Tiphanie White

If Tiphanie White had her way, Philadelphia would observe an annual Hug of Love Day, a designated 24 hours for us to hug each other and say, “I love you!”

Everyone would be included in this city-wide public display of platonic affection. Friend, colleague, bus-stop stranger  – they’d all be eligible for a sincere, warm embrace. No politics, stress, or social difference would divide us.

“It would start with community leaders, then ripple into organizations,” says Tiphanie, 49, who was born, bred, and still lives in Point Breeze (on Bucknell St., which, she quickly informs newcomers to the neighborhood, is pronounced “buck-a-nell” by locals).

“People might say ‘a Hug of Love? That sounds crazy!’’” she laughs. But she thinks the annual event would both honor and highlight what she has found to be a core truth of our city:

“We are a city that is all about love,” she says. That’s why she became a Phambassador – to spread the word. “There are so many people here who truly love and care about human beings, they care about our youth and elders, they’re doing kindness for others every single day, and I don’t think that truth gets pushed out there enough.”

She routinely sees evidence of it in her job as chief of staff to City Council President Kenyatta Johnson; in her day-to-day interactions as a neighborhood block captain; and as the founder and president of the Dorothy V. Allen Community Center in Point Breeze (named for her late grandmom, a beloved Point Breeze matriarch who fed generations of neighborhood kids through her own nonprofit).

“My mother and grandmother were my role models,” Tiphanie says. Her community center aims to pick up where they left off, offering things like computer programs for seniors, and free financial literacy, wellness, and nutrition classes for neighbors. “They poured love into everyone. I’m just following their lead.”

Not that it was easy getting here. When Tiphanie was just 16, she got caught in the crossfire of an argument on her block while delivering funeral cards for an uncle who had just passed. She heard two young men arguing across the street, and as it escalated, “I thought they were just fussing. I didn’t think that guns would be drawn, but that’s what happened.”

As she entered her house, she was hit. The bullet – fired by a 22-year-old who lived nearby – lodged in her back, close to her spine. Miracle of miracles, her spinal cord and the artery that feeds it were uninjured.

“I could’ve died, or been paralyzed,” she says. People said how lucky she was to survive, but all she felt was rage. How could this acquaintance have been so reckless toward her?

She recovered fairly quickly, and the shooter was sentenced to ten years – but it took longer than that for Tiphanie to come to terms with what had happened to her.

Eventually, though, forgiveness – one of mankind’s most heroic acts of love – took the reins. Today, more than three decades after that bullet was fired, Tiphanie and the shooter are actually friendly; he lives in the city, and their paths sometimes cross through mutual acquaintances or via her work in City Council.

“He was always a very nice person. He just didn’t make the right decision” that day, she says, “He’s doing good work now, helping young people avoid trouble. He’s on the other side. We’ve come full circle.”

When she’s not serving others, you’ll find Tiphanie introducing friends to her favorite comfort foods – traditional Indian-Pakistani dishes at Nanee’s Kitchen in Reading Market, and the southern soul food at Amina Restaurant in Northern Liberties.

At home, she keeps a healthy kitchen. Since 2020, she’s dropped 48 pounds by changing her eating habits, running on the Schuylkill River Trail, and giving herself the same love she pours into others. “The trail changed my life,” she says. “You wouldn’t expect to feel that kind of peace right in the city. But I get on that beautiful path, take in the view, and ooooh…,” she says, letting out a big sigh, “I just breathe.”

Her favorite activity, though, is spending time with her adult daughters  – one is a budding attorney, the other a social justice advocate, and both are Phambassadors. She’s teaching them, just like her mother and grandmother taught her, that being strong doesn’t mean being hard, and that love  – strong, gritty, and full of grace – is the best kind of leadership.

Which brings us back to Hug of Love Day. Is she serious about launching it?

“I think it could be a thing, don’t you?” she says excitedly. “We’d even ride around in motorcades and give out little heart cards that say, ‘I see you, you matter, I love you.’ Philly needs more of that.”