America’s best weekly Iota Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., hosts annual Achievement Dinner SEE PAGES A4-5
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www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 114 No. 48 Two Sections
NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 5, 2023
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Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter Shanice comes home to McKees Rocks She’s featured on a new mural which aims to radiate positivity in borough by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
On a very cold day weather-wise in McKees Rocks, Shanice Wilson-Knox received the warmest of welcomes. But rest assured, Wilson-Knox knows what the cold weather is like. Sure, she lives in California now. But Wilson-Knox was born and raised in McKees Rocks, lived in Hays Manor, attended schools like Holy Rosary, and always had her eye towards stardom. Born Shanice Wilson on May 14, 1973, the Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and actress who’s been in the public eye since the 1991 legendary song, “I Love Your Smile,” was released when she was 18, had a chance on Monday, Nov. 27, to return to Building 18, the building where she lived in Hays Manor, which is part of the Allegheny County Housing Authority. “I’ve been crying all day, and they’re tears of joy,” Wilson-Knox told the New Pittsburgh Courier, moments after a humongous mural was unveiled on the side of the Sto-Rox Public Library/Father Ryan Arts Center on Chartiers
Avenue. The mural depicts a phoenix rising over the cityscape of McKees Rocks. The portrait of Wilson-Knox was done by artist JoAnne Elliott-Pugh. Other artists largely responsible for the mural include Mary Sue Flick and Willie Dawson, with assistance from 12 local residents of McKees Rocks and Hays Manor. About 100 people turned out for the mural dedication ceremony, and they all braved temperatures in the 30s, including Focus on Renewal board president Tammy Spencer Bey. Focus on Renewal is the non-profit organization that, for more than 50 years, strives to create opportunities for residents in McKees Rocks and Stowe Township to live a better life by “providing a range of programs and services delivered with dignity and respect,” according to its website. Focus on Renewal sponsored and hosted the mural dedication ceremony. Bey said the event showed that “this is a community that’s not forgotten, that the people that live here or that came from here or that are here, they can dream and they SEE SHANICE A6
PITTSBURGH’S OWN SHANICE WILSON-KNOX, a Grammy nominated artist, songwriter and actress, smiles in front of a mural of McKees Rocks which also honors her, as she lived in McKees Rocks as a child. (Photo by J.L. Martello)
African Americans getting in on the new-age jobs being ‘manufactured’ in Pittsburgh First Lady Jill Biden joins panel discussion with Mayor Gainey, others by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
Look up in the sky, and you won’t see all that smoke from the endless coal production in Pittsburgh anymore. The steel mills, for the most part, are gone, but not to be counted out, Pittsburgh has reinvented itself. These days, Pittsburgh wants to lead the way in tech and robotics in addition to its medicine and education institutions. And with Pittsburgh now the home to its first African American mayor and workforce organizations that have African American leadership at the top, there’s optimism that the new Pittsburgh will have plenty of jobs for its Black residents. The mayor, Partner4Work CEO Robert Cherry and Community College of Allegheny County president Dr. Quintin Bullock, all African Amer-
ican men, were part of a panel discussion on Nov. 8 at Carnegie Mellon University’s Mill 19, located at Hazelwood Green. Mill 19 is headquarters to the school’s Manufacturing Futures Institute and home to some of the most advanced manufacturing research in the country. Mill 19 gives CMU innovators a chance to partner with other pioneers to apply digital innovation, advanced manufacturing technology and human intelligence to the production of the future. In other words, bye bye steel mills, and hello to a new day. About 150 others were in the crowd during the panel discussion, including African American notables like Dr. Wayne Walters, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent, state Reps. Lindsay Powell and La’Tasha Mayes, SEE BIDEN B12
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FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN CAME TO PITTSBURGH ON NOV. 8, LAUDING THE CITY FOR ITS EFFORTS TO CREATE NEW JOBS IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANUFACTURING. (PHOTO COURTESY CMU)