"In an African ceremony both somber and celebratory, about 500 people walked to the foot of the South Street Bridge toting gifts of fruit and flowers Sunday afternoon for the Yoruba goddess Oshun.The noon ritual, in which followers - many wearing white - dropped the offerings into the Schuylkill, marked the beginning of Odunde, the annual celebration of African culture that draws hundreds of thousands to the area around 22d and South Streets. "Oshun is why we're here. It's as simple as that," said Oshunbumi Fernandez, chief executive officer of Odunde, the nonprofit that organizes the festival her mother, Lois Fernandez, founded 39 years ago."
(photo by A. Thayer, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
