Muslim Convert Cleans Up Philadelphia Neighborhood
Salam/Peace:
Kenny Gamble could have settled almost anywhere after a songwriting career that earned him and partner Leon Huff 175 gold and platinum records for producing hits like "Love Train" and "Me and Mrs. Jones."
Instead, he went home to South Philadelphia.
Looking to give something back to the city that inspired his music, Gamble in 1990 shrugged off fear of crime and drug dealers and moved into a rehabilitated brick row house in the blighted neighborhood where he grew up.
Since then, the co-architect of the Philadelphia Sound has been on a mission to rebuild the area, block by block.
The nonprofit firm he founded, Universal Companies, has purchased hundreds of abandoned houses, refurbished old storefronts, and is constructing scores of tidy new townhouses to replace a demolished high-rise public housing project.
The group opened a charter school, blocks from Gamble's boyhood home, and a business support center that can help arrange loans for black entrepreneurs.
[...]
Gamble, 59, converted to Islam in 1975 and said he takes his faith's demand of charitable works seriously. He also said he felt an obligation to do more for the city's poor, black neighborhoods than write songs about them.
Read the whole article at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/31/entertainment/main546974.shtml
Kenny Gamble could have settled almost anywhere after a songwriting career that earned him and partner Leon Huff 175 gold and platinum records for producing hits like "Love Train" and "Me and Mrs. Jones."
Instead, he went home to South Philadelphia.
Looking to give something back to the city that inspired his music, Gamble in 1990 shrugged off fear of crime and drug dealers and moved into a rehabilitated brick row house in the blighted neighborhood where he grew up.
Since then, the co-architect of the Philadelphia Sound has been on a mission to rebuild the area, block by block.
The nonprofit firm he founded, Universal Companies, has purchased hundreds of abandoned houses, refurbished old storefronts, and is constructing scores of tidy new townhouses to replace a demolished high-rise public housing project.
The group opened a charter school, blocks from Gamble's boyhood home, and a business support center that can help arrange loans for black entrepreneurs.
[...]
Gamble, 59, converted to Islam in 1975 and said he takes his faith's demand of charitable works seriously. He also said he felt an obligation to do more for the city's poor, black neighborhoods than write songs about them.
Read the whole article at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/31/entertainment/main546974.shtml
posted by Samana Siddiqui @ 9:35 AM
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