Afea Tucker TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT
The City of Philadelphia officially named the 6600 block of Germantown Avenue as J. Whyatt Mondesire Way.
It was a very special ceremony that took place in the heart of Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Most of the day’s celebration was in honor of the hard work and dedication of newly elected NAACP president and Philadelphia Sunday Sun publisher Catherine Hicks, Philadelphia City Council and the Mondesire family.
“Thank you for being here with us to honor this man J. Whyatt Mondesire, those who knew him as Jerry as I did, who did so much for this community that we needed to be able to name a street after him,” said Hicks. “I want to thank Councilwoman Cindy Bass, (and) the former councilwoman, Blondell Reynolds Brown, who were instrumental in making sure that this happened. I (also) want to thank everyone who participated in making sure that it got signed off.”
Members of City Council approved a resolution to rename the 6600 block of Germantown Avenue after the late activist and journalist Jerome (Jerry) Whyatt Mondesire in December 2019.
The street renaming received a unanimous vote in City Council.
Mondesire was president of the Pennsylvania state and Philadelphia chapters of the NAACP, and was the founder and publisher of the Philadelphia Sunday Sun.
He was also an early member of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, host of the radio program “Vision Quest” on WDAS-FM and a regular panelist on 6ABC’s “Inside Story.”
His friend and oftentimes co-host Lorraine Ballard Morrill was the mistress of ceremonies.
“Jerry was a dear friend, a dear colleague, we did some amazing things together,” said Ballard Morrill.
“I want us to cherish these moments of somebody so special. This man I loved and thought I was spending the rest of my life with and unfortunately, that was cut short. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t keep his legacy going by doing the things that we know he stood for,” said Hicks.
Several people who knew Mondesire gave remarks and shared heartfelt memories of the late civil rights activist. Those folks included friends, family mentees, community leaders, colleagues, elected officials and journalists.
Original Article via The Philadelphia Tribune