By James Sullivan and Van Stone vspfoundaiton@yahoo.com mailto:vspfoundation@yahoo.com
The Philadelphia Housing Authority decided to construct three high rise buildings at 46th and Market Street. One building was named West Park Holding Street units. And the other two buildings were named the 300 and 400 North Busti units. Interestingly, the Busti St. units were named after a historical caring person named Paolo Busti. In the early 1700’s Busti became one of the first Italian general contractors to provide land for the underprivileged blacks and Italians freemen and their own children but particularly for orphaned boys who needed male guidance. Later in the early 60’s, long after Busti’s death, the underprivileged, both blacks and whites, grew up together in what most West Philly folks called the 46th St. projects territory. 46th St. ended up a graffiti-walled death trap, the turf for youth gangs, desperately in the need of working dads and housing police to protect the non violent kids from the extreme violent ones. The years were 1970 – 1979. Who would believe that something good would come from West Philly gangs?
From the 70’s to the 80’s this area was completely controlled by and known to be the youth gang called -Lex St. Lex St. gang, defunct by early 1980, began right there on the very street where one of the biggest Phila. Scandal stories later in ’01, the ‘Lex St. Murders,’ became the biggest mass murder in the city’s history. Black youth homicide was rampant in the Lex St. projects located at 46th St. where illiteracy, sexual transmitted diseases, stabbings, and shootings, poverty, and ugly blight were out of control. The average kid did not finish 4th grade schooling. Many stereo typing the black youth there said that nothing good would come of those West Philly black youth from the projects. Although the gangs’ sale of drugs and their violence was firmly established in those Holden St. projects, there was one youth among the many who proved this sad stereo type to be wrong. He was Sam Downing, aka, Van Stone. Van Stone lived through this muck period of lack of community social services in the 46th St. housing at Holden St., Apt. 1403. Stone, a participant in negative youth activity therein, has become a positive example and influence on other black youths since the late 70’s. He studies social change.
Despite his gang war years, he managed to finish public school and attend Cheyney University. Stone improved his reading and writing skills. He became a professional reader of civic history and youth books to children. He leads as a community activist and liaison from his own non profit organization, the Van Stone Productions Foundation. And he voluntarily assist local citizens with problems that they can’t seem to get city essential services to perform by writing about these issues as an investigative reporter in city newspapers. Further, Stone published his first book for comic book lovers, “Heroes of the Last Q,” a novel about fictional super-heroes who jump into action ‘Spider-man’ style as the Last Q’s on the brink of war. Stone has woven in his mix of positive life altering changes from violence his being a single Foster Parent, a rarity, assigned through the Bethanna Christian Services to Children and Their Families, Media Delaware County.
Stone began his life of terror as a Lex St. young boy after the 3rd school grade. “Leaving the fighting, stowing away knives in your locker, sometimes going after someone with a handgun, wasn’t easy,” says Stone. “We knew that folks assumed young Black Americans, especially blacks living in the jets, are bad and lazy. But I figured that view stopped at the 12th grade, if you could just make it that far,” said Stone. Stone, an alumni of the Phila. Business Academy, graduating from University City High School in 1980, realized that putting down the guns and picking up the books was really not enough for a hard youth of the streets to make all hard work last. In other words, as he added, “but I figured wrong.” In college Stone learned quick that the underprivileged successes don’t stop the privileged from judging and not accepting others that are culturally different.
“Reading everything that you make the time to read,” says Stone, “allows one to learn to become a people person.” “Reading allows you to understand that the power supremacy is an ideal that keeps you at odds with everyone. And Keeping at odds with everyone ends you up as something no good from whatever neighborhood that is,” he said.
Stone, as well as other former gang war guys, it appears, has long been something good from West Philly. Currently he admonishes hard work by partnering with other community activist running for City Commissioner of Philadelphia, Green Candidate, 2007 to help end gun homicide, blight and low voter registered societies. Stone meet with State Rep. Thomas Blackwell to reduce violence in the 190th District. And he met with Schools CEO Paul Vallas to get a West Philly indoor school pool open that has been keep closed for over 2 years. Van Stone Downing began a civics and reading workshop for foster parents and the kids they care for. Stone is asking for donations towards creating a newspaper guide for parents and youth. It will be about political action, family, community, sports, and clean entertainment geared at the West Philly and North Philly and Center City areas. To get involved in supporting Stone Downing call (215) 747-4921 or visit www.frontpagenews.us
