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African Americans encouraged to join construction trades Free community workshop Jan. 27

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

Between 1999 and 2014, southwestern Pennsylvania saw an average of about $2.7 billion in annual union commercial construction. Last year alone, that figure more than doubled to $5.6 billion, and in 2019, it is projected to be $6.3 billion—and the trade unions are working to see that more of the region’s African

Americans earn some of that money.

On Jan. 27, the Builders Guild of Western PA, in partnership with community and educational partners, will hold a Construction Trades Careers Community Workshop to introduce young Black men and women to poten-

tial life-changing opportunities.

Tim Stevens, founder of the Black Political Empowerment Project, Odell Richardson of Pittsburgh Community Services and Builders Guild Executive Director Jeff Nobers met with the New Pittsburgh Courier editorial board, Jan. 4, to discuss the workshop

and ongoing efforts to recruit Blacks into the trades.

“I’d like to say this is a ‘Nate Smith’ moment, recalling the great Black labor advocacy work he did in the 1960s to integrate the unions,” said Stevens. “We have an obligation to keep that fire alive.”

While Smith fought primarily with the United Steelworkers, the Builders Guild includes 18 different trade unions ranging from laborers and masons to operating engineers and electricians—and all of them, Nobers said, are going to be needing workers—and it’s not just in construction, but in the maintenance and repair that follows.

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Coro Pittsburgh to honor ‘silent community champions’

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

MARITA GARRETT was sworn in as Wilkinsburg mayor, Jan. 2. She previously was vice president of Borough Council. (Photo by Tationna Smalley)

Marita Garrett, the woman in charge At just 31 years old, she’s Wilkinsburg’s new mayor

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

A group of residents, concerned about their Wilkinsburg community, said enough is enough.

Fed up with the school district, school taxes, elected officials, and the borough’s negative per-

ception, they put a call out online and on social media for anyone who wanted to be part of turning Wilkinsburg around.

Wilkinsburg resident Marita Garrett answered that call in 2013.

Today, she is Wilkinsburg’s mayor.

“2013 was a pivotal year,

I didn’t see any progress or anything happening in the borough,” Garrett said. “I wanted to get involved in the community.

It was time.”

Garrett had been living in Wilkinsburg for three years at the time, and decided to run for a seat on the Wilkinsburg Borough

Council. And she was elected, officially taking office in January 2014.

Two years later, in 2016, Garrett became vice president of Wilkinsburg Council.

And despite not being endorsed by a Democratic SEE GARRETT A4

than ever. At Coro, we pride ourselves in identifying homegrown talent and the awards create an opportunity to shed light on the individuals who typically get overlooked for the transformational ways they’ve invested in our regions past,

You can be well-known, or little-known, but to those at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership, all that matters is the impact of your community service.

With the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards ceremony on the horizon, Jan. 20, Coro’s President and CEO, Sabrina Saunders Mosby, says her team is ready to deliver the awards into the hands of those most deserving.

“I am grateful to acknowledge the work and leadership of our silent community SABRINA SAUNDERS MOSBY champions each year,” Saunders Mosby told the New Pittsburgh Couri- present and future.” er in an exclusive interview, The event, to be held at Jan. 2. “As Pittsburgh con- the DoubleTree by Hilton tinues to make a remark- Hotel and Suites, 1 Bigelow able transformation from Square, beginning at 6:30 its steel town past, there’s p.m., will honor one individa large segment of the pop- ual or organization each for ulation that is disconnected the Coro Alumni Leaderfrom the ‘second renais- ship Award, Organizational sance’ happening here. In Leadership Award, Innoorder to address the chal- vation Leadership Award lenges of our region, we and Individual Leadership need more than financial Award. With upwards of 50 resources; we also need to total nominees between the nurture ethical leadership four awards, Coro recently and foster networks of civ- announced the finalists for ic engagement and trust. each award.

Dr. King’s legacy and his SEE CORO A5 message are more relevant

New Homestead council member wants more mentors, job training

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

MARY NESBY

Mary Nesby has taken her concern for the youth of Homestead to the people, and this past November, the people responded by electing her to the Borough Council for a four-year term. Nesby’s three sons were on hand to watch as she was sworn in Jan. 2 by Mayor Betty Esper.

Nesby said she is excited and can’t wait to get to work on her priorities—which center largely on the borough’s youth.

“I ran because, while I love our council, a lot of them are old-

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er and are a bit out location in which she of touch with what’s can expand the day“I ran because, while I love our council, a lot of them care to a group facilgoing on with our young people,” Nesby are older and are a bit out of touch with what’s going on ity and hire staff, has told the New Pittsbeen inspiring—esburgh Courier in an with our young people. I thought they needed someone pecially considering exclusive interview. her focus on youth, “I thought they need- who was more about the community than about poli- and the fact that her ed someone who was tics.” youngest son is on the more about the comautism spectrum.

MARY NESBY “God has put me munity than about politics. I’m not a in the right place. It politician—I’m a taxhas opened my eyes,” paying mother, and soon-to-be grandmother. I think it’s Nesby said. “We have to go back and get some of these important to focus on job training, education and coun- parents help, so they can help their children—a lot didn’t seling. So, it was time for me quit talking the talk and have the tools because they were going through things start walking the walk—but I’ll keep talking, too.” themselves. So, in some cases you have three generations Nesby is owner of Mary’s Little Lambs Daycare and a of who weren’t equipped to be parents.”

Notary Public. Currently she is working as an adminisIn addition to working to increase mentors, education, trative assistant with Turtle Creek Valley Mhmr, which and job-training opportunities throughout the borough, provides a variety of behavioral health services to resi- Nesby said a priority is making sure economic developdents of all ages.

SEE NESBY A6 She said the position, which she took while she finds a

LaTasha D. Mayes says

It’s time for America to #TrustBlackWomen Opinion B4

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NATIONAL

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

For the Week of January 10-16, 2018 January 10 1924—Legendary Jazz drummer and composer Max Roach is born in New York City. He was perhaps the greatest drummer-composer of the Jazz era performing with some of America’s best known Jazz musicians and singers. He formed Debut Records in 1952 with bassist Charles Mingus.

1957—The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded in New Orleans, La., by a group of Black ministers led

by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The SCLC goes on to become one of the premier leadership organizations of the Civil Rights Movement.

Among the original founders were Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, Fred Shuttlesworth and C.K. Steel.

Washington, D.C., Min. Walter Fauntroy was chairman of the board of directors and

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This Week In Black History

one of the leading women of the Civil Rights Movement, Ella Baker, became executive director. In 2009, King’s daughter Bernice was elected to head the organization.

January 11 1965—The extraordinarily talented author and dramatist Lorraine Hansberry dies. Deeply committed to the Black struggle, Hansberry’s brilliant career was cut short by cancer. She was only 35. Her primary works included “A Raisin In The Sun” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” “A Raisin In The Sun” became the first play written by a young Black woman to be produced on Broadway.

1971—Popular R&B singer Mary J. Blige is born on this day in the Bronx, N.Y. Blige starred in the Lifetime movie “Betty and Coretta” alongside Angela Bassett, Malik Yoba and Lindsay Owen Pierre. She played Dr. Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X. 1988—Scientists (paleo-anthropologists) announce the discovery of the “African Eve”—the mother of all humankind. Based on research in East African involving

mitochondrial DNA, the researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford, England, conclude that the original woman evolved in East Africa approximately 200,000 years ago and that all of humanity can ultimately trace their ancestry to this woman.

However, some more recent studies suggest that humankind first evolved in Southern Africa.

January 12 1890—Educator Mordecai Wyatt Johnson is born in Paris, Texas. Johnson became the first Black president of Howard University and presided over the prestigious Black institution for more than 30 years. He died in 1976.

1920—Civil rights leader James Farmer is born on this day in Marshal, Texas. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s he was among the top three or four most prominent civil rights leaders. He helped organize the “Freedom Rides” to help desegregate public transportation and founded the Congress of Racial

Equality. He died in 1999.

January 13 1869—On this day in 1869, one of the earliest post-Civil War attempts at organizing Blacks on a national level occurs. The National Convention of Black Leaders is held in Washington, D.C. Frederick Douglass is elected president. Also, the first Black labor union convention takes place. It was called the Convention of the Colored National Labor Union.

1913—The sorority Delta Sigma Theta is organized on the campus of Howard University by 22 coeds.

1953—Don Barksdale becomes the first African-American to play in an NBA All-Star game.

1966—Robert C. Weaver becomes the first Black member of a presidential cabinet. Lyndon B. Johnson appoints him Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

1987—In what many considered a racist decision, Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham rescinds the gubernatorial decree, which had

The Pittsburgh OASIS Intergenerational Tutor Program is seeking volunteers (50+) to tutor in Pittsburgh and Woodland Hills School Districts in grade K-4. An hour a week can change a child’s life!

Trainings on Tuesday, January 23 and Thursday, January 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 411 Seventh Ave., Suite 525 (Duquesne Light Building) downtown Pittsburgh. All training, materials and clearances are provided free of charge. For more information or to register, contact John D. Spehar, OASIS Tutoring Program Director at (412) 393-7648 or by email at jdspehar@ oasisnet.org.

OASIS is an Affiliate of Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council

established the birthday of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. as a state holiday.

The decision sets off protests and a national Black boycott of Arizona.

1989—Poet Sterling Brown dies. Brown, a middle-class Black, born into one of Washington, D.C.’s, most prominent Black families, has probably never received full credit for the power, thought-provoking and even revolutionary nature of his poetry. He was a professor at Howard University for nearly 40 years.

1999—Superstar Michael Jordan retires from professional basketball. However, in 2009, Jordan was still ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the top 10 richest Blacks in America.

January 14 1895—A group of African-Americans organized the National Steamboat Co. in Washington, D.C. The group sailed the luxury steamer “George Leary” between the nation’s capital and Norfolk, Va., during the waning years of steamboat popularity in America. The George Leary was a triumph for Black entry into business.

1930—Ernest Just becomes vice president of the American Association of Zoologists. Just was perhaps the most noted Black zoologist in American history.

He accomplished pioneering research in fertilization and cell division while also publishing more than 70 scientific papers and books.

Born in Charleston, S.C., he was a brilliant student who graduated from Dartmouth magna cum laude. He taught at Howard University in Washington, D.C., for years and helped a group of students organize the Black Greek letter fraternity— Omega Psi Phi. Just died in 1941 of pancreatic cancer.

1972—“Sanford and Son” starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson premiers on NBC. The sitcom gains almost immediate popularity among Blacks as well as develop a large following of

Whites. The name “Sanford” came from John Sanford— Redd Foxx’s real name.

January 15 1908—Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black Greek letter sorority, is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.,

by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle of St. Louis, Mo. The sorority gradually branched out to other campuses and became one of the leading organizational vehicles for college-trained Black women to make their mark on American society.

1929—Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the man who was to become America’s greatest civil rights hero, was born on this day in 1929. Actually, his original given name was “Michael,” but it was later changed to Martin. He first rose to national prominence as the country’s premier civil rights leader when he successfully led the 19551956 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott by Blacks angered by the arrest of Rosa Parks for her refusal to give up her seat on a city bus to a White man. In 1957, King was elected to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which became the leading organization of the civil rights era. Between 1957 and 1968, he traveled more than six million miles, gave more than 2,500 speeches, was arrested more than 20 times, and physically assaulted at least four times—all on behalf of civil rights for American Blacks.

Perhaps his most famous speech was the “I Have A Dream” speech given before a crowd of 250,000 during the March on Washington Aug. 28, 1963. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and the nation now celebrates his birth as a national holiday on the third Monday of January.

1961—One of the original super groups—The Supremes—signed with Black record company Motown on this day in 1961. The name was later changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes and the R&B singers rocketed to international fame.

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JANUARY 10-16, 2018

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JANUARY 10-16, 2018

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Marita Garrett becomes Wilkinsburg’s first Black female mayor

MARITA GARRETT, sworn-in as the new mayor of Wilkinsburg, Jan. 2. The event occurred in front of Borough Council and over 100 community members who wanted to witness the historic occasion. Courier photographer Tationna Smalley captured the event in photos.

GARRETT FROM A1

committee, despite no state or federal elected officials who came out to support Garrett in her run for mayor by Garrett’s count, “you keep going because you see what the community needs,” she said. “I am part of the community, I live in the community.”

Garrett, in an exclusive interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 2, said perseverance was her greatest quality. That perseverance may explain why when it was time to officially swear-in the person as Wilkinsburg mayor, Jan. 2, that person was Garrett.

“I’m here just for that, it’s a time for celebration,” said Valerie McDonald Roberts

of the swearing-in ceremony for Garrett held at the Wilkinsburg Municipal Building. McDonald Roberts knows a little something about politics—she was the first Black woman elected to Pittsburgh’s City Council, in 1994. “We can celebrate (Garrett’s) accomplishment, but ultimately it’s about the service and it’s about the deeds that you perform, where God has put you. I’m going to be accessible to her to make sure that she succeeds.”

Garrett defeated James Truedell Hayden, Michael A. Johnson and Andre L. Scott in the May 2017 Democratic primary. That victory, in effect, was the de facto mayoral election,

in the heavily-Democratic borough. She succeeds John Thompson, who was mayor since 2006.

“This is a small municipality, but this is something big,” McDonald Roberts continued. “The politics of winning this kind of race is no different than the politics of a larger setting. It’s, how do you do this when you may not be the endorsed candidate?

You may be the newest person on the block, you may be young, and female and Black…how do you do this?

The same methodology, the same strategy and the same perseverance has to be in place. There’s a lot to celebrate, the fact that she did it.”

Michael Rose, a current Wilkinsburg Council member, said he wouldn’t even be in his current position if it weren’t for Garrett. She told him his presence was needed on Council, as the majority-Black borough didn’t have any Black male members on Council. Rose ran for office, was elected, and was swornin two years ago.

“Her zeal for finding allies outside Wilkinsburg to partner with, her dexterity, her command of a room, and to keep everybody on target when we’re communicating so we don’t digress into other things, that’s what I think we’re going to gain from her,” Rose told the Courier.

Now a week and “some change” into her first term as mayor, “change” is what Garrett is seeking. She wants Wilkinsburg’s perception to change, this negative perception that perpetuates in the minds of those who live inside and outside the borough.

“Everyone wants to always assume there’s a killing happening every day,” she said. “We’re not this haven of crime that people paint us out to be.”

Homicides totaled 110 in Allegheny County in 2017; just two in Wilkinsburg— 24-year-old Lamont Carey, near Wood St. on Nov. 25, and Kelly Gunn, 24, near Maple and Hunter streets on June 24.

“When you step into our community, you’re not going to feel like, ‘Oh I need to

duck these bullets,’ you’ll see neighbors walking their dogs, friendly business owners, longtime businesses,” Garrett said. “You have a lot of places that are pretty much a part of the social fabric.”

In recent months, Wilkinsburg has beefed up its presence on social media, promoting events like a holiday Christmas parade, Dec. 9, established a “Flyboy” inspirational mural near the East Busway, painted by renowned artist Hebru Brantley, and held its annual back-to-school outdoor bash before the start of the 2017-2018 school year. The borough also hosted a Senior Day in December for its residents, and added a sizable welcome landmark on the corner of Penn and Trenton avenues, a huge red “W” welcoming those into the new Wilkinsburg.

Garrett also wants to better the borough’s internal communication between

departments. She said she’ll be the more proactive person, and combined with her energy, the borough can reach new heights.

“We have a great borough staff, but making sure everyone is working together, including the police department, finance, code, administration staff…we have a great community here, it’s only going to get better… to really make sure we are serving the needs of residents,” Garrett said.

Who knew that an Akron, Ohio native, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007 with a bachelor’s in psychology, who spent years working at the Alzheimer Disease Research Center, would end up in politics, in public service?

Garrett’s response was simple. “There was a need that I saw that needed to be fulfilled, that hadn’t been fulfilled.”

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Cue Perry...

Redefining art, by not defining it at all

by Merecedes J. Howze

didn’t know any Black artists,” Perry told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview.

A school teacher by day, “I didn’t hear of the term an artist by night, C.B. ‘Black artist’ until I was Perry is, “the Creative about 15. Representation Manifestation of Quentin matters.”

Perry.”

Perry, along with 19 other The Pittsburgh Brashear artists, will soon be recoggraduate, with a few nized in a Black History strokes of a paintbrush, Month campaign with has decided not to define Pittsburgh Public Schools. his role as an artist in This project will introduce Pittsburgh. From risky, Black artists in Pittsburgh riveting body painting who are currently making to culturally-relevant a contribution to their comportraits, the 32-year-old artist, also known as “Cue,” munity and the arts.

When asked about his has remained unapologetic specific art form, Perry about his journey as an replied, “I don’t necessarillustrator. ily have a style; it’s a gift As a kid growing up in Manchester, Perry “was too and a curse. What sets artsy for the hood kids and me apart is the fact that too hood for the artsy kids. I don’t have a style. I am If you didn’t play sports or not limited to a specific disweren’t a part of the street cipline.”

Born and raised in Pittslifestyle you were considburgh, Perry recognizes ered a lame.” As a result, that his city is “rich in art Perry kept his passion for and many people aren’t art “hidden.” aware.

