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Vol. 110 No. 3

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

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Hill House Growth Fund loans $500,000 to Hill House Association

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that the Hill House Association hasn’t sold any of its buildings…yet.

In fact, it’s highly unlikely that no “T’s” will be crossed nor “I’s” dotted before the summer.

Money allows for social services to continue while delaying sale of Hill House properties

City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, with state Rep. Jake Wheatley by his side, announced at a community gathering at the Grayson Center, Jan. 10, that an agreement had

been reached with the Hill House Association Board of Directors and the Hill District Growth Fund, in which the Growth Fund will loan the Hill House $500,000 to pay its bills and continue

its social service programs for the next four months.

Concurrently, a RFP (Request For Proposal) for several of the Hill House’s properties has been drafted by the Urban Redevelopment Au-

Summer Lee, the new leader of the 34th House District Speaking for Mon Valley’s voiceless is her top priority

URA taps Black architect, Black contractor for Larimer rehab projects

by Christian Morrow

by Rob Taylor Jr. and Dayna Delgado Courier Staff Writers

One quick search on the Pennsylvania House of Representatives website, and you’ll see that it’s official.

Summer Lee is a Pa. state representative, representing the 34th District.

Out of 203 Pa. House members, Rep. Lee is one of eight African American women. She’s the first African American woman to represent a House district in Western Pennsylvania outside of the Pittsburgh city limits.

One year ago, Rep. Lee was holding her campaign kickoff event at Peppers ‘N’at in Braddock. Just about two weeks ago, Rep. Lee was holding another party—a victory party—at Goodfellas Restaurant in Swissvale, celebrating the hard work that had been done to make this day possible, while discussing to supporters how she’ll bring the concerns of her Mon Valley constituents to Harrisburg.

“Unite is next, and being

thority of Pitts- R. DANIEL LAVELLE JAKE WHEATLEY burgh, which will be available for anyone people who submitted bids to view or make a bid. are actually in a financially After a month of bids be- feasible position to follow ing accepted, the Growth through.

Fund, Hill House Associa- The proposals that pass tion and the URA will con- the vetting process will duct an initial review of the then be referred to the proposals and the proposals Hill District Development will be vetted for technical SEE HILL HOUSE A5 accuracy, making sure the

REP. SUMMER LEE is now the Pennsylvania state representative in the 34th House District. (Photo

by Dayna Delgado) a legislator, which to me are one and the same,” Rep. Lee told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview at the Jan. 3 event. “I have to learn the ropes, I have to legislate, but also I have to build up a pipeline of people that are supporting me here on the homefront, of creating a space where people who share my

policies and who share my values have access to the space.”

The role of a state representative seems simple—present the best interests of their district; serve as political spokesperson for issues important to their SEE LEE A4

in Larimer. The interiors have been gutted and will Courier Staff Writer be reconstructed per the While there are several af- specifications and designs fordable and mixed-income of architect Milton Ogot— housing developments ei- who designed the renother under construction or vations for the nearby St. planned for Larimer, as part James AME Church. The of the $30 million Choice work will be done by AONE Neighborhoods funding Contracting and Supplies, it received in 2014, there owned by Larimer resident are also efforts to stabilize Emmett Miles.

The renothe neighborvations will hood through include new h o m e o w n e rroofs, new ship initiawindows, tives. new doors, One of them new electrihas engaged cal, plumbing, a Black archiand HVAC tect and also (furnace and a Black conair conditiontractor, and ing units), as Urban Renew kitchens, development new baths, Authority of new interior Pittsburgh walls, landboard memEMMETT MILES scaping, reber Ed Gainey finished or new wood floors, said—it’s about time.

“We need to invest more and painting.

“I’m doing all the rehab in African American developers,” he told the board work, and we’re responsible prior to the authorization for selling them, too—the vote. “This particular proj- idea is to enhance my creect shows that we are help- dentials as a developer and ing to build capacity, but selling is part of that,” said we need to do more. This Miles, after thanking everyshould be a priority going one involved, including the into 2019, so I’m glad to see mayor. “I’m really grateful for the project and happy to we started this way.”

The project involves the be moving forward.” rehab-for-resale of two SEE URA A4 homes on Mayflower Street

Harvey Adams Jr., Walter Little—The ‘Spirit of King’ honorees

by Christian Morrow

ed about in relation to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But during this year’s Spirit of King ceremony at the Kingsley Association in Larimer honoring Harvey Adams Jr. and Judge Walter Little,

those connections were on display to a much greater Courier Staff Writer degree than in past ceremonies.

