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Is our community becoming ‘numb’ to the gun violence?

Community members weigh in, as county approaches 100 homicides for the year

HEAVEN BUDD, 21, WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN HOMEWOOD ON OCT. 22. ERIC STEPHENS, 38, WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN HOMESTEAD, NOV. 1.

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Talk to gun violence interrupters in Pittsburgh like Rev. Cornell Jones and Rev. Eileen Smith, and they’ll tell you that they have no plans to stop fighting against the shootings plaguing many Black communities in the region.

But if you talk to them, they’ll also tell you that some people in the Black community see gun violence as “normal,” or that it’s “no big deal.”

And that’s not good.

But overall, Rev. Smith told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, Nov. 7, “I don’t think the community is becoming numb, I think

the community is just as devastated as they’ve ever been, but now it’s becoming old hat,” she said. “It’s like, no big deal anymore, but it’s still taken seriously. I know it is by us and our team that goes out into the street.”

Reverend Smith is the executive director of the South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace. Reverend

Jones is the City of Pittsburgh’s Director of Street Outreach.

They are two of the numerous African Americans in the Pittsburgh area who tackle gun violence head-on, speaking with possible violence perpetrators and showing them alternatives to the street life. For Reverend Jones, who told the Cou-

rier it’s his life’s mission to help those who may be overlooked or thrown away by the rest of society, he said oftentimes it’s the media’s portrayal of gun violence that makes people think that it’s an everyday thing or something you have no choice but to live with.

“One of the challenges is, people think that this

is just an outreach team and law enforcement issue, when I believe this is a village-at-large issue,” Rev. Jones told the Courier, Nov. 6. “This is something that we have to go from being on the sidelines to being in the game to be able to deal with the issues of the violence SEE GUN VIOLENCE A5

Kenyon Bonner named VP, Chief Student Affairs Officer at the University of Virginia Is a member of Courier’s ‘Men of Excellence’ Class of 2017

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Kenyon Bonner, vice provost for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and a member of the New Pittsburgh Courier’s “Men of Excellence” Class of 2017, will step down from his position to become vice president and chief student affairs officer at the University of Virginia, the Courier has learned.

Joseph J. McCarthy, Pitt’s Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor, made the announcement on Monday, Nov. 6, via the university’s website.

“In his time at Pitt, which began in 2004 as

assistant director of residence life, Kenyon has certainly left his mark on all areas impacting a student’s time with us, and I want to recognize his outstanding service and leadership in these areas,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy described Bonner’s ability to serve not only as director of student life, but as associate dean of students simultaneously for seven years. In August 2021, McCarthy said Bonner was named vice provost for student affairs, “which included appointment to the chancellor’s senior leadership SEE BONNER A9

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KENYON BONNER, a vice provost at the University of Pittsburgh, will join the University of Virginia as vice president and chief student affairs officer in January 2024. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University of Virginia Communications)

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This Week In Black History

A Courier Staple NOVEMBER 8

PROTESTERS in countries with substantial Muslim populations, including the U.S., U.K., and France, expressed disillusionment with their governments for their support of Israel amidst intensifying attacks on hospitals and residential areas in the Gaza Strip.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweep across global cities

by Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday, marching from Washington to Milan to Paris, demanding an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. The protests highlighted growing concern over the rising civilian death toll and suffering resulting from the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Protesters in countries with substantial Muslim populations, including the U.S., U.K., and France, expressed disillusionment with their governments for their support of Israel amidst intensifying attacks on hospitals and residential areas in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Hamasrun Health Ministry in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has now reached 9,448.

In Israel, over 1,400 people have lost their lives, with most casualties occurring during the October 7 Hamas attack that ignited the conflict.

In Washington, D.C., thousands gathered at the nation’s capital to protest the Biden administration’s stance on Israel and its ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Chants of “Palestine will be free” filled Pennsylvania Avenue, leading up to the White House, as a massive Palestinian flag was unfurled.

Simultaneously, demonstrations took place in New York, London, and Paris, echoing the sentiments of the protest in Washington. Many speakers at the rallies focused on President Biden’s support for Israel’s war efforts and his opposition to a cease-fire.

One member of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights referred to the president as “Genocide Joe.” Later, images circulated

online of scores of demonstrators marching towards the United Nations building in Midtown Manhattan.

The New York City Police Department reported temporary road closures due to the protest, but no arrests had been made. Mayor Eric Adams said he was monitoring the situation.

As of Saturday evening, U.N. press officers had yet to respond to emails seeking comment. On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that protesters at the Port of Oakland in California had climbed aboard a U.S. military vessel believed to be en route to Israel.

In Europe, at least 11 individuals were arrested in London on Saturday afternoon as a surge of hun-

Following a meeting with Blinken in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu stated, “I have made it clear that we are continuing forcefully, and that Israel refuses a temporary cease-fire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel does not allow the entry of fuel to the Gaza Strip and opposes the transfer of funds to Gaza.”

According to data from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, Israeli airstrikes have killed 9,257 people in the coastal enclave since October 7, including 3,826 children, according to a U.N. report on Friday. Less than one-third of Gaza’s hospitals are currently operational, and the territory has only seven days’ worth of food stocks remaining,

ISRAEL-PALESTINE PROTESTS IN WASHINGTON/MARK MAHONEY dreds of demonstrators brought the Oxford Circus shopping and tourist district to a standstill. Streets were blocked, and slogans in support of the Palestinian people were chanted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected pleas by President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting that would allow for the delivery of food and medical supplies to Gaza.

according to the U.N. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized, “We stand strongly with and behind Israel in its right and obligation to defend itself, defend its people, and take the steps necessary to try to ensure that this never happens again.” He also underscored “the imperative of doing everything possible to protect civilians, the imperative of doing everything possible to get assistance to those who need it.”

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1898—The Wilmington Massacre occurs. A mob of Whites launched a terror campaign against Blacks in Wilmington, N.C. They destroyed a Black newspaper plant, seized control of city government and officially left nine to 11 Blacks dead.

However, the unofficial death toll was said to be closer to 100.

1932—Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president. During his 16 years in office Roosevelt instituted a series of New Deal programs designed to pull the nation out of the Great Depression. It was during his years in office that Blacks overwhelmingly switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party even though Roosevelt adopted some policies that angered Blacks.

1933—Actress Esther Rolle is born in Pompano Beach, Fla. She is best remembered for her role in the 1970s television series “Good Times.”

1966—Edward W. Brooke is elected the first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction. He was a Republican from Massachusetts.

NOVEMBER 9

1731—Multi-talented scientist and inventor Benjamin Banneker is born in Ellicott Mills, Md. He is generally considered America’s first Black scientist. Banneker constructed the first clock made in America; completed the design and layout of Washington, D.C., after Pierre L’Enfant returned to France; published a farmer’s almanac for 10 years, while also studying astronomy; and predicted solar eclipses.

1868—The governor of Arkansas, Powell Clayton, calls out the state militia and declares martial law in 10 counties in a bid to put down a Ku Klux Klan-led insurrection.

1868—The Howard University Medical School—the first designed to train Black medical personnel— opens in Washington, D.C. There were eight students in the first class.

1901—Fiery pioneer Black journalist William Monroe Trotter starts the Guardian newspaper in Boston, Mass. Trotter made headlines throughout the nation when in November 1914, he confronted President Woodrow Wilson in the White House for failing to do more to stop the lynching of Blacks. For daring to argue with the president, the New York Times denounced Trotter saying he had “superabundant untactful belligerency.” But W.E.B. DuBois called him “fearless.”

1922—Actress Dorothy Dandridge is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She is generally considered one of Hollywood’s first Black female sex symbols. She appeared opposite Harry Belafonte in “Carmen Jones” and was the first Black woman nominated for an Oscar. Dandridge died in 1965 at age 43.

NOVEMBER 10

1898—George H. White introduces the first anti-lynching legislation in the U.S. Congress. The North Carolinian was one of the last Blacks in Congress before Jim Crow laws and attitudes drove most Blacks from high elected offices. After leaving Congress, he founded a Black bank and established an all Black community called Whiteville near present day Trenton, N.J. 1891—Granville T. Woods patents an improvement to the electric railway. Woods was one of the most prolific Black engineers and inventors in U.S. history. His motto could have been “I didn’t invent the product, but I invented something that made it better.” Born in Columbus, Ohio, he invented and patented improvements to the electric railway, air brakes, telegraphs, telephones and numerous other products.

1957—Charlie Sifford wins the Long Beach Open, becoming the first Black person to win a major professional golf tournament.

1994—Famed Jazz singer Carmen McRae dies in Beverly Hills, Calif.

She was born in New York City on April 8, 1920.

NOVEMBER 11

1831—Anti-slavery rebel Nat Turner is hanged roughly two months after his capture for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history. The minister and mystic told reporters God had called on him to

lead the revolt, which left 55 Whites dead.

NOVEMBER 12

1775—General George Washington, first president and “father of the country” issues an order barring free Blacks from serving in the army as the U.S. struggled for independence from England. Washington was also a slave owner. The slave owning aristocracy felt if free Blacks fought for America’s liberation they would demand freedom for their enslaved brothers and sisters. Despite Washington’s order, hundreds of Blacks did fight in the Revolutionary War. 1900—Henry Ossawa Tanner becomes an internationally acclaimed artist as he takes a silver medal for his art displayed at the Paris Exposition. Nearly 7,000 artists had entered their works. The Pittsburgh-born Tanner had numerous major works including his painting called “The Banjo Lesson.”

1922—Sigma Gamma Rho is founded by seven Black women in Indianapolis, Ind. The sorority grows to become one of the largest in the nation.

1977—Ernest “Dutch” Morial is elected the first Black mayor of New Orleans, La. 1994—Track and field great and Olympics star Wilma Rudolph dies in Nashville, Tenn., at the age of 54.

NOVEMBER 13

1839—The Liberty Party—the nation’s first anti-slavery political party—is formed in Warsaw, N.Y. Among the founders were legendary abolitionists Samuel Ringgold Ward and Henry Highland Garnet.

At this point in history the two major political parties—the Whigs and the Democrats—were both pro-slavery.

1913—Pioneering Black surgeon Daniel Hale Williams becomes a member of the American College of Surgeons. Williams is generally credited with being the first American doctor to perform open heart surgery. The history-making event took place in Chicago on July 9, 1893.

1922—Many Black historians have selected this as the date which marks the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance—perhaps the greatest period of artistic achievement

by African-Americans in U.S. history. From poetry to plays and from paintings to sculptures, Black art reached a pinnacle. In a broader sense, the Harlem Renaissance ran from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s.

1951—Ballerina Janet Collins becomes the first Black woman to dance with the Metropolitan Opera Co. in New York City. Prior to that achievement she performed with the world-renowned Black dance troupe directed by the legendary Katherine Dunham.

1955—Whoopi Goldberg, given name Caryn Johnson, is born in New York City. She graduates from a stand-up comedy routine to become a major Hollywood actress and is currently one of the principal hosts of the television talk show “The View.”

1956—The United States Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling which banned segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Ala. The decision was forced in major measure by a year-long Black bus boycott sparked by the refusal of Rosa Parks to give up her seat to a White man. Leadership of the boycott also launched the civil rights career of Martin Luther King Jr. and his status as the national Black leader.

1967—Carl Stokes wins the race for mayor in Cleveland, Ohio. In doing so, he becomes the first Black mayor of a major American city.

1985—New York Met Dwight Gooden becomes the youngest pitcher ever to win the Cy Young award.

NOVEMBER 14

1915—Booker T. Washington dies in Tuskegee, Ala. Washington was easily one of the top five most influential Black leaders in African-American history. Some considered him too accommodating to Whites, but his influence was still significant. Among the educator’s lasting accomplishments was the founding of Tuskegee Institute. He was only 59 when he died.

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Jarah Doosé uses lobbying and government advocacy to positively affect the Black community

by Maia Williams

For New Pittsburgh Courier Jarah Doosé, government relations advisor at law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, is a servant leader advocating for those who’ve been historically oppressed.

Receiving her bachelor’s in political science at Carlow University in 2019 and Master of Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, she’s the former community outreach coordinator for former United States Congressman Mike Doyle.

Today, as a government relations advisor, she functions as a state lobbyist who helps businesses access grant funding or influence legislation at the local, county and state level. Working across

company sectors such as universities, developers, healthcare agencies, etc., deepens her understanding of their respective industries.

“I am the liaison between these companies and the government,” Doose told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview.

Within her role, Doosé selects clients that align with the issues she’s committed to making changes in. “Currently I’m working on legislation that will directly affect the Black community in Pennsylvania,” she said.

If things move forward with the legislation, she hopes that it proves lasting and impactful change in her community. As an African American woman from Braddock, Doosé strives to help minorities

excel.

“I am from a very Black town with very Black issues, so I really love being able to help people that look like me,” Doose said.

Doosé, who was named a Pittsburgh Business Times “30 under 30” honoree in March, takes pride in connecting minority communities to their legislatures and introducing them to the outcomes of lobbying and government advocacy. “I love being able to connect people who may have never spoken to a legislature with their legislature and open their eyes to help them to see that change can happen and it’s probably not as difficult as we once thought.“ Currently, she is working on a project to get a fund instated for ethnic minority developers in

are you earning

JARAH DOOSÉ (PHOTOS BY BRANDON PINNIX)

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Pennsylvania. “It will close the gap between state funding and their own funding to help fill the gap between start-up costs, loans, and financing to ensure Black and brown developers can be on an equal footing with their White counterparts,” Doosé said.

She’s also aiding her alma mater, Carlow University, in being a successful institution for its students. “It’s been wonderful to help the university I once called home.”

Randy Vulakovich, the senior principal of govern-

working at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, she was the only Black female lobbyist registered in Western Pa. “When I realized that, it was so striking to me,” she said. “Now it’s very important for me to show other Black women, younger or older, that we can do this while being respected and making change.”

Inspired by her mother, Tina Doosé , who served in elected office for Braddock as a member of Borough Council, Jarah Doosé’s passion grew during an internship at government

ment affairs at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, the national firm which has a Pittsburgh office Downtown, said that “Jarah’s professionalism, passion and commitment to Buchanan, our clients and the region at-large is infectious. She’s an integral member of every team she’s on and her contributions in her young career are many. Jarah will continue to grow and thrive at Buchanan and we are excited to be along for the ride.”

Vulakovich said he is proud of Doosé’s accomplishments since joining Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and values her kindness and ability to view things from multiple perspectives.

The ability to witness the great impact of government advocacy upclose has motivated Doosé. “Lobbying is very useful and more people need to be aware that you don’t have to be a lobbyist to make lasting change in politics and in our government. It’s exciting for me to encourage people to speak out and to get more involved with politics and with their legislatures.”

Doose, 27, also enjoys encouraging people to connect with their local representative to gain more knowledge about what is happening in their states.

When Doosé started

relations group, Denny Civic Solutions, where she lobbied for issues such as breast milk regulation, maternal and child protection, and paid family leave. “It also helped me to understand that working in politics could create real change and help people on an intimate level,” Jarah Doosé said.