It wasn’t until he was 30 “From Romare Bearden years old and financially to Andy Warhol,” he said, broke when he decided “this city inspires me and I to begin a career in art. hope my work can inspire “People kept telling me I people just the same.” should take art serious, Over the past two years, so I decided to do exactly Perry has sold over 200 that.” paintings. He primarily While Perry enjoys how paints on canvasses, but art allows him to express has also done murals, such himself creatively, he as on the playground of dislikes the lack of Black Carlow University’s Early art that’s represented.

Learning Center. He also “Growing up, I personally For New Pittsburgh Courier

BRASHEAR GRADUATE CUE PERRY has sold more than 200 paintings in the past two years. He will have a “live painting” at Repair the World in East Liberty, Jan. 12. has done face-painting for charity events, and enjoys the overall art of “live painting” as audiences watch.

In efforts to provide local artists with “a platform to showcase their talents and expand their brand,” Pittsburgh resident Vernard Alexander has been hosting an event called “Connectically Speaking” for the past two years. The next one, scheduled for Jan. 12, 9 p.m. at Repair the World, 6022 Broad St. in East Liberty, will feature about a dozen poets, and the live painting by Cue Perry.

“Cue has been a newly

Coro Leadership finalists announced CORO FROM A1

2018 Coro Alumni Leadership Award Finalists: Duane Binion, Senior Producer, Kelly Strayhorn Theater; Sara Innamorato, Founder, Innamo Co.; Darcel Madkins, President, African American Employee Business Resource Group, PNC Bank. 2018 Organizational Leadership Award Finalists: 1Hood Media; Bible Center Church/The Oasis Project; Casa San Jose.

2018 Innovation Leadership Award Finalists: Melanie Carter (also known as Blak Rapp M.A.D.U.S.A.), Hip-Hop activist and artist; Peyton Klein, Founder, Global Minds Initiative; Mary Jane McCullough, Founder, Global Wordsmiths. 2018 Individual Leadership Award Finalists: LaRae Cullens, Founder, Dream 2 S.T.E.A.M.; Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, Judah Fellowship Christian Church; Christy Pendarvis, Mission From Mars.

“We have such tremendous leaders in our community who are doing incredible work and lift Dr. King’s legacy through their leadership and service,” Saunders Mosby said.

For more information on the 11th annual 2018 Coro Pittsburgh MLK Leadership Awards ceremony, including ticket information, visit www.coropittsburgh. org.

DARCEL MADKINS, a finalist for the Alumni Leadership Award

DUANE BINION, a finalist for the Alumni Leadership Award

LARAE CULLENS, a finalist for the Individual Leadership Award

regular supporter of my events,” Alexander said.

After Perry posted a picture of a female model on Facebook featuring Perry’s artistry via body paint, Alexander initiated a conversation with Perry.

Alexander believes the addition of Perry will only add to the event’s appeal.

The models, who all volunteered to be painted at Connectically Speaking, Jan. 12., are a mixture of local talents and Facebook friends.

In the present, “this Friday (Jan. 12) is a great

opportunity to showcase my artwork in a creative, different way,” Perry said.

But, “in five years, I hope to be headlining gallery shows across the nation.”

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

African Americans being courted for construction trades jobs Exploratory community workshop to be held Jan. 27 at PPG Paints Arena

CONSTRUCTION FROM A1

“In addition to all that work coming up, over the next 10 years, we’re going to have between 14,000 and 15,000 tradesmen retiring,” he said. “So what we’re doing with these ca-

reer fairs is teaming up with as many partners as we can to reduce barriers people have to taking advantage of these opportunities.”

Contrary to popular belief, a criminal record is not

necessarily an impediment to getting a position that starts at $18 an hour plus free Cadillac health care and pension benefits.

“There are two major impediments,” said Nobers.

“The first is—do you have

a driver’s license? Because you need to get to the job site. The second is—can you pass a drug test? You can’t be on the site if you can’t. Even guys prescribed, say, pain medicine by doctors, can’t come back

TIM STEVENS to work until they are done taking it.”

Richardson noted that people lose their licenses for non-traffic-related offenses like failing to pay child support. Others who could have lost theirs for a short period and paid a fine for a minor violation might not have turned it in, which leads to fines escalating and the suspension lengthening—because the clock doesn’t start ticking until the license is turned in.

That’s why Duquesne University Law School Professor Tracy McCants Lewis is one of the partners in this effort—as is Community College of Allegheny County, which can provide the preparation needed to pass the union entrance exams. The math is mostly algebra, said Nobers, except for the electricians’ union test, which involves higher math like calculus.

“I only ask people to come in with an open mind—because we’re serious,” said Nobers. “I hope we’re overwhelmed.”

The Construction Trades Careers Community Workshop Event will be held Saturday, Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. Free parking is available at the Arena South Lot on Centre Avenue.

Nesby says she’s about the community, not politics NESBY FROM A1

ment reaches “up the hill” from 8th Avenue, which, despite the development at the Waterfront, is seeing new business openings after years of decline.

“The Voodoo Brewery has been there for a while, but one of the things they do is set aside a portion of their profits and donate it to the fire department,” she said. “I want to meet with the new businesses coming in to see if we can’t get them to do something similar. If everyone pitches in, we can put something in place to help these kids, and maybe make Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall more of a single Steel Valley community.”

But she is a newcomer, she said, so she will watch and learn and take small steps at first.

“I always have to put Christ first. I don’t graduate from the Local Government Academy until March—but I’m excited about that, too,” she said.

“The courses are awesome.

It’s a great resource.”

Homestead Council consists of nine members; seven voting members plus the solicitor and the borough engineer. The mayor only votes in the event of a tie.

Public meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month.

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‘She was this diminutive woman who was a force of nature—when she talked, everyone listened.’

KATIE EVERETTE JOHNSON

Katie Everette Johnson, the 2018 Spirit of King honoree

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

The late Katie Everette Johnson did not like being saluted for her work— it was what you did, she would say, what God wanted you to do. You don’t take credit for that. So, when she learned she was named one of the New Pittsburgh Courier Women of Excellence Legacy Award winners, she had to be bullied into accepting.

Malik Bankston, executive director of the Kingsley Association, has no doubt she would feel the same about being honored with this year’s Spirit of King award—an award she was instrumental in creating nearly 30 years ago.

“She never liked taking credit—that was for other people,” said Bankston.

“Her funeral was the same way. It was like she had left instructions about what you could and couldn’t do—and

all with the sense that ‘this is a bit of annoyance to me but if you must do it, here are the guidelines.’ And everyone in attendance was nodding their heads saying, ‘Yep. That’s Katie.”

The Kingsley Association, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New Pittsburgh Courier present the Spirit of King award posthumously each year to individuals from Pittsburgh who best personify the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and who have impacted the region in the areas of civil rights, leadership, culture and education.

“This is going to be bittersweet,” Bankston told the Courier in an exclusive interview, Jan. 9. “Katie was the engine, the spark plug for this program, before I came to Kingsley. This is my 20th year doing this, and though she couldn’t attend last year, this is really the first one without her.”

Johnson said she began her civil rights mission at an early age, learning from the books her Sunday School teacher, her mother, used for class. When she joined the Urban League in the 1940s, civil rights was her job. While there, she and fellow workers organized sit-ins to desegregate a popular Downtown eatery.

In 1954, she organized the Urban League’s National Conference in Pittsburgh— the first time it was held here. And, along with the NAACP, helped to get the first Black engineer hired at a major city firm, and the first Black female hired at Bell Telephone.

In 1973, Johnson was hired by Port Authority Transit (PATransit), now Port Authority of Allegheny County, in the media relations department and was later promoted to manager of the Office of Equal Opportunity, a position she held until retirement 20

years later.

Also in the 1970s, Johnson, Cathy Irvis and Constance Parker founded the Black Women’s Political Crusade, aimed at getting more Black women to not only take a stronger interest in politics, but to also run for office.

During her time at the Port Authority, Johnson monitored the recruitment, hiring and promotion of Black employees, and seeing that authority contracts included Minority-, Women- and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. She also is credited with creating Classroom on Wheels, a program where PAT drivers visited local schools to explain transportation and their jobs to students, in an effort to address the problem of kids disrespecting bus drivers. And even in retirement, she continued to fight for justice.

“She was this diminutive woman who was a force of

nature—when she talked, everyone listened,” said Bankston. “I don’t think anyone in the history of this program has ever been recognized so soon after passing. It’s been less than a year—and she’s a single honoree. I can’t remem-

ber the last time that happened. The fact that she stands alone seems fitting and appropriate.”

The Spirit of King Award ceremony will take place Jan. 11, at 10 a.m. at the Kingsley Association in East Liberty.

KATIE EVERETTE JOHNSON, the longtime Pittsburgh civil rights advocate, is the 2018 Spirit of King honoree, Jan. 11 at the Kingsley Association. Johnson passed away on March 8, 2017.

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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Hill District Library to show ‘Selma’ at noon, Jan. 13 The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Hill District branch, 2177 Centre Ave., will show the movie “Selma” from noon to 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 13. Selma is a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as Dr. King, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as George Wallace, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Common as Bevel.

Selma premiered at the American Film Institute Festival on Nov. 11, 2014, began a limited U.S. release on Dec. 25, and expanded into wide theatrical release on Jan. 9, 2015, two months before the 50th anniversary of the march.

The film got a re-release on March 20, 2015 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the historical march.

Selma had four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Pic-

DAVID OYELOWO, middle, plays Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma,” which also features Corey Reynolds and Colman Domingo. ture—Drama, Best Director and Best Actor and won for Best Original Song. It was also nominated for Best Picture and won Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards.

The Saturday, Jan. 13

noon movie matinee of Selma at the Carnegie Library’s Hill District branch is open to all ages.

For more information on the Hill District library, call 412-281-3753.

IN THIS ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

RAPPER, ACTIVIST AND ACTOR COMMON played a prominent role in the film, “Selma.”

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

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The New Pittsburgh Courier celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

THE REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. is welcomed with a kiss by his wife Coretta after leaving court in Montgomery, Ala., March 22, 1956. Dr. King was found guilty of conspiracy to boycott city buses in a campaign to desegregate the bus system, but a judge suspended his $500 fine pending appeal. (Associated Press Photo)

THE REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. looks at the glass door of his rented beach cottage in St. Augustine, Fla., that was shot into on June 5, 1964. No one was in the house at the time of the shooting. THE KING FAMILY is pictured at home in Atlanta: from left, Martin Dr. King was in St. Augustine to meet with other integration leaders. Luther King III, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Dexter, 4, and Yolanda, 9. June 20, 1965. (Associated Press Photo) (Associated Press Photo)

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JANUARY 10-16, 2018

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Freedom ain’t free—lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

by Keith A. Owens

Take your pick of any number of outrageous Michigan Chronicle items related to Trump and “Change does not roll in his so-called presidency and on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom.

A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, because it emphasizes something that I believe we all need to be very mindful of in these times of Trump and everything else that we’re living through, namely that the work is never, ever KEITH OWENS done. The minute you think you’ve actually arrived there is more than enough at the Promised Land is reason for outrage and anthe minute your Promised ger. The kind of outrage and anger that makes you want Land pass gets revoked.

Freedom is hard work, be- to do something about it. cause evil simply does not But also keep in mind what Dr. King and so many othsleep.

ers before him found out in the course of the struggle; it is never about just one person or event. It is about taking several big steps back and reviewing the entire broad landscape of injustice that is stretched out before us all that reaches beyond where our eyes are willing to reach.

And then it is about taking direct action.

Voters, especially Black voters, took action in one of the reddest states in America when they got rid of Roy Moore last month and paved the way for Doug Jones in a victory no one could see coming. Voters in Virginia took action that same month when they elected Lt. Governor Ralph Northam over Ed Gillespie in a decisive victory that left no doubt and sent a clear message to Trump.

Come November, the mid-

term elections will provide Americans with a number of opportunities to send a whole bunch of messages to Trump, hopefully of the sort that cannot be reprinted in a family newspaper.

The electoral math seems to show that the most likely place for an upset victory will be in the House, but there’s a chance for the Senate as well. This may be the last, best chance that thoughtful, sane Americans have to begin reclaiming the country that is supposed to belong to all of us, not just the ones who proclaim themselves the Only Real Americans. Because the only real Americans are actually the ones willing to fight to the last breath and do whatever is necessary to make this country live up to its creed, as Dr. King once said. Those men referred to as the founders of this

nation (I say “referred to” because the Native American population might have a few issues with that designation) may not have intended for all of us to be included when they wrote all those high-minded words, but those founders are now dead and we aim to be included in that promise. This land is our land now. Or as King said: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

One of the many things that made Dr. King special, and so very effective as a spiritual and moral leader, was his ability to force America to look at itself, even as it tried to break every mirror in the house. He forced America to not only recognize the value and the rights of Black people, he forced America to question its own value as a nation unable —and unwilling—to

11TH ANNUAL LET FREEDOM SING CONCERTS CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Saturday, Jan. 13 (free admission) at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Hill District Monday, Jan. 15 (tickets $1+) at Byham Theater, Downtown Both concerts to begin at 7 p.m.

Two concerts to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and showcase The Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh and an intergenerational choir of singers from high school, church, temple and community choirs from across greater Pittsburgh, and two dance troupes—Trevor C. Dance Collective and Reed Dance II. Lynne Hayes-Freeland of KDKA-TV is the emcee.

For more info: www.letfreedomsing.net or 412-456-6666

fulfill its own promises to itself. He made America see that if we are not all valued as Americans then America is at risk.

What we are witnessing now is the naked display of all the evidence required to prove that not just the idea and dream of America, but the raw nuts and bolts that hold it together, are coming undone. Many are questioning whether America is going backward, or whether it ever really made any progress at all since Dr. King demanded that we all rise to the capabilities of not just our better selves but our best selves. The truth may be that, collectively speaking, we did not continue the work as consistently as it needed to be done, making it easier for cracks to splinter the wall we thought we had fortified against the perverse monstrosity we are currently facing.

We let our guard down, in other words. The devil stayed busy while we propped up our feet and congratulated ourselves prematurely on a civil rights–and human rights–victory that had not really been won. It’s not easy to accept the truth that you never truly arrive at your destination in the fight for freedom, but the sooner we accept that reality the better chance we have of at least keeping the beast at bay. As Dr. King said: “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

Meaning individuals who aren’t afraid to raise their voice at every opportunity and every evidence of injustice.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Let’s get to work.

(Keith A. Owens is the senior editor of the Michigan Chronicle.)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—His life, his achievements

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., (Jan. 15, 1929–April 4, 1968) was a pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

He was born Michael King, but his father changed his name in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career.

He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and after the success of this campaign he decided to make the fight for civil rights his lifetime goal.

Needing an organization to work from he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.

With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, Ga., in 1962, and organized nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Ala, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

On Oct. 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, he and the SCLC helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches and the following year, he took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and speak against the Vietnam War, alienating many of his allies with a 1967 speech titled “Beyond Vietnam.”

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People’s

Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, where he was organizing a march in support of equal pay for garbage collectors there. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.

King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor.

In addition, a county was rededicated in his honor. A memorial statue on the National Mall was opened to the public in 2011.

Growing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School.

He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school’s debate team. King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal in 1942 at age 13.

During his junior year, he won first prize in an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks Club in Dublin, Ga. Returning home to Atlanta, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so White passengers could sit down.

King refused initially, but complied after his teacher informed him that he would be breaking the law if he did not go along with the order. He later characterized this incident as “the angriest I have ever been in my life.” A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grades of high school. At age 15, King passed the exam and entered Morehouse.

The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, an eighteen-year old King made the choice to enter the ministry after he concluded the church offered the most assuring way to answer “an

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. inner urge to serve humanity”. King’s “inner urge” had begun developing and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a “rational” minister with sermons that were “a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.”

In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a B.A. degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa., from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951.

King was elected president of the student body.

King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his PhD. Degree in 1955, with a dissertation on “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., when he was 25 years old, in 1954. As a Christian minister, his main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in

public discourses. King’s faith was strongly based in Jesus’ commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His non-violent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’ teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus’ “extremist” love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated: “Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry. I have no other ambitions in life but to achieve excellence in the Christian ministry. I don’t plan to run for any political office. I don’t plan to

do anything but remain a preacher. And what I’m doing in this struggle, along with many others, grows out of my feeling that the preacher must be concerned about the whole man.”

His study of Mahatma Gandhi struggle in India also had a lot to do with his tactics of nonviolence as well as the general knowledge of most Black Southerners that an armed confrontation would be disastrous for Blacks.

In his speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”, he stated that he just wanted to do God’s will.

Veteran African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin served as King’s main advisor and mentor in the late 1950s.

Mahatma Gandhi’s success with non-violent activism, King had “for a long time...wanted to take a trip to India.” With assistance from the Quaker group the American Friends Service Committee, he was able to make the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America’s struggle for civil rights.

In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.”

One-aspect scholars haven’t dealt with for the non-violent method of King is common sense and common knowledge of the South. Just about every Southerner had a gun and could use them and had demonstrated this many times in the past when Blacks spoke out. So if

Blacks took up guns in the South they would have in most cases been eliminated quickly, and probably would have been supported by many Whites in the north.

