With deep sadness, love, and gratitude for our time together, we share the passing of our dear Ms. Nandi Muhammad.

The Village plans to hold a gathering to honor and celebrate Ms. Nandi on Wednesday, March 22, from 5 – 7 p.m. in Angel Park and the Civic Power Studio (2516 North Alder St.) We’ll have good food, tunes that Ms. Nandi would love, a beautiful memorial table with photos and flowers, a sharing circle, and flag-making. It will be an opportunity for the people who loved her to be together.

It’s hard to believe she is no longer with us in person, perhaps because one of her many spectacular gifts was her ability to be fully present with each and every person she met. At the same time that we grieve, we feel joy that we knew her. She is beloved. We will miss her so much.

Ms. Nandi was a teacher, artist, chef, wife, mother and grandmother, and friend to our community. Most of all, she was a creator of sanctuary: within her home, a phone call, a chance meeting in the neighborhood. Ms. Nandi was very wise. She was also funny, curious, and kind – really kind – in the rare way some people are when they withstand personal hardship and emerge with moral clarity and compassion. She lived with a deep and inspiring reverence for human life, for Black people and history, and for the sacredness of childhood.

We met Ms. Nandi when several young people who grew up visiting the Penny Candy Store worked with SPACES artists-in-residence on a documentary project and chose to feature Ms. Nandi. She became a friend and informal community advisor to The Village, eventually joining us part-time. She acted as a mentor and Elder In-Residence, advised us on almost every project and program, and served as a fellow for our 2021 campus-wide exhibition, Staying Power.

Ms. Nandi was also an accomplished textile artist. She created the banners for Philadelphia Assembled, and her beautiful rugs and flags hang in The Village and in homes around Philadelphia. Her voice traveled far and wide through community-created media and articles written by The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

We will share more about Ms. Nandi’s extraordinary journey after her celebration. In the meantime, we welcome your Ms. Nandi stories and pictures via DM, comment, or email.

Thanks to Ms. Nandi, we know how to honor her: in every conversation, she told stories about her own mentors, ancestors, and friends and named the lessons she learned from them. So we will do the same every day and live into those lessons the best we can.

Rest in Power, Ms. Nandi. We love you. We’re so proud to have been your friends.