The connections of famFor one, both men knew ily, of mentorship, and of each other; Adams, the passing it on to the next police officer who battled generation is often talkfor equality within the department and throughout the city as NAACP president, and Little, who rose from a childhood in public housing to a seat on the Allegheny County Common Pleas HARVEY ADAMS III speaks on behalf of the family of Harvey Adams Jr. bench. But,

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And the connections conas Harvey Adams III noted for Common Pleas,” said during the Jan. 10 ceremo- Adams. “My father went off tinued. Karen Little, who ny, there were deeper con- on Foerster. It got to where accepted the award on beDoc and Bubby had to drag half of her late father, said nections.

He recalled a meeting he him out. But the point was she and her sister had folattended with his father, made. Little stayed on the SEE SPIRIT A7 Louis “Hop” Kendrick, ward ticket.” chairs Doc Fielder and Euzell “Bubby” Hairston, and then-County Commissioner Tom Foerster.

“Foerster said he wanted to tell my father that he was taking Little’s name THE FAMILY OF WALTER LITTLE is presented an award by Amanda Green-Hawkins. off the ticket (Photos by J.L. Martello)

Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick says

A real difference between conservatives and liberals Forum B6

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

African leaders confront a ‘blue wave’ demanding change

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

This Week In Black History

Week of January 16-22 January 16 1901—Hiram R. Revels, the first African-American elected (TriceEdneyWire.com/ to the United States Senate, died on this day in Aberdeen, Miss.

GIN)—When Democrats Revels, a politician, minister and educator was of Black and captured one House seat Cherokee descent. after another in the mid1920—Zeta Phi Beta sorority was founded on the campus of term elections, observers Howard University in Washington, D.C., by five socially conscious brushed it off as a “blue Black women. It became one of the nation’s leading Black sorortrickle.” Later they had to ities. It was founded as a sister organization to Phi Beta Sigma admit: it was a giant blue fraternity. wave.

1950—Dancer-producer Debbie Allen HIRAM R. REVELS Africans are also yearnis born on this day in Houston, Texas. She ing for change and their is perhaps best known for her work on the 1982 musical-drama frustration is erupting television series “Fame,” where she portrayed dance teacher across the continent with Lydia Grant, and served as the series’ principal choreographer. a new crop of activists chalShe is the younger sister of actress/director/singer Phylicia lenging the old order.

Rashad.

In Ethiopia, reforms are January 17 already underway since the 1759—Paul Cuffee is born near Dartmouth, Mass. He was installation last year of 42 one of the most prominent Blacks of the 1700s. Born of a Black year old Prime Minister father and an Indian mother, Cuffee grew Abiy Ahmed. Women have wealthy as a whaling captain, ship builder and been named to some of the merchant. He was an ardent fighter for Black DEBBIE ALLEN government’s key posirights and built the first integrated school in PROTESTING SUDANESE WOMEN IN THE U.S. tions—president, chief justhe state. But in his later years he became frustrated with the slow tice and half of all minisprogress for Black freedom and began to support a program calling ters. Thousands of political a year, President Lourenco also high on the wish list for free Blacks to return to Africa and build a nation of their own. has accomplished more to prisoners and journalists of people in Togo, who are He actually financed and helped a small group of Blacks establish a stop corruption than any have been freed while fighting for term limits base in the West African nation of Sierra Leone in 1815. His program previous administration. senior officials accused of that would effectively end ended with his death in 1818.