King and other activists throughout the South understood this.

As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: “I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either.” King stated that Black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs.

In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting Black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and Whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.

He posited that “the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils”. He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on Blacks. He stated, “It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races.”

Information for this article was obtained from various sources, including Wikipedia, “From Slavery to Freedom,” “Before the Mayflower,” and “Biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

LIFESTYLES New Pittsburgh Courier

Kyle’s Story Religion B10

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Classifieds Find what you need from jobs to cars to housing B5-B6

B

Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report My favorite things for now My dream is to have a big event and give away my favorite things to all of the guests, kind of like a SWAG (stuff we all get) bag. Dreams do come true, who knows, the event may happen sooner than I think.

In the meantime I was thinking about my list of favorite things and how it has not changed much since I first wrote it. I’m glad the things that I still like so much are still around. Topping my list is Creamy Vaseline. I use this product on my hands and body. If my purse is big enough I always have a tube in my purse. You cannot find this product everywhere and when I go into some stores they have no idea what I am talking about.

What I love most about Creamy Vaseline is it’s fragrance free. I don’t like hand lotion with fragrance because in most cases, with fragrance comes alcohol and alcohol dries your skin. I need to write a letter to Unilever and tell them to place this product in more stores.

Another on the favorites list is flavored decaf coffee. Rarely do I drink high test coffee; it makes me so jittery.

When I can find flavored decaf coffee I am so happy. Coffee manufacturers should realize that not everyone can have caffeine.

Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad is my alltime favorite fast food salad. To tell the truth it is my favorite salad overall. I am so happy that Wendy’s still makes it. The last time I got one the blue cheese crumbles were forgotten, I was livid. That happens way too often. I try to go inside and order the salad so I can check the contents before I leave the restaurant. I called Wendy’s to report these incidents and they promised to call me back but they did not. One of my other favorites is Peeps, yes those yellow marshmallows that look like a little baby chick. I kind of like the pink rabbits also. Now there are Peeps for every season but I only buy them at Easter. Thinking of other favorite things to eat...I love Granny Smith apples with peanut butter.

That combination is one of the best snacks and it is healthy. High thread count sheets were on the last list and are on this list as well. Don’t be fooled by sheets that have a high number on the label. Some sheets use the number as a brand name and then when you read the fabric content you find that the sheets are not high thread count at all. You may have to pay a little more for the better ones but they feel so good against your skin. Be careful of those micro-fiber sheets; after a short while they “pill” and pull the little hairs on your legs and arms. Horrible.

Rounding out my list of favorite things are fashionable narrow shoes.

Believe or not everyone does not wear a medium.

When I find a fashionable narrow shoe I buy it. What’s on your list?

(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com)

HARRIET TUBMAN GUILD PRESIDENT—Frances JELANI BROCK—Introduces the Wilkes master of ceremony

SOLOIST—Nasir Butler

MASTER OF CEREMONY—Robert Quarles

HARRIET TUBMAN GUILD INC. ANNUAL QUEEN’S LUNCHEON

by Debbie Norrell Lifestyles Editor

This year the Harriet Tubman Guild Inc. made a major change in their annual luncheon. On Dec. 2, at the Kingston Event Center, the Guild honored African American males.

Frances Wilkes, Guild President, said she wants to uphold the legacy of service left by our founders. “I want to show my love through service to the members of The Harriet Tubman Guild Inc. and the community at large.”

The 2017 luncheon typically recognizes the queens from the guild chapters but last year they decided to honor two young men. The honorees included Dewayne

THE COLEMAN FAMILY—Jesse Coleman, Carolyn Coleman, David Coleman, Michelle Poole Coleman and Beatrice Coleman, seated (photos by Debbie Norrell)

SUPREME QUEENS—Mary L. Black, Bernice Brady, Annamae Wright, Martina Corbin and Vera White Hopewell, their NEED endowment recipient.

Hopewell is a graduate of Pittsburgh Sci-Tech High School. He will be attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and will be majoring in computer science. The Earlen B. Taylor Scholarship winner was Tyrone W. Brown, a graduate of Penn Hills High School. Brown played football at Penn Hills and made the team at Thiel College.

Robert W. Quarles III, a retired Schenley High

MEN WITH A VISION COLOR GUARD

School teacher and coach, emceed for the afternoon.

In addition to his teaching and coaching career Quarles served in the U.S. Army as a medical officer on flying status in the Air Force Reserves for 15 years. Guests enjoyed the Men with a Vision Precision Color Guard, soloist Nasar Butler. an AAMI choir member, and the Liberty Baptist Male Chorus.

In the audience were a group of “supreme queens,” Guild members who have 50 years of membership in the Harriet Tubman Guild.

The list included; Mary L. Black, Bernice Brady, Annamae Wright, Martina

EARLEN B. TAYLOR SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT—Tyrone W. Brown Jr. Corbin and Vera White.

Also in the audience were Beatrice Coleman and her family. Coleman has been attending the Guild luncheons for nearly 50 years and is 105 years of age.

LIBERTY BAPTIST MALE CHORUS

LUNCHEON COMMITTEE MEMBERS—Maxine Engram, Carlyn Ramsey and Rev. Sharon Varles

BUSINESS New Pittsburgh Courier

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Armstrong Williams

Commentary

The importance of diversity in media ownership (NNPA)--As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important.

As one of only three African American owned TV station licensees in the country, I recently wrote the FCC voicing strong support for the advancement of minority ownership and diversity. I saw the pending Tribune-Sinclair merger as presenting a historic opportunity for the FCC and Justice Department to advance minority ownership within the context of the divestiture requirements the government would require for regulatory approval.

The government generally, and the FCC specifically, has acknowledged the need to enhance minority ownership for 40 years. Congress also has recognized the poor state of minority ownership. The 1996 Telecommunications Act contains language aimed at increasing female and minority ownership of broadcast licenses (and other important communications mediums), and requires the FCC to limit and remove “market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses” and to do so by “favoring diversity of media voices.”

As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important. Congress and the public both have an obligation to help the Department of justice understand the importance of minority ownership in broadcast television in a diversifying landscape. Diversity of thought, culture, and ideas should be equally represented. Giving more minorities access and opportunity to ownership will foster the right environment to do just that.

So, imagine my deep concern when I heard the Justice Department was wavering in its decision to allow station divestitures to my African American owned companies, where the transaction included joint sales agreements (JSA), shared service agreements (SSA), and loan guarantee agreements. Such arrangements were routine for the FCC until it hastily implemented television Joint Sales Agreement attribution rules in 2014, under the previous administration’s chairman, Tom Wheeler. Those rules, however, were reversed and eliminated on November 20, 2017. The Department of Justice should respect that decision. For example, broadcast ownership has permitted Howard Stirk Holdings to create an incubator for African American journalism students by providing tuition scholarships, while providing field experience outside of the classroom. If we were not broadcast owners, I SEE MEDIA B2

Richelieu Dennis purchases Essence Communications Essence Magazine is once again Black-owned after purchase by Sundial Brands founder

by Stacy M. Brown For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)--In a deal that reestablishes Essence magazine as a totally, Black and independently-owned entity, Sundial Brands founder Richelieu Dennis recently announced the purchase of Essence Communications from Time Inc. The Essence Communications deal also comes a week after Dennis was knighted in his native Liberia by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who admitted him into the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneer with the Grade of Knight Commander.

Sirleaf reportedly described Dennis as an “Awesome Hero.”

“Talk about surreal,” Dennis said in an interview with NNPA Newswire. “I can’t even bring myself to say [knighthood]. It’s been a phenomenal week.”

Dennis said that the purchase of Essence Communications comes with a deep-seated passion and commitment to making sure that, “we are doing everything we can to leverage the power of the business to impact our community in a positive way and to demonstrate that we can run highly-profitable organizations.”

Dennis continued: “We can also leverage the impact and the resources that those businesses generate to drive economic empowerment and social justice in our communities for ourselves and by ourselves.”

Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the publisher of the Crusader Newspaper Group, said that it was good news to hear that ownership of Essence magazine has returned to the Black community.

“I hope it’s a trend,” said Leavell. “We do need

strong Black ownership in our industry, even as I’m expecting that our Black newspapers will prosper in 2018.”

Leavell also said that she hopes that Black entrepreneurs will see the work and products of the Black Press and “seek to restore some light.”

Leavell added: “We need more and more publications that depict us in a positive way and that’s certainly what ‘Essence’ has done in the past and I hope they will continue.”

While financial terms of the Essence Communications purchase weren’t disclosed, Dennis said he’s not only retaining Essence President Michelle Ebanks, who will continue to run the company, but Ebanks will also join the organization’s board of directors and lead an all-Black executive team at Essence, who will have equity stakes in the business.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude,” Ebanks told the NNPA Newswire. “The ‘Essence’ brand…has always had a special place in the hearts and minds of Black women and entrepreneurs and leaders like [Dennis] recognized ‘Essence’ and its importance and wants to restore it. This has allowed a dream to come true and we couldn’t be happier.”

Ebanks said that it was an extraordinary and special privilege to be part of an organization that would be responsible for elevating Black women in the industry.

Dennis said the deal to purchase Essence came together rather quickly after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about Time Inc.’s intention to sell the company.

“The stars aligned. We started to think about the implications of what this would mean if ‘Essence’ were truly RICHELIEU DENNIS

SEE ESSENCE B2

Research: For-profit colleges promise, but seldom deliver gainful employment

Mounting student debt is a nagging problem for most families these days. As the cost of higher education rises, borrowing to cover those costs often becomes a family concern across multiple generations including the student, parents, and even grandparents or other relatives.

Today’s 21st Century jobs usually demand higher education and specialized skills to earn one’s way into the middle class. In households where educational loans are inevitable, it becomes an important family decision to determine which institutions are actually worth the debt incurred. Equally important is the institution’s likelihood of its students graduating.

Higher education institutions that do not provide its students and graduates with requisite skills and knowledge become money pits that lead to deeper debt and likely loan defaults.

New research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) analyzed student debt on a state-by-state basis. An interactive map of CRL’s findings reveal on a state basis each of the 50 states’ total undergraduate population, for-profit enrollment, and the top for-profit schools by enrollment for both four-year and two-year institutions.

Entitled The State of For Profit Colleges, the report concludes that investing in a for-profit education is almost always a risky proposition. Undergraduate borrowing by state showed that the percentage of students that borrow from the federal government generally ranged between 40 to 60 percent for public colleges, compared

to 50 to 80 percent Focus group inat for-profit institu- Charlene Crowell terviews further tions. substantiated Additionally, both these figures, and public and private, recounted poinot-for-profit ingnant, real life exstitutions on averperiences. age lead to better Brianna, a results at a lower 31-year-old Black cost of debt, better female completed a earnings following Medical Assistant graduation and the certificate at the fewest loan defaults. now-defunct Everest University. Once she “In many cases, for-profit students completed her MA certificate and passed are nontraditional students, making the certification test, she found she could sacrifices and struggling to manage only find a job in her field of study that family and work obligations to make paid $12 per hour, much less than the better lives for their families,” noted $35,000-$45,000 salary that Everest told Robin Howarth, a CRL senior research- her would be her starting salary as a meder. “For-profit colleges target them with ical assistant. aggressive marketing, persuading them She was also left with $21,000 in stuto invest heavily in futures that will dent debt. As a result, she has struggled never come to pass.” since matriculation with low credit scores CRL also found that women and Blacks and cramped housing conditions for hersuffer disparate impacts, particularly at self and three children. For her, public for-profit institutions, where they are dis- schools, according to Brianna, are “better proportionately enrolled in most states. in the long run” due to their lower cost deFor example, enrollment at Mississippi’s spite having more requirements for attenfor-profit colleges was 78 percent female dance. and nearly 66 percent Black. Other states Similarly, Elena, a 35-year-old Latina with high Black enrollment at for-profits enrolled in a for-profit institution after included Georgia (57 percent), Louisiana seeing television commercials for the lo(55 percent), Maryland (58 percent) and cal branch of Everest College targeted North Carolina (54 percent). at those without a GED, like herself. As-

Commentary

sured by Everest that she would earn between $1315 an hour working as a pharmacy technician, she thought that wage would have been enough for her to repay tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and interest she incurred. Yet, the best wage she could find with a pharmacy paid only $10.50 an hour.

Elena also shared that the financial aid officers at Everest encouraged her to apply for “all these monies [grants and loans] that I could get. And they took it all—all of it. And yes, I am left with this bill.”

These two personal experiences are magnified across the country with high female for-profit college enrollment. For example, the Midwestern states of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have female-dominated for-profit enrollment and disproportionate Black enrollment too.

These were also states with some of the lowest for-profit graduation rates after six years of study.

In Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and North Carolina, median for-profit student debt levels at graduation in these five states was much higher than that of their public peers, ranging from $29,947 to $34,891 for for-profit students compared to $21,605 to $23,638 for public students.

Public colleges and private, nonprofit institutions in these same five states combined also had average Black enrollment rates that were noticeably smaller: Georgia (32 percent), Louisiana (31 percent), Maryland (28 percent), Mississippi (38 SEE RESEARCH B2

BUSINESS New Pittsburgh Courier

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JANUARY 10-16, 2018

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Armstrong Williams

Commentary

The importance of diversity in media ownership (NNPA)--As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important.

As one of only three African American owned TV station licensees in the country, I recently wrote the FCC voicing strong support for the advancement of minority ownership and diversity. I saw the pending Tribune-Sinclair merger as presenting a historic opportunity for the FCC and Justice Department to advance minority ownership within the context of the divestiture requirements the government would require for regulatory approval.

The government generally, and the FCC specifically, has acknowledged the need to enhance minority ownership for 40 years. Congress also has recognized the poor state of minority ownership. The 1996 Telecommunications Act contains language aimed at increasing female and minority ownership of broadcast licenses (and other important communications mediums), and requires the FCC to limit and remove “market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses” and to do so by “favoring diversity of media voices.”

As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, the necessity for that diversity to be reflected in business becomes all the more important. Congress and the public both have an obligation to help the Department of justice understand the importance of minority ownership in broadcast television in a diversifying landscape. Diversity of thought, culture, and ideas should be equally represented. Giving more minorities access and opportunity to ownership will foster the right environment to do just that.

So, imagine my deep concern when I heard the Justice Department was wavering in its decision to allow station divestitures to my African American owned companies, where the transaction included joint sales agreements (JSA), shared service agreements (SSA), and loan guarantee agreements. Such arrangements were routine for the FCC until it hastily implemented television Joint Sales Agreement attribution rules in 2014, under the previous administration’s chairman, Tom Wheeler. Those rules, however, were reversed and eliminated on November 20, 2017. The Department of Justice should respect that decision. For example, broadcast ownership has permitted Howard Stirk Holdings to create an incubator for African American journalism students by providing tuition scholarships, while providing field experience outside of the classroom. If we were not broadcast owners, I SEE MEDIA B2

Richelieu Dennis purchases Essence Communications Essence Magazine is once again Black-owned after purchase by Sundial Brands founder

by Stacy M. Brown For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)--In a deal that reestablishes Essence magazine as a totally, Black and independently-owned entity, Sundial Brands founder Richelieu Dennis recently announced the purchase of Essence Communications from Time Inc. The Essence Communications deal also comes a week after Dennis was knighted in his native Liberia by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who admitted him into the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneer with the Grade of Knight Commander.

Sirleaf reportedly described Dennis as an “Awesome Hero.”

“Talk about surreal,” Dennis said in an interview with NNPA Newswire. “I can’t even bring myself to say [knighthood]. It’s been a phenomenal week.”

Dennis said that the purchase of Essence Communications comes with a deep-seated passion and commitment to making sure that, “we are doing everything we can to leverage the power of the business to impact our community in a positive way and to demonstrate that we can run highly-profitable organizations.”

Dennis continued: “We can also leverage the impact and the resources that those businesses generate to drive economic empowerment and social justice in our communities for ourselves and by ourselves.”

Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the publisher of the Crusader Newspaper Group, said that it was good news to hear that ownership of Essence magazine has returned to the Black community.

“I hope it’s a trend,” said Leavell. “We do need

strong Black ownership in our industry, even as I’m expecting that our Black newspapers will prosper in 2018.”

Leavell also said that she hopes that Black entrepreneurs will see the work and products of the Black Press and “seek to restore some light.”

Leavell added: “We need more and more publications that depict us in a positive way and that’s certainly what ‘Essence’ has done in the past and I hope they will continue.”

While financial terms of the Essence Communications purchase weren’t disclosed, Dennis said he’s not only retaining Essence President Michelle Ebanks, who will continue to run the company, but Ebanks will also join the organization’s board of directors and lead an all-Black executive team at Essence, who will have equity stakes in the business.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude,” Ebanks told the NNPA Newswire. “The ‘Essence’ brand…has always had a special place in the hearts and minds of Black women and entrepreneurs and leaders like [Dennis] recognized ‘Essence’ and its importance and wants to restore it. This has allowed a dream to come true and we couldn’t be happier.”

Ebanks said that it was an extraordinary and special privilege to be part of an organization that would be responsible for elevating Black women in the industry.