In August, Jarah Doosé became a board director of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh and is involved in their policy committee. “It’s very exciting to be in the conversations about how the Urban League is going to help Black and brown people in our county and in southwestern Pennsylvania. I’m super excited to have a very close look at what the future of Black Pittsburgh is going to look like.”

Doosé, the 2015 Woodland Hills High School graduate, says as long as she’s working towards giving people who’ve been oppressed a platform and a voice, she is accomplishing her lifelong goal. “If I’m working every day to continue to make policy that will help these kinds of individuals, and giving them the platform to speak and to be heard,” Doosé told the Courier, “I am doing exactly what I want to do.”

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Is our community becoming ‘numb’ to the gun violence?

Community members weigh in, as county approaches 100 homicides for the year GUN VIOLENCE FROM A1

that’s going on.”

No one needs a degree in rocket science to know what’s going on. Data from Allegheny County showed there were 92 homicides in the county in the first 10 months of 2023, 71 of which were Black lives. Allegheny County is on pace for another year of at least 100 homicides, but not as high as the 129 homicides recorded in the county for 2022.

And there was a particularly troubling week and a half of gun violence that occurred in the area from Sunday, Oct. 22, through Wednesday, Nov. 1: A 21-year-old woman, Heaven Budd, was killed near the East Busway station in Homewood, in broad daylight, Sunday, Oct. 22. Just 90 minutes later, a 29-year-old man was killed in Manchester—again, broad daylight. The following day, Monday, Oct. 23, a woman was shot in her leg multiple times near Perrysville Avenue and Maple Avenue on the North Side.

It occurred around 6:30 p.m.

The very next day (Oct. 24), a shooting occurred again on the North Side, where a man was shot near Schimmer Street and Staho Way. The shooting was another broad daylight shooting, at 10 a.m. On Wednesday night, Oct. 25, shots were fired at a fully-occupied vehicle outside the Target store in Ross Township, North Hills. The shots didn’t hit anyone, but police determined that one

of the occupants inside the vehicle was an ex-girlfriend of the alleged suspect. The alleged suspect, 21-year-old Kenneth Sharp-Haymon, of Wilkinsburg, was arrested near Downtown the next day. On Thursday morning, Oct. 26, a woman was shot near a gas station on Fifth Avenue in Uptown.

She was shot in the chest around 5:45 a.m. Not even 12 hours later, that afternoon, a man was killed inside an apartment in North Versailles. Police detectives have charged a 36-year-old man with homicide in that case. Early Friday morning, Oct. 27, another woman, 27, was shot during a domestic dispute at an apartment in Crafton Heights, West End. The SWAT team was able to apprehend the male suspect. On October 29, two people were shot outside a bar in Carrick. Police believe the two men were shooting at each other. Ninety minutes after the 4:30 a.m. shooting, two adult women showed up at hospitals with graze wounds from the Carrick shooting. Later that day, a woman was shot in Homewood around 5:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of Felicia Way. She was shot in the hand. And on Wednesday morning, Nov. 1, a man was killed in a shooting in Homestead, identified as 38-year-old Eric Stephens, of McKees Rocks. A second person was wounded in the shooting.

Gun violence continued on Saturday morning, Nov.

REV. CORNELL JONES 4, when a domestic incident turned deadly, according to Pittsburgh Police. A man was shot and killed allegedly by a woman in East Hills.

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials confirmed to the Courier that most of the shooting victims over the past two weeks were Black.

The Manchester shooting victim from Oct. 22 was White.

Reverend Jones said people sometimes don’t feel like violence is their issue until “it hits somebody that’s close to them. Every single shooting, to me, takes a toll on you. This is another genius, or future president or attorney that could be living their life, and this violence is stopping them from doing that, so I can’t get numb to this type of stuff.”

While more affluent neighborhoods may have kids playing outside with regularity, gun violence in many

REV. EILEEN SMITH

Black communities forces parents to think twice about letting their kids outside for extended periods. It forces some families to be nervous to come out the house, or return to the home, late at night. It oftentimes keeps big corporations from moving their businesses there, forcing many Black workers to travel far distances to get to their job. For Rev. Smith, she constantly speaks with people who have been affected by gun violence. It’s the grief they have to go through, she said, “and how it has affected their life, their family.”

Reverend Smith added: “We’re there to provide resources for them,” such as counseling and even funeral expenses. “We’re there to support them and help them get through it for as long as it takes.”

Reverend Smith said thanks to increased funding

from Allegheny County, her team has more “boots on the ground” to quell violence before it starts. “We sort of know the possible perpetrators, and they know us, and we form a relationship with them to try to give them alternatives to violence, try to teach them the right way.”

She said beginning in January 2024, her organization will host a 12-month program for the highest-risk individuals, which will pay them to attend classes, get cognitive behavioral therapy and to work at a place of employment. The model (Achieving Change Through Transitional Employment Services) comes from a program that has seen success in Chicago.

As for Rev. Jones, he said the best way for people to combat gun violence is to look in the mirror, figure out their passion or skill, and apply it to help others. A

woman with a tattoo removal company offered to remove gang-oriented tattoos for people for free. “I said, ‘ma’am, that’s your role and that’s an extremely important role.’”

Reverend Jones said if you’re a retired teacher, tutor that child who may be having problems with schoolwork. Business owners, take a chance and hire somebody who might be a returning citizen.

He said he’s had counselors who have done free therapy for people. Also, “people who were known to rob people for food because they were that poor, I’ve had people who cooked meals for them and brought it to their family while we’re connecting them with social workers...”

“That’s violence prevention,” Rev. Jones said.

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Racial Trauma

CARLOS T. CARTER

This month, Take Charge of Your Health Today is focusing on intergenerational and racial trauma, it’s impact on the Black community, and ways to help people break the trauma cycle and begin the healing process. We asked Carlos Carter, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, to share his thoughts on how trauma manifests in UL clients and what he believes can help alleviate it.

How do you see race-based trauma affecting the folks you serve?

In this country, race-based trauma is a daily struggle for our clients—and has a clear impact on their health and sense of security.

It’s played a central role in relegating many of our clients to low-paying jobs, leading to a greater likelihood of poverty and justice-related turmoil for their children.

Through our youth programs, our young people have shared their fears about interacting with police—citing the fates of Eric Garner and George Floyd. This trauma robs them of their freedom, safety, security, and diminishes their quality of life. Isn’t this the land of the free?

In our housing department, our Black clients are not able to use Section 8 vouchers in communities that have higher property values and excellent schools—even after the reimbursement rate was raised to accommodate market rent. Our Black clients who are seeking mortgages for the first time have a rejection rate almost 30 percent higher than comparable White applicants.

In our Family Support Centers, we’ve witnessed racial trauma impact the mental health of families with few or no resources.

These families are more reluctant to reach out for help due to historical and current breaches of trust.

Finally, in our senior workforce development programs, such as the Urban Senior Jobs Program (USJP), our seniors suffer PTSD-like symptoms, such as hopelessness, depression, and anxiety, resulting from decades of racial trauma. Every-day occurrences of injustice and discrimination are often triggers for them.

As you can see, racial trauma is a serious challenge for our clients, and we work hard to connect them to resources. We are committed to removing barriers that impact their ability to realize their full potential and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

We know trauma has the ability to affect families across generations. What advice do you have for parents, guardians, and elders who want to help their families heal?

The first steps are recognition and acknowledgment. We have seen many cases where dysfunctional situations are normalized and familiar. This dysfunction is passed down from generation to generation negatively impacting the quality of life and mental health of our children and families.

It impacts how they react to and with one another and others outside their families.

To begin the process of healing, we need to encourage our community to embrace therapy. This can be an opportunity to discover and address the root causes of behavior.

More importantly, therapy can be an opportunity to discover the power of healing. We must make mental health a priority in our community and normalize the idea that we all need to heal from something. This “healing” mindset will help families break toxic cycles and rewrite unhealthy narratives that have not allowed our families to thrive. We deserve to be healed and move from barely surviving to thriving!

How are the concepts of identity, ancestry, and art important to the Black community? How can they be used to address trauma?

These concepts are important to the Black community because our identity has been shaped in a big way by the negative impacts of slavery. Those who enslaved us have demeaned and robbed us of our culture and identity. We must realize the negative aspects of our history—exploitation and condemnation—are only part of who we are, not entirely who we are. It’s time to reclaim our identity and value. We must shun the lies that we’re not good enough! We descend from kings and queens and have been great contributors to this world and culture. We are responsible for making this one of the wealthiest countries in the world though our free labor, blood, sweat, and tears. To find healing, we must rediscover our African Culture and allow this pride and culture to move us to healing. We need to sing, dance, and connect within our community, as our ancestors did before us. We are strong, beautiful, peaceful, intelligent, creative, and worthy of honor and celebration!

Revealing Black trauma can heal Black trauma Trauma affects everyone in some way, but it’s impact on Black people’s health continues to be profound, underacknowledged and undertreated. Fortunately, that’s changing. Pitt professor Dr. Kyaien O. Conner, Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems and Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, is at the forefront of a movement to study, train others, and offer community-based healing thru time-honored West African traditions.

Trauma and Black people’s health Trauma is a deep emotional wound that affects Black individuals, communities, and generations. Left untreated, it contributes to health disparities for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, and anxiety.

Passing trauma to children and grandchildren Dr. Conner studies trauma and its consequences on underserved communities, especially intergenerational (IG) and racial trauma.

Intergenerational trauma is emotional and psychological pain and suffering that’s passed from one generation to another. It happens to individuals when they experience child abuse and domestic violence for example. It also happens historically through forces like enslavement, Jim Crow laws, mass lynching, and mass incarceration.

IG trauma shows up in people’s behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs—and continues after the original trauma survivor is gone. Dr. Conner explains, “A woman who was physically abused as a child may have a harder time forming and maintaining attachments and relationships with others, which may affect how she parents her children. When her children are adults, they pass this parenting style on to their children and so on.”

Black people and communities also continue to experience racial trauma caused by the injustice of discrimination, prejudice, and bias especially in the form of police brutality.

Trauma and where you live IG and racial trauma intersect where Black people live, learn, and work—and play a part in health inequities. “As Black people, we understand our ancestors were only valuable if they were strong and

DR. KYAIEN O. CONNER healthy,” explains Dr. Conner.

“Now, 6 or 7 generations later, that enslavement trauma takes its toll on a Black woman who lives in an underserved, redlined neighborhood.

“This woman doesn’t have easy, affordable access to healthcare,” Dr. Conner continues. “She doesn’t trust healthcare providers. She’s been talked down to in clinics.

She knows what the healthcare industry has done to Black people historically without their consent.”

Intergenerational trauma, Dr. Conner argues, has helped to create the image of the strong Black woman who can deal with things herself and is all things to all people. “This woman—who is indeed strong and capable—decides to skip her mammogram and is later diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. Trauma from her ancestors has played a role in shortening her lifespan.”

Hidden vs open racism In addition to ongoing racial profiling, harassment, and inequities in education, income, and housing, Black people also experience racial trauma from microaggressions and code-switching.

Microaggressions are the

subtle, everyday slights that communicate bias toward historically marginalized groups. Examples of racist microaggressions include being ignored at a store counter because you’re Black or being followed at a store to ensure you don’t steal something or being mistaken for a service worker. “All of this implies you are suspicious. You are less valued than others. You don’t belong,” Dr. Conner says.

Code-switching is a stressful survival strategy that takes place when Black people change their speech and behavior in White settings Microaggressions and code-switching are types of hidden racism that can sometimes be more harmful emotionally than open racism.

“When we experience clear racial discrimination, we know who to blame and where to find support,” Dr. Conner explains. “But when a white co-worker, tells you ‘you’re a credit to your race,’ you wonder. ‘Did she just tell me Black people aren’t as intelligent as White people?’ The meaning and motivation aren’t clear.

There’s no one to clarify—and you’ve got to figure it out and decide how to react.”

Black trauma training Part of Dr. Conner’s work centers on teaching clinicians and students how to assess, address, and treat Black patients’ trauma. Training focuses on identifying implicit bias, teaching cultural competency, and engaging in case studies and simulations.

Dr. Conner’s research also shows the value of educating young children and their teachers about hidden racism.

“Our instinct is to shield young children from talk about racism, because they’re ‘too young

to understand,’” she says. “But anyone who spends time with young children knows they understand a lot! It’s never too young to learn about how to avoid and deal with hurtful words—and to celebrate the beauty of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Healing trauma and West African culture While trauma training and education are essential components of more equitable healthcare, there are non-traditional methods that promote healing through ancient ancestral connections.

Dr. Conner is also a professional West African dancer and has studied and published information about the physical and mental health benefits of West African Dance. She sees dance as a universal language of connection. She’s experienced and studied how African diaspora history, heritage, and culture advances healing and wellness and empowers Black people and communities.

“Many of us don’t have a direct link to where we came from,” she says. “But we do know that when our ancestors arrived in this country, they used dance, music, and song to cope with enslavement. Engaging in culturally based programs like The Legacy Arts Project here in Pittsburgh, reveals what was taken from us.

That discovery is healing.”

Dr. Conner believes that when Black trauma is revealed, people are better able to take a step back from their behavior, understand it, claim it, and process it. “This is how you break the cycle,” she states. You don’t have to pass along the trauma you’ve experienced. You and future generations of your family can be free of it.”

Legacy Arts Project advances healing, wellness, and wisdom thru Africana arts Pittsburgh is home to a vibrant organization with a mission to heal, promote wellness, educate, and empower communities. The Legacy Arts Project (LAP) in Homewood achieves this mission by helping people gather and share in Africa Diaspora history, heritage, and cultures.

Founded by Linda “Imani” Barrett, LAP brings together artists from the community to gather and share in expression. The organization uses its space and influence to cultivate a variety of art forms that promote community unity and growth.

LAP’s calendar is

packed with events and classes that celebrate and teach elders, children, and everyone in between to dance, drum, sing, and participate in the spoken word, poetry, and visual arts.

For example, LAP’s: Saturday Institute cultivates and engages youth ages 6-13.

Wednesday community dance class promotes creative movement for adults and youth alike.

Drumming class offers youth 10-yearsand-older a journey through Africa with the sounds of the drum.

Movement and Mixing class for mature adults features African

dance, dance choreography, roundtable discussions, and an idea exchange designed to promote mind, body, and spirit wellness.

Classes and programs are minimally priced and open to all members of the community.

Annually during the summer, LAP also hosts Dance Africa Pittsburgh, a weekend arts event that reflects the beauty and shared

gifts of the African Diaspora, including local, regional, and international performance, a meet-and-greet, panel discussion, and African marketplace.

LAP also hosts regular yearly events and activities that honor local Keepers of the Flame.

These individuals have made lasting contributions to Pittsburgh and our region through the arts. They reflect the

diversity and beauty of the African Diaspora and inspire others to recognize their own creativity and responsibility to make the world a better place.

For more information —including donating, volunteering, and participating—log on the LAP website at legacyartsproject.org or call 412.607.8375.

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Dwayne Dolphin recipient of Cultural Trust's 2023 JazzLive Legacy Award The New Pittsburgh Courier was there as Dwayne Dolphin received the 2023 JazzLive Legacy Award, during an event at the Greer Cabaret Theater, Downtown, Oct. 17.

