The now stagnant water that borders Manayunk's Main Street has shaped many neighborhood histories―the industrial development of the waterfront, the eventual flight of its factories, and the shifting character of a residential community. In a critique of a new waterfront construction on Venice Island, the video asks that Manayunk’s continued growth be respectful of the work that has been done to make the waterfront and the canal a beloved public space.
The Unity Garden engages community members of all ages to participate in maintaining its beauty: older Garden Club members praise the opportunity to work alongside younger generations of residents and youth gardeners emphasize a sense of safety and the warm respect given by their elders. “The Garden of Unity” weaves their testimonies together to illuminate a short but compassionate history.
Shortly after the Civil War, a group of black women from twenty-three churches in Philadelphia convened to establish a center that could support females working for racial and gender equality. 140 years later, this video references the triumphant efforts of the SWBCA building’s founders to suggest a path through the center’s present hardships within a gentrifying community.