PAUL CUFFEE In Sudan, President human rights abuses and President Faure Gnassing1874—Armed and racist Whites violently seize control of corruption no longer enjoys Omar Hassan Ahmad bé’s nearly two decades in the Texas state government, bringing an end to Reconstruction and to post-Civil al-Bashir is facing a deimmunity. power. In Gabon, President War Black rights and gains in the state. Actually, when it became clear that President termined movement of opAhmed overturned bans Ali Bongo who remains in Andrew Johnson was a friend of the old South and had no intention of enforcing rights position on the heels of his Morocco since suffering on opposition groups. His for Blacks, Texas-style armed revolts took place in several Southern states in which third decade in power enoverture to Eritrea led to a stroke in October while integrated governments were violently and illegally driven from office. abled by disputed elections. traveling abroad, barely the end of a long-running 1927—Multi-lingual singer, dancer and actress Eartha Kitt His late-arriving “reforms” managed to survive a coup conflict of neighbors. is born in a small plantation town called North, S.C. But when fell flat as prices for bread U.N. Secretary General this week by a handful abandoned by her mother because her second husband did not and fuel were jacked up as of young officers. Nigeria Antonio Guterres called it want to raise a mixed-race child, she was raised by an aunt in per the advice of the IMF. “a wind of hope blowing in meanwhile goes to the New York City. Kitt became a star of stage and screen, includSpontaneous, leaderless the Horn of Africa.” polls on Feb. 16. ing playing the role of Cat Woman in the Batman television crowds are turning out in Since the unpopular Finally, 46 million Conseries. The U.S. entertainment industry would not touch her the thousands—not just in golese cast ballots on Dec. Angolan President Jose for nearly 10 years after a 1968 White House luncheon during the capital, Khartoum, but 30 only to learn that the Eduardo dos Santos was which she angered President Lyndon Johnson’s wife by criticizcoaxed from power in 2017, countrywide. electoral commission has ing the war in Vietnam. Kitt died in December 2008 at the age “It’s like someone who a liberation fighter and forcounted less than half the of 81. mer defense minister, Joao has found himself on the votes and a winner will not 1931—Stage and screen actor James Earl Jones is born on back of a lion,” said one Lourenco, next in succesbe announced until a week this day in Tate County, Miss. Ironically, you cannot tell from EARTHA KITT observer. “He can’t get off sion, stepped into the job. or two or three, if ever. his deep baritone voice today that he had a stuttering problem without the lion devouring Today, even the toughest So which way for the blue as a child. him.” critics of the government wave in the Congo? Stay 1942—Boxing legend Muhammad Ali is born on this day in Democratic reforms are say that in just more than tuned.

Louisville, Ky. January 18 1856—Daniel Hale Williams is born in Hollidaysburg, Pa. He became a pioneering surgeon and is generally credited with performing the first open heart surgery. He was a strong advocate of the emerging antiseptic and sterilization procedures of his day. He believed that many patients died or became ill in the hospital because of a lack of cleanliness. Williams’ open heart surgery which occurred July 10, 1893 when he repaired a knife wound to the chest of James Cornish. The (TriceEdneyWire.com/ “Nigerians held him in the and a failure of common operation was a success and Cornish lived another 20 years.

GIN)—Former President highest esteem even when humanity.” The U.S. State DANIEL HALE WILLIAMS January 19 Alhaji Shehu Usman he was out of office, until Department described the 1918—The founder of Ebony and Jet magazines, John H. Johnson, is born on this Shagari, a devout Muslim, his demise, and will forever expulsions as “shocking day in Arkansas City, Ark. Shortly after the death of his father, Johnson’s mother a former school teacher, miss his wise counsels.” and a violation of every moved the family to Chicago where Johnson attended high school during the day and son of a farmer, trader and Shagari had been a lawimaginable human right”. read self-help books at night, laying the intellectual and motivational foundation herder, was remembered maker, minister, and Chair Even Pope John Paul II for the eventual building of his publishing empire. this month as a nice man, of Peugeot Automobile Ltd, called it “a grave, incredInterestingly, among Johnson’s classmates at Chicaa gentle man but not a before becoming President ible drama producing the go’s DuSable High School were Nate King Cole, Redd particularly strong man. at age 54. He won two elec- largest single and worst Foxx and future businessman, William Abernathy.

Nice, gentle and amiations, both of them disputhuman exodus in the 20th 1944—Boxer Joe Frazier is born in Beauford, ble—good qualities—but ed by his opponents who century.”