The event was called, “The Baylor Project,” which featured husband-and-wife jazz duo Jean and Marcus Baylor.

The JazzLive Legacy Award is given to a regional jazz artist who rep-

resents the community of professional players and singers who contribute to the jazz scene in Pittsburgh. The BNY Mellon Presents JazzLive series has allowed the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to showcase hundreds of these regional performers in the heart of the Cultural District since 2004.

This award gives the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust the opportunity to recog-

nize the jazz artists whose legacy and significance in this industry will never be forgotten.

“Dwayne Dolphin is an internationally recognized musician who has played with some of the music’s biggest names. We are grateful that Dwayne has been a part of the Trust’s BNY Mellon Presents JazzLive series since it began and thank him for sharing his music and

talents with the community,” said Terri Bell, the Trust’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement, in a statement.

Dolphin is a mainstay in the jazz scene, working with Pittsburgh greats such as Roger Humphries, Pete Henderson, and Carl Arter. Throughout his career, Dolphin has played and recorded with the “Who’s Who” of music,

such as Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Melba Moore, Fred Wesley, and Abby Lincoln, to name a few. Dolphin’s vast and diverse experience has allowed him to lend his musical expertise in many areas. These include working with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Indigo In Motion production and serving as an Adjunct Professor of Jazz at Duquesne University.

Previous JazzLive Legacy Award honorees include Roger Humphries (2018), Joe Negri (2019), Dr. Harry Clark (2021), and Dr. James Johnson and Pamela Johnson (2022).

FRED DOLPHIN JR., JANET FOSTER AND DWAYNE DOLPHIN, FAR RIGHT

ROGER HUMPHRIES, 2018 HONOREE, LEFT, PRESENTED THE JAZZLIVE LEGACY AWARD TO DWAYNE DOLPHIN.

SELFIE TIME! AT THE EVENT IN WHICH DWAYNE DOLPHIN WAS HONORED, OCT. 17. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)

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In the Valley of Hope 40 years ago, Bishop Leon Pamphile founded the Functional Literacy Ministry of Haiti. The nonprofit is still planting rainbows—helping Haitians rise above to embrace literacy, health, and hope.

by Ervin Dyer, Ph.D. For New Pittsburgh Courier

It is one of those days where hot just gets hotter in north-central Haiti.

To stand is to sweat. Under endless blue sky and scorching September sun, the bishop’s car pulls up to the girls’ orphanage, a modest structure planted in the flatlands of Croix des Bouquets, a community just outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. As the bishop steps into 90-plus degree heat, he wipes his brow. Before long, a young girl, her pigtails wrapped in pink ribbons, runs to give him a hug. After her, comes another in tangerine-colored shorts, then another in a bright floral dress—all of them running to greet the tall, dark visitor. Soon, there is a rainbow of girls surrounding Bishop Leon Pamphile, whose arms reach to accept them all. If he could, he’d lift every girl, shouldering them toward the sky, away from the cares of this Earth.

Inside the orphanage, the girls sing to the bishop and pray with him. He beams, like a proud father, and doles out a little encouragement: “God and education,” he says, “are the ways to succeed in life.”

For Pamphile, faith and education are the twin rungs that lifted him out of an isolated mountainous village near Port-auPrince to become a teacher, a scholar, a bishop with the Pentecostal church, and a philanthropist. Pamphile is a founder of the Functional Literacy Ministry of Haiti (FLM Haiti), a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that partners with the people and institutions of Haiti to help the Haitians help themselves. On Oct. 28, at “The Power of Love” gala and dinner, FLM Haiti celebrated 40 years of its mission outreach.

By almost every measure, Haiti’s 10 million people face severe, complex realities. Eighty percent live on $1.25 a day or less; only 53 percent of the population over age 15 can read or write, and public education reaches only 20 percent.

Nearly three-quarters of the Caribbean nation’s people don’t have jobs. The

nation is burdened by malnutrition, lack of access to clean water, and inadequate public health facilities. In recent years, an uptick in political and social unrest has exacerbated these conditions.

Pamphile understands the challenges. He grew up in a small stone home in the valley of Laboule, located south of Port-au-Prince.

The home had no electricity. Every morning, he woke in the dark, finished his breakfast of bread and tea, and began the long walk to his two-room primary school. Every day was an uphill climb to escape the

words in the newspapers introduced him to views on communal health, education, and Pan-Africanism.

But he also observed overcrowding, class divisions, the political system being used for personal gain and not the common good, and—in the vast street markets—the enterprising spirit of Haitians trying to lift themselves up from poverty.

Pamphile enrolled at the University of Haiti, where he studied to be a teacher.

In the morning, he worked in a church school in a slum and went to classes at night. When he graduated,

BISHOP LEON PAMPHILE

KIDS IN HAITI (PHOTOS BY KENNETH NEELY) grind of poverty.

Pamphile mounted the hills on the conviction of his mother, Francillia. “My son is intelligent,” she said of her first born of 10 children. “He will use his education to get something done.” Before long, he was noticed by the local schoolmaster who encouraged Pamphile’s father to send his son 25 miles away to the all-male secondary school, Lycee Petion. The school was brimming with young scholars eager to soak up knowledge.

The city was an awakening for Pamphile. The messages from the radio and

he taught for two years in a private secondary school in Petion-Ville.

Life was sunnier for Pamphile, but he began to worry about his future.

Increasingly, he felt the calling to use all that he had acquired and learned to care for family and community. After all, he was the dutiful elder son of a minister. During his youth, he had recited scripture, taught Sunday school, and was the translator when missionaries came to town.

“My father groomed me to be a preacher,” says Pamphile, “and I have always been a servant.”

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That personal mission of service was reinforced when, while serving in Haiti as a translator for visiting missionaries, he was recruited to attend the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He arrived in a snowy Pittsburgh in December 1970, at age 28. It was a new beginning for the teacher and his wife, Rozelle, a soft-spoken, dark-haired woman who herself had triumphed over being an orphan. Soon, Pamphile was busy: He took seminary classes, and he earned a master’s degree a and Ph.D. in education from the University of Pittsburgh.

With all that he had, Pamphile thought he could do more to help Haitians.

Drawing support and resources from a vast network of friends, immigrant Haitians, and volunteers, he launched FLM Haiti in 1983.

“I was socially minded.

So, I felt I could change things,” says Pamphile about tackling the tough challenges in Haiti. Ini-

tially, he focused on literacy. He used his network of advocates to raise funds to hire teachers to help Haiti’s most vulnerable citizens to write their own names. If they could write and read, he envisioned, they could vote, fill out a job application, and pass on the love of learning across generations.

He began with five literacy centers and 300 people.

There are now more than 70 centers and thousands have graduated. On land donated by his father, he built a school, which now has 600 students and teaches grades K-13. Then, his dream expanded.

Not far away, on a hill in the thick green arms of the valley, he built a clinic, The House of David, named to honor a Pittsburgh-area Presbyterian minister who helped Pamphile build the site, brick by brick. In the early years, twice a year, mission teams came to treat the sick and educate the needy. Now, the clinic has a full-time staff and serves some 30,000 people. In fall 2013, Pamphile opened the Excelsior Technical Institute with programs in construction and computer technology.

Today, a sister organization, the Alliance d’ Action Chretienne, is a partner in these efforts.

After 40 years, “we’re not finished yet,” says Pamphile, who with the courage of his Haitian partners and the local community has managed to keep FLM Haiti’s clinic open and its schools functioning during some of Haiti’s recent darkest days of gang activity and social turmoil. For Pamphile, the sun always shines and there’s always reason to reach for a rainbow.

(Editor’s note: This article is adapted from “Valley of Hope,” first published in Pitt Magazine at the University of Pittsburgh.)

“A time to CAST AWAY STONES, and a time to GATHER STONES; a time to EMBRACE, and a time to REFRAIN from EMBRACING; A time to GET, and a time to LOSE; a time to KEEP, a time to CAST AWAY.” - Ecclesiastes 3:5-6 REV. WALKER SAYS: Question to all of us including me; What does God want us to KEEP and what does He want us to LET GO of???

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Kenyon Bonner named VP, Chief Student Affairs Officer at the University of Virginia Is a member of Courier’s ‘Men of Excellence’ Class of 2017 BONNER FROM A1

team—growing the reach of his efforts across Pitt’s campuses and opening collaboration on student success across the Pitt community.”

McCarthy added: “Over the years, and above all, Kenyon has demonstrated a focused commitment to incorporating well-being and belongingness, as well as principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, into both classroom and social settings to help all students make the most of their college experience.”

Bonner created the Student Affairs’ anti-racism action plan, augmented student mental health services and led efforts on the development of the new Campus Wellness and Recreation Center, McCarthy noted.

Bonner established the Office of New Student Programs, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, and the Center for Financial Education and Wellness. He also helped to form the Provost Academy summer bridge program to bolster the new student experience on campus, McCarthy said.

A member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.,

OMEGA PSI PHI FRATERNITY INC. — Pitt Vice Provost of Student Affairs Kenyon Bonner, Bobby Shoes, and Larry Meadows, in this file photo from 2021 on the Pitt campus.

KENYON BONNER, A MEMBER OF THE COURIER’S MEN OF EXCELLENCE CLASS OF 2017

Who is bad with saving money?

(It’s OK to admit it...)

Check out Damon Carr’s column on Page B1.

Bonner worked with students and alumni to create the National Pan-Hellenic Council plot, which was unveiled in the fall of 2021.

“I am delighted to welcome Kenyon Bonner to UVA,” said University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, in an article posted to the university’s UVA Today publication from Nov. 6. “Kenyon brings a wealth of experience to the role, along with a deep knowledge about, and commitment to, student development.

He’s as kind and genuine as he is talented, and I’ve been impressed by his appreciation for what makes UVA special. I’m grateful to the search committee for their outstanding work in this successful search, and I’m eager for our community to meet Kenyon.”

UVA Today reported that Bonner’s first day on the job is Jan. 16, 2024.

UVA Today also reported that Margaret Grundy Noland, who serves as vice president and chief of staff for the president and led the search for UVA’s next student affairs chief, said Bonner’s candidacy stood out for multiple reasons. “Kenyon has the right combination of experience, character and heart to be a fan-

tastic vice president and chief student affairs officer for UVA. He is no stranger to the current challenges and opportunities facing universities and our students, he is deeply committed to student success, and he has a wealth of personal and professional experiences that will serve him well in this critical role.

I can’t wait to welcome him to the university community.”

“My time at the University of Pittsburgh has been an incredible journey,” Bonner told the online publication Pittwire. “I am immensely grateful for the unwavering support and tremendous opportunities I’ve had here over nearly 20 years, and I leave with a deep and profound appreciation for the incredible faculty, staff, colleagues and the tens of thousands of students I’ve had the privilege to work alongside.”

Bonner was cheered by his fellow Pitt colleagues as his name was called to receive the Courier’s “Men of Excellence” award on Dec. 13, 2017, at the Fairmont Hotel, Downtown. Bonner has been the recipient of many other awards, including the Washington and Jefferson College Waltersdorf Award for Innovation Leadership, and Pitt’s Chancellor’s

Award for Staff Excellence in Service to the University.

Bonner is co-chair of the United Way Impact Cabinet, and he sits on the board of directors for the Southwestern Pa. chapter of the American Red Cross and Family House Pittsburgh. Bonner, who is a Cleveland native, and his wife, Sylvana, have four children: Ijhad, Grant, Jasmine and Chase.

“I want to extend thanks to Kenyon for his nearly two decades of service to Pitt’s students, as well as to personally express my sincere appreciation to him for being a great partner to me through my transition and into these early days as chancellor,” said University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, first reported by Pittwire. “I know the university community joins me in wishing him nothing but the very best in his new endeavor. We will miss his strategic counsel, good cheer and unwavering commitment to our students.”

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PROPERTY IS POWER! What to do when you’re a first-time homebuyer Thinking of buying your own home? It’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed. After all, it’s the biggest purchase you can make. In an effort to remove some stress from the equation, here are a few tips from the experts.

What to do when you’re a first-time homebuyer: 1. Get pre-approved. Some real estate agents won’t even work with you until you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage. This is an important first step in the home-buying process. You don’t want to start house-hunting and fall in love with a home you can’t afford. Plus, there may be problems with your credit that you don’t know about. “Sometimes people are just unaware that they may have a credit card they forgot to cancel and it’s caused a problem on your credit rating,” said Keller Williams realtor Twyonna Adams “I know people making half a million dollars a year but they’ve made some mistakes in their financial past, and it costs them when it comes to getting a mortgage.” Your credit is one of three factors that will be considered before you get approved for a mortgage. The other two are income and your down payment. A down payment of 20 percent is a “rarity” with first-time buyers, according to Hull Funding mortgage broker Thomas Hull. But that’s how much you have to have down if you want to avoid paying mortgage in-

ANTHONY O. KELLUM surance. It’s calculated based on the size of your mortgage and how much money you have down. Of course the bigger the down payment, the smaller your loan (and overall interest charges) will be.

2. Find a real estate agent. While having a real estate agent is not necessary when buying a home, it is recommended… especially if it’s your first time going through the process. Having someone who is knowledgeable about the market leading you through the process could take a big weight off your shoulders. “Your real estate agent should be your quarterback,” said Twyonna Adams with Keller Williams Realty. “And a good agent will more than likely have a network of individuals such as… inspectors, credit counselors, insurance agents etc. who will be a part of your team.”

3. Stay mindful of your budget. One of the biggest things you have to consider in this decision is your lifestyle, and what that requires from a cost perspective.

You may be able to afford the home, but you’re also going to have to realize that you might be giving up going out for drinks after work or out for dinner and cigars with friends because you’re going to be paying a mortgage payment. Asked yourself: if you lost your job and SEE BUYER B2

Black community’s retirement woes leading to new ways to save money

by Hazel Trice Edney For New Pittsburgh Courier

A recent study has outlined a disturbing trend across the nation: Increasing retirement woes among Black people, coming from several angles that indicate some could choose to work longer or seek more palatable options for savings and income.

Either people aren’t feeling on-track to retire, they’re worried about outliving whatever savings they are able to accrue or their jobs don’t offer fair retirement plans for people of color.

These being common fears in the Black community, some just breeze over the thought of retirement as a pipe dream.

“Black and Hispanic workers have significantly less access to employer-sponsored retirement plans than do White counterparts, exacerbating economic inequity and hampering the ability of people of color to build financial security later in life, according to researchers,” AARP reports. “Among private sector employees ages 18 to 64, more than 53 percent of African Americans and about 64 percent of Latinos do not have access to a workplace retirement plan, compared with about 42 percent for White workers and 45 percent for Asian Americans, a July 2022 report from the AARP Public Policy Institute found.”

According to the latest U.S. Census data, more than 55.8 million adults are older than 65. That is nearly 17 percent of America’s population that is “retirement age.” Yet only half of Americans even have access to retirement plans. And although we know well what the gender gap is, what isn’t talked about enough is the retirement gap. Generally, studies on savings show that the average Black family has lower savings than the disparity between the average U.S. family. It’s unsurprising, then, that 54 percent of Black Americans don’t have enough savings to retire—whether it be from system inequalities or otherwise.

