Philadelphia woman puts up basketball hoop at protests to ‘bring people together’

A moment captured from the Philadelphia protests.

Stephania Ergemlidze wanted to find a way to, as she said, “spread love and bring people together the way I know how to best” during the protests that continue after the death of George Floyd.

That way is with basketball.

In a series of tweets spotlighted by WHYY’s Nina Feldman, Ergemlidze and a group of people with her brought a hoop to Center City and convinced folks to play (it’s a reminder that hoops have been taken down, closed and shut down during the cornavirus pandemic). That apparently included a police officer.

Note that an early, viral tweet (the first one below) identified Khalil Gardner as the man behind the idea, but was corrected later:

https://www.facebook.com/stephaniaergemlidze/videos/642215503038775/

[jwplayer H8asyQ6z-q2aasYxh]