Dennis said the deal to purchase Essence came together rather quickly after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about Time Inc.’s intention to sell the company.

“The stars aligned. We started to think about the implications of what this would mean if ‘Essence’ were truly RICHELIEU DENNIS

SEE ESSENCE B2

Research: For-profit colleges promise, but seldom deliver gainful employment

Mounting student debt is a nagging problem for most families these days. As the cost of higher education rises, borrowing to cover those costs often becomes a family concern across multiple generations including the student, parents, and even grandparents or other relatives.

Today’s 21st Century jobs usually demand higher education and specialized skills to earn one’s way into the middle class. In households where educational loans are inevitable, it becomes an important family decision to determine which institutions are actually worth the debt incurred. Equally important is the institution’s likelihood of its students graduating.

Higher education institutions that do not provide its students and graduates with requisite skills and knowledge become money pits that lead to deeper debt and likely loan defaults.

New research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) analyzed student debt on a state-by-state basis. An interactive map of CRL’s findings reveal on a state basis each of the 50 states’ total undergraduate population, for-profit enrollment, and the top for-profit schools by enrollment for both four-year and two-year institutions.

Entitled The State of For Profit Colleges, the report concludes that investing in a for-profit education is almost always a risky proposition. Undergraduate borrowing by state showed that the percentage of students that borrow from the federal government generally ranged between 40 to 60 percent for public colleges, compared

to 50 to 80 percent Focus group inat for-profit institu- Charlene Crowell terviews further tions. substantiated Additionally, both these figures, and public and private, recounted poinot-for-profit ingnant, real life exstitutions on averperiences. age lead to better Brianna, a results at a lower 31-year-old Black cost of debt, better female completed a earnings following Medical Assistant graduation and the certificate at the fewest loan defaults. now-defunct Everest University. Once she “In many cases, for-profit students completed her MA certificate and passed are nontraditional students, making the certification test, she found she could sacrifices and struggling to manage only find a job in her field of study that family and work obligations to make paid $12 per hour, much less than the better lives for their families,” noted $35,000-$45,000 salary that Everest told Robin Howarth, a CRL senior research- her would be her starting salary as a meder. “For-profit colleges target them with ical assistant. aggressive marketing, persuading them She was also left with $21,000 in stuto invest heavily in futures that will dent debt. As a result, she has struggled never come to pass.” since matriculation with low credit scores CRL also found that women and Blacks and cramped housing conditions for hersuffer disparate impacts, particularly at self and three children. For her, public for-profit institutions, where they are dis- schools, according to Brianna, are “better proportionately enrolled in most states. in the long run” due to their lower cost deFor example, enrollment at Mississippi’s spite having more requirements for attenfor-profit colleges was 78 percent female dance. and nearly 66 percent Black. Other states Similarly, Elena, a 35-year-old Latina with high Black enrollment at for-profits enrolled in a for-profit institution after included Georgia (57 percent), Louisiana seeing television commercials for the lo(55 percent), Maryland (58 percent) and cal branch of Everest College targeted North Carolina (54 percent). at those without a GED, like herself. As-

Commentary

sured by Everest that she would earn between $1315 an hour working as a pharmacy technician, she thought that wage would have been enough for her to repay tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and interest she incurred. Yet, the best wage she could find with a pharmacy paid only $10.50 an hour.

Elena also shared that the financial aid officers at Everest encouraged her to apply for “all these monies [grants and loans] that I could get. And they took it all—all of it. And yes, I am left with this bill.”

These two personal experiences are magnified across the country with high female for-profit college enrollment. For example, the Midwestern states of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have female-dominated for-profit enrollment and disproportionate Black enrollment too.

These were also states with some of the lowest for-profit graduation rates after six years of study.

In Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and North Carolina, median for-profit student debt levels at graduation in these five states was much higher than that of their public peers, ranging from $29,947 to $34,891 for for-profit students compared to $21,605 to $23,638 for public students.

Public colleges and private, nonprofit institutions in these same five states combined also had average Black enrollment rates that were noticeably smaller: Georgia (32 percent), Louisiana (31 percent), Maryland (28 percent), Mississippi (38 SEE RESEARCH B2

BUSINESS

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

African American unemployment Ask Brianna: Can I give to charity hit record low in December if money is tight? by Christopher Rugaber AP Economics Writer

by Brianna McGurran NerdWallet

“Ask Brianna” is a column from NerdWallet for 20-somethings or anyone else starting out. I’m here to help you manage your money, find a job and pay off student loans—all the real-world stuff no one taught us how to do in college. Send your questions about postgrad life to askbrianna(at)nerdwallet.com.

Q: This time of year, I’m getting a lot of requests to donate money, but bills and debt payments are hanging over my head. I want to be generous. Can I give to charity anyway?

A: Congratulations: You have a heart.

The desire to donate comes from a place of compassion and empathy, and it’s worth celebrating.

“We can’t avoid being human and wanting to help others,” says Derrick Feldmann, lead researcher on the Millennial Impact Project, which studies millennials’ philanthropic behavior.

Feldmann says millennials donate $200 to $300 a year on average, and closer to $400 in years when major natural disasters occur.

While you can’t give money you don’t have, it’s possible to do your part to save the world even with, say, thousands of dollars in student loan debt. You’re financially ready to give if you are: •Earning more money than you spend •Paying at least the minimum on your debts, on time, every time •Saving regularly for the future in both emergency and retirement funds: That means setting aside at least $500 for unexpected expenses and contributing enough to get the company match on your 401(k)—or saving in an individual retirement account Once you’ve determined you can spare some cash for charity, follow these tips on how to do it. And if donating isn’t possible this year, consider volunteering or participating in activism instead.

BUILD YOUR VALUES INTO YOUR BUDGET Your question is about spending money on what you value most, and that’s all budgeting really is. Figure out what you can spare by looking at how much is available for discretionary spending.

Using the 50/30/20 guideline, aim to spend no more than 30 percent of your after-tax income on wants (50 percent of your take-home pay goes to needs like housing, food and utilities; 20 percent goes to paying down debt and saving for the future). Decide how much of the 30 percent you want to give away. Maybe you’ll decide $20 a month can go to charity.

This approach makes it easy to set up automatic recurring donations, instead of giving lump sums at the end of the year, says Elise Murphy, a certified financial planner at Level Financial Advisors in Amherst, New York. You won’t feel crunched or drain your bank account in November and December, when you’re also buying holiday gifts and traveling to see family.

DONATE STRATEGICALLY Once you’ve earmarked your precious cash for charity, put it to good use.

•Donate your full charitable giving budget to just one or two organizations, says Eileen Heisman, CEO of the National Philanthropic Trust. Sending $10 to 20 different organizations won’t make as big an impact, because it costs money to process every donation.

If you give more to one, “the charity will have more net money to actually devote to programs,’’ she says.

•Ask if your workplace matches donations, which will make your money go further.

•Keep records of your donations; you can deduct them from your taxable income if you itemize on your tax return and the organization qualifies under IRS rules. Check its eligibility using the IRS’ Exempt Organizations search tool.

•Make sure you’re giving to reputable organizations. View nonprofits’ financial information by signing up for a free account on GuideStar.org, or check out the Better Business Bureau’s reports on individual charities on Give.org.

GIVE YOUR TIME INSTEAD Sure, of millennials who have been more involved with causes or social issues since the 2016 election, the largest share—35 percent—said they’d donated more money. That’s according to the 2017 Millennial Impact Report, released by Achieve, a cause-focused research and marketing agency. But the next-largest share said they volunteered more, followed by those who said they joined more nonprofit boards.

Your budget may simply be too tight to contribute money; maybe rent alone takes up half your take-home pay. If you’ve decided animal welfare is your cause of choice, volunteer at a shelter or to walk dogs for elderly pet owners. Sign petitions, attend community meetings or participate in a run or walk to raise awareness of an issue.

“You don’t have to have any money to make a difference,” Feldmann says.

(This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet . Brianna McGurran is a writer at NerdWallet.

Email: bmcgurran@nerdwallet.com.)

WASHINGTON (AP)—Years of steady hiring and economic growth have delivered a cumulative benefit for at least one group that hasn’t always shared in America’s prosperity.

The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8 percent in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of Black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from.

“The African American unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent, the lowest rate in 45 years. I am so happy about this News!” President Donald Trump said in a tweet Saturday.

Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages.

Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017—the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million. The U.S. economy gained a hefty 5.7 million jobs in 2014 and 2015 alone.

But there are also less-happy reasons for the lower unemployment rates: Fewer Americans are either working or looking for work. (People who aren’t actively seeking a job aren’t counted as unemployed.) An aging population means there are more retirees. Young Americans are also staying in school longer before job-hunting.

And some people, perhaps discouraged about their prospects, have given up looking for work and so aren’t included in the unemployment rate.

Here are some questions and answers about African-Americans’ record-low unemployment rate: Q. GIVEN THE RECORD-LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, IS THIS THE BEST JOB MARKET EVER FOR BLACKS? A. Not necessarily. As with nearly all demographic groups, a smaller proportion of blacks have jobs now than before the Great Recession, in part because of retirements, more people staying in school and discouraged would-be workers.

The best job market for African Americans might actually have been in 2000, when 61.4 percent of Black adults were employed, the highest proportion ever. That figure fell below 52 percent in the depths of the recession, and is now 57.9 percent.

The same pattern occurred for other groups. Twothirds of Latinos were employed in 2000; now, only 62.5 percent are. About 65 percent of whites were working in 2000, far higher than the current 60.4 percent. (The data for Asians goes back only to 2003.)

Q. Why is the African American unemployment rate higher than the rate for Whites?

A. The main reason is discrimination, according to most research. Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity and the economy, notes that even when African-Americans have similar levels of education or experience, their chances of being unemployed are higher.

“That’s what begs the question of what else could be the major reason,” Wilson said.

Nancy DiTomaso, a business professor at Rutgers University, says her research has found that whites likely benefit from networks of family and friends that don’t intentionally exclude Blacks or other minorities. Yet, nevertheless, their networks have the effect of helping Whites get jobs more readily than Blacks.

Q. What about other ethnic and racial groups?

A. Everyone is benefiting from the healthy job market. The unemployment rate for Latinos was 4.9 percent in December, just above the record low of 4.8 percent reached in June.

And the jobless rate for Asians was 2.5 percent in December, just above the record low of 2.4 percent set in 2006.

Q. What factors have helped lower unemployment for African Americans?

A. One major reason, Wilson says, is that many more Black Americans are college graduates than in the past. That doesn’t completely offset the effects of discrimination. But among all groups, college graduates have lower unemployment rates than those with less education.

Another driver is economic: When the national unemployment rate falls to ultra-low levels, employers typically cast wider nets to find the workers they need. As they do so, they typically start pulling in more people from historically disadvantaged groups. These include job-seekers with less education as well as racial minorities.

With the current U.S. unemployment rate at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, that appears to be what’s happening.

Some economists want the Federal Reserve to hold off on raising the short-term interest rate it controls for exactly this reason: Raising that rate could slow growth just as the benefits of the economy’s expansion are spreading to disadvantaged groups.

Q. Where might the unemployment rate for African Americans go from here?

A. It depends on the economy. Most economists expect healthy growth this year, fueled in part by the Trump administration’s tax cuts for individuals and companies. That should lower unemployment for all Americans.

The African American unemployment rate is highly volatile and could rise or fall noticeably in the months ahead. It’s down from 7.9 percent a year ago.

(Follow Christopher Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber)

Small businesses more interested in loans

by Joyce M. Rosenberg AP Business Writer

Small companies are getting more interested in borrowing, but many are still finding it hard to get loans from banks.

That’s the finding of a quarterly survey of small businesses released last week by Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and Dun & Bradstreet Corp.

An index that measures small companies’ demand for financing, including loans and investment money, rose 3.6 percent to 37.5 from 36.2 in the third quarter. A separate index, which measures their ability to get financing, rose 0.2 percent to 33.1 from 33.

But while demand is up, many owners aren’t in the market for credit. Thirty-eight percent of small companies didn’t get any credit in the last quarter. And small businesses are still finding it harder to get loans than mid-sized ones do _ 61 percent of small company owners called

debt financing difficult to get versus 31 percent of mid-sized business owners. During the previous three months, 36 percent of small businesses were able to get bank loans, compared to 69 percent of mid-sized companies.

The survey findings show that owners who have shied away from risks like borrowing ever since the election may be feeling more secure about taking on debt. But banks that are adverse to risk, especially given the rules imposed on them by the Dodd-Frank banking law, are still wary about small companies.

On a positive note, many companies wanted financing because they want to grow or acquire another business _ 44 percent of small businesses, and 47 percent of mid-sized ones. And 46 percent of small companies and 70 percent of midsize ones who weren’t trying to raise financing because said they didn’t need the money because their cash flow is good.

(Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/Joyce MRosenberg)

Importance of diversity in media ownership MEDIA FROM B1

am sure none of that would have been possible.

It also gives us the opportunity to cover the stories that others are not covering, for whatever reason. We tell the stories of everyday people that are often overlooked. As part of our public interest obligation, we vow to continue doing this with our live town halls across our regional affiliates where we discuss family, community and other critical cultural issues. Our town halls provide a unique platform for the long form discussion of key issues that are important to many American communities—both Black and

White. We have covered in depth the water crisis in Flint, the Charleston church terrorist attack, the Las Vegas terrorist attack, the Manchester terrorist attack live from Europe, the moral challenges facing America, and many other topical issues. We need more of these forums and not less. This is critically important to African American communities, especially as media voices they identify with are diminishing daily.

(Armstrong Williams is the manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and Executive Editor of American CurrentSee online Magazine.)

Essence Magazine Black-owned once again ESSENCE FROM B1

bought back into the community and the impact it could have on the audience and on the industry to be able to create our content and to monetize our own content,” said Dennis. “There was never a waiver in the commitment on what ‘Essence’ means to our community.”

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, congratulated Richelieu Dennis for purchasing Essence magazine and for

returning this iconic publication to 100 percent Black ownership.

“This is a very timely and an important milestone for the Black Press in America and throughout the world,” said Chavis. “Essence magazine, under the able leadership of Michelle Ebanks, is a valued treasure of Black America and the NNPA acknowledges, with supportive gratitude, Richelieu Dennis for this significant Black-owned business transaction.”

For-profit colleges promise but seldom deliver RESEARCH FROM B1

percent), North Carolina (23 percent).

These disparate outcomes are even more grievous when one takes into account that for-profit colleges are primarily funded by taxpayers, receiving up to 90 percent of their revenues from federal financial aid such as Pell Grants and federal student loans. Veterans educational benefits are additional taxpayer-paid revenues.

Finally, three years following graduation from a for-profit institution, former students in

44 states had double-digit default rates. These states included: Kansas, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

These and other findings document how Americans are investing heavily in higher education.

But in large part, the choice of institution determines whether they will receive what they paid for: gainful employment.

(Charlene Crowell is the communications deputy director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.)

B3

BUSINESS CALENDAR Open House

JAN. 11—The Chatham Women’s Business Center will hold an open house, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at the James Laughlin Music Hall on the Chatham University Shadyside Campus. Meet staff, facilitators, and past participants while learning about all of our services for women business owners and women in business.

The Center has programs for women in all stages of business development, from membership to business development classes, small business workshops, women’s leadership breakfasts, and our online community for our members.

Strategic Planning Workshop

JAN 12—The African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pa. will host a Strategic Planning Workshop, 11:30 a.m. to 1 : p.m. in its th floor boardroom at the Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Ave., Downtown. Raymond L. Vargo, director of the UNiversity of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center will present information about the vital components that should be included in a strategic plan, what to include when applying for funding, tips for marketing, and how to use your plan to make decisions in your business. Cost: $10 for members, $20 for nonmembers. For more information call 412-392-0610.

Business Breakfast Meeting

JAN 13—The Chatham Women’s Business Center will host its monthly Women’s Business Leaders Breakfast Series from 8 to 9 p.m. at the James Laughlin Music Hall on the Chatham University Shadyside Campus. The speaker will be Eve Picker, small home developer, and head of the Small Change online real estate investment portal. Cost is $25.

Register online at http://www. chatham.edu/cwe/networking/ breakfastseries/

Training Event

JAN. 19—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center will host First Step: Business Start-up Essentials, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Rockwell Hall Room 108, 600 Forbes Ave., Uptown. Topics include: Structure and formation; mployee issues insurance financing options, Taxing requirements and others. Cost is $25.

For more information, call 412396-6233.

PowerBreakfast Meeting

JAN. 20—The African American Chamber of Commerce of Western a. will host it first owerBreakfast meeting of the year with guest speaker County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Rivers Club in One Oxford Center, Downtown. Fitzgerald will address the health of our county and his vision and plans for 2017.

Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-members. For more information, call 412-392-0610.

Build your Business Workshop

JAN. 21—The Chatham Women’s Business Center presents a Build Your Business Workshop,9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Mellon Building on the Chatham University Shadyside Campus The workshop is designed for women interested in starting or expanding their business. Business experts and seasoned entrepreneurs will discuss the following topics: business planning, marketing and sales, financing, legal issues and business lessons learned. Cost $20 with partial scholarships available (need-based, up to 50%). For more information, call Anne Flynn Schlicht, 412-365-1153.