All studies and reports on retirement are saying the same thing: People are

All studies and reports on retirement are saying the same thing: People are worried about outliving their retirement savings. The retirement crisis is hitting all of the country, but as usual, disproportionately impacting Black and other racial minority communities. worried about outliving their retirement savings. The retirement crisis is hitting all of the country, but as usual, disproportionately impacting Black and other racial minority communities.

Nearly 40 percent of independent savers, specifically, aren’t feeling on-track to retire. Independent savers are individuals who do not have access to a retirement plan through their employers.

Many in the Black and Latino communities fall under the independent saver category. Therefore, for many in these communities, retirement planning gets put on the backburner as more urgent expenses and matters arise.

But there are now new financial tools that every person can use to begin retirement savings. Recently, the financial industry recognized this issue and started to rollout new products that will open up access to professionally managed retirement vehicles at a lower cost and without the need for a workplace-based retirement plan.

For example, BlackRock recently launched the industry’s only suite of target date ETFs (Exchange-traded Funds), which is a new investment tool aimed at curbing the growing number of people who do not have any retirement savings plans, or access to such. Investors that choose this new product will be able to easily select a fund closest to

their target retirement date and make regular contributions as their own finances allow. This allows for recurring deposits, but also allows for more choice.

Meaning if life happens and an unexpected expense comes up—which will certainly happen—and there’s nothing left over for the month to invest, that’s okay. However, this investment is professionally managed and is taken care of to make sure it’s stable as retirement nears.

According to BlackRock’s Read on Retirement report, 47 percent of independent savers lean on cash to build their retirement, creating a missed opportunity for potential investment growth which is important to achieving retirement goals. These new ETF funds allow for savers that might typically rely on stashing cash to instead put that into these ETF funds that will invest in a broad portfolio and turn out even more money.

Such strategies are often in line with initiatives such as Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Wall Street Project, which encourages the financial industry to open up and reach out to communities that may not necessarily be aware of alternatives to their personal savings that they may need from day to day.

“If Corporate America could see the vast potential within our underserved minority communities, would Wall Street provide access to opportunities for economic growth and stability?” Rev. Jackson asks in a statement.

All of these retirement tools are built off of the idea that in order to encourage more retirement saving, we need to make it as easy as possible for people to build their nest egg. Retirement tools like these are for the people that don’t have workplace retirement plans, those looking to complement their existing 401(k), or people that just want to boost their confidence in their retirement potential.

Most Americans are nervous; even stressed about retirement, savings, and SEE RETIREMENT B2

Help! I can’t save for spending!

Damon, what are your recommended steps for saving money when you have bad spending habits?

Signed – Facebook follower Damon says: Saving money is the cornerstone of a sound financial foundation.

You build your financial house on hollow grounds if you build it without the essential habit of saving money as the base of your financial structure. In other words, a person with poor saving habits is financially unstable – regardless of income. When the big bad wolf comes in the form of life, emergencies, unexpected expenses, buying cars, vacations, college, buying a home, disability, retirement, and even death – it will huff and puff and blow your financial house down.

Now that we’ve established why saving money is of paramount importance, let’s address your question. What are some best practice steps for “saving money” when you have “bad spending habits?” I’m reminded of a quote I often heard my mother say when money was tight—which was all the time—“I can’t save for spending.” Take a close look at your question. Take a close look at my mother’s quote. The answer lies therein. Houston, we’ve solved the problem. Fix your bad spending habits!

If we simply stop spending money we don’t have and make saving money a priority, we’d essentially solve 95 percent of our financial shortcomings. Sounds simple.

Why do only a few of us do it? It’s not entirely our fault that most Americans strug-

gle to save money and make ends meet.

In fact, 78 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Dr. Lynn Richardson said people are living “Paycheck to Monday.” Paid on Friday. Broke by Monday! Nearly 40 percent of Americans say that they don’t have enough money saved to make a $400 car repair. Student loans, not college savings, is the way most Americans pay for college. Paying for school to get a job to pay for school is the mantra of most college graduates.

Half of Americans within 15 years or less away from retirement, have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

In the land of the free, the land of ample opportunity, most Americans will die broke. Why? Because of an inability to consistently save money.

I repeat, it’s not entirely our fault. This money-driven world is set up for us to fail. Let me explain: Money doesn’t come with instructions: Financial literacy isn’t taught in high school or college. I’ve completed Certified Financial Planning training. I learned the concept of investing, tax law, estate planning, retirement planning, and other disciplines and theories. But I was never taught how to write a check, balance a checkbook, create a budget, the dangers of credit cards, or the importance of under-

standing complicated financial documents before you sign them. We learn through trial and error, paying stupid tax after stupid tax. We get most of our financial advice from people selling us financial products.

Most of them don’t understand the products they sell. They understand the commission they’re making on the sale of the financial products. Stupid is as stupid does! Most of us are financially illiterate.

Financial illiteracy is a high price to pay.

The numbers don’t add up: You can only stretch a dollar so far.

The cost of consumer goods and services continues to increase tenfold. Meanwhile, pay raises increase anywhere from 2 to 5 percent annually then eventually cap.

Even with promotions, most companies cap you at a 10 percent pay increase when promoted. On top of that, it’s widely suggested that we save 10 percent and tithe 10 percent. Once you factor in taxes and payroll deductions, it accounts for approximately 30 percent of your paycheck. That’s half your paycheck gone and you’ve yet to pay the mortgage, car note, utility bills, and feed and clothe the family.

With housing, utilities and transportation costs taking up one full paycheck, you have one paycheck left to cover EVERYTHING else. You know that I know, it’s not enough!

They’re out to get you: From the moment you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, we’re inundated with millions of impressions of marketing messages via TV, radio, Internet, and print publications from thousands of companies. Telemarketers calling. Nonprofit companies calling. If you have kids, the new name for mommy and daddy is “Give me” and “Can I have.” It feels like you spend $150 or more every time you step outside. Every company and everybody has one goal in mind, to extract money from your pockets to theirs.

Sheesh!! How’s one to get ahead financially?

Become Financially Literate: Most of us were never taught sound money management principles. Educate yourself.

Read financial books and publications.

Read my articles. Hire a Fee-only Financial Planner. Someone who’s job isn’t to sell you financial products but to teach you how to better manage money and help you make good financial decisions. Give me a call.

Create Some Wiggle Room in your budget: In order to save and invest money —allowing it to grow without you nickeling and diming it all the time by withdrawing it, you have to have wiggle room between your income and expenses. Do the math.

Add up your income and your expenses.

Take a hard look at how you spend money.

Do what is necessary to create wiggle room SEE DAMON CARR B2

BUSINESS

B2 NOVEMBER 8-14, 2023

What to do when you’re a first-time homebuyer BUYER FROM B1

weren’t working for three months, would you be able to afford your home? Or are you stretching yourself too thin? Just because a bank or mortgage broker approves you for a certain amount, doesn’t mean you have to spend it all.

“The worse thing to do, is go into homeownership “house poor” said Thomas Hull.

4. Don’t make big purchases before getting approved for a mortgage. That may seem fairly obvious, but you’d be surprised I’ve seen it happen time and time again where buyers run out and buy a car or spend a large amount of their savings and then the lender will adjust their loan terms unfavorably or flat out deny them a mortgage. Thomas said “Remember, an approval is contingent upon your current income, credit and savings remaining the

same. Do yourself a favor and stop on the spending until after you close on your home.”

I truly believe in the American dream of homeownership. There is amazing power in owning a home. Our suburban neighbors are moving back to Detroit. Investors from around the world are already capitalizing on the potential in Detroit—why should outsiders reap all the benefits? Property is Power!

Anthony O. Kellum, President of Kellum Capital Group, LLC and Kellum Mortgage, LLC Power by Hull Funding. Anthony can be reached at anthony@ kellummortgage.com.

Please connect with me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/propertyispower. Anthony O. Kellum is committed to making the American Dream GREAT for everyone.

Serving underprivileged families and distressed communities remains my chief focus with the launches of my new “Property is Power” speaking series. NMLS #1267030

Black community’s retirement woes RETIREMENT FROM B1

finances in general. This is especially true for the Black community. These products may be the first of many from Wall Street aimed at further providing transformational solutions to the

retirement burdens many have been feeling over the years.

For equitable economic contributions to family and to American society regardless of race or age, retirement savings and income must become straightfor-

in your budget. It’s one of three things: increase income, reduce expenses, and/or do a better job managing your money.

Reduce or Stop wasteful spending: You’re paying high prices for your vices! Did you know, you can blow through $10,000 per year by spending $27.40 per day on miscellaneous spending. Yep, dining out, playing the lottery, alcohol, cigarettes, weed and other vices can add up quickly.

Make saving a priority: Financial guru Warren Buffett said, do not save what is left after spend-

ing. Instead spend what is left after saving. You may have heard it expressed this way. Pay yourself first. Money talking: “Save

ward and possible for everyone.

“The road to shared economic security travels through two-way trade, where all are included, and none are left in the margins of the marketplace,” Rev. Jackson states. “Industry by

industry, the quantifiable gaps in opportunity and in access to capital for people of color-owned businesses define our agenda.”

Social Security increase provides a retirement lifeline

by Bria Overs The economy is gnawing at the wallets of Americans, and even more so for those who rely on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits.

Fortunately, the Social Security Administration announced in October an increase of benefits by 3.2 percent for more than 71 million Americans who receive Social Security and SSI benefits. In 2024, recipients can expect an additional $50 or more monthly.

“Social Security and SSI benefits will increase in 2024, and this will help millions of people keep up with

expenses,” said Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of Social Security, in a statement.

Social Security is a federal retirement program that provides benefits and a source of income for eligible retired workers who are 65 or older. According to the administration, there are more than 66 million beneficiaries. Supplemental Security Income provides monthly payments for an estimated 7.5 million people with disabilities or low-income older adults.

“Almost every worker in the nation pays into it,” says Kathleen Romig, director of social security and dis-

Help! I can’t save for spending!

DAMON CARR FROM B1

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

me today, I’ll save you tomorrow.” Saving money is how you build financial security and financial independence. In order to

make saving money a priority, you have to develop a strong reason why you want to save. If your life or the life of a loved one was dependent on you saving $15,000, you’d work extra, do without, and make various sacrifices to come up with the money to save your life or that of a loved one. Think of a strong reason that will motivate and encourage you to make saving money a priority.

(Damon Carr, Money Coach can be reached @ 412-216-1013 or visit his website @ www.damonmoneycoach.com)

ability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “They and their family members can get benefits based on those earnings during one of these circumstances—death, disability, or retirement.”

Some Americans receive both Social Security and SSI benefits. It’s the largest poverty-fighting benefit, Romig says, and without them, four in 10 Americans would live in poverty.

Approximately 7.7 million Black Americans receive Social Security, 2.5 million collect SSI, and around 1 million reap both, according to the Census Bureau.

On average, Black men over 65 receive $14,918 a year, and Black women of the same age get $13,636 a year.

With rising rents and utilities and increases in the cost of food and transportation, more than $15,000 a year is needed to live on for many Americans.

The administration has implemented a cost-of-living adjustment, also known as a COLA, every year starting in 2016, ranging from 0.3 percent to 8.7 percent in 2022. The newest boost will take effect as early as Dec. 29, 2023 for SSI and January 2024 for Social Security.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the prior year compared to the corresponding quarter of the current year determines if there will be an increase. In this case, the administra-

tion used data from the late summer and fall of 2022 and compared it with the numbers from 2023.

“The cost-of-living adjustment maintains the purchasing power of those benefits,” Romig says. “That’s so important because other sources of retirement income are subject to either inflation risk or investment risk.”

Pensions do not increase with inflation, unlike these benefit programs. Other retirement vehicles like a 401(k) or Roth IRA use a mix of stocks and bonds that fluctuate daily based on market performance.

To see more money from these programs for Black Americans, ending institutional and systemic barriers in “education, employment, earnings, marriage, health, disability, and mortality would significantly increase annual and lifetime Social Security benefits for Black adults,” a report from the Urban Institute found.

While inflation is moving closer to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, it is still high enough for Americans to feel the effects, with some expense categories hit harder than others. “That’s why it is so valuable that Social Security and SSI benefits keep up with inflation,” Romig says. “So that people can stay on top of the rising prices of those basic things.”

A N I M P O RTA N T M E S S AG E F R O M M E D I C A R E

“HAVE YOU COMPARED YOUR OPTIONS? You might find a plan that saves you money.”

Compare your options now at Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048)

Medicare plans change every year and so can your health. Now’s the time to compare your current Medicare plan to other options and choose the right one for your budget and health needs.

Use Medicare.gov to easily compare prescription drug and health coverage options. Do a side-by-side comparison of Coverage, Costs, and Quality Ratings.

Medicare.gov is the official source for information about Medicare and Open Enrollment.

If you are struggling with your prescription drug costs, Extra Help is a Medicare program that can help pay for your drug coverage (Part D) premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and other out-of-pocket costs. If you make less than $22,000 a year, it’s worth it to apply.

Visit ssa.gov/extrahelp or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to apply.

OPINION

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Guest Editorial America will be fine if Trump goes to prison Former first lady Michelle Obama once said, “Being president reveals who you are.”

On Aug. 8, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announced his intent to resign the following day, doing so in a letter that stated, “I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.”

Using only 11 words, Nixon resigned from the most powerful elective office in the world due to criminal activities, related to the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.

Exactly one month later, his successor, President Gerald R. Ford began an address to the nation with these words: “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” He then signed Proclamation 4311, “granting a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon, for any crimes that he might have committed against the United States as president.”

Forty-nine years later, America is again addressing the criminality of another former president, Donald J. Trump.

President Ford was wrong that the “national nightmare,” has concluded.

By pardoning his predecessor for criminality, he planted the seeds, and possible unaccountability, for the future criminal behavior of a then 28-year-old Trump. Under the tutelage of his father, Fred, Trump was already learning the art of racism and criminality. Indeed, his father was named in a 1973 federal lawsuit for racial discrimination in Trump housing developments in New York.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nominee for president in 2024, despite currently being out on bail in three—potentially four—criminal cases.

If Trump is found guilty at any of these four trials, he should be jailed. Nixon was not above the law, and neither is Trump.

America has survived a civil war, two world wars, the assassination of four presidents, and the Trumpled insurrection on the U.S. Capitol of January 6, 2021.

America will be fine if the criminal defendant, Donald J. Trump, former president or not, goes to prison.

(Reprinted from the Washington Informer)

Founded 1910

Rod Doss Editor & Publisher Stephan A. Broadus Assistant to the Publisher Allison Palm Office Manager

Rob Taylor Jr. Managing Editor

John. H. Sengstacke

Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

Ashley Johnson Sales Director

NOVEMBER 8-14, 2023

B3

Mother’s Day is every day!

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—For nearly 20 years, I worked almost exclusively for women and their families which means I spent my time working for our entire community, including the men in our lives. Many women do as much as I do or more. Yet, we’re not always the first to be mentioned as worthy of honor on a regular basis.

