An ‘expression of love’ or a public nuisance? Why Philly activists embrace disruptive protest to fight economic inequality

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“I paid $700 for these tickets! We’re just trying to see LeBron!” shouted a man wearing a Philadelphia 76ers jersey as he threw Erica Brown, a longtime organizer with Sunrise Movement Philadelphia, onto the sidewalk just off of the Broad Street exit ramp from I-76.

Brown, dressed to resemble a basketball hoop, was undeterred. She rose to her feet, picked up her sign, which read “LeBron is a billionaire,” and stepped back onto the exit ramp.

With about 10 other Sunrise members, Brown blocked the ramp during rush hour just before tip-off on the night of LeBron James’ first 76ers game, against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Behind her, fellow activists held a banner that read “Make Philly Affordable.” For about 20 minutes, traffic backed up onto I-76, a cacophony of horns blared steadily and a stream of drivers left their vehicles and tried to remove demonstrators from the roadway.

No demonstrators were seriously injured and no arrests were made. Police did not respond for more than 20 minutes, frustrating drivers stuck on the off-ramp. Some bypassed the blockade by driving across the grass onto Broad Street.

Sunrise Movement’s tactics have grown more confrontational over time. From a 21-day hunger strike in May, which Brown undertook alongside fellow organizer Giavanna Troilo, to the roadblock on Oct. 22, the group has spent months demanding local officials distribute Philadelphia’s current $1.1 billion surplus in a way that benefits the working class, Troilo said. The city accumulated the excess revenue through years of COVID-19-era federal subsidies, higher taxes and a smaller city workforce, according to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office. Organizers say Parker has delayed the meeting she promised after the hunger strike, and some City Council members are willing to support the group only in private. Disruption, organizers say, is the only language people in power understand.

The movement

Founded in 2017, Sunrise Movement emerged as an influential force in national climate politics the following year, when its activists staged a sit-in at then-U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s congressional office, demanding a Green New Deal. The youth-led organization subsequently helped make climate change a central issue in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.

Since then, amid a worsening climate crisis and a broader surge of progressive politics across the U.S., Sunrise Philadelphia has grown to around 40 members, Brown said.

While Parker granted the group some concessions in the wake of the hunger strike, like a promise to meet with organizers, Brown said it wasn’t enough to effect major change. City Council voted to retain its surplus before the group’s hunger strike had concluded, Troilo said.

Although Sunrise first rose to prominence through national climate campaigns, it’s long linked economic justice and climate justice. In Philadelphia, organizers have increasingly focused on local issues such as affordable housing, food insecurity and public services, arguing that addressing those needs is essential to building a broader movement against climate change.

Brown said the urgency has only intensified since 2017, when it was already “life or death.” Now, she said, “[major polluters] are literally going to kill all of us and they think they can just escape to another planet.”

With climate-related disasters up 83% over two decades, according to a 2020 U.N. study, Troilo said activists are willing to risk arrest.

“What’s an arrest when in a couple of years we’ll have millions of climate refugees?” Troilo said.