She listed and praised leading Black community leaders she admires, particularly women like her mentor and City Council predecessor Marian Tasco. She said they each communicated and worked differently, and said they \u2014\u00a0and she herself \u2014 should not be faulted for taking different approaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of us have to do it in our way, and I can\u2019t criticize you\u2026 [if] the way you fight is not the way I fight, because your gifts and your talents, your role and your responsibilities, they are different from mine, and this is not a time when we can step on each other,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n
From there she pivoted away from the speech\u2019s main theme and focused on criticisms of her own particular style<\/a> of leadership and rhetoric, which she defended as the most effective way to accomplish her goals.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018You\u2019re the mayor. You\u2019re supposed to be fighting. You lack courage,\u2019\u201d she said, quoting her critics. \u201cHave you known anybody who says Cherelle Parker was afraid to stand up and fight for what she believed in? Have you ever known that to be an attribute of mine?\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor said she had to \u201cfight the way I know how to fight\u201d and deliver tangible results for city residents, particularly the most vulnerable. \u201cThey can\u2019t eat hope. Hope doesn\u2019t buy bread. I\u2019ve got to connect them to access the \u2018economic opportunity for all,\u2019\u201d she said, referring to her administration\u2019s oft-repeated main slogan<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI love them so much\u201d<\/p>\n Immigrant advocacy groups have frequently criticized Parker<\/a>, saying she and the city should take a stronger stance against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency\u2019s ramped-up campaign of detention and deportation.<\/p>\n The mayor usually responds to questions about her administration\u2019s policies in general terms, without specifically mentioning immigrants, ICE or the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked about Philadelphia\u2019s \u201csanctuary status\u201d in November 2024, for example, she said her administration is \u201cprepared to address issues that will come before us.\u201d More recently, in a December interview with WHYY\u2019s Studio 2<\/a>, she acknowledged that some people are unhappy when she doesn\u2019t give an \u201cemotional response\u201d to those questions, and said it was fair to say that she didn\u2019t want to pick a fight with the federal government.<\/p>\n At the same time, she has repeatedly pointed out that a 2016 executive order by former mayor Jim Kenney, which limits police cooperation with ICE, remains in place. It bars the city from detaining people for ICE unless there\u2019s a judicial warrant or they have recently been convicted for committing a violent felony. The city has also boosted its support<\/a> for immigration legal defense programs.<\/p>\n In the speech Friday, Parker cited the \u201cdifferent streams of revenue\u201d coming into the city, an apparent reference to more than $2 billion in various types of federal funding Philadelphia receives annually. President Donald Trump has repeatedly tried or threatened to cut off funding<\/a> to places he describes as sanctuary cities.<\/p>\n \u201cWho do you think the first people who are in need and getting support from our public health centers are?\u201d she asked the Union League audience, her voice rising. \u201cWho do you think that constituency is? It\u2019s our immigrant and most vulnerable population in the city of Philadelphia. And because I love them so much \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n She paused.<\/p>\n \u201cMy pride, my ego, my emotions, this passion and fervor that burns deep inside of me \u2014 because I know what I feel and I know what I want to say \u2014 but I want you to think about the discipline required for me to \u2014 tamp it down, Dorothy Parker, you can\u2019t come out right now, mommy,\u201d she said. Her voice shifted from a near-roar back to a more conversational cadence as she channeled her grandmother Dorothy, who raised her. \u201cI want you to think about the discipline it requires. That\u2019s leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Can\u2019t afford to \u201calienate\u201d Republicans<\/p>\n The mayor also defended her relationships with lawmakers who are aligned with the Trump administration or have been criticized by local activists in relation to immigration and other issues.<\/p>\n She listed elected officials she works with: City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Gov. Josh Shapiro, city\u2019s U.S. House delegation, and, \u201clet me say for the record, because I\u2019ve gotten a whole lot of pushback about this, yes, both of our U.S. senators, Dave McCormick and John Fetterman.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormick, a Republican, supports the federal deportation campaign and has criticized<\/a> so-called \u201csanctuary cities\u201d like Philadelphia. Fetterman, a Democrat, describes himself as pro-immigrant, but has been attacked by some in his party for his stances on abolishing ICE, the war in Gaza and other issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are fighting in a position that we are in right now, if you think you can alienate anybody\u2026who can add value in one way or another to that fight\u2026 you\u2019ve never had to sit where I have had to sit,\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice when you pick up the phone as mayor, and because you were kind to people, no matter what side of the ideological spectrum that they sat on, they still pick up the phone now, even in the midst of the storm. We want to maintain those kinds of relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t apologize to anyone for maintaining relationships with people who can help us advance our agenda here in the city of Philadelphia,\u201d she said to applause. \u201cI don\u2019t apologize for it.\u201d<\/p>\n One area where Parker has recently been somewhat more vocal about pushing back against Trump has been in relation to Black history, although the mayor avoids criticizing the administration directly or mentioning the president by name.\u00a0<\/p>\n She noted during her speech that she had just come from a brief stop at the President\u2019s House Site on Independence Mall, where she observed the reinstallation of an exhibit<\/a> about George Washington\u2019s slaves and thanked National Park Service employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe none of what I hear. I believe all of what I see,\u201d she said. \u201cI was a few minutes late coming in because I went down to the President\u2019s site, because I literally wanted to see the work that was being done to get those panels back up.\u201d<\/p>\n A federal judge last week ordered a set of educational plaques restored to the site after the city sued to reverse the Trump administration\u2019s controversial removal of the exhibit. About half of the 34 panels were put back up before another judge paused the order Friday.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Parker-at-Trib-2.jpg\")
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker spoke at a Black History Month event held by the Philadelphia Tribune at the Union League. Feb. 19, 2026. (Quinton Davis\/City of Philadelphia)<\/p>\n