Often men come to be rightly celebrated for their achievements, but with no mention of the role mothers play in helping them to become who they are.

When we come to Women’s History Month, many people forget the need to celebrate them. Yet, all year there seems to be, as Dick Gregory would say, goo gobs of men celebrated. There’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Former Presidents, (I won’t name them because some deserve no recognition!). There’s not a single woman celebrated annually with a Federal Holiday. Some of us have proposed one for Mother Rosa Parks and we should all want to make that happen!

While we’re working to make just one woman have the honor of a Federal Holiday, why don’t we celebrate our own Mothers on their birthday? I’m starting with mine who made her transition a little over two years ago. Her name is Frances LaCour Williams and her 101st birthday is November 10th. My family and I will celebrate her birthday, and we

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary urge you to remember your mother by celebrating hers. Just think of how many times at least one woman will be celebrated every day!

We don’t have to wait for Congress to act to give us just one day of celebrating women, nor do we have to wait for the nationally declared Mother’s Day that was made to happen on a Sunday so that we get no holiday as we have on so many other occasions that just happen to be all males. I want more celebrations of those who are our mothers. On our mother’s birthday, we can start learning more about women while starting with our own. There are so many women who’ve accomplished so much, but their stories are never told. We can tell those stories for them, and the world will be better for knowing them.

A male friend often says, “If you want to get a job done, give it to a woman; if you really want to get it done well, give it to a Black woman.”

Let’s invite our brothers to be a part of this celebration of their mothers, too.

Many of us believe as Dr. George W. Carver did as he said, “It’s not the kind of clothing we wear, nor the kind of car we drive, nor how much money we have in the bank—it’s simply our service that measures our success.” By that formula, even women who aren’t mothers deserve a celebration not just in May, but every day! I propose that every day is Mother’s Day because it’s some mother’s birthday. Dr. Dorothy Height said, “Black women don’t always get to do what we want to do, but always do what we have to do.”

Let’s tell the story of at least one woman every day. My favorite woman is my mother, Mrs. Frances Lacour Williams. She left us after 99 years, while still advising her children, grands, great- grands and greatgreat grands! She reared 9 children without the benefit of our father in our home when all of us were under 12.

We always knew we were loved. We never went hungry, or without proper clothing, while getting to school every day—rain, shine, sleet, or snow.

Among the many women I cherish are Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Dr. Lezli Baskerville, Nia 2X, Judge Doris Smith-Ribner, Melanie Greene, and Dr. Stephanie Myers. Celebrate an amazing woman on her birthday!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams, National President of The Dick Gregory Society.)

A segregationist in the house (TriceEdneyWire.com)—Many are rejoicing that Republicans finally got around to electing a speaker, thus breaking the logjam that began when Trump acolyte Matt Goetz (R-FL) introduced legislation to eliminate Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In selecting Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, Republicans chose a self-avowed “evangelical Southern Christian” (read racist segregationist) who is anti-choice, anti-gay rights (and marriage), and anti-education. Johnson is an affable segregationist who has made few enemies in his scant four terms in Congress.

The media keeps describing him as “unknown.” Still, while he is a Congressman who does not stand out in a crowd, he is hardly unknown to the Republican inner circle who followed his lead when he opposed counting the electoral votes that chose President Joe Biden. House Republicans didn’t just vote for an affable unknown; they voted for a segregationist election denier who is in close touch with the former President. So, those who say they want a post-Trump Republican Party are not telling the truth. These Republicans want a House speaker who is Trump without the vitriol but a segregationist nonetheless. They are so eager to have this election denier at their helm because many of them are closet election deniers. And in embracing this election denier, they are rejecting the Constitution and the role of law in our politics.

They want to win at any cost, even if it means that they embrace segregation. I’m not surprised! These are the people who want to go back to the “good old days” when Black people stayed in our place, women remained in the kitchen, gay folks were invisible, and abortion was unheard of. Are there any moderate Republicans? Are

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary there any unafraid of the despotic former President?

Congressman Johnson’s career has been marked by his assertive willingness to take away the rights of others, all done with the smile that contributes to his reputation for friendliness.

So, he would impose a national ban on abortion. He would disallow gay people from having sex in their own homes. He describes gay marriage as “deviant,” but he does it with a smile.

He doesn’t raise his voice or shake his fist. He simply works to take away other people’s rights.

Johnson’s views on women and abortion are especially troubling. He says women need to have more children, and outlawing abortion will make that happen. For him, I suppose, women are nothing more than breed cows designed to populate the labor force whether we want to or not. He adheres to the “great replacement theory” that Democrats are encouraging immigration to replace “American” voters with immigrants. He has referred to nonexistent “open borders” in his speeches, following the Trump playbook of inciting resistance against immigrant people.

Johnson has never been a fiery rhetorician. For the most part, he stays behind the scenes. And he knows that, as a speaker, he can’t spout off extremist positions. So, when asked about marriage equality, Mike Johnson says it is the law of the land, and he will do

nothing to attempt to reverse it. Roe v. Wade was also the law of the land.

Then came Dobbs, with the three most recent Supreme Court Justices—Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Comey-Barrett all swore under oath that they would “uphold the law of the land” and would not nullify Roe. But they did it in the Dobbs case when they got an opening.

I will not be surprised if, given new Congressional conservative leadership, they support the same thing in this Supreme Court.

There are many regressive legislative possibilities on the table for a segregationist like Mike Johnson. He has already indicated that he will proceed with a Biden impeachment inquiry.

He is likely to support anything that undermines affirmative action both in higher education and in the workplace, with the encouragement of deep pockets racists. Alarmingly, Johnson has been described by Alex Johnson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, as “an enemy of Social Security.” If the House Speaker had his way, he would raise the retirement age, lower the cost of living increases, and privatize Social Security. And Republican legislators would likely go along with it, even though they represent Social Security recipients, to embrace a Trump-driven segregationist agenda.

Some describe Mike Johnson’s rise to the speakership as the accidental elevation of a relative unknown. I say it was planned. Look at his record. Look at his statements. And understand that the fight for economic and social justice is “on” with the segregationist leader in the House.

(Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author. She can be reached at juliannemalveaux.com)

History, like dirt, does not go away when swept under a rug There is an ongoing effort, within the United States and elsewhere, to excise the gross humanitarian horrors of the past. There are examples aplenty. At the turn of the twentieth century over one million Armenians were massacred by the Turkish government.

Tribal wars in Africa were conducted with murderous efficiency. Japan, Korea, and China ruthlessly fought and brutalized one another for centuries.

However, public-school systems in multiple countries present the past through a myopic, self-serving lens.

In the face of incontrovertible evidence, national leaders remain steadfast in denying a shameful past. History is indeed written by the “winners.” The imprint of past horror is embedded in the DNA of future generations. Current conditions of down-trodden people often have their roots in the savagery of the past.

George Orwell, in a fateful quote from his novel 1984 wrote “Who control the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

Current efforts to ban books and revise public school history curricula brings focus to Orwell’s observation.

With bold and unrelenting consistency, conservative leaders promote an educational philosophy that sanitizes the banality of the past within our country.

Will we ever learn? Less than a century ago, the German public education system began to indoctrinate students with misinformation about the Jewish people. As Germany aggressively militarized, millions were groomed within the public education system.

Ron Porter

Commentary Respected educators became indoctrinators. German students “learned” World War One was lost because of Jewish complicity. Books that shared the intellectual richness and humanity of diverse authors were burned by the Nazis. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, German students entered classrooms spewing vile, soul killing inhumanity. A murderous cohort of youthful executioners responsible for the “final solution” was unleashed upon the European continent and beyond.

The United States is arching toward a devastating trajectory of misinformation within our public education system. Like Germany, history revisionists seek to ensure public schools marginalize specific segments of our population. The gross insanity of educating students that slavery inured to the benefit of the enslaved is becoming more common as a public education touchstone.

It is not only African American history that is the subject of purposeful miseducation. Much of U. S. public education places European voyagers as disseminators of knowledge,

culture, and religion to less-worthy peoples. Tales of the discovery of North America ignores the obvious reality the inhabited continent existed before Columbus. “Manifest Destiny” compelled U. S. Commodore Perry’s 1853 travels to Japan and planted seeds of world conflict which sprouted less than a century later. The dictate that “the sun never sets of the British Empire” spoke to the worldwide domination of one people over another. For many people across the planet, the divine right of conquest was never questioned.

Youth in today’s U. S. public education system face the real probability of not being exposed to the horrific misdeeds that are the foundation for today’s social and economic inequities.

Our national educational imperative should focus on the clear and unambiguous consequences of systemic, institutionalized mistreatment.

The United States retains the potential to live up to its founding mantra that “all men are created equal.” As brutal wars decimate the planet, our country can provide unequivocal leadership by rejecting the polarizing descent into a nightmarish future.

I am not suggesting “quick fix” is possible. However, I am predicting an irreversible slide into a nation-shattering abyss within the lifetime of today’s children. We must do better!

History, like dirt, does not go away when swept under a rug. The rug, once lifted, days or centuries later, exposes the dirt which will spread quickly on the ever-present winds of truth and justice.

FORUM

B4 NOVEMBER 8-14, 2023

Coach Tommy Tuberville (TriceEdneyWire.com)—He prefers to be called “coach” despite being the senior U.S. Senator for Alabama. Even on his official Senate website, he is called “Coach Tommy Tuberville.” Tommy Tuberville spent most of his professional career as a college football coach with stints at the University of Mississippi, Auburn University, and then the University of Cincinnati. He most notably spent 10 years at Auburn, where he compiled an overall record of 85-40, including a 13-0 season in 2004.

During the undefeated season, the Auburn Tigers finished No. 2 in the nation while winning the SEC title for the first time in 15 years. The SEC is distinctive in college football with its passionate fan base throughout the South.

An undefeated season in the SEC can easily propel a coach to idol status in the eyes of loyal fans. Tiger fans are well known for their deep-seated investment and devotion to the orange and blue. But fans can become fickle when the tide turns and the losing sets in.

Amid losing, the one-time hero becomes the scapegoat. During the 2008 football season, the Tigers were routed 36-0 by in-state rival Alabama, thus ending the season with a 5-7 record. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide officially became the football kings in Alabama, and it was time for Auburn and Tuberville to part ways.

Those deeply familiar with Auburn football would agree that the school’s decision to move on from Tommy Tuberville was the right move to make. Fast forward, those who care deeply about our nation and are wary of the MAGA agenda saw Tuberville’s Senate election as politically dangerous. More so than having six more years of Jeff Sessions.

Today, the Trump-endorsed “coach” is the sole member of the U.S. Senate who continues to wreak havoc with our nation’s armed forces readiness at a time of global chaos. When Tu-

David W. Marshall

Commentary berville defeated Democrat incumbent Sen. Doug Jones, he had no prior legislative experience, nor did he hold any elected office.

The same is true of Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Mark Kelly of Arizona, but both men have since served the Senate with competence and integrity. While Tuberville’s ethics and qualifications are in question, the SEC football fans in the Alabama electorate may see the former iconic hero differently.

Does it matter to Alabama voters that Tuberville’s current residency in Florida may violate the Constitution, which requires senators to be “an inhabitant” of their state when elected? The Washington Post reported that his wife and son co-owned the Auburn, Alabama, address Tuberville listed when he declared his candidacy for Senate. The Post’s review of campaign finance reports, and Tuberville’s signature on property documents indicate that his home is a $3 million, 4,000-square-foot beach house in Santa Rosa Beach in the Florida Panhandle. Tuberville has lived in the Florida home for nearly two decades.

At present, Coach Tuberville has single-handily blocked the Senate confirmation of over 370 senior military officers in his personal protest of a Department of Defense policy that offers travel reimbursements to military members who may need to travel to obtain reproductive healthcare or abortions.

The fallout remains widespread because impacted people have no say over the policy.

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former naval aviator who flew 39 combat missions in the Gulf War, has been Tuberville’s most outspoken critic. In an op-ed, Kelly condemned Tuberville’s blockade and spoke of how it adversely affected many military families.

“Tuberville is treating our service members and their families as political pawns,” Kelly wrote. “For six months, he’s been blocking the promotion of every general and flag officer in the U.S. military. That’s 301 military positions and counting. Let that sink in.” Tuberville has not backed down, and now Republicans are finally getting louder in voicing their frustration. Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans from Virginia doesn’t like the Pentagon policy but said Tuberville should make his point differently.

Kiggans has heard from service members and their spouses who are frustrated to the point of wanting to leave the military permanently.

During his college football career, Coach Tuberville may have made critical decisions that ultimately impacted his team’s inability to win ball games. It is not uncommon for coaches to be held accountable when their coaching decisions, including those from their staff, result in losing seasons. In reality, Coach Tuberville is no longer a football coach but a sitting U.S. Senator with tremendous political power—a power he chooses to abuse. When Tuberville uses bad judgment and is unwilling to see the consequences of his recklessness, it is not a football game he is losing.

So far, Tuberville has not received the backlash he deserves from Republican voters back home. Auburn fans are so passionate about their football that Coach Tuberville would no longer have a job if consistent losing on the football field resulted from his decisions. Put the same coach in the U.S. Senate, and if his bad judgment and decisions resulted in the entire U.S. military being compromised, those same fans back home would give him a smile and a pat on the back.

(David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America. He can be reached at www.davidwmarshallauthor.com.)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Human shields and moral non-starters During the 2016 presidential election, Marc Lamont Hill, a notable scholar known for his progressive politics and support for Palestine, was interviewed about his decision to favor a third-party candidate rather than the Democratic presidential nominee.

Hill stated he would not vote for a candidate whose support of a particular policy ran counter to his moral principles. Hill characterized as a “moral nonstarter” any policy position that contradicted his sense of social justice.

In the same year, for instance, three states held referendums on whether or not to legalize the death penalty. Voters in each state decided to maintain capital punishment. However, Hill told the interviewer that, given the nation’s history, supporting the death penalty in the United States is a “moral nonstarter.”

Let’s fast forward to the present.

Gaza launched a surprise strike on Israel on October 7th. Hamas terrorists slaughtered hundreds of Israeli citizens in what has been called the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Hill was interviewed on the Bad Faith podcast a few weeks later.

Hill chastised the media for portraying Hamas as a terrorist organization rather than a democratically elected government, arguing that when Hamas is not recognized as a real political party, Israel finds it easier to avoid diplomatic solutions.

Hill interviewed Hamas’ senior spokesperson, Osama Hamdan, prior to his appearance on Bad Faith. Hill asked Hamdan if Hamas knew beforehand that Israel would respond disproportionately to any act of aggression, and how does Hamas justify their strike, especially when the Palestinian people have no choice in the decision and Hamas knows that Israel’s reaction will kill many innocent Palestinians?

Hamdan stated that Palestinians were dying regardless due to the deplorable conditions Israel had created in Gaza and that their assault was

J. Pharoah Doss

Check It Out retaliation for decades of oppression during the Israeli occupation.

Hill told Bad Faith’s host that Hamdan wasn’t prepared for the question, and Hamdan’s response wasn’t the best. As a result, Hill decided to speak for Hamas and convey their position to the public at large.