S.C. His fights with the legendary Muhammad Ali just short of what the accused him of meekness Amnesty granted to 1,000 have become boxing classics. opposition desired for the in governing Nigeria. members of the so-called 1960—Basketball great Jacques Dominique leader of Africa’s burgeonHis term overlapped with Maitatsine cult—someWilkins is born in Paris, France. ing colossus. a punishing global glut in times depicted as the fore1971—The Congressional Black Caucus is first As a result, Mr. Shagari’s oil that sent prices tumrunner of Boko Haram— JOE FRAZIER and MUHAMMAD ALI organized on this day in 1971. service to the nation from bling in the early 1980s. who had been imprisoned January 20 1979 to 1983 was cut short In 1983, rioting by an since 1980, created more 1900—Black North Carolina Congressman George H. White by a coup led by military extremist Islamic group enemies for Mr. Shagari. introduced legislation to make lynching any American a federal men including the current in the northern city of Finally, it was on Mr. crime. But opponents allowed the bill to die in committee and it president of Nigeria, MuKano led to the deaths of Shagari’s watch that the never came up for a vote. It is estimated that 105 Blacks were hammadu Buhari. thousands of civilians, 100 building of a new capital lynched that year.

Flags were flown last policeman and 35 military in Abuja was advanced to 1947—Josh Gibson, perhaps the most famous and outstanding week at half-staff for the personnel. Fears that the escape the chaos and tribal athlete to play in the old Negro Baseball League, dies on this day former President, while group was infiltrated by affiliations of Lagos. The in 1947. eulogies were delivered by “illegal aliens” produced grand project was riddled 1986—The first national holiday in honor of civil rights legthe current crop of political the massive deportation by questionable construcend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated. leaders. Mr. Shagari passed of immigrants from Niger, tion contracts.

JOSH GIBSON January 21 away on Dec. 28 at the age Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Meanwhile, thousands 1773—Poet Phyllis Wheatley, born in 1753, was freed on this day in 1773. Kidof 93.

Burkina Faso. viewed Pres. Buhari’s tweet napped in Africa and sold as a slave when she was only seven years old, Wheatley “I mourn the departure Up to two million people, and responses were genwould become Black America’s first poet. She grew up in a prosof a patriot, who served many of them Ghanaians, erally dismissive. “Just a perous Boston family that allowed her to learn to read. She not Nigeria with humility, infled the country in what question to you sir,” tweetonly mastered English but also excelled in Greek and Latin. Her tegrity and diligence,” Mr. was denounced in Britain ed Wale Popoola. “If he had first book of poetry received rave reviews in the United States and Buhari tweeted this week. as “an act of heartlessness all these qualities as you Europe. said, then what were your 1906—Pioneer Black aviator William Brown Chappell is born. reasons for removing him 1941—Singer and political activist Richie Havens is born. from power through coup?

1942—Big Band leader Count Basie and his Orchestra recordJust asking.” ed their famous “One O’clock Jump” for Okeh Records in New York City.

THE 1950—R&B performer Billy Ocean is born.

NEW PITTSBURGH 1963—Former professional basketball great Hakeem Olajuwon COURIER is born in the West African nation of Nigeria.

PHYLLIS WHEATLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY 1971—Twelve members of the Congressional Black Caucus boycotted President Richard Nixon’s State of the Union Publication No.: USPS 381940 Address to protest his refusal to meet with them or address issues of concern to African-Americans.

315 East Carson Street January 22 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 1822—“From slavery to wealth” is the phrase that best describes the story of Barney L. Ford, who was born into Phone: 412-481-8302 slavery on this day in 1822 in Stafford Court, Va.—the product Fax: 412-481-1360 of a Black woman and a plantation owner. He was raised on a plantation in South Carolina but with the aid of the “UnThe derground Railroad” he escaped and headed west through New Pittsburgh Courier Chicago (where he met his wife) to the gold fields of California where he was denied the right to stake a claim because he was is published weekly BARNEY L. FORD Black. After being cheated by a shady lawyer, he headed to the Denver, Colo., area and in time built a barbershop, a restaurant and then a fine hotel. periodicals He also built a hotel in the Central American nation of Nicaragua. Despite obstacles paid at Pittsburgh, Pa. and setbacks such as racists bombing his hotel, Ford kept bouncing back and over time PRICE $1.00 became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Denver. After 1860, he used his influence to fight for Black rights in Colorado.

1931—Sam Cooke is born in Clarksdale, Miss. He is con(Payable in advance) sidered by many as “The Father of Soul Music.” The son of a 6 Months.....$25 minister, Cooke began his career with a gospel group known as the Singing Children. He then became a member of the famous 1 Year....$45 Soul Stirrers. When he switched to secular music, he combined 2 Years...$85 gospel and the blues to produce soul. Among his best known hits were “You Send Me,” “Everybody Loves the Cha Cha Cha,” and 9 Month School Rate $35 “Twisting the Night Away.” He was shot and killed as a result of a misunderstanding involving a woman at a Los Angeles motel POSTMASTER: Send in 1964. address changes to: 1948—Two-time heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman is born on this day in Marshall, Texas.

