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Wake up everybody! music mogul Kenneth Gamble is leading the charge to clean up the Ghetto. (Reviving Communities).

Article Excerpt
"Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed No more backward thinking time for thinking ahead The world has changed so very much From what it used to be There is so much hatred, war, and poverty"

--"Wake up Everybody" (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The Philly Sound, Volume 3)

IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA, ROWS OF DILAPIDATED HUSKS HAUNT THIS ONCE-THRIVING COMMUNITY.

The skeletal structures, remnants of homes long since abandoned, are as numerous as the boarded-up storefronts, each symbols of entrepreneurial dreams unattained--another indication of a collapsed local economy no longer capable of supporting such ventures.

But on a hot summer morning, as the thermometer flirts with the 100-degree mark there are signs of improvement amid the blight. On street corners where drug dealing and prostitution once flourished, there are now well-lit residential neighborhoods. Construction sites boast signs advertising new housing, schools, and retail locations--all with the ubiquitous Universal Cos. logo. On 18th and Christian streets a convenience store with an ATM is open for business in an area where just months prior there was none. And although it's summer, class is in session at the newly renovated Universal Institute Charter School, where children clad in plaid uniforms flood hallways decorated with images of prominent African Americans.

These are among the fruits of the Herculean labors pioneered by music-legend-turned-philanthropist Kenneth Gamble. The two-time Grammy Award winner, who along with Leon Huff, penned hits such as "Love Train," "Me and Mrs. Jones," and "If You Don't Know Me By Now," has assumed a role as urban redeveloper.

Since 1963 the songwriting and producing team of Gamble and Huff has earned 175 gold and platinum records and created what was known as "The Sound of Philadelphia," a style of music that dominated the pop and R&B charts for two decades.

These days, Gamble, 59, is also known as founder and chairman of the nonprofit Universal Cos., the umbrella company comprised of a slew of real estate development, educational, and retail operations. In this post, Gamble is helping to redevelop his native South Philadelphia and is constructing a how-to model for urban redevelopment he hopes communities across the nation will adopt. From education and affordable housing to promoting entrepreneurship and creating jobs, Universal Cos. is looking...

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