Rasheedah Phillips scored two awards for her legal and education work this week

By this point, it’d be a bit odd to not have at least heard about Rasheedah Phillips and the multifaceted work she’s doing.
Last year, the managing attorney for Community Legal Services was mentioned in a New York Times story for her work in Afrofuturism and won a Geek Award for how she’s melding that Afrofuturism with her advocacy work. Not to mention the hustle she puts in fighting for housing rights and solving Philly’s eviction crisis.
She just added two more awards to her belt this past week: the Ambassador for Education Award from local service-learning nonprofit Need in Deed and the 2017 Housing Justice Award from the National Housing Law Project (NHLP).
Need in Deed honored Phillips at its 30th anniversary celebration last Thursday for her for participation in Need in Deed’s educator network for the past 15 years. Phillips specifically worked with children on service projects related to teen pregnancy and eviction rights.
Last year’s honoree was Jenny Bogoni, executive director for the city’s Read by 4th initiative.
“What it has caused me to do is to not take kids for granted and not take for granted their depth of understanding, their connection to these issues, the impact that these issues have on their own lives,” Phillips said in a video produced by Need in Deed.
Phillips received the 2017 Housing Justice Award at NHLP’s annual Housing Justice Network conference this past weekend in D.C., which gathered housing advocates from all across the country. Phillips herself hosted a number of panels.
Up early for Raising the Roof: Advocacy in Action training at #hjn2017 to train new attorneys in the art of housing advocacy! @NHLP pic.twitter.com/K9FhI51bXv
— Rasheedah Phillips (@RPhillipsBQF) October 12, 2017
According to the NHLP website, an honoree of its Housing Justice Award “is given to an energetic and unstoppable activist — not necessarily an attorney — who is fearlessly and successfully tackling the systemic and often hostile obstacles that stand in the way of safe, decent and affordable housing for low-income and marginalized people.”
Yup, sounds about right.
My acceptance speech was a bumbling mess but in summary: so honored, grateful to #hjn2017 @NHLP @CLSphila team and colleagues! pic.twitter.com/Tdb6jDbLO5
— Rasheedah Phillips (@RPhillipsBQF) October 14, 2017
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