New Pittsburgh Courier 2006—Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers scores 81 points in a 122 to 104 victory over the Toronto Raptors. The score 315 East Carson Street KOBE BRYANT was the second highest by a single player in the history of the Pittsburgh, PA 15219 National Basketball Association.

Flags fly for an ex-president of Nigeria ‘too nice’ for the job

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

NATIONAL

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

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MOST OF THE NEW 55-MEMBER Congressional Black Caucus. Chairwoman Karen Bass, D-Calif., is on the first row, far left. (Photo Courtesy: CBC)

55-member Congressional Black Caucus vows ‘course correction’ for nation

by Hazel Trice Edney For New Pittsburgh Courier

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—The Congressional Black Caucus of the 116th Congress, the largest ever in its 48-year history with 55 members, is billing itself as a powerful “course corrector” that will consistently fight for justice and against wrongs of the Trump Administration.

“Today is a glorious day for our country.

Today marks the beginning of a course correction. Correcting the trauma we have all experienced on a daily basis for the last two years,” the new Chairwoman Karen Bass, D-Calif., said during the annual CBC swearing in service on Capitol Hill Jan. 3.

“We will have tremendous power and influence. At this moment in history we are equipped to lead like never before. We are equipped to govern. And we are equipped to resist when and where it’s needed. We are equipped to lead with a vision for our country that not only lifts up our community, but lifts up the nation as a whole.”

Bass assumed the gavel from former CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond, D-La., before a standing-room-only audience of hundreds who not only celebrated the historic growth of the CBC with nine freshman members, but many of whom also celebrated the new Democratic majority, now 235-199.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who

referred to the CBC by its nickname, the “conscience of the Congress”, listed several legislative issues that the Democratic-led Congress will bring to the forefront.

Those legislations include a strengthened Voting Rights Act, VRA. Since the U. S. Supreme Court gutted the VRA’s preclearance Clause on June 25, 2013, Democrats have longed to strengthen voting laws to provide greater oversight in states. The preclearance Clause required voting changes in states and territories with histories of voting discrimination to be pre-cleared by the U. S. Department of Justice.

“We have important work to do in this Congress: We have to address the disparity of income in our country, we have to address climate crisis in terms of what that means to environmental justice in our country. We have to recognize that one in five children lives in poverty and that’s intolerable to us,” Pelosi told the audience.

“The Congressional Black Caucus challenges us as the ‘conscience of the Congress’. We look to them for guidance. We congratulate them on this special swearing in…Each and every one of you for the intellectual resource, the political astuteness, the generosity of candor that you’re all willing to share with us that make our work more focused and more effective.”

Though House Democrats are currently boasting their new power, most legisla-

tion must also win approval by the U. S. Senate which has a Republican majority 52-47. Plus, the Senate has only two CBC members, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.,and Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J. African-American Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is the only Black Republican in the Senate.

He is not a member of the CBC. The new Democratic majority House has also produced a wealth of CBC members in Democratic leadership and chairmanships of House committees. The CBC members who are Democratic leaders are: Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., majority whip; Rep. Hakim Jeffries, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Caucus; and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., co-chair of Steering and Policy.

House Committee chairs are: Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, Science and Technology; Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Government Reform and Oversight; Rep. Maxine waters, D-Calif., Financial Services; Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., Education and Labor; and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Homeland Security.

In addition, 28 members of the CBC will chair subcommittees.

Chairwoman Bass is also supported by new CBC executive committee. They are First Vice Chair Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio; Second Vice Chair Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich.; Secretary Hank Johnson, D-Ga.; CBC Whip A. Donald McEachin, D-Va.; Parliamentarian Steven Hartford, D-Ca-

lif.,and members at large, Dwight Evans, D-Pa.,and Frederica Wilson, D-Fla. Majority Whip Clyburn told the audience that the new power of the CBC and the Democrats have been mandated by a nation of voters who have grown weary of injustice.

“Recent legislative actions, judicial decisions, and everyday experiences of the American people have exposed some significant faults in our system that need to be repaired,” Clyburn said. “And the voters responded last November by installing a Democratic majority in the United States House of Representatives. And we are a significant part of that majority.”