Business Energy Efficiency Grants

THROUGH APRIL 15—The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has to $1,000,000 of grant funding available in the 13th year of the Commonwealth’s Small Business Advantage Grant Program for small businesses that adopt or acquire equipment or processes that promote pollution prevention and or energy efficiency projects. Applicants must be a for-profit corporation, limited liability corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other legal entity with 100 or fewer fulltime employees. Businesses can apply for 50 percent matching funds of up to $9,500 to adopt or ac uire energy-efficient or pollution-prevention equipment or procedures. Funding is eligible for those costs incurred between July 25, 2016 and June 30, 2017. For more information, call the ffice, at .

B4

OPINION

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

It’s time for America to #TrustBlackWomen

Guest Commentary

Sexual violence victims should keep coming forward

by Jamala Rogers

I’m hoping that the (slim) defeat of accused child sexual predator Ray Moore in the race for U.S. Senate in Alabama is not a damper on the exposes of the culture of sexual violence so pervasive in this country. I’m hoping that every man who’s ever grabbed, groped, felt, fondled, pushed, pulled, patted or rubbed a woman’s body part without her permission and gotten away with it is still sweating bullets every day he wakes up.

For a while, there were almost daily announcements about powerful men being knocked off their proverbial thrones by accusations of sexual crimes. There may be some who think the snow-balling effect of women exposing the sexual aggression of men in the workplace is an overkill. The women who have suffered in pain and silence certainly don’t think so.

While much of the spotlight is on the entertainment industry and political arena, this offensive patriarchal behavior is not relegated to power players Russell Simmons or Congressman John Conyers. Keep coming down the ladder and you get to the academic and banking fields. Keep going and you get to the supposedly sacred spaces in the churches, synagogues and parishes. Keep moving and you uncover the sexist abuses in the fast food and health care industries where you find low-wage working women. Keep going and you run into the likes of Uncle George or Grandpa Willie right inside your own home.

In the African American community, the silent nature of sexual violence is real. The stats are alarming. Studies cite 40-60 percent Black women report being subjected to forced sexual contact by age 18. Yet we are less likely to report incidents than White women. Legitimate distrust of the system and fears of betrayal mute the voices of victims, but not the trauma.

Sexual violence is so ingrained and commonplace in our society and particularly in communities of color that we often have a hard time acknowledging that any wrongdoing has occurred. If a victim so much as thinks about calling out a perpetrator, she often faces retaliation, isolation and rejection.

You gotta be one strong, courageous sistah to step out of the shadows and name your violator.

There have been some phenomenal Black women who have given their best to take issues of incest, rape and sexual harassment out of the dark. Women like Loretta Ross who helped to found the first rape crisis center in Washington, D.C. Women like Aisha Simmons, a rape victim herself, who produced “No! The Rape Documentary.” Women like Robin D. Stone, author of “No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal From Sexual Abuse.”

Brothers have also stepped out. Filmmaker Byron Hurt’s documentary “HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” broke new ground in exposing and exploring the sexual violence in the genre that reinforced negative behaviors in our relationships and communities. Advocacy groups have emerged with black men taking the lead in supporting women while giving men the tools and education they need for transformation.

As someone who has long fought the culture of violence against women in whatever form that violence takes, I would love for the women who survived the sexual actions of these men to get the justice they deserve. Just as imperative is their coming out of the shadows and joining with the voices of their survivors-sistahs (and brothers) to take a stand.

Victims should be inspired to come forward and collectively shed their shame and take back their power. This is the main way that change will be made—and be permanent.

Sexual abuse will not stay in the news cycle even though the Groper-in-Charge occupies the White House. It will be up to the rest of us to do the more important, less glorified work not captured for the evening news camera. Let’s intensify and expand the discussion about the pervasive culture of sexual violence in this country. Let’s push for more and different ways for women to report these atrocities and get the support they deserve.

Founded 1910

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

Rob Taylor Jr.

Jeff Marion

Office Manager

Managing Editor

Circulation Consultant

John. H. Sengstacke

Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

(NNPA)—After Roy Moore’s defeat at the hands of Alabama voters— driven by Black voter turnout, especially the votes of Black women—we saw the celebration, credit-taking, and meaning-making that usually accompanies a progressive electoral victory. But one thing was different this time. This time, mainstream media and social media feeds flooded with messages acknowledging and thanking Black women for our role in the outcome.

Welcome to the reality Black women have known about—and named— for decades.

One of the hashtags that took off amid the Alabama election returns and the following days was #TrustBlackWomen. But what does it mean to trust Black women? What does it mean to advance a policy agenda that addresses the issues Black women face in this country?

Black women voters are not a monolith--we’re diverse, complex, and deeply engaged in national, state, and local policy debates. We don’t all agree.

But there is a set of values and policies that most Black women hold close to our hearts: we want a future where we can live with respect, health, and justice. Where we can decide whether and when to have children, and raise those children without fear of hunger, violence, or discrimination. Where we can realize our dreams and highest human potential.

For a start, I hope that this election can finally put to rest the ludicrous question of whether a progressive agenda must include support for abortion access. (Yes, absolutely it must.) Not only are Black women overwhelmingly supportive of abortion access, but nationwide, keeping abortion legal has the highest levels of support in decades. Being able to make our own decisions about our bodies, pregnancy, and parenting is crucial to Black women’s dignity and self-determination.

Black women are already leading the way in reproductive health,

LaTasha D. Mayes

Commentary rights, and justice policy. In 2015, after decades of work by Black women advocates, Representative Barbara Lee, D-Calif., led the introduction of the EACH Woman Act to repeal the Hyde Amendment’s Reign of Terror on poor women, and the bill today has 128 co-sponsors in the House, even in this incredibly hostile political moment.

In another show of leadership, women of color in the Senate and their colleagues sent a bold and defiant letter to Trump demanding that he strip the Hyde Amendment and other bans on abortion coverage from the budget. I doubt anyone is holding their breath for him to do the right thing, but that should never stop our leaders in Congress from taking a principled proactive stand.

But a reproductive health, rights, and justice platform that respects Black women must go beyond abortion. Black women in the U.S. are dying in childbirth at many times the rate of White women, a national health crisis that has gone largely ignored. Black women also suffer and die at disproportionate rates of reproductive cancers like breast and cervical cancer. In addition to contraception and abortion care, we need access to quality affordable health care and coverage for the full range of reproductive care including cancer prevention, screening, and treatment, and prenatal, maternity, and postpartum care. The Affordable Care Act—a law Black women championed—was a monumental step in the right direction. Today, we’re fighting to hold on even to that, and we know a much

more accessible and comprehensive solution is needed.

Every day in this country, Black women face nearly impossible odds to raise our children with dignity, love, and abundance. But the cruel anti-family budget and tax policies of the conservative GOP have decimated funding for nutrition, housing, and other necessities while lining the pockets of their wealthy donors--even as they have failed to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program also known as CHIP. We must do everything in our power to reverse this dangerous redistribution of wealth and well-being from the poor to the super-rich.

Finally, we must address the ways in which police and prisons have been weaponized against Black Americans to rob us of our loved ones through mass incarceration and deadly police violence. Black lives matter is more than a hashtag, organization, or movement. It’s the urgent cry for justice from the mouths of mothers, sisters, wives, partners, and daughters.

Time and time again, Black women have been told to wait our turn.

When male citizens—both White and Black—got the legal right to vote, we were told to wait our turn. When White women built a suffrage movement on our backs and out of our genius and then cut us out of it, we were told to wait our turn. And when Democrats and Republicans alike have taken our votes for granted while ignoring our needs, we have been told to wait our turn.

No longer. It’s time for this country to do more than thank Black women—it’s time to put our issues in the center of the political table and follow the leadership of Black women as we construct a new nation that affirms the human rights of us all.

(La’Tasha D. Mayes, the founder and executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, that presents a clear and compelling case for policies that center Black women’s health and needs. You can follow her on Twitter @duxfemfac.)

The lull of inactivity (TriceEdneyWire.com)—Certain characteristics are common to all living organisms. The shared need for rest pops into mind most quickly. Whether we label it rest, sleep, hibernation or dormancy, in the lifecycle of an organism, its health and well-being is only satisfied with time set aside for rejuvenation.

My studies and observations inform me that as the complexity of organisms increase, there is a corresponding complexity in their need for rest. For example, examine the behavior of lower life forms versus the human animal. Generally, lower life forms simply sleep when their need impacts. Unless threatened, they will awaken and pursue outcomes that are more instinctive than not. The simplicity and outcomes of their rest usually require no indepth discussion.

Although the human animal will succumb to the need for sleep, its restfulness will be determined by a myriad of circumstances that include, but are not limited to: individual anxieties; physical threats; physical discomfort, and more. Whatever our circumstance, rest is the absence of or a lull in the presence of stressors —the stressors that prevent us from allowing ourselves to experience a renewed state of peace and well-being.

Many who identify as my friends have called this year’s holiday period a lull in their observation of the insane behaviors of #45.

Their need to remove immediate thoughts of the past eleven months and potential consequences from their consciousness has directed them impose a personal lull in the

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary processing of current events. I cannot help believing that this is the ultimate goal of #45 and his minions. As I have stated numerous times before, I think it is in #45’s plan to have us thinking in so many different directions that we can’t see the truth of his actions.

As we embark on a new calendar year, I again encourage and admonish my readers to STAY WOKE and focus on #45’s REAL intent for our lives and future of our nation. Rather than tell you what I surmise his intent to be, I will ask several questions to which I want you to give serious and on-going consideration.

In the most honest manner possible, answer them for yourselves. Discuss them with others and open a dialogue that results in the development of personal clarity: 1. WHAT DOES OUR NATION GAIN WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INSTITUTIONAL NORMS THAT GIVE DIRECTION TO OUR DAILY LIVES? 2. WHAT BENEFITS ACCRUE TO OUR NATION WHEN #45 AND HIS LACKEYS DISTORT AND MISSHAPE THE FACTS WE USE TO CONSTRUCT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRUTH? 3. WHAT POSITIVE OUTCOMES

CAN BE EXPECTED FROM DESTROYING PUBLIC FAITH IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND THOSE WHO ENFORCE THE LAW? 4. CAN OUR NATION, DIVIDED RACIALLY, ETHNICALLY, RELIGIOUSLY AND BY OTHER FACTORS, THRIVE WHEN THE DIVISION IS ENGENDERED BY POLITICAL LEADERS? Steve Bannon told the 2017 CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, that a major goal of #45 was “Deconstruction of the Administrative State.” He added, “...these cabinet appointees, they were selected for...deconstruction.” We see a Secretary of Education who has designs to eliminate public education.

The EPA Director has relaxed rules on dumping toxic waste and air and water quality. The Attorney General has abandoned Civil and Voting Rights enforcement. Every White House press conference challenges us to believe or not believe what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. #45 constantly condemns intelligence and law enforcement agencies that are not in lock-step with him. And, #45 has engendered a resurgence of overt racism not seen in the last 50 years.

If nothing else, we must keep these questions in the forefront of our collective consciousness. We mustn’t let our need for rest lull us into inactivity. Our Struggle continues and we will only succeed through action.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams, national president of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. www.nationalcongressbw.org—202/6786788.

Stop enabling White Supremacy

by Oscar H. Blayton

lieutenant receiving flight training in Pensacola, Fla., and I never gave Most Black folk might get offendany thought to the fact that I had ened if it is suggested that they are abled that White colonel in maintainenablers to White supremacists. Yet, ing his sense of racial superiority. this enabling takes place every day.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful In 1966, I was a 20-year-old Mato that Black master sergeant for rine Corps draftee-recruit at Parris keeping me from falling into a White Island. I also was applying to get into superiority trap. The wrong answer the Marine Corps’ aviation program would have sent me to Vietnam as an similar to what was depicted in the infantryman. film “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

This little drama took place As a part of the application process, almost 52 years ago, but there are I had to be interviewed by a Marine times today when people of color colonel. At one point, the White feel the need to play the White colonel, who was seated behind his superiority game for the sake of desk, asked me “Who do you admire survival. Moving forward in the more, Jackie Robinson or Cassius world as it exists, Black folks must Clay?” A Black master sergeant, develop strategies that tear down who was standing behind the seated notions of White supremacy so colonel, gave me the “Don’t be a fool” there no longer will be a need to look. That look made me know what tell White people only what they answer the White man wanted to want to hear. We must yank White hear, so I loudly affirmed, “Jackie people out of their comfort zones by Robinson, sir.” emphatically and unapologetically Having lived most of my life in the making them feel uncomfortable. segregated South, I knew danger lay Many Black folks are in positions in making White people feel uncomwhere they can do this and still fortable, particularly a White man survive. Former San Francisco with power over my future.

49ers quarterback Colin KaeperA year later, I was a freshly minted nick is doing it. And while he is

paying a high price, he still survives.

White supremacy and racial microaggressions intrude into the lives of people of color every day and we must begin to push back. It is important to push back even if we cannot do it in as visible a fashion as Colin Kaepernick. Particularly, these assaults can be challenged successfully in private settings and in oneon-one interactions with our White “friends” because they often do not realize that their actions are based upon notions of white supremacy as well as implicit bias.

In this era of Trump, America is growing uglier and White supremacy is resurging. If people of color do not push back, we will lose our opportunity to ever speak freely and live freely in this country.

We can’t afford to delude ourselves into believing people of color have the freedom to speak and live freely in America. I knew I did not have those freedoms in 1966 when it was clear that I could not correct that White colonel and answer his question by saying, “His name is Muhammad Ali.”

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TEST AUTOMATION DEVELOPER tip e Opening

PARALEGAL FOR FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE

SD anagement, nc. reater ittsburgh, area to be resp. for devlpmnt, execution maintenance of sftwre that automates the testing of clients proprietary sftwre sys. applctns. Specific ob duties incl: i carrying out structured analysis on clients proprietary systems ii devising data-driven techni ues to maximi e test coverage of systems iii dvlp g sftwr using scripting procedural languages combined w web-based languages S database access iv creating test data by applying advanced techni ues to complex client envrnmnts v devising implmnt uality improvement programs customi ed to fit client technologies, processes culture. aster s degree in S, omp. Sci or reltd discipline. : am to : pm, hours per wee . ail resume: S C n ge ent nc One ce S ite 2 itt rg 222

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE POSITION OF FIREFIGHTER FOR THE ALTOONA FIRE DEPARTMENT pplications for irefighter for the City of Altoona can be obtained from the uman esources ffice in ity all, th Street, Suite , ltoona, , between : . . and : . ., onday through riday, beginning onday, December , .

D S MUST BE RECEIVED S S D SD , anuary , . ll previous applications and eligibility lists are void. ndividuals on the previous eligibility list must reapply to be considered for employment.

REQUIREMENTS: ust pass a hysical gility est to be held in ltoona on Saturday and Sunday, anuary th and th, at : . . ust pass a written ivil Service est to be held in ltoona on Saturday, ebruary rd, , at : . ., with a score of or better. ust become a resident of the ity of ltoona within six months of date of employment and must remain a resident of the ity during the tenure of employment. ust be at least years of age at time of application. ust have a valid ennsylvania driver s license. ust be a high school graduate or possess a D e uivalent. ust be of high moral character and free of any felony or misdemeanor convictions. pplications must be accompanied by a . chec or money order made payable to he ity of ltoona and must include a legible copy of valid driver s license birth certificate or other appropriate proof of age proof of .S. citi enship or naturali ation high school diploma or D certificate and DDshowing proof of honorable discharge if veteran s preference is reuested. eteran s preference will be given if a passing score of or better is achieved on the ivil Service est. he ity of ltoona is an ual pportunity mployer

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, AMERICAS

Duolingo, nc. see s usiness Development Director, mericas in ittsburgh, to develop, grow and expand the Duolingo nglish est D to serve mar ets within the mericas -- principally within the nited States and atin merica. Duties include: i leading and overseeing all aspects of D throughout the mericas, including sales, mar eting, and operations ii managing all business development activities within the mericas to implement and execute new business models, generate new revenue sources, and increase D s mar et share iii launching new products, trade and mar eting plans in multiple countries simultaneously iv ac uiring contacts and developing business opportunities with current and potential partners v collaborating with team members on product development, including research elements of D and vi expand D adoption to under-developed mar ets principally within atin merica. ravel domestically and internationally, approximately times per year, totaling approximately wee s. e uirements: achelor s degree in usiness, ngineering, or related field. ive years of experience in sales and business development, including one year of sales and business development experience in atin merica. ilingual fluency written and spo en in Spanish and nglish. ust have the ability to travel domestically and internationally, approximately - times per year, totaling approximately wee s. mail resume to jobs@ ing c and specify ob in the sub ect line.

pplicant must have advanced word processing s ills, experience in complex civil or criminal litigation, the ability to wor both independently and as part of a team. xp with online research databases and doc management is preferred. aralegal certificate, a achelor s degree or an ssociate s degree in paralegal studies is re uired. andidates should have a wor ing nowledge of legal terms and court procedures.

Send cover letter and resume in one dobe crobate document via email to e p y ent f rg, using - in sub ect line. See full announcement at ttp: p w f rg. .

