CRCQL Member Bigga Dre is Citizen of the Week!

Beloved CRCQL member Bigga Dre was honored as Citizen of the Week in The Philadelphia Citizen! The article dives into Bigga Dre’s life and background, highlighting his solutionary activist career and his role in the celebration of Juneteenth in Chester.

Check out the article here!

“To Dre and his family, pro-Black meant more than anti-racist. It also meant advocating for your community. He has a cameo in “Laid to Waste: A Chester Neighborhood Fights for its Future,” environmental activist Zulene Mayfield’s 1997 documentary about the neighbors fighting Covanta’s massive solid waste incinerator. He saw what raising your voice as a community could do — and admired Mayfield for her work, going on to work with her organization, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, or CRCQL.

He’d also go on to found a group he called the Tween Development League, connecting youth at rec centers from Philly to Camden, NJ. He and vocal educational activist Mamma Gail Clouden grew close, and with the mentorship of the late, Robert Dickerson (known for founding the Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble and South Jersey’s Unity in the Community), Dre became the instructional support specialist for Khepera Charter School. Eventually, he joined the cultural committee of PCOL, the Kenny Gamble co-founded Philadelphia Community of Leaders, an organization working to tackle systemic issues plaguing the Black community — and lifting up Black culture.”

Read the rest of the article here!