Clyburn listed the denials of health care to people with pre-existing conditions, safe drinking water to communities, clean air to citizens, affordable college tuitions, quality housing, due process to asylum seeking children and parents as faults that must be repaired. He added that “allowing catastrophic climate change to harm our environment are significant faults that we must repair.”

Pelosi concluded, “We will watch them bring the CBC tradition; the conscience of the Congress, into each of their committees…I just want everyone to remember this moment a few months from now. I want you to just watch and see what happens when the gavels are placed in these hands.”

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METRO

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Summer Lee, the new leader of the 34th House District

Speaking for Mon Valley’s voiceless is her top priority LEE FROM A1

district; be accountable to those they represent.

The reality is, it’s anything but simple. The art of acquiring allies within the House, figuring out ways to secure finances to jumpstart development or other efforts in a particular district, and dealing with non-supporters of policies within the state House is a complex puzzle that is full of pieces.

Representative Lee defeated longtime incumbent Paul Costa to be in this position. He had almost 20 years of service as House District 34 congressman.

It’s conceivable to believe someone of his tenure is well-versed on how the political world operates in Harrisburg.

It’s just that the voters ultimately wanted a different voice in the Keystone State’s capital city. They turned to Rep. Lee, who won by a 68 to 32 percent margin in the May 2018

who never previously held a public office seat.

“I don’t stop being an organizer, I don’t stop being an activist, I don’t stop being an advocate for the things that I care about,” Rep. Lee told the Courier.

Representative Lee’s down-to-earth, meet-youwhere-you-are approach won over many people in her North Braddock, Braddock, Swissvale and neighboring communities. Fighting for the voiceless is her rallying cry.

“It’s not just about my campaign, it’s always been bigger than me,” Rep. Lee, a 2005 Woodland Hills High School graduate, said. “We want to take that momentum and make sure that we’re channeling that energy and transferring it into power, and we’re making sure that our communities are in power. And people who have never been represented in different places…and it’s not just race or gender, it’s also

REP. SUMMER LEE, right, talks with community residents during an event in Swissvale, Jan. 3. (Photos by Courier photographer Dayna Delgado) Representative Lee’s twoyear term as leader of the 34th House district is now into its third week. She admits that she has much to learn about “how Har-

way, and sometimes I’m shocked in a, ‘Man, I can’t believe it’s this way.’”

She’s looking forward to the challenges, but optimistic about the opportu-

members) of us represent 60,000 people, and 60,000 people who need to collectively use their voices to tell the people in Harrisburg what they want,”

tative, so my strength is in our numbers, my strength is in our collective. If we have a robust collective, a robust electorate of people who are engaged and

REP. SUMMER LEE speaks with a community resident, at an event in Swissvale just after officially taking office as Pa. state House representative.

REP. SUMMER LEE, second from right, with her fellow Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. members.

Democratic primary. Even the most astute political expert couldn’t have predicted a 34-point victory for Rep. Lee, a then 30-year-old

perspective—socioeconomics, poor folk, middle-class folk, all of those people, making sure that we have access.”

risburg works,” and “how government works.” She told the Courier that government workings had her “shocked in a surprised

nities she has to uplift her communities in a tangible way.

“At the end of the day, each of the 203 (Pa. House

Rep. Lee said. “I need to show up for you, but I also need us to show up for me, because at the end of the day, I’m but our represen-

putting pressure on folk and creating narratives and breaking chains, then that’s what I go to Harrisburg with.”

COMMUNITY MEMBERS applaud the message from Rep. Summer Lee.

Black architect, contractor URA FROM A1

The projected cost for the rehab is just under $600,000. When completed the houses will be sold for $192,500 and $210,000 respectively to owners with incomes less than 110 percent of the Area Median Income.

Reading from Executive Director Robert Rubinstein’s report, URA Housing Director Bob Cummings outlined the benefits.

“This development will improve the existing housing stock and will help to maintain and enhance the economic diversity of Larimer by providing affordable homeownership opportunities,” he said.

Miles said once all the permits and approvals are taken care of, he should be able to start fairly soon.

“It’s almost all interior work, so we could start right in,” he said. “The bonus is that once these two

are completed and sold, we’ll get another six. So the big-picture goal for me is to be the designated Larimer developer.”