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REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY PUBLIC NOTICE

otice is hereby given that the annual meeting of the oard of Directors of the llegheny ounty ousing uthority will be held at : a.m. on riday, anuary , in the uthority s oardroom located on the th loor, Stanwix Street, ittsburgh, , . he meeting will be preceded with a meeting of the inance and udit ommittee at : a.m., followed by the oard s review of the agenda for the annual meeting and other general matters at : a.m. he public is invited to attend these meetings.

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NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETINGS

otice is hereby given of the regular monthly meetings of the oard of Directors of the llegheny ounty ousing uthority for calendar year , all meetings to be held in the uthority s oardroom located on the th loor, Stanwix Street, ittsburgh, , . n the dates listed below, the inance and udit ommittee will meet at : a.m., to be following by the oard s review of the agenda and other general matters at : a.m. he oard of Directors meeting will commence at : a.m. he public is invited to attend the committee meetings, agenda reviews and regular oard meetings. ebruary , arch , pril , ay , une , uly , September , ctober , ovember , December , r n gg i ec tive irect r eg eny C nty ing t rity ANNOUNCEMENTS Public Notice

NOTICE

or fiscal years through , ort uthority of llegheny ounty proposes to implement and utili e the following revised goal for its Disadvantaged usiness nterprise D rogram. ort uthority has calculated its Disadvantaged usiness nterprise participation goal to be 15.8 percent of federal contract. he overall goal includes a race conscious goal of 14.76 percent and a race neutral goal of 1.04. meeting has been scheduled for riday, ebruary , at : a.m. at Sixth venue, ittsburgh, ennsylvania . t that time, a description of how the proposed goal was calculated will be presented to the D and general contractor communities, as well as other interested parties. eginning on anuary , until ebruary , , ort uthority s oal ethodology will be available for inspection by appointment between the hours of : a.m. to : p.m. by contacting the office of ameil D. illiams, rogram anager, Diverse and Disadvantaged usiness nterprise.

Port Authority of eg eny C nty Si t ven e T ir r itt rg 222 2 2 C i i p rt t rity rg 412-566-5257 ort uthority will accept written comments to the goal until ebruary , at oon. ddress all comments to s. ameil D. illiams rogram anager, Diverse and Disadvantaged usiness nterprise, at the above address.

To place a display ad in the New Pittsburgh Courier call 412-481-8302 ext. 128 or 129

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CITATION BY PUBLICATION THE STATE OF TEXAS

TO: DWAYNE GREEN aka DUANE GREEN To unknown heirs of EVERLYN REESE, Deceased Cause No. C-1-PB-16-002005, in Probate Court Number 1, Travis County, Texas. JULIUS IVORY fi e n en e pp ic ti n f r r te f i ni ent f Tit e re t n r e r after Decedent’s Death in in the above-numbered and entitled estate on October 24, 2016, pplicant prays that citation be issued as reuired by law to all persons interested in this estate, that the ill be admitted to probate as a uniment of itle more than four years after decedent s death and without administration thereon, that the ourt waive the re uirement of filing an affidavit pursuant to Section . of the exas state ode, and that the ourt enter all other orders as it may deem proper. ll un nown heirs and any other persons interested in this estate are cited to appear before this ourt by tiling a written contest or answer to this application if they want to do so. he ourt may act on this application at any time at the ravis ounty ourthouse, uadalupe St., oom , ustin, exas , on or after : a.m. on the first onday after the expiration often days from the publication date of this citation. herefore, to ensure consideration, any contest, answer, or other response must be filed with the ravis ounty ler in cause number C-1-PB-16-002005, styled EVERLYN REESE on or before the above-noted date and time. f this citation is not served within days after it is issued, it must be returned unserved. iven under my hand and seal on November 30, 2017, Dana De eauvoir ounty ler , ravis ounty, exas . . ox , ustin, exas y Deputy: .

etters of dministration on the state of ANGELA M. CALABRESE, ourt erm o. ,late of enn ills, llegheny ounty, deceased, having been granted to the undersigned by the Director of Dept. of ourt ecords, ills rphans ourt Division of llegheny ounty, notice is hereby given to all person indebted to said estate to ma e immediate payment, and to those having claims against the same to present them to the undersigned, duly authenticated for settlement. icholas . alabrese, dministrator, hornwood Dr., ittsburgh, or to athy . rannigan, s ., Duff d., Suite , ittsburgh,

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he Sports xhibition uthority S will receive sealed bids for the David . awrence onvention enter xterior and oadway ighting eplacement. he contract for this wor will be with the S . n uiries regarding the bidding should be made to Simona oberant - -mail: er nt pg e com, elephone: . id ac ages may be obtained after the date identified below through ccu- opy at and on ccu- opy s website ttp: www cc c py c . his dvertisement applies to the following id ac age: id ac age ame: David . awrence onvention enter xterior and oadway, ighting eplacement id ac age vailable: anuary , pproximate alue: , re- id eeting: anuary , : p.m. id Due: anuary , : p.m., S , th Street, Second loor, ittsburgh,

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he llegheny ounty Sanitary uthority S is accepting etters of interest and Statements of ualifications from rofessional onstruction anagement or ngineering irms who wish to be considered for the following: WET WEATHER PLANT EXPANSION CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CAPITAL PROJECT NUMBERS S430 nterested firms shall submit ten bound paper copies and one electronic copy in a sealed envelope plainly mar ed: St te ent f ific ti n f r et e t er nt p n i n C n tr cti n n ge ent C pit r ect er S eg eny C nty Sanitary Authority re e ven e itt rg 2 ttenti n: S nne T n nformational eeting will be held at : am, ednesday, anuary , , at the S uditorium at reble ve., ittsburgh, to present and clarify the goals and purpose of the e uest for ualifications. ll submittals must be received no later than : on ednesday, ebruary , at the offices of S . ate submittals will not be considered and will be returned unopened. dditional information and instructions may be obtained by visiting ttp: www c n rg ine Opp rt nitie R R t i 2 ef t p ll uestions should be submitted, in writing, to Su anne homas at Su anne.thomas alcosan.org. S encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities, disadvantaged and women s business enterprises to submit ualification statements or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to the selected irm s . he irm s selected shall be re uired to utili e minority, disadvantaged, and women s business enterprises to the fullest extent possible. he goals of the S s inority and omen usiness olicy are listed on the S website at www. alcosan.org.

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NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Sealed bids will be received by the pper St. lair ownship School District in the dministrative ffices, c aughlin un oad, pper St. lair, ennsylvania until : a.m., prevailing time, riday, ebruary , , and will be opened at the same hour for: -passenger conventional school bus -passenger conventional school bus -passenger conventional school bus idding documents may be obtained by contacting onn ansfield, Director of ransportation, at xt. or mans field uscsd. .pa.us. he pper St. lair ownship School District reserves the right to re ect any or all bids and proposals.

Sc tt rc i Secret ry BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS

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INVITATION TO BIDDERS/ OFFERORS THE PITTSBURGH WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY ADVERTISEMENT

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA January 5, 2018

SEPARATE and SEALED PROPOSALS for the following solicitation, will be received by the ffice of Procurement, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, 1200 Penn Avenue, Second Floor, until 4:00 P.M. Prevailing Time, January 31, 2018. Proposals must be received in the hands of and clocked in by a S rocurement fficer in sufficient time prior to the opening in order for a Proposal to be considered.

All late and/or electronically submitted Proposals will be rejected and not considered for award.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR THE FOUR MILE RUN GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (GSI) PROJECT PWSA PROJECT NO. PWSA89 Through the issuance of this Request for Proposals (RFP), the Authority is interested in soliciting proposals roposals from firms that are financially and technically ualified to provide professional engineering, landscape architecture, ecological, and hydrology services for the above referenced Project.

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the solicitation that can be obtained by sending an e-mail to cjuratovic@pgh2o. com. There will be no charge for the solicitation, as it will be sent via e-mail. All questions relating to the solicitation itself shall be directed to Autumn Barna, Contract Specialist, via e-mail: abarna@pgh2o.com no later than January 24, 2018.

A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on January 18, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. in the uthority s onference oom, 1200 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15222. The purpose of this meeting is to give an overview of the contract requirements and to allow Offerors to ask questions.

The Consultant must assure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual preference, or national origin.

The Consultant will be required to submit the pac age of certifications included with the contract documents relating to Equal Employment Opportunity.

The Authority reserves the right to withhold the award of the Contract for a period of 60 days after the proposal due date.

The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, and to waive any informality or minor irregularity in any proposal(s). The Authority also retains the right to investigate the ualifications of fferors prior to any award and to award contracts only to Consultants who, in the sole judgment of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, are ualified and e uipped to properly execute the specified wor .

ROBERT A. WEIMAR, INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE PITTSBURGH WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION of the SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, oom , South ellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on January 23, 2018, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for a Service Contract for the following: Pgh. Miller, Westwood and Grandview Replace EM Generator Systems General and Electrical Primes Pgh. Colfax K-8 Heating and Ventilation at Pool Area General, Asbestos, Mechanical and Electrical Primes Pgh. Sunnyside PreK-8 Unit Ventilator Replacement Mechanical Prime Pgh. Chartiers, Spring Garden, Montessori and Crescent Schools Water Cooler Replacement – Phase 2 Plumbing and Electrical Primes Pgh. Brashear High School ADA Toiler Room Renovations – Phase 2 General, Asbestos, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical Primes Pgh. Carrick High School Various Asphalt and Concrete Repairs General Prime Pgh. Dilworth PreK-5 Various Asphalt and Concrete Repairs General Prime Pgh. Langley High School Various Asphalt and Concrete Repairs General Prime Pgh. Oliver Citywide Academy Various Asphalt and Concrete Repairs General Prime.

Pgh. CAPA 6-12 asement ater nfiltration General, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical Primes Pgh. Cupples Stadium Concrete Bleachers Repair General Prime Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on January 2, 2018 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

he ffice of the ounty ontroller of Allegheny County, Room 104, Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, will receive separate and sealed Bids until 11:00 A.M. prevailing local time, WEDNESDAY, January 31, 2018, and a representative of the Department of Public Works will open and read the Bids in the Gold Room, Room 410, County Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, one-half hour later, : o cloc . ., for the following: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS WILKINS AVENUE LATERAL SUPPORT SOUTH OF PARK AVENUE BRADDOCK AND ARDMORE ROAD BRADDOCK HILLS BOROUGH COUNTY PROJECT NO. 3036-0003 As a prospective bidder please note the following general Project information regarding: PreBid Information, Bidding Requirements, and Contract Conditions. See the Project Manual for detailed information, responsibilities and instructions.

PRE-BID INFORMATION: Purchase and/or view the Project Manual and Drawings at the ffice of the Contract Manager, Room 504, ounty ffice uilding, ittsburgh, PA. The nonrefundable charge for the Proposal and a disk containing the Specifications and Drawings is $107.00 including sales tax.

The Contract Manager will accept only check or money order to the “COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY” in that amount and WILL NOT ACCEPT CASH OR EXTEND CREDIT. Prospective bidders may request to have bid documents mailed. An additional fee of $16.05 including tax, for handling costs for each requested proposal must be paid in advance. The fee must be received at the ffice of the ontract anager prior to the mailing of any documents.

The Department of Public Works will hold a Pre-Bid Meeting on January 18, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in oom ounty ffice uilding.

Further details of this project, Bidding Requirements and Contract Conditions are available on the Allegheny County internet website (www.alleghenycounty.us clic on “Departments,” click on “Public Works” then click on Bids and Proposals).”

Chelsa Wagner Controller County of Allegheny

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY LEGAL NOTICE

Sealed Bids for Contract 1635-A, TASSEY HOLLOW GRIT CHAMBER shall be received at the office of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233, until 11:00 A.M., Prevailing Time, Tuesday, February 6, 2018 and then shall be publicly opened and read at the Authority’s Plant in the 0 & M Building.

ALCOSAN encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities and women to submit bids on Authority Contracts or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to successful Bidders. Successful Bidders are to use minority and women s businesses to the fullest extent possible.

A Pre-Bid Meeting will be held at the uthority s lant located at 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15233, on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 10:00 AM, Prevailing Time to be followed by a field view.

Contract Documents may be examined and obtained at the office of the Authority. A non-refundable fee of $100.00 (no cash will be accepted) will be charged for each set of Contract Documents received.

Bid Security shall be furnished by providing with the id a ertified Check or Bid Bond in the amount of 10% of the Bid Price.

Any questions regarding the Contract Documents should be directed to Mr. Milton Lenhart, ALCOSAN in writing via email Milton.Lenhart@alcosan.org.

The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive any informality in any bid, and to accept any bid should it be deemed in the interest of the Authority to do so.

Jan Oliver Director, Regional Conveyance

SONNY BOY

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NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS FOR TIERED PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

January 10, 2018 City of Pittsburgh 200 Ross Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-255-2211 On or after January 18, 2018, the City of Pittsburgh 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) for the release of 2016 Public Housing Capital Fund Grant Program funds under Title 1 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, to undertake the following project: Tier 1 Broad Review Project/Program Title: 2016 Public Housing Capital Fund Grant Program Purpose: The 2016 Capital Fund Grant Program provides funding to HACP for modernization, development and management improvements. HACP has identified among its various properties, the necessity for comprehensive and partial modernization and other capital improvements. With the use of funding from the Capital Fund Grant Program, the HACP can continue to be a quality provider of affordable housing within the City of Pittsburgh.

Location: ittsburgh, ennsylvania. Specific addresses will be assessed in the site specific reviews.

Project/Program Description: Authority-Wide. Funds to be used for architectural /engineering technical services, resident services, protective services, miscellaneous section 504/uniform federal accessibility standards services, miscellaneous contingencies, program management services, management costs, concrete, demolition, hazardous materials abatement services, multifamily rehabilitation, and rehabilitation of non-residential structures in designated communities. ier site specific reviews will be completed for those laws and authorities not addressed in the tier 1 broad review for each address under this program when addresses become known.

Level of Environmental Review Citation: 24 CFR Parts 58.35(a) and 58.5 Tier 2 Site Specific Review: he site specific reviews will cover the following laws and authorities not addressed in the Tier 1 broad review: 24 CFR Part 58.5(a), (b), (e), (g), (i), and (j).

Mitigation Measures/Conditions/Permits (if any): HACP intends to take any/all actions as required to address issues and implement mitigation measures, conditions, and permits as may be determined resulting from tier 2 site specific reviews in order to achieve compliance.

Estimated Project Cost: $10,244,883.00 The activity/activities proposed are categorically excluded under HUD regulations at 24 CFR Part 58 from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements per 24 CFR Part 58.35(a). An Environmental Review Record (ERR) that documents the environmental determinations for this project is on file at the address listed above and may be examined or copied weekdays 8:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. or at https://www.hudexchange.info/ programs/environmental-review/environmental-review-records/.

PUBLIC COMMENTS Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the ERR to the City of Pittsburgh. All comments received by January 17, 2018 will be considered by the City of Pittsburgh prior to authorizing submission of a request for release of funds.

ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION he ity of ittsburgh certifies to D that illiam eduto, ertifying fficer, in his capacity as Mayor 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.

D s approval of the certification satisfies its responsibilities under NEPA and related laws and authorities and allows the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh to use HUD program funds.

OBJECTIONS TO RELEASE OF FUNDS D will accept ob ections to its release of fund and the ity of ittsburgh s certification for a period of fifteen 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 ertifying fficer of the ity of ittsburgh b the ity of ittsburgh has omitted a step or failed to ma e a decision or finding re uired by D regulations at part 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 D or d another ederal agency acting pursuant to art has submitted a written finding that the pro ect is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality. Objections must be prepared and submitted in accordance with the required procedures (24 CFR Part 58, Sec. 58.76) and shall be addressed to U.S. Department of Housing and rban Development, ittsburgh ffice, egion at the illiam oorhead Federal Building, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1000, Pittsburgh, PA 152224004. Potential objectors should contact HUD to verify the actual last day of the objection period.

William Peduto, Mayor Certifying Officer City of Pittsburgh

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50 years ago (TriceEdneyWire.com)—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born on Jan. 15, 1929, turned 39 years old 50 years ago. Assassinated on April 4, 1968, he didn’t make it to 40. Yet in his scant 39 years on the planet, he upended the ways we think about race, capitalism, poverty, power, and imperialism. The powers that be—foundations, corporations, and the media —were okay with him when he talked about race and discrimination.

They were much less happy when he rattled their cages, talking about capitalism and imperialism.

When he began to speak out against the Vietnam War, King was pretty much told to stay in his lane. When he didn’t, some of his support drifted away. Yet he persisted. He lifted his voice. He made a difference. And he left a legacy that, 50 years later, we must reclaim.

1968 was a fascinating year, perhaps one of the most important as a game-changer in our national consciousness. King was assassinated, and so was Robert Kennedy, a man who embraced King’s message and who might have been an amazing President, had he been able to complete his campaign and win.

In 1968, despite Dr. King’s assassination, his colleagues executed the Poor People’s Campaign. It brought people from all over the country to the Washington Mall, people who were prepared to confront our government about the way we treated poor people. Some of those who were there spoke of the “absolute audacity” of the people who gathered, who believed they could make a difference.

