PA First Lady Frances Wolf Makes Stop In Jenkintown To Push For Racial Healing

JENKINTOWN, PA — Pennsylvania First Lady Frances Wolf came to Montgomery County on Tuesday, the national 'Day of Racial Healing,' to call on commonwealth residents to use the day as a chance to dedicate themselves to creating a more just society.

Wolf visited the Jenkintown Town Square during an event that included appearances by Dan Jurman, the executive director of the Governor's Office of Advocacy and Reform, an office that Wolf's husband, Gov. Tom Wolf, created through executive order to advocate for individuals considered vulnerable members of the population, according to the governor's office.

"We've seen this time and time again throughout history," Wolf said in a statement. "Racial trauma runs deep in our commonwealth and our country. "We must fully face it and give it space to be expressed in order to heal our communities. We must ask ourselves, how can I help? How can I make it better? Then just get up and do it!"

During the program, filmmaker, MTV producer and Philadelphia native Esteban Serrano joined writer-producer Eric Bhanudas Blackerby to speak about their feature-length documentary, "Symbol of Solidarity," which explores how Brian Bowens, a Jenkintown-based Black artist, used his gifts to help the community find its voice during the summer of 2020, a tumultuous time marked by racial protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

"I am here today because of my response to the First Lady's question — 'what can we do?'," Serrano said in a statement. "The Symbol of Solidarity film presents an America that we all deserve to live in."

The 'Day of Racial Healing' event included artistic performances by the Jenkintown Junior/Senior High School vocal ensemble, The BelleTones, and a poetic reading by Dr. Phillip Jeffrey Tietbohl, a Berks County poet who shared his work, Poetry That Works.