Indego, and the Better Bike Share Partnership team are dedicated to building relationships and learning from the communities it serves. As part of these efforts, it is essential we not only stand with but help amplify the voices of the individuals who are at the frontlines of advocacy to dismantle anti-black sentiment and the barriers created by institutional racism. Voices such as DeWayne Drummond, President of the Mantua Civic Association, and a previous Indego Community Ambassador, are hard at work to address these issues.

Recently DeWayne and We Embrace Fatherhood, a coalition of West Philadelphia fathers, activists, and artists came together in partnership with the Barnes Foundation to celebrate black fatherhood while deconstructing the false narrative of the absentee black father. From the Root to the Fruit: Portraits of Black Fathers and Their Children, an installation by West Philly–based photographer Ken McFarlane, will be shown outdoors at the Barnes, projecting on the exterior walls at 20th and the Ben Franklin Parkway this Father’s Day weekend. McFarlane’s work amplifies images of strength, dignity, pride, and success to drown out the cacophony of negative imagery surrounding the Black body.

Ken McFarlane is a West Philadelphia based documentary and portrait photographer, who has been working on this project since the summer of 2019. He installed 11 of his pieces on the boarded-up windows of the Philadelphia Traction Trolley Company building on 41st and Haverford, which was recently purchased by a development company. “We weren’t sure whether or not the pieces could continue living there or if it would be destroyed,” Drummond shared.

While the location of this work may be moving, the impact of the pieces and the conversations it ignites are fixed in our hearts and minds at a time when the voices of the black community are crying out to be heard.

“When the building was being bought we knew we had to decide how to continue Ken’s series, to continue having the conversations that the community can reflect on.”

– DeWayne Drummond

From the Root to the Fruit: Portraits of Black Fathers and Their Children, will be hosted at the Barnes this Father’s Day weekend, from 8 pm -11 pm, as a free outdoor public art installation. View the installation from the plaza at 20th and the Parkway. We encourage you all to take a ride to see this work and reminder if you’re attending to please wear a mask and practice safe social distancing!

Let’s get rolling! The Better Bike Share Partnership team has created a few routes that you can use to start your trip from an Indego bike share station! Click the links below for a detailed Google Map bike route to get you and your family and friends to the Barnes this weekend!

West Philadelphia Routes

One- way TO the Barnes from 4100 Haverford (2.1 miles)

One- way FROM the Barnes to 4100 Haverford (2.1 miles)

Center City Routes

The Better Bike Share Partnership wants to continue building community and help magnify community advocate conversations like DeWayne Drummond’s. Representation through arts must be expressed as we try to engage communities who often go unnoticed.

Ken Mcfarlane Instagram
www.instagram.com/365ken/

#WeEmbraceFatherhood
www.fromtheroottothefruit.org/about/