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Garella in the midst
DECEMBER 16, 2010
Left to right, Mayor Michael Nutter, Lois Fernandez and Council President Anna Verna opened Osun Village with a trusty pair of scissors.
A Point Breeze producer’s latest project examines the murder of a beloved Asian union leader.
s ta f f p h o t o b y g r e g b e z a n i s n
By Joseph Myers r e v i e w s ta f f w r i t e r
A
utomaker Henry Ford once quipped, “History is more or less bunk.” Holding a history degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Rich Garella would disagree. Because of what he has witnessed in the last 15 years through researching, commuting to and living in Cambodia, he could claim that history puts itself at the mercy of its handlers. Last Friday, the producer presented “Who Killed Chea Vichea?,” a documentary that addresses the 2004 assassination of a free trade union leader, at West Philadelphia’s Scribe Video Center. A resident of the 1600 block of South See GARELLA page 14
Sports
Osun’s 16
A South of South development featuring housing units and office and commercial space opened Monday.
Durham lures him A Packer Park pitching phenom commits to a top North Carolina school.
By Joseph Myers................Page 43
By Joseph Myers r e v i e w s ta f f w r i t e r
M
onday’s frigid morning temperatures could not alter the joy on the faces of those who gathered for the public opening of Osun (pronounced Oh-shoon) Village, 2308-14 Grays Ferry Ave. At 23,000 square feet, the four-story mixed-use development
will include 16 one-bedroom rental apartments for senior citizens, ground floor commercial space and program offices for African-inspired cultural programs and a yearly June festival. About 100 attendees battled a typical late-autumn chill to honor one woman’s commitment and her community’s rejuvenation. Lois Fernandez earned praise from every speaker for her 13-year role as a coura-
geous crusader for improved senior housing options. Poised to occupy one of the units, she described the facility as “the home of love for our seniors.” “I dedicate this to all of my ancestors,” Fernandez, who in 1975 founded the Odunde Festival, a celebration of African culture and an homage to the Yoruba tradiSee OSUN page 10