According to Hill, Hamas begins from the philosophical position that the only way for a “national liberation movement” to achieve victory is through armed struggle, and since Palestinians have been dying slowly under current conditions, Hamas has no moral dilemma in attacking Israel. Hill claimed Hamas had a legitimate argument, and Hamas shouldn’t be portrayed as barbaric, fanatical, or unreasonable.

Hamas reasoned that if their Oct. 7th offensive made Israel launch a disproportional counterattack against Gaza, the deaths of Palestinian people would garner enough public sympathy to elicit international intervention and transform the situation in Gaza.

Left-wing intellectuals praised Hill for articulating Hamas’s viewpoint. Sadly, none of them bothered to ask what happened to Hill’s “moral non-starters” and how that concept applied to what he said in the Bad Faith interview.

Let’s go back to 2016. Voters in three states that examined the death penalty in referendums opted to maintain the practice. Despite the inherent democratic nature of a referendum, Hill maintained that the outcome was a “moral nonstarter” in light of America’s history. Clearly, Hill was alluding to the lynching of African Americans that occurred in the Jim Crow South, as well

as the fact that racism influenced the sentencing of minority offenders.

Hill, on the other hand, expects Hamas to be considered a democratically elected government, regardless of their post-election history. Israeli settlements in Gaza were demolished in 2005, and Israel’s soldiers withdrew.

An election for the Palestinian Legislative Council was held in 2006. Hamas received 74 of the 132 seats available, while a rival political group received 45. Neither Hamas nor their political opponents were interested in sharing power; a civil war ensued in 2007, with Hamas seizing control of Gaza after Hamas either executed or expelled their political opponents.

No one disputed Hamas’s electoral victory, but the manner in which they usurped power and executed their opponents should constitute a “moral nonstarter,” delegitimizing their authority.

The essence of democratic rule is not found in the electoral process; it’s in the consent of the governed.

According to Hill, the October 7th attack was done in order to generate worldwide sympathy for the Palestinian cause by inciting Israel to invade Gaza. After the international community saw how many innocent Palestinians Israel was willing to kill in order to destroy Hamas, public opinion would turn against Israel.

This strategy acknowledges that Hamas uses the Palestinian people as human shields. This should be regarded as a “moral non-starter,” with the perpetrators depicted as barbaric, fanatical, and unreasonable.

Israel regards Hamas’s takeover of Gaza, use of human shields, and killing of civilians as “moral non-starters,” whereas leftwing intellectuals like Hill do not believe Israel has any moral credibility that allows them to judge the actions of the oppressed, even if the oppressed commit “moral non-starters” like terrorism.

Richard Roundtree’s career helped reshape perceptions of Black Americans (TriceEdneyWire.com)—“I was acutely aware of when I would go into department stores and feel the shadow of being followed. And then I’d be recognized, and all of a sudden it would turn. I thought, ‘Oh man, there it is.’ I was acutely aware of that turn. If I were not the actor who played John Shaft, I would be trailed to the dressing room, monitored, or stripped.

That’s the truth of the matter.”—Richard Roundtree A 1972 profile of Richard Roundtree, a year after the release of Shaft rocketed him to fame, called him “a 29-year-old former football player turned fashion model-turned actor.”

Roundtree, who passed away last week at the age of 81, had intended to make football his career. A standout high school football player in his hometown of New Rochelle, New York, he won a scholarship to play at Southern Illinois University. On the field, he said, he became addicted to applause.

A concussion on the field, however, prompted him to consider other ways to feed his habit.

So he was quick to accept when Eunice Johnson, the wife of EBONY magazine founder John H. Johnson, offered him the opportunity to model for the magazine’s Fashion Fair series. As the model for Duke hair care products, his face—if not his name—soon became familiar in Black households who knew him as “The Duke Man.” His success as a model gave him entrée to the newly-launched Negro Ensemble Company, where he starred as a fictionalized version of the boxer

Marc H. Morial

To Be Equal Jack Johnson in an early production of The Great White Hope.

When he arrived at his audition for Shaft director Gordon Parks, Parks showed him a tearsheet of an ad depicting the look he wanted for the title character. The model in the ad was Roundtree.

While Shaft is among the best-known and most enduring example of the genre that became known as “Blaxploitation,” Roundtree himself rejected the term.

“I’ve always viewed that as a negative. Exploitation. Who’s being exploited?” he said in 2019. “But it gave a lot of people work. It gave a lot of people entree into the business, including a lot of our present-day producers and directors. So, in the big picture, I view it as a positive.”

The character of John Shaft—described in the film’s theme song as “the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about” and “a sex machine to all the chicks”—marked a turning point in the depiction of Black men on the silver screen. As Roundtree said, “the image kids see of him on the screen is of Black man who is for once a winner.”

Roundtree also took part in the 1977 landmark television miniseries Roots, which drew the third-largest audience in television history and sparked a national conversation about race and history. “You got a sense of White Americans saying, ‘Damn, that really happened,’” Roundtree said in television special to mark the miniseries’ 25th anniversary.

In the late 1990s, Roundtree embarked on a campaign to raise awareness and erase the stigma surrounding breast cancer in men, having felt pressured to keep his own diagnosis and mastectomy a secret for fear of losing work.

“The industry doesn’t like sick people,” he wrote in Essence. “My mastectomy left me with a permanent scar that runs from where my left nipple used to be to way back underneath my armpit, and it ain’t pretty … I did a lot of tap dancing to hide my illness.”

He later called his diagnosis “a backhanded blessing” after fans credited his candor with saving lives.

Roundtree’s proudest work was the 1996 film Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored, about a Black Mississippi family confronting inequality in the south. It was the first of Rountree’s films that his father, a Pentecostal minister, could be persuaded to watch.

“And at the end, he looked at Richard, and he said, ‘Well done, my son,’” director Tim Reid told NPR. “And that’s the only time that his father had ever praised him for anything that he had ever done in his life.”

Calls for an immediate cease-fire During the late 1970’s, I went to work for the Carter Administration in the press office of Health and Human Services Secretary Joseph Califano. While our agency was focused primarily on domestic issues, one of President Carter’s all-consuming objectives was a foreign policy issue: How to broker a peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors.

With Carter’s tenacity and the willingness of Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat’s to come to Camp David to hash out what would later be called the Camp David Peace Accords, the world was given an example of how seemingly unbridgeable national interests could be harmonized through skillful diplomacy.

Today, some 45 years later, the Middle East is once again mired in deadly conflict with casualties mounting for both Israelis and Palestinians. An attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians has been countered by airstrikes on innocent Palestinians with a ground invasion resulting in the deaths of thousands, including more than 3,000 who are children!

As of this writing, over 1,500 Israelis and at least 8,000 Palestinians have

Michael Grant

Commentary lost their lives. The number of wounded on both sides is much larger. Over 200 hostages are being held in captivity.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has already reached nightmarish proportions with shortages of food, clean drinking water, medical supplies and fuel needed for hospitals to operate reaching dangerously low levels. Children are suffering and dying! Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that this will be a protracted struggle; hopefully, he will be proven wrong. The sooner this war is ended, the better for all concerned. This includes Israelis.

The United States has leverage to discourage further carnage. We have not effectively used our resources as bargaining chips to secure a reliable two-state solution, with two sovereign

powers, ruled by governmental authorities recognized by the United Nations and the world community.

To be an honest broker in this latest conflict, the U.S. must demonstrate to the people of the region that it wants a fair deal for both sides. If with our foreign aid, Israel has carte blanche ability to encroach and occupy without restraint, Arab resentment will proliferate; thereby giving justification to rogue states’ desires to exploit local tensions.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will move the people of the world to insist on an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Pictures of the human suffering broadcasted around the world should shock the conscience of all who say they believe in a just and compassionate God. If you have read this article, please join a world-wide movement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Remember President John F. Kennedy’s exhortation: God’s work on this earth must truly be our own”.

(Michael A. Grant, J.D. is former president of the National Bankers Association.)

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES Recruitment

WESTERN PA OPERATING ENGINEERS HEAVY CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT OPERATORS/ MECHANICS Earn while you learn in a 4-year apprenticeship program. High School or GED and drug test required.

Applications available Oct 30 – Dec 8, at wpaoperators.org and Mon –Fri, 9 am –3 pm at Operating Engineers, 111 Zeta Drive, Pittsburgh, PA or W PA Operating Engineers, 457 Christopher Road, New Alexandria, PA. Learn more, download and play the app-FutureRoadBuilders.

LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

Estate of BARBARA L. CARNES A/K/A BARBARA ELLEN CARNES, Deceased of Borough of Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, No.02-23-06986, Nancy E. Carnes, Executrix, or to Ryan W. Brode, Atty, 6 Clairton Blvd.

Pittsburgh, PA 15236 Estate of JOSEPH TODD GAZZO, Deceased of Verona, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, No.02-2307137, Joseph H. Gazzo, Jr., Administrator, 152 Stephens Lane, Verona, PA 15147 or to AUBREY H. GLOVER, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC., 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017 Estate of MARY C. SLAMINKO A/K/A MARY CATHERINE SLAMINKO, Deceased of 700 Bower Hill Road, Mt. Lebanon, PA 15243, No.02-23-05696, Theresa Lawson, 2162 Haflinger Drive, Irwin, PA 15642, or to William C. Price, Jr., Price & Associates, P.C., 2005 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218 Estate of CHARLES J. WINTERMANTEL, Deceased of 401 Pine Ridge Drive, Oakdale, PA 15071, No.02-23-07348, Administratrix, Mrs. Theresa C. Katic, 276 Finnin Road, New Kensington, PA 15068, or to American Wills & Estates, LLoyd A. Welling, Esquire, 2100 Wharton Street, Suite 302, Birmingham Towers, Pittsburgh, PA 15203

LEGAL ADVERTISING Name Change

CHANGE OF NAME

In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County,Pennsylvania: No.GD-23-011740 Term, 2023 In re petition of : Marilyn Elaine Glover 111 ½ South Highland Avenue Cheswick, PA 15024 for change of name to MERLE GHOLSTON. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 13th day of December,2023, at 9:30A.M., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.

Petitioner: Marilyn Elaine Glover Address 111 & ½ South Highland Avenue, Cheswick, PA 15024 Phone (412-219-8107)

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

PUBLIC NOTICE ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY The Green Committee of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will hold a special meeting for general purposes on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. prevailing time in the Trefz Board Room at its offices located at 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15233.

Official action on the Committee’s recommendations will take place at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors at a later date. The public may view the meeting via livestream by visiting www.alcosan.org.

PUBLIC NOTICE ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY T h e Pr ofe ssi o n al S ervic e s Committee of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will hold a special meeting for general purposes on Monday, November 13, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. prevailing time, in the Trefz Board Room at its offices located at 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15233. Official action on the Committee’s recommendations will take place at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors at a later date. The public may view the meeting via livestream by visiting www.alcosan.org.

PUBLIC NOTICE This notice will serve as an official announcement of the MEETING of the Board of Trustees of the OTHER POST EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS TRUST FUND BOARD to be held at 200 City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 on Wednesday, November 8, 2023-2 p.m.

This meeting is open to the public to attend.

City of Pittsburgh Department of Finance 412-255-8988

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Public Notice

Public Notice

LEGAL NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Council of the Borough of Bellevue will hold a public hearing on November 28, 2023, at 6:30 PM, prevailing time, at the Borough of Bellevue Municipal Building, 537 Bayne Avenue, Bellevue, PA 15202, to consider adoption amendments to the Avalon-Bellevue-Ben Avon Joint Zoning Ordinance, a brief summary of which is set forth below: BOROUGH OF BELLEVUE ORDINANCE NO. 23 - 08 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FOLLOWING: ARTICLE IV, SECTION 409 OF THE AVALON-BELLEVUE-BEN AVON JOINT ZONING ORDINANCE TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR FENCES, WALLS AND SCREENING REQUIREMENTS; ARTICLE VII OF THE AVALON-BELLEVUE-BEN AVON JOINT ZONING ORDINANCE TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR SIGNAGE REQUIREMENTS; AND ARTICLE VII OF THE AVALON-BELLEVUE-BEN AVON JOINT ZONING ORDINANCE TO UPDATE PERMITTED CONDITIONAL USE PROVISIONS. SUMMARY OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS This amendment would revise and amend: Portions of Section 409 (“Accessory Buildings, Structures, Uses and Events”) of Article IV (“District Regulations”) of the Joint Zoning Ordinance to correct errors and provide for revised regulations related to height, location, and appearance of fences, walls, screening in all Zoning Districts of Avalon, Bellevue, and Ben Avon.

Portions of Section 420 (“Signage”) Article IV (“Accessory Buildings, Structures, Uses and Events”) of the Joint Zoning Ordinance to provide for revised regulations of temporary signs, including with respect to the area, height, number, and temporal limitations, and to further provide for specific regulations related to political signs in all Zoning Districts of Avalon, Bellevue, and Ben Avon.

Section 721 (“Tavern/Bar”) of Article VII (“Conditional Uses”) of the Joint Zoning Ordinance to eliminate the prohibition of taverns and bars in the Borough of Bellevue.

A copy of the proposed ordinance is available for inspection at the municipal building in each of the following: the Borough of Avalon, 640 California Ave., Avalon, PA 15202, the Borough of Bellevue, 537 Bayne Ave., Bellevue, PA 15202, and the Borough of Ben Avon, 7101 Church Ave., Ben Avon, PA 15202, between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, prevailing time, Mondays through Fridays.

Cindy L. Bahn, JD, MBA Director of Administrative Services IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA COMPASS SAVINGS BANK F/K/A ) COMPASS FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK, ) Plaintiff, ) vs. ) THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF CAROL A. ) PEKARCIK, DECEASED MORTGAGOR, ) DAVID MAPP AND ANGELA MAPP, ) Defendants. )

CIVIL DIVISION No: MG-23-000583

NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION NOTICE IS GIVEN TO THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF CAROL A. PEKARCIK. 1. Plaintiff is Compass Savings Bank. Defendant is The Unknown Heirs of Carol A. Pekarcik.

2. Plaintiff filed a Complaint in Mortgage Foreclosure as to s 338 Station Street, Wilmerding, PA 15148 requesting Judgment in Mortgage Foreclosure in the sum of $35,217.69, plus interest at the rate of $5.25 per diem, and such counsel fees as may be awarded in the subsequent Motion to Reassess Damages. If you wish to defend, you must enter a written appearance personally or by attorney and file your defenses or objections in writing with the court.

You are warned that if you fail to do so the case may proceed without you and a judgment may be entered against you without further notice for the relief requested by the plaintiff. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you.

YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LAWYER, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW. THIS OFFICE CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION ABOUT HIRING A LAWYER. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO HIRE A LAWYER, THIS OFFICE MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION ABOUT AGENCIES THAT MAY OFFER LEGAL SERVICES TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS AT A REDUCED FEE OR NO FEE. Lawyer Referral Service Allegheny County Bar Association 400 Koppers Building 436 Seventh Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Telephone: (412) 261-5555 Email: LRS@acba.org https://www.getapittsburghlawyer.com/ PROFESSIONAL Historic preservation and Economic development organization is requesting qualifications from: Environmental Engineering Firmsenvironmental site characterization and remediation, and closure of industrial sites through the PA Land Recycling Program, and reporting under public funding programs. Qualifications should include personnel available for this assignment, working in a team environment, meeting goals for minority and women owned businesses, and method and hourly rates of compensation.

