Philly Activists’ Hunger Strike Pushes Community Demands for Budget Surplus
Philadelphia, PA – On May 21, Erica Brown and Giavanna Troilo with the environmental justice organization Sunrise Movement Philly began a hunger strike under the banner of Make Philly Affordable, demanding that Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker use a record budget surplus to fund food access, affordable housing, education, recreation centers, libraries, public transportation, and renewable energy.
Giavanna Troilo participated in the hunger strike for five days before withdrawing due to acute health concerns. On day eight of the hunger strike, Brown was joined by Seth Anderson-Oberman of progressive advocacy organization Reclaim Philadelphia and Brit Christopher of Swarthmore College’s Good Energy Collaborative. Brown, Anderson-Oberman, and Christopher plan to refuse food until the administration of Mayor Parker concedes to community demands.
When Unicorn Riot spoke to Brown and Troilo outside Philadelphia City Hall on May 25, the hunger strike’s fifth day, both appeared visibly fatigued despite using wheelchairs to conserve energy.
“Mayor Parker has a $1.1 billion budget surplus, a historically large amount, and she can use that right now,” Erica Brown told Unicorn Riot. “She can do it in a way that increases revenue. She can do it in a way that saves lives.”
Rather than respond to activists’ demands, Philadelphia’s Mayor had hunger strikers physically dragged out of a public town hall and handcuffed and physically removed from a sit-in at her City Hall office. On day 14 of the hunger strike and day one of a thirst strike, Brown was transferred to the hospital over health concerns.
Broke in the City of Brotherly Love
Though an ongoing public hunger strike is a dramatic and potentially dangerous action, activists say it is warranted given the dire conditions for working-class Philadelphians. Half of Philadelphia’s residents are rent-burdened, with the number of unhoused residents on the rise for five consecutive years. Twenty-eight percent of children in the mid-Atlantic city live in poverty. The School District of Philadelphia is moving forward with plans to shutter 17 public schools amidst fierce public outcry.
Additionally, a 2024 study by economist Raj Chetty found that upward economic mobility was worse for Philadelphians than residents of any other major city, meaning that impoverished children in Philly have the worst chances of escaping poverty.
“We’ve been sitting out here just a few days and we’ve had many a resident of Philadelphia come up to us and tell us they’ve also spent several days without eating, not by their choice, [because] they are currently unhoused,” said Troilo.
The city, the second-poorest in the United States, held a record $1.19 billion budget surplus at the end of the last fiscal year. Mayor Parker plans to reserve the surplus to hedge against future financial uncertainties rather than fund social services in the city.
The city’s unprecedented budget surplus would be sufficient to allocate over $13,300 to each Philadelphian child below the poverty line.
Under Philadelphia’s “strong mayor” system of governance, the mayor appoints department heads and submits a budget proposal to the City Council for approval. The Council must approve the budget by July 1, 2026, for the start of the 2027 fiscal year.
Mayor Parker, a former councilmember, won election as Philadelphia’s first female mayor following a campaign that emphasized law-and-order politics and neighborhood beautification. Parker drew community ire for her outspoken support of a proposed basketball arena that threatened to gentrify the city’s historic Chinatown during her first year as Mayor.
Collective Demands
The hunger strikers’ campaign includes demands drawn from a diverse set of progressive organizations, ranging from education advocacy to transit equity groups. Organizers began assembling the Make Philly Affordable campaign through conversations starting in December 2025, aiming to put forward demands that would speak to working-class Philadelphians and cohere a broad coalition.
The campaign demands that the municipal government spend its budget surplus on:
- A city program to restore food security for food stamp recipients
- The preservation of deeply affordable housing
- The retention of 220 full-time substitute teachers
- Staffing and maintaining rec centers and libraries
- Expanded free access to public transportation
- Solarization and home repairs
Brown describes the formulation of collective demands as a “beautiful process.” Rather than asking groups to revise their organizational priorities to rally behind a unitary demand, Brown said that organizers focused on “truly combining our forces.”
“These seven beautiful demands that really represent everything you need to live,” she told Unicorn Riot. “You need food. You need a house. You need a school. You need places to play and read and relax and a way to get there and the energy to make it all happen.”
Sunrise Movement Philly has been fighting for expanded rec center and library access since 2023, when they found residents demanding increased funding of youth activities hopes of reducing the incidence of community gun violence. In response, then-candidate Cherelle Parker committed to doubling rec center funding, before reneging in her first proposed budget.
The breadth of their current coalition demands doesn’t mean that the Philadelphia chapter of the Sunrise Movement has abandoned its focus on environmental justice.
“The climate crisis is at the heart of all of these other issues, and these other issues are part of the environmental crisis. They are not separate issues. They are intersecting issues,” said Giavanna Troilo. Advocates argue that the precarity of working-class Philadelphians leave them particularly ill-prepared to deal with the cascading effects of anthropogenic climate change.
“In a city marked by both immense wealth and deep racial inequality, choosing to prioritize people over profit is not just good policy — it is a moral obligation,” said hunger striker Seth Anderson-Oberman in a statement. “I am putting my body on the line because our communities deserve dignity, safety, and a government that actively works to repair harm, improve material conditions and build equity.”
The hunger strikers have launched a petition in support of the Make Philly Affordable campaign and plan to continue escalating alongside a broad coalition of community members until the Parker administration devotes the $1.19 billion to funding social services.
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