Guest Commentary

How to Persuade Gen Z Voters

A Swarthmore political scientist compares the election to an issue top of mind for our youngest voters in and beyond Philly: climate change

By Gordon Arlen
Guest Commentary

Gen Z Voters Need More

A teenage Philadelphian on why her generation isn't taking just “Yes” for an answer

By Lanaa Dantzler
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Ali Velshi Banned Book Club The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The MSNBC host and Citizen board member talks with Emily M. Danforth, author of the award-winning coming-of-age novel about LGBTQ+ teens having a place in literary canon

By Ali Velshi

Powering Up Mentorship

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ local CEO is spearheading the group’s first efforts in Philadelphia schools, with the aim of providing every middle schooler with a much-needed mentor

By Rachel Wisniewski
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Ali Velshi Banned Book Club Banning The Poet X

The MSNBC host and Citizen board member speaks with National Young Person’s Poet Laureate Elizabeth Acevedo about young women learning the art of self-expression against the grain of faith and family

By Ali Velshi

It’s Time to Declare War on Disorder

Looting. Unprosecuted shoplifting. ATVs running amok. A judge dismissing charges against a killer cop. Drag racing in the dead of night. Can we reverse the message that rules no longer apply?

By Larry Platt
Citizen of the Week

Cheryl Ann Wadlington

The founder of Evoluer House has empowered 3,000 young girls of color in Philadelphia to attend college and succeed in life.

By Erin Flynn Jay
Photo Essay

Fab Youth Philly’s Play Captains

42 teens ran neighborhood play spaces around Philly this summer, engaging younger children while learning to be leaders themselves. Here, a look at some of the joy they shared.

By Theo Wyss-Flamm

Threading a Future

Could a Baltimore nonprofit hold the answer to turning around the lives of Philly’s most at-risk teens—and our city at-large?

By Jessica Blatt Press
Citizen Of The Week

Nasihah Thompson-King

As her Mastery-Shoemaker principal attests, the high schooler benched from basketball because of her hijab is a freedom fighter for our times

By Sharif El-Mekki