Economic Development/Grant Management Firms- Qualifications relative to the following should be discussed: redevelopment planning, managing reporting for public programs, managing consultant teams, packaging other economic incentive programs, working in a team environment, personnel available for this assignment, assistance in securing women and minority participation, and the method and hourly rates of compensation.

Both RFQ’s are due December 1, 2023 and should be mailed to: Young Preservationists Association, 700 River Avenue, Suite 318, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public Notice

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINDING OF NO SIGNFICANT IMPACT AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS November 8, 2023 City of Pittsburgh – Office of Management and Budget 414 Grant Street Room 501 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-255-2211 This notice shall satisfy two separate but related procedural requirements for activities to be undertaken by the City of Pittsburgh.

REQUEST FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS (1) – MTW, SECTION 8 PBV & HOME PROJECT On or about Monday, November 27, 2023, the City of Pittsburgh will submit a request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release Federal funds under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 as amended for the real estate project described below.

The Standard on Fifth is a new construction development comprised of fifty-one (51) residential units in a four (4) story, elevator building located at 2120 Fifth Avenue in the Uptown Neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh, PA 15219. The units are income and rent restricted as follows: seven (7) units affordable at or below 20% Area Median Income (AMI), ten (10) units affordable at or below 50% AMI, twenty-three (23) at or below 60% AMI, and eleven (11) unrestricted, market rate units. Beacon Communities is the Developer of this project. Funding sources include the following approximate amounts: $3,500,000 first mortgage from Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, an anticipated $4,500,000 second mortgage Development Cost Relief Program (DCRP) loan from PHFA, $1,700,000 third mortgage gap financing loan from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP), $1,600,000 fourth mortgage and HOME Funds from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA), $13,110,000 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, $1,125,000 Pennsylvania State Housing Tax Credit equity, and $264,608 in developer equity.

The URA’s Rental Gap Program loan will be sourced with $600,000 in HOME 2020 and $1,000,000 in Housing Opportunity Fund 2022. HACP’s $1,700,000 gap financing loan will be sourced with Moving to Work (MTW) funds under the 1937 Act as modified by the 1996 and 1999 Consolidated Appropriations Act in addition to providing seventeen (17) Section 8 Project Based Vouchers (PBV) as part of the Section 8 PBV program under the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 as modified by the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 to support the units’ affordability. The total estimated cost of the development is $26,000,000.

FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT (2) – MTW, SECTION 8 PBV & HOME PROJECT The City of Pittsburgh has determined that the project will have no significant impact on the human environment. Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is not required. Additional project information is contained in the Environmental Review Record (ERR). The ERR will be made available to the public for review either electronically or by U.S. mail. Please submit your request by U.S. mail to City of Pittsburgh, Office of Management and Budget, 414 Grant St, City County Building Room 501, Pittsburgh, Pa 15219 or by email to OMBEnvironmental@pittsburghpa.gov.

PUBLIC COMMENTS Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the ERR to: Kelly Russell City of Pittsburgh, 414 Grant Street, Room 501 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (412) 255-2667 OR OMBEnvironmental@pittsburghpa.gov All comments received by Thursday, November 23, 2023 will be considered by the City of Pittsburgh prior to authorizing submission of a request for release of funds. Comments should specify which Notice (Request for Release of Funds 1 or Finding of No Significant Impact 2) they are addressing.

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ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION The City of Pittsburgh certifies to HUD that Ed Gainey in his capacity as Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, consents to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts if an action is brought to enforce responsibilities in relation to the environmental review process and that these responsibilities have been satisfied. HUD’s approval of the certification satisfies its responsibilities under NEPA and related laws and authorities and allows the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh to use development funds.

OBJECTIONS TO RELEASE OF FUNDS HUD will accept objections to its release of funds and the City of Pittsburgh certification for a period of fifteen (15) days following the anticipated submission date or its actual receipt of the request (whichever is later) only if they are on one of the following bases: (a) the certification was not executed by the Certifying Officer of the City of Pittsburgh; (b) the City of Pittsburgh has omitted a step or failed to make a decision or finding required by HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58; (c) the grant recipient or other participants in the development process have committed funds, incurred costs or undertaken activities not authorized by 24 CFR Part 58 before approval of a release of funds by HUD; or (d) another Federal agency acting pursuant to 40 CFR Part 1504 has submitted a written finding that the project is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality. Objections must be prepared and submitted via email in accordance with the required procedures (24 CFR Part 58, Sec. 58.76) and shall be addressed to the HUD Field Office of Public Housing in Pittsburgh at PittsburghPIH.ER@hud.gov regarding MTW and Section 8 PBV funds or to the HUD Field Office of Community Planning and Development in Pittsburgh at PGHCPDObjections@hud.gov/ (412)-644-5846 regarding HUD HOME funds.

Potential objectors should contact the HUD Field Office of Public Housing in Pittsburgh via email to verify the actual last day of the objection period.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public Notice

Public Notice

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

NOTICE OF FINDING OF NO SIGNFICANT IMPACT AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS NOVEMBER 8, 2023 City of Pittsburgh – Office of Management and Budget 414 Grant Street Room 501 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-255-2667 This notice shall satisfy two separate but related procedural requirements for activities to be undertaken by the City of Pittsburgh.

REQUEST FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS (1) – MTW and PBV PROJECT On or about November 27, 2023, the City of Pittsburgh (City) will authorize the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) to submit a request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release Federal funds under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 as amended, to undertake the Project known as Oakland Pride located at 3129-3133 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh (Project).

Project Based Voucher (PBV) program under the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 as modified by the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 will be provided to thirty (30) housing units.

The Moving to Work (MTW) Gap Financing & Project Based Vouchers (PBV) Project involves new construction of a total of forty-eight (48) units of one (1) and two (2) bedroom affordable rental housing. The proposed result will be 58,763 square feet of residential housing. There will be thirty (30) affordable PBV housing units targeted to individuals age 62 and older earning 30%-60% of Area Media Income (AMI), with twenty-seven (27) 1-bedroom apartments and three (3) 2-bedroom apartments. Included in those units will be five (5) Uniform Federal Accessibility Standard (UFAS) units (four (4) of which are a combination of UFAS and hearing/visual impaired units), and one (1) stand-alone hearing/visual impaired unit. Funding for the Project will consist of URA funding of $1,600,000, a PSCN Sponsor Loan of $1,593,781; a PHFA National Housing Trust Loan of $1,177,916; a permanent mortgage of $2,270,000; Deferred Developer Fee of $683,528; a Cap Reserve Loan of $300,000; $13,855,812 in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, $2,875,000 of PHFA Development Cost Relief Program Funds and an additional $1,050,000 anticipated in State Housing Tax Credit equity. The Housing Authority City of Pittsburgh (HACP) will provide PBV subsidies for thirty (30) units and HACP through its instrumentality Allies & Ross Management and Development Corporation (ARMDC), will provide a gap financing loan of $2,700,000 constituting Moving To Work (MTW) funds for the Project. The estimated total Project cost is $28,106,037.

FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT (2) – MTW and PBV PROJECT The City of Pittsburgh has determined that the Project will have no significant impact on the human environment. Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is not required. Additional Project information is contained in the Environmental Review Record (ERR). The ERR will be made available to the public for review either electronically or by U.S. mail. Please submit your request

by U.S. mail to City of Pittsburgh, Office of Management and Budget, 414 Grant St, City County Building Room 501, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 or by email to OMBEnvironmental@pittsburghpa.gov.

PUBLIC COMMENTS Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the ERR to: Kelly Russell City of Pittsburgh, 414 Grant Street, Room 501 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (412) 255-2667 OR OMBEnvironmental@pittsburghpa.gov All comments received by Thursday, November 23, 2023, will be considered by the City of Pittsburgh prior to authorizing submission of a request for release of funds. Comments should specify which Notice (Request for Release of Funds 1 or Finding of No Significant Impact 2) they are addressing.

ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION The City of Pittsburgh certifies to HUD that Ed Gainey in his capacity as Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, consents to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts if an action is brought to enforce responsibilities in relation to the environmental review process and that these responsibilities have been satisfied. HUD’s approval of the certification satisfies its responsibilities under NEPA and related laws and authorities and allows the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh to use development funds.

OBJECTIONS TO RELEASE OF FUNDS HUD will accept objections to its release of funds and the City of Pittsburgh certification for a period of fifteen (15) days following the anticipated submission date or its actual receipt of the request (whichever is later) only if they are on one of the following bases: (a) the certification was not executed by the Certifying Officer of the City of Pittsburgh; (b) the City of Pittsburgh has omitted a step or failed to make a decision or finding required by HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58; (c) the grant recipient or other participants in the development process have committed funds, incurred costs or undertaken activities not authorized by 24 CFR Part 58 before approval of a release of funds by HUD; or (d) another Federal agency acting pursuant to 40 CFR Part 1504 has submitted a written finding that the Project is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality. Objections must be prepared and submitted via email in accordance with the required procedures (24 CFR Part 58, Sec. 58.76) and shall be addressed to the HUD Field Office of Public Housing in Pittsburgh at PittsburghPIH.ER@hud.gov regarding MTW and PBV funds. Potential objectors should contact the HUD Field Office of Public Housing in Pittsburgh via email as given above to verify the actual last day of the objection period.

Potential objectors should contact the HUD Field Office of Community Planning and Development in Pittsburgh via email or phone as given above to verify the actual last day of the objection period.

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Bids/Proposals

INVITATION TO BID The HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY OF BEAVER will receive sealed bids, in duplicate, until 9:30 AM (local time) on Thursday, November 30, 2023 at the office of the Housing Authority of the County of Beaver, James F. Tress Administration Building, 300 State Ave (Vanport), Beaver, Pennsylvania. All bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at 10:00 A.M for the Emergency Generator Replacement at A.C. Edgecombe Apartments at Francis Farmer Apartments, Community Room, 274 Friendship Circle, Beaver, PA 15009. A fifteen percent (15 %) bid bond is required for this project.

Proposed forms of contract documents, including Plans and Specifications may be obtained at the Housing Authority of the County of Beaver Central Office, James F. Tress Administration Building, 300 State Avenue, Beaver, PA 15009 by first mailing $100.00 in the form of a check made payable to the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY OF BEAVER for each set of documents so obtained. An additional $10.00 is required if you want it mailed. DEPOSITS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE. Plans and specifications will be available on Thursday, November 2, 2023.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY and Section 3 Compliance are required.

A MANDATORY Pre-Bid Conference will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at A.C. Edgecombe Apartments, 1150 Bechtel Street, Monaca, PA 1506

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Bids/Proposals

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Bids/Proposals

OFFICIAL BID NOTICE TOWNSHIP OF UPPER ST.CLAIR Sealed and separate bids will be received by the Township of Upper St. Clair, 1820 McLaughlin Run Road, Upper St. Clair, PA 15241, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania until 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 17, 2024, and the BIDS will be publicly opened and read thereafter in the Township Building at the same address for the following: MORTON FIELD COMPLEX Contract No. 1 – Base Bid - Site Construction This project involves improvements to an existing Township Park, including, but not limited to, clearing and grubbing; existing building and site feature demolition and protection; unclassified bulk excavation; erosion and sediment control measures; storm and sanitary sewer installation; waterline and electrical installation to the accessory building structures, asphalt and concrete paving; field accessories including, but not limited to, benches, backstops; foul poles, chain-link fencing and sports netting; pavement line striping; and associated landscaping, plantings and site furnishings, complete in place.

Please refer to https://www.twpusc.org/business/ bid_information.php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

Contract No. 2 – Base Bid Building Construction Please refer to https://www. twpusc.org/business/bid_information. php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

Contract No. 3 – Base Bid - Electrical Construction Please refer to https://www.twpusc.org/business/ bid_information.php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

Contract No. 4 – Base Bid Plumbing Construction Please refer to https://www.twpusc.org/business/ bid_information.php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

Contract No. 5 – Base Bid - HVAC Construction Please refer to https://www.twpusc.org/business /bid_information.php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

All Contracts – Additional Bids Additional Bids for all Contracts will include, but be not limited to, installation of metal roofing in lieu of asphalt shingles, installation of unit masonry dugout structures in lieu of pre-fabricated structures, installation of (3) pavilion structures, installation of 15-ft high chain link fencing in lieu of sport netting, installation of monumental signage package, installation of synthetic turf fields furnished by the Owner, and installation of light poles and infrastructure furnished by the Owner, complete in place.

Please refer to https://www.twpusc.org/business/ bid_information.php, for details regarding specifications and Bidding requirements.

Matthew R. Serakowski Township Manager

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DOCUMENT 00030-AA ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA PROJECT NUMBER 22LG01 - REBID (GENERAL) LANDSCAPE PACKAGE at PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ELECTRONIC BIDS & BID OPENING PROCEDURE: Electronic Bids will be received by the Allegheny County Airport Authority until 1:00 P.M. prevailing local time, JANUARY 10, 2024.

The ACAA is modifying its typical bid opening process; the formal bid opening procedure will be conducted virtually – any/all firms submitting a Bid to the ACAA will be given special access to view the opening event.

Once bidding is closed, any/all firms submitting a bid will be issued an Invitation (via email) to access the formal bid opening event via a live webcast. Bidders will also be notified of the results via an email within (24) hours of the Bid Opening event.

ACCESS TO BID PACKAGE DOCUMENTS: ALL BIDDERS shall be required to provide a completed formal Bid Document Request application in order to acquire bidding documents for any/all of the above listed Project Numbers.

No bidding documents will be issued prior to the Authority’s Construction Manager having a copy of a fully completed Request Application.

Bid Document Request Applications can be obtained by sending a Request to the following email address: TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com On the Subject Line, include the following: “Bid Documents Request – Landscape Package REBID”.

Once a bidder’s request has been received, provided it is complete, the CM will provide access for the bidder to access and download the bid documents through Building Connected, a web-based bid management platform.

A PREBID CONFERENCE –November 14, 2023 – 11:00 AM The meeting will be a Microsoft Teams Meeting. To join the meeting the following number can be called (877) 286-5733 - United States ( To l l - F r e e ) – C o n f e r e n c e I D 6 1 0 5 9 6 2 6 0 # . P l e a s e e m a i l TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com to receive the link to join by computer.

A site visit will be conducted. Details regarding the site visit will be provided at the Pre-Bid meeting. Note that no questions can be asked during this Prebid Meeting. Any/all questions must be issued to the CM as an “RFI”.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION (RFIs) Any/all questions related to this project must be made in writing to the CM. RFIs are to be sent to the CM via email to TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com BID SUBMISSION Proposals must be made on the Authority’s forms and in accordance with the Plans and Specifications and the “Instructions to Bidders”’.

ACAA will not be accepting any hard copy bids for this Project. Accordingly, Electronic Bids are the only form that the ACAA will accept. While the Instructions to Bidders will provide more details, for an Electronic Bid to be accepted in must be sent through Building Connected and it must be received by no later than the established Bid Date and time deadline.