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary Their audacity reflected the audacity of Dr. King the man who, in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1964, spoke of the “audacity to believe” that our society could be different, more accepting of the poor, and more committed to “three meals a day for our bodies, education and culture for our minds, peace and freedom for our spirit.”

Fast forward. Peace is elusive. We may well be looking at a nuclear war with North Korea. Two unstable individuals are playing the 11 year old game (with all due respect to 11 year olds) of mine is bigger than yours.

I think the whole world cringed when 45 continued to sell wolf tickets to North Korean President Kim JongUn. 45 keeps calling that clearly unstable leader out of his name, and engaging him in toxic insults. When crazy meets crazy, what does this mean for the rest of us? Fifty years ago, Dr. King would have made time for both, speaking of peace. Now, we have pugilists in charge of diplomacy.

This is someplace past challenging— it is a prescription for disaster.

Then we have the new tax bill that flies in the face of everything Dr. King stood for. It will cut social programs, and filter more money to the wealthy.

When Dr. King said he had the audacity to believe that people could have three meals a day, he supported the Food Stamps program that House Majority Leader Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would like to reduce or eliminate.

More than that, when Dr. King talked about “education and culture” his comments are radically different from those of Education Secretary Betsey DeVoid (of good sense, but she goes by the name DeVos). Her work in these short months has minimized opportunities and safety for students.

This year there will be commemorations of the many things that happened fifty years ago. This year we will again mourn Dr. Martin Luther King and Sen. Robert Kennedy. This year we will remember the 1968 Presidential campaign, the drama in Chicago, the Presidential candidacy of the racist George Wallace, the rising fists of Black athletes at the Olympics, and the peak in Vietnam deaths.

We in the civil rights community will think of Dr. King, but 1968 was one of those years, 50 years ago, when lives were upended, conventional wisdom was challenged, and audacity was celebrated. Yes, 1968 was an audacious year; more audacious than many we have seen since.

Fifty years ago, we lost a King and gained audacity. We turned it up and turned it out in cities around the country. We confronted government with the Poor People’s Campaign.

Now what?

Reverend William Barber, author of the Third Reconstruction, and President of the moral movement, Repairers of the Breach, carries on the legacy. So does Rev. Jesse Jackson, leader of Rainbow PUSH and a close associate of Dr. King’s. There are others who have audacity, but they can’t do it alone, any more than our leaders did fifty year ago. Where do you stand?

(Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist.)

FORUM

Mayor Bill Peduto can be Pittsburgh’s Mayor of Hope On Wednesday, Jan. 3, I about all persons. In this was in attendance at the Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick second term, Mayor Peduto inauguration of Pittsburgh was able to fill the vacanMayor Bill Peduto. The cy of Acklin with another program was highlighted competent and concerned with seven videos, and as individual, Dan Gilman, I watched and listened, it whom I believe possesses was obvious that all had a all of the same qualities of universal theme. Video No. Acklin, which will serve all 6 summed it up for me. It persons well. was titled, “If It’s Not For My personal concerns All, It’s Not For Us.” Mayor Peduto’s acceptance are that I fail to see a viable number of Black speech was a continuation of the videos as he persons on the mayor’s staff who, in my estiexpounded on Pittsburgh becoming a city for all mation, are able to help the mayor generate of us. major growth in relationship within the Black On the way home, I reflected on how far have communities. I have grown weary of those perwe really come in a city that is oftentimes re- sons, White and Black, who constantly quote ferred to as an UP SOUTH CITY. It was the statistics when they address the ALLEGED year 1947, at the age of 17 I was introduced to a BLACK ACCOMPLISHMENTS. For example, political system that was a form of slavery, and I a statement was made that Blacks received 16 made a vow to myself that I would do everything percent of $44 million of Pittsburgh contracts. possible to change it, and God knows I’ve tried. There was a contract awarded and the person in It was the only inauguration that I have ever charge stated that Blacks received 58 percent of attended that there was a focus on all of the citi- a $100 million contract, etc. I asked with great zens of Pittsburgh being promised they would be regularity every day, who are these alleged perafforded an opportunity to sit at the table. Over sons receiving this money??? the years, mayors here have surrounded themThey definitely are not the Black business perselves with political hacks, persons who have no sons I interview and talk to regularly. genuine feelings or concerns about the people I wish Mayor Peduto the best as he and his or the well-being of the city at-large. However, staff strive to ensure that the City of Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto’s appointment of Kevin Acklin truly becomes a city of INCLUSION. (Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a contributor to the New Pittsas his first chief of staff proved to be a genuine concerned public servant, who truly cares burgh Courier.)

To Tell The Truth

Dr. Umar Johnson’s messianic makeover Last week I asked what ed on Roland Martin’s news were the biggest problems J. Pharoah Doss program to defend himself of the 21st century. I menagainst a host of accusations tioned extended adolesmade against him. Mainly, cence (From the book The he was accused of never Vanishing American Adult) completing an advanced deand dragging the problems gree program and pocketing of the 20th century into the hundreds of thousands of 21st. Then I provided an dollars that was donated to example. The theme conhim to start a private school tinues, but this time I’ll exfor Black boys. And just last plore the strange case of Dr. Umar Johnson. month, Dr. Johnson posted on social media that For years Dr. Johnson has proclaimed himself in January he has a hearing before The Pennsylto be the most sought-after public speaker in vania State Board of Psychology for presenting Black America, a doctor of clinical psychology, a himself as a psychologist without a license. certified school psychologist, a political scientist, Dr. Johnson stated his hearing is the result of and an expert in mental health. “members of his own race complaining about When he began his public speaking career, his him to the White authorities,” and he also said presentations were within his field. He warned Black people are making him “render unto CaeBlack parents that Black children were being sar.” misdiagnosed with learning disabilities and Now, I don’t know if Dr. Johnson is a fraud or a “sentenced” to special education, a practice he thief, but the Messianic makeover he gave himdeclared as the resegregation of public schools. self needs to be psychoanalyzed.

(This sounds like a noble attempt to be a leader Messiah means “the anointed one,” the prophin his field.) esied savior to come. In Christian theology, the Then Dr. Johnson appeared in an independent Messiah is Jesus. Jesus has a special birth, defilm about Black history and White supremacy scends from the line of David, is from the tribe which boosted his popularity and in some circles of Judah, is known as the prince of peace, and he made him a celebrity. The film’s success led to preached a doctrine of salvation. more speaking engagements, a larger following, Dr. Umar Johnson has his own parallel. and eventually a fan base that bestowed on him Dr. Johnson has stated it’s no coincidence that the honorary title of “Black leader.” he was born on the same day Nat Turner started Now, Dr. Johnson’s placement on this pedestal his war, he claims to be a descendant of Frederwasn’t his fault, but what he morphed into after ick Douglass, he claims to be a UNIA Garveyite he was crowned with this 20th century title has (tribe of Marcus Garvey), he constantly refers to become problematic. (The 20th century was full himself as the “prince of pan-Africanism,” but he of charismatic Black figures that confronted the doesn’t promote the aims of any organization to White power structure on behalf of Black peo- advance Black people, he preaches his own docple, but it was Whites in power that generically trine of salvation. referred to those figures as “Black leaders.” In This is a messiah complex. Anyone that sees reality these individuals led organizations and themselves as a savior views the people they’re they advanced the collective by achieving the attempting to save as helpless. aims of their respective organizations, not by I don’t know if Dr. Johnson’s diehard followers being a public persona/Black leader.) believe in their own helplessness or ignore his In the past couple years, Dr. Johnson has de- Messianic makeover, but one thing is for sure, veloped into a full-blown public persona and Dr. Johnson has turned his honorary—20th cencontroversial figure. (The controversial part is tury—“Black leader” crown into a 21st century due to an incident with a stripper, bombastic crown of thorns.

(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the New Pittsburgh rhetoric on subjects outside of his field, and a Courier. He blogs at jpharoahdoss@blogspot.com) lack of transparency in fundraising.)

In the middle of 2017, Dr. Johnson was invit-

Check It Out

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

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Marc H. Morial

To Be Equal 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of a momentous year in Civil Rights (TriceEdneyWire.com)—“It is not an overstatement to say that the destiny of the entire human race depends on what is going on in America today.

This is a staggering reality to the rest of the world; they must feel like passengers in a supersonic jetliner who are forced to watch helplessly while a passel of drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen fight for the controls and the pilot’s seat.”—Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice, 1968” As we embark upon the new year of 2018, we step into the 50th anniversary of a year that shook the world, in particular the world of civil rights in the United States.

Perhaps the most momentous of these events are the assassinations of Martín Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy.

Both of these tragic deaths hold personal significance for my family. My parents, civil rights activists, were personally acquainted with the Rev. King.

My mother, Sybil Morial, and King were students together at Boston University while she pursued her Masters Degree in education and he his PhD in theology. In her memoir, Witness to Change, she writes of the moment on April 4 when she learned of his death: I could hardly grasp the words: Martin Luther King has been shot to death in Memphis.

Dutch was in the study. I called to him, and he came and stood by me. “Martin has been killed.”

I could hardly say the words; I could hardly believe it. Not Martin. Dutch and I watched the gruesome footage in silence.

She recalled the words of his final speech, “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

He knew it, but we didn’t. And we didn’t understand his death.

I was inconsolable...I said to Dutch, “Now that Martin is gone, what will become of the movement?” “It will go on. It must.”

My late father-in-law, Ross Miller, was a trauma surgeon and Kennedy campaigner who was present at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5. When the shots rang out, he bravely stepped forward and tried to save the lives of Kennedy and others who where wounded.

These deaths are but two of the civil rights milestones of that historic year half a century ago.

On Feb. 8, the Orangeburg Massacre took place in South Carolina. Highway Patrol officers opened fire on a crowd of 200 students gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to demonstrate against the continued segregation at the bowling alley. Three young men were killed and 27 other protesters were injured.

On April 11, amid continuing unrest triggered by King’s murder, President Lyndon Johnson signed one of the most significant laws of the era—the Civil Rights Act Of 1968, more commonly known as the Fair Housing Act. The Act prohibited not only racial and religious discrimination in the sale or rental of a home, but also racially-motivated threats, intimidation or retaliation in relation to housing.

In a move often cited as inspiration by current-day activists, on Oct. 2 Black Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos African American athletes raised their arms in a Black power salute after winning the gold and bronze medals in the men’s 200 meters.

November 22 saw the first interracial kiss ever to air on television in the United States, between the characters Captain James Kirk and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, on the program Star Trek.

In the coming year, we will observe many of these anniversaries in-depth. We begin the year reflection on a half-century of civil right progress, and the progress that lies ahead.

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ENTERTAINER

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

‘Let Freedom Sing’ concerts honor Dr. King’s legacy through song

by Genea L. Webb For New Pittsburgh Courier

concerts celebrate unity and diversity while raising funds for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

The MLK festival choir is made up of singers from Pittsburgh CAPA, Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Lemington Chorale, Allderdice High School, Temple Sinai, Woodland Hills High School and the Greater Pittsburgh Unitarian Universalist churches.

Lemington Gospel Chorale member, Jazz singer and vocal coach Phat Man Dee appreciates the comradery the weekend brings.

“I appreciate the fellowship with so many singers and musicians who are also deeply committed to the pursuit of racial justice through the musical commemoration of the life and work of Rev. Dr. King,” said the South Side resident. “As a vocalist and activist, it is my sacred duty to be there.

Also, it’s just fabulous music.”

The initiative originally started in 2008 as a way to

bring city and suburbs together.

“There was a feeling on both our parts that we live in a very segregated region,” explained Kris Rust, co-founder of the Let Freedom Sing concerts and music minister at Allegheny UU Church. “By and large Black people and White people live in different neighborhoods and I think that’s one of the problems we have because it leads to lack of resources and understanding; so we wanted to have a celebration on Martin Luther King Day to bring people together.”

The first concert was held at Franklin Regional High School, where Kris worked as a music teacher to show his students the power of unification that music has.

There was also a concert held at Sixth Mount Zion in East Liberty. The group quickly outgrew Sixth Mount Zion and moved to Ebenezer Baptist Church where it will be held on Jan. 13.

In 2017, to commemorate

Reverend Dr. Herbert V.R.P. Jones knows for a fact that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of the work he and co-founder Kris Rust have done to eradicate racism and bulldoze social injustice through their annual “Let Freedom Sing” concerts.

“I grew up in a civil rights family and I marched while I was younger and in high school. We did all of the boycotts and sit-ins in Mississippi and marched with Dr. King, especially on the march from Memphis to THE TREVOR C. DANCE COLLECTIVE Jackson, so the experience of having lived through the initiative’s 10th year, livered to wanting to come music learned. It’s an inthat and being a part of the decision was made to together hopefully the con- tense rehearsal time but that is very, very meaningmove a concert to the Pitts- cert will do that,” Rust said. it’s wonderful. It’s a time ful,” explained Rev. Jones. burgh Cultural District to “Also, being a product of Simone Spaulding of celebration and it goes help the event gain broader Cephas, president of the back to community because the Morehouse generation appeal throughout the re- Heritage Gospel Chorale it’s multi-generational and of which he was a prodgion. uct, he would be very, very and alto section leader, be- multi-ethnic. It’s like a re“This is a very important lieves the concert will ac- union.” proud because the concert holiday and I want people complish Rust’s and Jones’ Hill District resident Rose is celebrating community to be inspired and uplifted goals.

Loker is surprised at how where you have diverse to be a part of diverse compeople of all backgrounds “It’s a wonderful weekend. singer participation has inmunities. You have to be de- It’s a joy to work with the creased since she joined the coming together to celebrate.” kids. A lot of the kids today charge 11 years ago.

“When we first started we Reverend Jones grew up don’t know who Martin Luin Jackson, Miss., and now ther King is. It gives us the had more singers than acresides in Pittsburgh. chance to fellowship with tual attendees. We looked The Let Freedom Sing them and it shows the kids out and a lot of the pews concerts, now in its that we can all get along. were empty but the peo11th year, strive to celeSpiritually, the songs we ple that were there were brate the legacy of Dr. King. sing with the kids, the kids so engrossed that it didn’t This year’s shows will be get touched and hopefully matter. As time grew we held at Ebenezer Baptist it will bring them closer to outgrew Sixth Mount Zion.

Church in the Hill District God,” Spaulding Cephas It’s wonderful to see the kids be excited to sing the on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 said. p.m. and on Monday, Jan. Planning of the Let Free- songs, it’s a fun time and 15 at 7 p.m. at the Byham dom Sing concerts is a year- the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King” are praised, exTheater, Downtown. long event in itself.

Both concerts will fea“I choose the music during plained Loker, who is also ture the Heritage Gospel the summer and Kris sends a member of the Heritage Chorale of Pittsburgh unit out to the directors and Gospel Chorale.

Admission to the der Jones’ direction and an they get it between June intergenerational choir of and August because we Ebenezer concert on Jan. singers from high school, not only have adult choirs, 13 is free with open seating church, temple and combut community choirs and and monetary donations munity choirs from across student choirs,” Jones ex- are accepted to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh. The plained. “So they have to food bank. Tickets for the Trevor C. Dance Collective learn the music and they Byham concert can be purand Reed Dance II will only get one rehearsal chased at www.trustarts. perform, and KDKA-TV’s with me, the Saturday pri- org. For more information Lynne Hayes-Freeland will REV. DR. HERBERT V.R.P. JONES, second from right, with Heritage Gospel Chorale member Rose or to the event, from 2-5 visit www.letfreedomsing. emcee both concerts. The Loker, right. p.m. They have to have the net.

LYNNE HAYES-FREELAND will emcee both Let Freedom Sing concerts— Jan. 13 at Ebenezer, Jan. 15 at the Byham.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

ENTERTAINER

Kwanzaa—celebrating African American heritage, culture

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

THE KWANZAA CANDLES are lit, during Community Empowerment Association’s annual Kwanzaa Celebration, Dec. 30, 2017, in Homewood. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

AMIR RASHID

MAMA KADIATOU

THE HONOREES from the Kwanzaa celebration at Community Empowerment Association in Homewood.

RASHAD BYRDSONG

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B10

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

Praise & Worship ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH Crawford & Centre Ave. Pgh., PA 15219 412-281-3141 Mass Sunday 9:00 A.M. & 12:00 P.M. Sunday (Gospel Choir Mass) 12:00 P.M. www.stbtmchurch.org

METROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH 22 Sampsonia Street, Northside Pittsburgh, PA 15212 412-231-2554 FAX 412-231-6395 Rev. Lacy F. Richardson, Ph.D., Pastor Church School.................................9:30 A.M. Worship Service.................8:00 & 10:45 A.M. Bible Study/ Prayer Wednesday...................6:30/7:30 P.M. www.metropolitanbaptistchurch.com metropolitanbaptist2224@gmail.com

East Liberty Presbyterian Church Rev. Dr. Randy Bush, Senior Pastor 412-441-3800 116 S. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206

www.cathedralofhope.com

Journey Worship........8:45 a.m.

Sanctuary Worship...11:00 a.m.

Curious about Quakerism?

You Are Welcome at our Meetings for Worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m.

