exactly how much we need to fund our schools without the state making that decision for us. Republicans have castrating teachers unions fights for funding and pay raises, and Philly with its large population of teachers will have much more empowerment to get this done so we have the books, we have clean water and clean buildings for our children. Regardless of our political affiliations, we should constantly be driven to increase our own communities power and autonomy as we are opposed by the state occupying us.
Leaving Pennsylvania gives us more power in empowering our Lenape neighbors who have lost their land and helping restore community ties with them. States powers will make housing folks much easier. Social programs will be at the front of the table in changing how we help our neighbors. Because those are ideas Philadelphian’s are talking about. How can we sustainably house, feed, and give back to those we have harmed? How can we go back to being the sanctuary of Liberty we once were? Pennsylvania will work to block us every step of the way. Let’s stop the bleeding there.
What about the neighboring counties. I can maybe let them slide in joining Philadelphia if they want but I don’t see why they would, but Philly stands for Phreedom unlike many other parts of this state. Philly stands for equity for its people. Philly is tired of seeing governments telling us what we can and cant do and deciding our narratives. It is time we start talking about how we can take back control of our community and give ourselves more power as a community. We cant leave the US as things stand, so while we figure out our autonomy situation, we should find alternatives for empowering ourselves and putting the “Poorest Big City” back on the map. It is time for the State of Philadelphia to start discussing succession from Pennsylvania because they only exploit us. We need to put all of our options on the table to empower us. So we can add a voice in ending the war on drugs, the war on civilians, and the war on the poor. We will reclaim our place in liberty by expelling the authoritarian regime occupying our community. We can do more without Pennsylvania slowing us down and bossing us around. We must empower Puerto Rico, DC, Chicago, and our other comrades in their fight for empowerment and statehood against the regimes that control them as well.