OTHER ISSUES Attention is called to the fact that not less than the minimum salaries and wages as determined by the General Wage Determinations issued under the Davis-Bacon and related Acts must be paid on these projects.

This project has DBE participation goals; DBE firms must be certified with the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program) (PAUCP). Firms must be certified prior to award of contract. A searchable database of DBE firms can be found on the PAUCP web site: https://paucp.dbesystem.com/ The Airport Authority reserves the right to reject any and all bids or waive any informalities in the bidding.

No bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of one hundred twenty [120] days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids.

To view a complete advertisement, which is also included in the bidding documents visit www.flypittsburgh.com under “Business Opportunities”.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed bids will be received in the Bellefield Avenue Lobby, Administration Building, 341 South Bellefield Avenue until 11:00 A.M. prevailing time November 30, 2023 and will be opened at the same hour in the administration building cafeteria:

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed bids will be received in the Bellefield Avenue Lobby, Administration Building, 341 South Bellefield Avenue until 11:00 A.M. prevailing time November 30, 2023 and will be opened at the same hour in the administration building cafeteria:

REFUSE SERVICEVARIOUS LOCATIONS

Refuse Roll OffsVarious Locations

General Information regarding bids may be obtained at the Purchasing Office, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, RM 349 Pittsburgh, PA 15213. The bid documents are available on the School District’s Purchasing web site at: www.pghschools.org The Board of Public Education reserves the right to reject any and all bids, or select a single item from any bid We are an equal rights and opportunity school district

General Information regarding bids may be obtained at the Purchasing Office, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, RM 349 Pittsburgh, PA 15213. The bid documents are available on the School District’s Purchasing web site at: www.pghschools.org Click on Our Community; Bid Opportunities; Purchasing - under Quick Links.

The Board of Public Education reserves the right to reject any and all bids, or select a single item from any bid.

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Bids/Proposals

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LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT PORT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY D/B/A PITTSBURGH REGIONAL TRANSIT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 23-18 Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is requesting proposals for the performance of the following service (“Contract Services”): FARE VENDING MACHINE REFRESH SERVICES The work under the proposed Agreement(s) consists of the replacement of aging and outdated ticket vending machines with seamless, electronic, automated Fare Vending Machines (FVM) that will administer multiple fare media types including mobile fares.

The Agreement will be for a 5-year period with the option to extend the term of the Agreement up to 2 additional years at the sole discretion of PRT. A copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) will be available on or after November 3, 2023 and can be obtained by registering at the PRT’s ebusiness website: http://ebusiness.ridePRT.org and following the directions listed on the website. Please note that Proposers must register under the ebusiness category(ies) of PSITS – Pro Information Technology; PSSC – Pro Software Consulting; and GSREV – Revenue Collection/Armored Car for this RFP. Proposers may also register in other categories for any future RFPs issued by PRT. If you have specific questions regarding this RFP, please contact Catherine Terrill at (412) 566-5188 or via email CTerrill@ridePRT.org.

An Information Meeting for interested parties will be held at 9:30 a.m., prevailing time, November 21, 2023 via Microsoft Teams video conference and/or conference call to answer any questions regarding this RFP. To join by Microsoft Team video conference: • https://bit.ly/RFP23_18_InfoMtg To join by Microsoft Teams call-in number: • (412) 927-0245 United State, Pittsburgh (Toll) • Conference ID: 102 109 175# A site visit will be held on November 29, 2023 at 1:30 PM for interested parties. Please meet at the PRT offices at 345 Sixth Avenue, Third Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 to participate.

Electronic proposals must be both received, and time stamped by a representative of the Procurement Department through PRT’s Ebusiness website at or before 2:00 p.m., prevailing time, December 12, 2023, at http://ebusiness.ridePRT.org. Proposals received or time stamped by a Procurement Department representative through PRT’s Ebusiness website after the advertised time for the submission of proposals shall be non-responsive and therefore ineligible for award. Each Proposer shall be solely responsible for assuring that its proposal is timely received and time stamped in accordance with the requirements herein.

This Contract Services may be funded, in part, by, and subject to certain requirements of, the County of Allegheny and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The proposal process and the performance of the requested services will be in accordance with guidelines and regulations of the FTA “Third Party Contracting Guidelines”, FTA Circular 4220.1F, as amended, and all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit, in compliance with 49 C.F.R., Part 26, as amended, implements positive affirmative action procedures to ensure that all Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (“DBEs”) have the maximum opportunity to participate in the performance of contracts and subcontracts financed, in whole or in part, with federal funds, if any, provided under or for the proposed Agreement.

In this regard, all recipients or contractors shall take all necessary and reasonable steps in accordance with 49 C.F.R., Part 26, to ensure that DBEs have the maximum opportunity to compete for, and perform contracts and subcontracts for, the Contract Services.

Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit, in compliance with 74 Pa.C.S. § 303, as may be amended, also requires that certified Diverse Businesses, (“DBs”) have the maximum opportunity to compete for, and perform contracts and subcontract for, the Contract Services. In this regard, all Proposers, and the Contractor, shall make good faith efforts, in accordance with 74 Pa.C.S. § 303, to ensure that DBs have the maximum opportunity to compete for, and perform contracts and subcontracts for, the Contract Services.

Further, proposers and the Contractor shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, disability, national origin, sex, sexual origin, gender identity or status as a parent in the award and performance of contracts or subcontracts for these Contract Services Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR CAMERA INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE RFP#350-34-23 The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby requests bids from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Camera Installation and Maintenance RFP#350-34-23 The documents will be available no later than October 30, 2023, and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until 10:00 AM on November 16, 2023. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh will only be accepting physical proposals dropped off in person from 8:00 AM until the closing time of 10:00 AM on November 16, 2023, in the lobby of 412 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15219. Proposals may be uploaded to the Authority’s online submission site; the link is accessible via the HACP website and within the RFP. Sealed proposals may still be mailed via USPS at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at the lobby of 412 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Parties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the Solicitation from the Business Opportunities page of www.HACP.org.

NOVEMBER 8-14, 2023

B7

TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY Is Pickett really the answer?

Haven’t we seen enough?

Hear ye, hear ye, all of you who have entered the court of public opinion may now be seated. The Honorable Judge Aubrey Bruce residing...oops, I meant presiding. Sorry about that...in my court, there is no good or bad because what is, is.

I vividly remember when Steelers QB Kenny Pickett was drafted in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, Pickett cried tears of joy and the Steelers breathed a huge sigh of relief. They needed an heir apparent to replace an aging and ineffective quarterback. However, what the Steelers received was an unsure and inexperienced QB whose claim to fame is his so-called ability to pull off last-minute, fourth-quarter heroics. The Steelers wouldn’t have to be concerned about

itively and be compensated economically. However, their careers were crucified because the pathogen of narcissism untimely infected a few people around them.

Now hear this. Even one of the Steelers’ discarded QBs,

Minnesota Vikings and ex-Arizona Cardinals backup QB Josh Dobbs, is ranked 20th, six spots higher than Kenny Pickett. Before Dobbs was traded from Arizona to Minnesota, he

Questions or inquiries should be directed to: Mr. Kim Detrick Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 412 Boulevard of the Allies 6th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-643-2832 A pre-submission meeting will be held on November 9, 2023, at 10:00 AM via Zoom. Please see meeting information below: Meeting ID: 879 1060 9996 Passcode: 249964 Dial in by phone: +1-309-205-3325 The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond to this solicitation.

HACP’s has revised their website.

As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/ RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion, Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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THE STEELERS’ DIONTAE JOHNSON CELEBRATES AFTER A TOUCHDOWN IN PITTSBURGH’S 20-26 WIN OVER THE TENNESSEE TITANS, NOV. 2. (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN) fourth-quarter comebacks if they could muster a plethora of first downs and just a few more points in the first three quarters of games. Currently, Pickett is the 26th-ranked quarterback in the NFL with a QBR of 81.6. Houston Texans rookie QB C.J. Stroud is ranked seventh in the league with a QBR of 102.9. Remember, Stroud is a rookie!

Recently, the hemming and hawing about the Steelers’ young star wide receiver George Pickens’ dissatisfaction about not being targeted enough has drawn the ire of a few of the “YMG” or Yinzer Media Group, which has called out the young wide receiver. How dare George Pickens want more catches. Kenny Pickett and Steelers Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, oversee the Steelers offense. How dare Pickens add his two cents. He had better get in the huddle and accept whatever crumbs they throw at him, shut up his mouth, and get paid or he will end up in the graveyard of the socalled “selfish” Steelers. I can picture the inscription on his career tombstone now: “Here lies the career of a promising young player, whose playing days were cut short by selfish and self-serving control freaks, simply because he desired to have a productive career.”

I currently walk past the career tombstones of a few past Steelers players. Men with names like LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, Santonio Holmes, Plaxico Burress, Martavis Bryant, and a few others who only wanted to contribute compet-

led the Cardinals to an upset win over the Dallas Cowboys.

This past weekend, Nov. 5, Dobbs threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Powell with less than 30 seconds remaining to lead the Vikings to a 31-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Despite joining the team less than two weeks ago when he was traded to the Vikings from the Cardinals, Dobbs found a way to lead the Vikings to victory. Meanwhile, Kenny Pickett has had the advantage of being with the Steelers system with the same offensive coordinator for more than 18 months, and it seems as if Pickett is giving the term “slow learner” a new definition.

If this keeps up, sooner than later, Kenny Pickett, like his predecessor, Ben Roethlisberger, will be throwing picks into the unsuspecting arms of opposing defensive linemen and blaming the results of his mistakes on receivers running the wrong routes. At this point, Kenny Pickett seems as if he might be a second or even a third-string quarterback. Pickett’s slow starts mean future disaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club.

Depending on Kenny Pickett may be relevant to calling 911 to report that your house is on fire and the fireman responding to the call after 70 percent of the house has been destroyed. There is no room for slow starts. Albert Einstein once said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

THE STEELERS’ JAYLEN WARREN ELUDES TITANS DEFENDERS, AND IN THE BOTTOM PHOTO, STEELER FANS LOVE THEIR BLACK AND GOLD...

B8 NOVEMBER 8-14, 2023

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

2023 NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE HONOREES Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square 300 W. Station Square Dr Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Friday, December 8, 2023 @ 6 PM

Ticket info: $100 for individual tickets/ $1200 for VIP Table To purchase tickets, visit www.newpittsburghcourier.com/woe2023 or call Allison Palm at 412-481-8302 ext. 134

Legacy Honoree Hon. Cynthia A. Baldwin Retired Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Stephanie Moye Fashion Designer S. Moye Fashions

Romodore Abdullah, MSW Executive Director, Crestas Terrace Revitalization Project Therapist, Gateway Rehabilitation Center

Dr. Daren A. Ellerbee Director, Educational Outreach Center University of Pittsburgh, Office of the Provost

Kenya Alford Community Engagement Coordinator, Trade Institute of Pittsburgh Parent/Team Coordinator, Westinghouse Football Team

Brandi Fisher Founder & CEO Alliance for Police Accountability

Sharise Nance Owner, Hand in Hand Counseling Services, LLC Co-Founder, Vitamin C Healing, LLC

Esther M. Franklin Chief Executive Officer ALROWS, LLC

Lingaire Njie Director of Operations Catapult Greater Pittsburgh

Michelle Gainey First Lady, City of Pittsburgh Co-Founder, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Project

Jacquelyn Omotalade Climate Investments National Director Dream.Org

Stacie Allen Director Soul Food Murder Mystery Show Tanya J. Ashby School Social Worker at Martin Luther King PreK-8 Pittsburgh Public Schools Jeneen Asque-Wilson CEO, Abundant Life Community & Home Supports Program Manager of Community Engagement, DHS/OBH/ Bureau of Drug & Alcohol Services Denise H. Baker, MSN, CRNP Director of Operations and Quality Manager Primary Care Health Services Gloria J. Besley President, Regency Crest Realty, Inc. Owner, Gloria J. Besley, LPA Accounting & Tax Services Angela Blanton Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Carnegie Mellon University Sherene Brantley Associate Athletic Director Duquesne University Qiana Buckner Associate Director of Programming, Alliance for Police Accountability Founder & CEO, Lady “Q” Network & A Diamond in the Rough Productions Tracy Lynn Calhoun District Mathematics Academic Coach Pittsburgh Public Schools Dr. Melody Carter-Frye Workforce Development Manager Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority Imogene L. Cathey, Esq. Vice President and General Counsel Seton Hill University Valarie Dallis Coleman Program Director, Naomi’s Place Transitional Housing Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator, The Salvation Army Tracey Conti, MD Chair, Department of Family Medicine University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/UPMC Leontyne T. Daffin, MSN, RN President, Pittsburgh Black Nurses in Action Faculty, UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing Tamika Darwin Program Manager Auberle-Ward Home

L’Tesha J. Gamble-Pettis Manager of PA Treatment Family Foster Care & Foster Parent Recruitment and Licensing Cayuga Centers Sheila Glover Supervisor, Meter Shops and Testing Duquesne Light Company Tanika S. Harris Director of Communications & Community Relations Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh Dr. Virginia R. Hill Chief Academic Officer Environmental Charter School Tiffany T. Huff-Strothers CEO & Founder, When She Thrives Executive Development & Storytelling Coach, The Tiffany Huff Experience Robin Marshall Kelly Vice President of Research, Quality & Compliance Wesley Family Services Tracee Kirkland-Rivers Chief Clinical Officer & Director of Nursing East Liberty Family Health Care Center Sandra K. Lewis Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Delta Service and Education Foundation Nicole Logan Chief Financial Officer Keller Williams Realty, Pittsburgh North Kenya Sheppard Matthews Program Manager Google Natasha N. Mitchell-Jones CEO, 1st Prestige Home Care Agency Founder & Owner, Prestigious Notary Boutique Dr. Shallegra Moye Associate Director, Office of Child Development, University of Pittsburgh Founder & Executive Director, Brilliantly Blessed Community Health & Wellness

For Sponsorship and Advertising opportunities, email ajohnson@newpittsburghcourier.com or call 412-481-8302 ext. 128

Pamela Johnson Powell Executive Assistant II UPMC Pastor Ella Rawlings Pastor, Covenant Church Chaplain, National Church Residency Kendra Janelle Ross, PhD Head of Social Impact Duolingo Tenecia M. Ross Director of Human Resources Mt. Lebanon School District Jacqueline Smith Executive Director Greater Valley Community Services, Inc. Dr. Jessica Merritt Spradley President The Care Based Leadership Collaborative Dr. Margaret J. Starkes Principal, Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5, An African-Centered Academy Pittsburgh Public Schools Lechelle M. Stringa Business Development and Compliance Specialist Parkview Community Federal Credit Union Marisol Wandiga Valentin Executive Director McAuley Ministries Foundation Cynthia VanHolten-Dixon Senior Vice President, Product Management BNY Mellon Dr. Diamonte Walker Chief Executive Officer Pittsburgh Scholar House Ericka D. Wingfield Reintegration Specialist Allegheny County Juvenile Probation Fantasy Zellars Founder/CEO Bounce Marketing & Events