Pittsburgh Friends Meeting 4836 Ellsworth Avenue 412-683-2669

RELIGION

Kyle’s Story

In her own words, Dr. Staci Flint details the inspiring story of her son, Kyle Jackson, who continues to march on while fighting a terminal degenerative disease This is the story of Kyle Jackson, or as some of you know him as, “The life of the party.”

Kyle was born at West Penn Hospital at 28 weeks and was only 2 pounds, 7 ounces. I had a great pregnancy and the doctors had no idea why he was born so early. It shocked us all.

The first year of his life, he was on machines, monitors, etc. But the doctors all said that he was fine.

The day he turned 1 he had a terrible seizure and ended up being hospitalized. It was at that time he was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. He would have 20 to 30 seizures a day, but we made it through. He started walking and then a few months later he could not even stand up. As time went on he was losing more and more functions. No one new why. It wasn’t until he was 2 years old that I made the doctors look harder to find out what was wrong.

Finally, after many tests

and genetic testing, Kyle was diagnosed with a terminal disease called Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, which is a terminal degenerative disease that takes over a person’s organs and functions. I can tell you that my heart dropped when I found this out. Doctors said that he wasn’t going to make it to the age of 2.

He is now 21.

I was a young mother at that time and wasn’t as grounded in my faith as I am today. So, I listened to the doctors and I tried to give Kyle the best time of his life, despite the multiple surgeries, trachea, feeding tube, etc. The entire time I had this loving, happy son that wasn’t promised to see tomorrow.

Then God woke me up one day and said, “Hush, child, it will be OK.” From that moment on I knew God had Kyle and he was OK. So, we lived our life. It wasn’t easy but we had our routine. As time

KYLE JACKSON, with his mother, Dr. Staci Flint. (Photo courtesy Central Blood Bank) went on Kyle got bigger and stronger and heavier, and once he was 10, I could no longer lift him, so at that time I was a single mother and had to make the decision to find a care facility that would take care of him.

We did some respites at McGuire and they were able to care for him permanently.

New Destiny CME Church 114 North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15233 412-231-7882 Rev. Kornelus Neal, pastor The Rt. Rev. Marvin Thomas Sr., presiding bishop Sunday School....................................9 A.M. Morning Worship Service............11:00 A.M.

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MARIO BROWNE was the keynote speaker at Kyle’s Hope Ministry’s Annual Charity Gala, held Jan. 7 at the Teamsters Union Hall on Butler St. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

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My family gave me heck because McGuire was not around the corner, but out of all the places that I had looked at, McGuire gave me the most comfort in knowing that he was in a good facility and would be well taken care of.

My child is spoiled. The staff at McGuire takes care of him just like we would.

They love him and every resident just like they are their own. Not only do they treat the residents like family, but they also treat the family members as family. A good example of their love and commitment to their residents and families was from the time Kyle walked into the McGuire’s door, but especially 3 years ago when he had a major setback with his health. He had a very severe stroke and once again the doctors said that there was nothing else that they could do…. Well, let me tell you, McGuire did more and God gave Kyle rest.

Kyle was resting for over a month and a half. That entire time McGuire staff would come and visit, pray with us and for us, hold us in their arms, cry with us, bring us food and goodies, etc. They were right there with us all the way. They hurt just as much as we did. I remember telling my husband that Kyle just was not fighting and this was a side that we had never seen before. Kyle has always fought through everything.

It was at that time that I knew it was OK either way things might turn out. We met with the doctors and decided that we just wanted him comfortable. That evening, “Sister T” called me and said, “I just want you to know that we are

all here for you and we love you and him, and no matter what time of day or night, if you need me you call me.”

Well, I cried all over again because I knew that she meant it and they all felt just like we did.

But then, Kyle started getting stronger, he started fighting…He fought his way back to being as much of Kyle as he could be. He spent a whole year away from McGuire in Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Institute with the McGuire staff visiting, praying, sending cards, gifts, Facetiming, and helping the staff prepare for his return. We planned his care together.

To this day Kyle is still getting the best care because of McGuire. McGuire and all their staff have truly been a blessing to our son, our family, and to all those that they care for. McGuire gives the best quality of care that a person can have. They never give up no matter what. That is the same strength and fight that we have for Kyle.

In closing, I would like to share 3 quotes from an unknown author that reminds me of McGuire and all the love and care and inspiration that they give to my son, Kyle, and to all.

When the world says, “Give up,” hope whispers, “Try it again, you can do it….”

“Have hope, be strong, laugh loud, live and play hard in the moment, smile often, dream big and be happy…”

And last, but not least…

“Life is a series of thousands of tiny miracles. Notice them.”

—Dr. Staci Flint, mother of Kyle Jackson

KAMRYN JACKSON, in the arms of Darrell Myrick, at Kyle’s Hope Ministry’s Annual Charity Gala.

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“Doctors said that he wasn’t going to make it to the age of 2. He is now 21.”

TRACI WRIGHT, NIKKI THOMAS, DEBRA HORNE, at Kyle’s Hope Ministry’s Annual Charity Gala.

DR. STACI FLINT Holding a picture of her son, Kyle Jackson

HEALTH

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

B11

Take charge of your health today. Be informed. Be involved.

Social Support and the SOVA study

by Ana Radovic, MD

ESTHER BUSH

Social support Happy New Year! This month, the “Take Charge of Your Health Today” page focuses on research being done in our local area about the positive health outcomes of social support and connections. Jennifer R. Jones, MPH, CTSI community engagement senior coordinator, and Esther L. Bush, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, discussed this topic.

JJ: Good afternoon, Ms. Bush. Happy 2018! Can you believe that this year celebrates seven years of the “Take Charge” page feature and our interviews?

EB: Time goes so fast, Jennifer! We’ve covered many health and research topics throughout the years. The kick-off to a new year motivates many people to make resolutions or changes in their lifestyle or behavior. Some people may want to quit smoking, organize their closet or spend more quality time with loved ones. Some people may want to eat healthier, spend more time outside, exercise more or watch their budget and save money. The list could be endless!

JJ: That’s exactly right, Esther. I have personal goals to do many of the things you just listed. Our January page focuses on social support. To accomplish goals and resolutions, we need other people.

Research shows that social support can have positive outcomes. As Dr. Ana Radovic discusses, there are many types of support we can give to and get from others.

EB: I’m really glad Ana outlined the different types of support. I don’t think I’ve ever had it explained in that way.

It makes me look at the song “Lean on Me” in a new way!

Our December page was on cyberbullying, and I appreciate that the SOVA websites are safe places for adolescents and their parents to share their feelings and to learn more about depression and anxiety.

The holidays, while joyous, are difficult times for many people.

JJ: I agree, Esther. The SOVA websites are one of many ways that those suffering can find a supportive community. We also worked this month with another expert on social connections. What is awesome about Dr. Alison Culyba’s research is that she is working with local Pittsburgh adolescents to understand what protects youths.

Her work will look at the tangible pieces of social support and mentorship to design interventions that positively affect youths as they grow into adults.

EB: You always provide the most fascinating and new research. I’m so proud of this partnership and what we’ve all created together. I know that each month I learn something new or think about my health in a different way. This year we will continue to disseminate health and research to Courier readers.

JJ: Thank you, Esther, for your time and energy to make these pages empowering to readers. From all of us at the Urban League, CTSI, the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Center for Engagement and Inclusion and the New Pittsburgh Courier, we thank you for reading this page. We wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy new year.

If anyone has questions or would like to suggest a health topic, please e-mail partners@ hs.pitt.edu. Our team is more than willing to come to your organizations, schools and churches to answer questions and engage in meaningful conversations.

“Lean on Me”

by Bill Withers Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there’s always tomorrow Chorus: Lean on me, when you’re not strong And I’ll be your friend I’ll help you carry on For it won’t be long ‘Til I’m gonna need Somebody to lean on Please swallow your pride If I have things you need to borrow For no one can fill those of your needs That you won’t let show You just call on me, brothGIVING LOVE—Brandi Fisher showing support to a local youth. (Photo by J.L. Martello) er, when you need a hand We all need somebody to car breaks down or a friend dies. when they give you advice on lean on Sometimes it is when we lose our- what to do or feedback on how you I just might have a problem that acted in a certain selves to illness, you’ll understand situation to help We all need somebody to lean on to addiction or to you be better. If we negativity. The are wise we know rules of gravity Chorus that there’s always are what comes tomorrow You just call on me brother, when up must come down. And so, 3. Tangible—This you need a hand is what most people We all need somebody to lean on we cannot althink of. Tangible ways be up. But I just might have a problem that support is the when we are you’ll understand actual material aid We all need somebody to lean on down, who helps someone might give us back up? you like money or “Social supIf there is a load you have to bear transportation. It port” is a term That you can’t carry also means somethat describes I’m right up the road one who would take the different I’ll share your load care of you if you types of help we were sick. Please can give to and Chorus swallow your pride get from othANA RADOVIC, MD ers. Scientists if I have things you The words and tune of this song break down soneed to borrow written and recorded by African cial support into five different areas: 4. Positive Social Interaction— American singer-songwriter Bill 1. Emotional—Others can give This is someone who will spend Withers capture the feelings you emotional support when they time with you to relax or just spend people have when they want a listen to how you feel and enquality time together. I’ll be your shoulder to lean on. When are courage you. I just might have a friend, I’ll help you carry on we not strong? Sometimes it is problem that you’ll understand 5. Affection—This is someone when we are surprised by bad 2. Informational—Others can who makes you feel loved and news. Sometimes it is when we give you informational support cared for. They may share this in lose something we relied on—a

a number of ways like giving hugs or calling you by affectionate names. You just call on me brother, when you need a hand Social support is often studied in health care research because of the benefits it can have for people who are down on their luck due to illness. The SOVA (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) research team at the University of Pittsburgh is interested in how social support can be helpful when people are embarrassed to talk about their illness with others. When they are afraid to share that information with others, it can be tough to get the type of help social support can provide.

For teens with depression or anxiety and their parents, stigma often keeps them from telling others how they feel. SOVA team research found that depressed teens will talk about their depression online, where they can be anonymous. But sometimes online spaces are not safe because of bullying or social media making depressed teens feel worse.

The SOVA websites are two research study sites where young people and their parents can go online to be part of a safe online community. They can learn more about depression or anxiety. This community is moderated by the SOVA research team to make sure there is no bullying or negativity.

Researchers hope to learn whether being part of such a community helps young people and their parents find the help they need for depression and anxiety.

If you would like more information or want to join SOVA, go to sova. pitt.edu for teens and young adults ages 14-26 or wisesova. pitt.edu for parents of teens or young adults with depression or anxiety.

Connections Matter…Mentors help teens thrive

by Alison Culyba, MD, PhD, MPH,

Culyba. “There are so many strengths within families, communities and larger networks of support that exist Assistant professor of already. Figuring out how to pediatrics, University harness those networks is an of Pittsburgh School of important piece for improving Medicine the lives and opportunities for youths in low-resource Youths in urban enneighborhoods.” vironments often have Dr. Culyba’s current high levels of exposure to research in Pittsburgh is community violence. They working to identify the specifface complex social and ic dynamics within supporteconomic pressures and ive adult relationships that have few safe spaces to help protect local youths. spend time. For the past For example, her research three decades, homicide seeks answers to whether has been the leading there is a certain mentorship cause of death among style that parents, teachers, African American adocommunity leaders or clergy lescents. It has been the practice that could reduce second-most common the odds that youths will be cause of death among all involved with violence. What adolescents in the United is the best conflict resolution States. approach between youths Dr. Alison Culyba is an and mentors? Dr. Culyba adolescent medicine phyand her research team will sician at Children’s Hospitake back to the community tal of Pittsburgh of UPMC. MENTOR—Flo Taylor, left, talks with a group of teens Downtown. (Photos by J.L. Martello) the information they learn.

She meets young people DEDICATED MENTOR— It is important to work with every day who have been outside their families. connections were significantly community partners to deexposed to violence within Dr. Culyba’s research also looks more likely to be thriving at school. sign interventions that strengthen their families, peer groups or They were less likely to use subadolescent-adult connections to neighborhoods. Through her work, at adolescents in low-resource urban environments. When these stances or be exposed to violence. safeguard youths. By designing she is committed to protecting youths have adults in their lives “Helping youths identify a interventions that engage both teens from violence. Her research whom they look up to and whom supportive adult in their existing teens and significant adults, Dr. seeks to understand the role of they can turn to for guidance in network, and identifying opportuCulyba and her team hope to build positive connections with adults handling tough situations, positive nities to broaden these networks leadership skills and promote in the lives of youths navigating things happen. These mentors when youths don’t have a curcommunity engagement. This will challenging situations. can have rent support, may help youths all work toward a more positive Having an adult who profound thrive despite adversity,” said Dr. and peaceful future. supports youths uncondiprotective tionally and holds them to effects on high expectations helps young peoteens thrive. Research ple’s health from the National Longiand develtudinal Study of Adolesopment. Becent to Adult Health (Add fore moving Health) shows important to Pittsfindings about connecburgh, Dr. tions. Having supportive Culyba and connections to adults colleagues is important for young worked in people’s healthy developPhiladelphia. ment. It promotes physical In a study health, mental health and school engagement.

ALISON CULYBA, MD, PHD, MPH among adolescent Other positive effects males there, the research team show reductions in substance found that 86 percent of youths use and a delay in sexual initiaidentified a positive adult connection. For many teens in the Add tion. Sixty-eight percent specificalHealth study, these positive adult ly identified a supportive connecconnections come from parents.

DEAN GARLAND JR., a City Charter High School senior, told his fellow teens to tion with an adult family member. “put the guns down,” and “rise above,” after his friend, Rayshawn Gibson, was Some youths also identify healthy killed last December.

Those youths with positive adult connections with adult mentors

B12

JANUARY 10-16, 2018

PEOPLE

FORMER STEELER JAMES HARRISON, as a newborn. (Photo pro- FORMER STEELER JAMES HARRISON, in elementary school.

(Photo provided by Harrison family) vided by Harrison family)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JAMES HARRISON, a Super Bowl winner with the Steelers, now wears a New England Patriots uniform. (AP PHOTO)

James Harrison—from Akron, Ohio to the NFL

by Aubrey Bruce

customary greeting hug.

“I’m glad you guys could For New Pittsburgh Courier make it,” she said, as JohnIt was the eve before the nie took our coats and we year 2017 was to begin. took a seat at the dining Around 1:30 p.m., myself room table. and Courier photographer The first thing that we Thomas Sabol pulled into discussed was not the Pittsthe Akron, Ohio driveway burgh Steelers nor lineof Mrs. Mildred Harrison, backer James Henry Harrithe mother of former Pitts- son Jr., but at that time, the burgh Steelers linebacker, recent passing of his father, James Harrison. Unless James Henry Harrison Sr., you are a non-NFL fan or who had passed in May just maybe exiting from a 2016 from lung cancer. He sports hiatus, you probably was 76. know by now that Harrison “I really miss my huscurrently sports the colors band,” she said. of the New England PatriShe knew that I could reots. late because several years Johnnie Harrison, the old- before she lost her husband er brother of James Harri- and James Henry Harrison, greeted us with a firm son Jr. lost his father, I had handshake and a bright spoken with her about the welcoming smile. sudden passing of my wife, “Come on in and make Jennifer. I can’t help but yourself comfortable,” he remember the warm and said, as we made our way heartfelt condolences that into the house. Mildred she had offered me. We Harrison, mother of James reminisced about James Jr. Harrison, and I had become and his father going out on acquainted during the ten- fishing trips, just one of the ure of James with the Steel- activities that they loved ers and we exchanged our to do as father and son.

At that time I asked her if James Jr. had given her any indication his retirement was imminent.

“He wants to win another championship and then he will probably retire,” she told me.

The Harrison family shared their ups and downs, highs and lows as well as the good and bad with me. Everything that they shared is not for all eyes and ears, but gave me invaluable insight into the gene pool and origin of James Harrison Jr., and why he has evolved into one of the most storied players ever to don an NFL uniform. Mildred Harrison is one of the most honest and forthright people that I have ever met in over four decades as a journalist. She shared the baby and early elementary school photos of James Harrison. They shared their lives with me. When Thomas Sabol was shooting photos, Mildred Harrison made me laugh almost uncontrolla-

bly when she said, “Aubrey, come on over and take a photo with us, you don’t have to be scared.”

Fast forward to December 2017, a year later. Someone read the wrong tea leaves when it came to the com-

petitive fire and spirit of linebacker James Henry Harrison Jr. Harrison did not even play during the AFC home-field clinching victory of the Patriots over the Steelers on Dec. 17 at Heinz Field. “If I didn’t play

in the biggest game of the year that told me I wouldn’t get any more snaps. So all that lip service you gave me before didn’t matter,” Harrison said after the game.

A few days later, Christmas Day, actually, it seemed as if the personal fortune teller/palm reader answered Harrison directly when he asked her the question; Is my NFL career over?

One can only imagine her answer. James Henry Harrison Jr., your career will catch fire in the blizzard-laced tundra of New England. Wow, boys and girls, go figure.

(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at abruce@newpittsCOURIER SPORTS COLUMNIST AUBREY BRUCE, right, with members of the Har- b u r g h c o u r i e r. rison family, including James Harrison’s mother, Mildred, third from right. com.)