African Cultural Center in Philadelphia
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5000 Springfield Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19143215-474-3134I had heard about the banquet hall in Philadelphia that is named the African Cultural Center. I had never been there, never driven past it, when my friend Zainab told me I needed to be at a Sierra Leonean function there in October 2010, and I needed to bring a visitor, Hawa, who had hosted Zainab and me in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2 months previously. (For stories about Sierra Leone which has the world's highest incidence of death in childbirth, click here.) I walked inside, past etched glass doors, and was enchanted. The owner, Mr Chima Murphy Orji, introduced himself, and listened to my story about a black Mercedes and a Nigerian prince and a Nigerian lawyer-nurse-pastor-PhD who claimed that, like Jesus, her father had risen from the dead. He matched my stories with a magnificent tale of an elaborate scam of a Swedish businessman that involved fake helicopters and oil tankers and sounded a lot like the story I had been told 2 weeks previously by a Guyanian developer, who also had a great story about Fidel Castro cooking him lunch on a boat. Gosh.The next time I came was in February 2011, a Saturday night baby shower for a young expectant Cameroonian mother of twins at the invitation of Chima Murphy Orji. The banquet hall was all pink balloons and young parents and children, and looked very different from my first visit.The third time I visited African Cultural Center was the day after Mother's Day. At that time I was introduced to the clean sound system, and was smitten by the idea that the African Cultural Center really could be the center of African culture in Philadelphia. I was also given a tour of Chima's garage and storage facility at 62nd and Kingsessing. Chima is an auctioneer, and his days are mostly filled with driving around to auctions, buying and selling, and storing lots and lots of things in his facilities, which include African Cultural Center.A week after Mother's Day, on a Sunday, I was ordered to the police station on Brooklyn, to be arrested and jailed. I had a restraining order against Lookman Sulaimon Arounfale, and after 6 weeks of him being unable to serve me a counter restraining order, he managed to serve one at the funeral of a highly respected Nigerian pastor. After 8 hours in jail, the arresting officer released me, saying that Lookman was "full of s**t". Meanwhile I had 8 hours to reflect on my life, and I decided to stay out of New York as much as possible. Which meant I had time for frequent visits to African Cultural Center. Consequently, I did that, once or twice a week for 6 months.Zainab has come back several times for events with the Sierra Leonean communities, and Chima hosted events for AfriCom free of charge several times. Chima opened the African Cultural Center for my 60th birthday celebrations in October 2011. The party started early, with my family showing up while bright sunshine streamed through the glass doors. This is a beautiful place during the day, but rarely is it used in daytime. I would love that to change, and the African Cultural Center be filled with groups and businesses from morning to night.I
took all the pictures below, except for the ones with me in them during my celebrations (thank
you Zain Sesay-Harrell and Dr Ladi Owolabi) and I have many, many more.
The banquet hall in November 2011 (when I last was inside it) looked very different than it did in October 2010. Chima has laid tile floors, and pasted mirrors on the wall, so I felt that I was walking and dancing inside a sparkling glass palace.Chima opened his banquet hall in 2001, and it has had several incarnations. He rents it out occasionally, and has shut it down since early November, when he started traveling in East Africa.I do not know when, and if, he will rent it out again. He does have a "for sale" sign out the front. Check back for updates.
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Dr Susanna's 60th birthday was held at the African Cultural Center. Guests included the proprietor, Chima Murphy Orji, left, Dr Vera Tolbert (President of AfriCom) and Mr Vincent Ngadi (teacher and member of AfriCom).
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Dec 11, 2011. Mr Orji sets up children for photographs, below.They were celebrating the holidays at St Cyprian's Roman Catholic Church. Mr Orji confirmed that African Cultural Center is closed down.
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African
Cultural
Center
in
Philadelphia
According to Pennsylvania records
-the street address is 1000-2 S St Bernard Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19143
-the owners are Chima M Orji and Augustina Orji
-the land size is 17,400 square feet
-the floor space is 8,700 square feet
-the building was erected in 1920
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