Miles hoped to do that in 2005 with his planned renovation of the Larimer School, but he could never get the funding for the massive project and sold the building to the URA in 2017.

“I’m still disappointed about that,” said Miles.

“But at least they’re going ahead with my plan once they start that phase of the Larimer redevelopment.”

In other business, the authority board also voted to sell a 43,000 sharefoot parcel in East Liberty to Mellon Orchard Housing for $600,000 so the company can build a 47unit, multi-family development, 37 of which will be affordable. The projected cost is just under $13.5 million.

METRO

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

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Hill House Growth Fund loans $500,000 to Hill House Association HILL HOUSE FROM A1

Review Panel, which will make sure that each developer’s proposal aligns with the master plan of the Hill District, the Centre Avenue plan, and its overall plans to positively contribute to the Hill District community and its majority-African American residents.

The Development Review Panel will then present the developer (or developers) to the community at a meeting, to let residents hear firsthand their plans for the Hill House properties.

The ultimate hope, Councilman Lavelle said to a group of 150 attentive residents at the Jan. 10 meeting at the Grayson Center, is to have a bidder (or bidders) that has the community’s approval, which, in turn, will be accepted and approved by the Hill House Board. That bidder (or bidders) then would hopefully, in Councilman Lavelle’s eyes, be approved for the sale by a judge, who will make the final decision on the sale of the properties.

“This evening, I’m here to say thank you, one to the community for voicing your concerns, and to the Hill District Growth Fund for being willing to put its own money forward to help this organization (Hill House Association), to invest in this organization, to help ensure community process as we move forward,” Councilman Lavelle said.

He also showered thanks to Emma Lucas-Darby, president of the Hill House Board of Directors. “Dr. Darby is a resident of this community…she does worship in the same church that many of us worship in, and is a part of this,” he said. “She has done what she believed was most responsible for the community and the organization she represented, and ultimately in attempting to do what is

right, we were able to come to an agreement moving forward from this day.”

Acknowledging that they were running out of money, the Hill House Board previously had an agreement in August 2018 to sell four of its seven buildings— including the Hill House Main building on Centre Avenue—to Omicelo, LLC, led by an African American, Joshua Pollard. But the announcement was met with harsh criticism and a public outcry from many Hill District (and neighboring) residents, angry that the community as a whole was never included in the conversation of the future of the Hill House properties.

Councilman Lavelle and Rep. Wheatley went to work, trying to find government funds, foundation funds, any funds to stave off the sale, or at least delay the sale so that the community could have more input.

The two politicians, along with Allegheny County Councilman DeWitt Walton, eventually filed a petition with the County Court of Common Pleas seeking a stop to the sale to Omicelo until the state Attorney General’s office reviewed it.

“Long story short, in that legal court process the judge said, ‘You all really need to get back in the room and figure this out,’” Councilman Lavelle said.

From around Christmas until Jan. 10, “We got in a room, and I’m pleased to stand here today…finalizing a memorandum of understanding.”

When Lucas-Darby took the microphone during the Jan. 10 public meeting, she acknowledged that the “negotiating room” was not without plenty of disagreements between she and the elected officials. But, “When you care about your community and when you care about the services that are

offered, you will do what is right, and everybody that was invested in this negotiation did what was right,” Lucas-Darby said.

The infusion of funds that the Growth Fund is providing to the Hill House Association will assure that the Hill House’s social services will continue for at least the next four months. The Hill House provides meal delivery services to seniors, arts and culture programs at the Kaufmann Center, and through its roughly 20 partner agencies, offers child care, educational programs, job assistance, health and wellness clinics, and other support programs for seniors.

“And I am convinced this community will move forward, we will work together, and we will continue to provide the social services to this community,” Lucas-Darby told the audience.

Omicelo’s current proposal is to purchase three buildings—the Family Dollar building, One Hope Square, and the Blakey Center—for $3.6 million.

The Hill House Main building is not included in the current Omicelo proposal.

The Kaufmann Center, a senior center on Bedford Avenue, and the Centre-Heldman plaza, which houses Shop ‘n Save and other outlets, are not for sale.

