Title
Honoring and recognizing Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse and its founder Ariell Johnson for receiving the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge Award.
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WHEREAS, Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse was founded by Temple University graduate Ariell Johnson in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia in December of 2015. Upon its opening, Ariell Johnson made history by becoming the first African American woman to open a comic book store on the East Coast of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, Amalgam Comics offers its audiences works written by people of color, women, members of the LGBT community, and independent authors. The success of the store and its owner have been celebrated across the country and featured by national news organizations, including ABC, CNN and MSNBC; and
WHEREAS, The Knight Foundation, through the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge, issued a nationwide search for individuals with ideas to make cities more vibrant places to live and work. After learning about the Challenge from a customer, Ariell Johnson was inspired to craft a proposal designed to equip aspiring comic creators, particularly those from disenfranchised communities without the means to go to art school, with the tools needed to compete with mainstream comic books; and
WHEREAS, After an exhaustive process, the Knight Foundation selected Amalgam Comics out of more than 4,500 applicants to receive a grant of $50,000; and
WHEREAS, Amalgam Comics will use the award to open the world of comics to a wider audience through the creation of "Amalgam University", where hopeful writers and illustrators will be able to take classes on drawing, writing, pitching and publishing; and
WHEREAS, The award will supplement community engagement efforts already underway at Amalgam Comics. The store currently runs workshops for local children and has partnered with Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, an organization started by brothers Danny, Russell and Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons; no...
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