Representative Wheatley is encouraging anyone with the financial means to review the RFP that the URA has made public and submit an offer for one or all of the buildings up for sale. But he stressed that the reason for the delaying of the original sale to Omicelo was to make sure the community could do their own vetting of possible developers— which means that those developers submitting bids over the next month should

JOSHUA POLLARD is the leader of Omicelo, LLC, whose company has a bid to purchase three Hill House buildings for $3.6 million. However, the sale is delayed, as Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle and state Rep. Jake Wheatley brokered a deal with the Hill House Association board to give other prospective buyers a chance to bid on the properties. (Photo courtesy Ryan Loew/PublicSource) be prepared to have a plan that pleases the Hill District Development Review Panel.

A score of “80 percent or above” is good, according to Marimba Milliones, president and CEO of the Hill District Community Development Corporation.

After reviewing the proposals, that high of a score “means that they align with the master plan,” she said at the meeting. “Then they come to the community, and you (the residents) get a scorecard that says, ‘1-Highly Unfavorable’ to

‘5-Highly Favorable.’ It’s a very open process. It’s clearly aligned with our master plan.”

All of the new bids on the Hill House properties, including the vetting process, the Development Review Panel’s recommendations, the community’s affirmations or disapprovals, etc., must be completed by May 31, Councilman Lavelle said. It’s conceivable that when the $500,000 loaned to the Hill House Association by the Growth Fund runs out by the end of May, something needs

to shake—either the Hill House Association approves the proposal(s) by whom the community also approves, or the Hill House Board could choose to go with their original plan— move forward with selling the buildings to Omicelo.

“That means there’s a lot to do in a little bit of time,” Councilman Lavelle said to the audience. “This is what we asked for, this process, but this process costs, and we brought forward enough money to get us through the next four to five months.”

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HEALTH

JANUARTY 16-22, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

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

Why are people not getting vaccinated?

ESTHER BUSH

Immunizations and Vaccination This month, the “Take Charge of Your Health Today” page focuses on immunizations and busting some of the vaccination myths oating around.

Bee Schindler, community engagement coordinator with the University of Pittsburgh’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and Esther L. Bush, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, spoke about this topic.

BS: Good morning, Ms. Bush. I thank you for the chance to talk with you today about vaccinations.

As we’re smack in the middle of u season, the topic of immunizations is interesting to me. Studies show when larger numbers of people are not getting vaccinations, the overall community immunity is less effective and people do not have protection when diseases bubble up.

EB: es, Bee. Most people can relate to this topic, too. It’s an issue across the lifespan, starting when parents and caregivers are tasked with getting their children vaccinated. For example, a long-standing myth is that vaccines have a link to autism. There have been no research studies to support this claim. In fact, the National Institute of Health funded a study that concluded that there was no evidence that vaccines cause autism. At the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, we’re committed to dispelling that myth and getting our young people protected.

BS: It’s interesting how myths can surface. I read that often people think that a vaccine is a live virus, but researchers, like Dr. immerman from the University of Pittsburgh, say that almost all vaccines are made from a dead virus and are meant to train your body how to defend itself from the real thing. But, outside of the possibility of a bit of pain at the injection site, “dead” vaccinations will not actually infect you.

EB: It’s especially important to dispel myths in the Black community, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that folks in the African American community are less vaccinated than their White counterparts.

We need to increase outreach and awareness around immunization/ vaccinations in communities of color. We need to rally together. The Urban League is committed to this.

BS: I like the idea of rallying, especially as Dr. immerman points out that people tend to get their vaccines when people in their circles do.

Social in uence turns into habit, and the two combined help to shape a positive attitude about immuni ations. More people are likely to get in line for their vaccines.

EB: Thank you so much for having this conversation with me, Bee. We’ve provided some great information and ways that readers can take charge of their health today. I look forward to next month as we discuss heart health and preeclampsia.

Vaccines for diseases that used to sicken and even kill millions of people throughout the world—like measles, polio, whooping cough and more—have been available for decades.

Thanks to robust vaccination programs in the United States, the spread of many of these diseases had stopped. However, in recent years, outbreaks (three or more linked cases) of some of these diseases have caused concern.

Researchers have linked fewer people getting vaccinations to an increase in preventable diseases. Take measles, for instance— measles is a disease that spreads easily and quickly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the continuous transmission of measles was eliminated in the United States by 2000.

But, in recent years, many measles outbreaks have been reported. The CDC reports that the majority of people who have gotten measles in recent years were not vaccinated.

When large numbers of people are vaccinated, diseases have a much harder time moving from person to person. If a person does get a disease but is in contact with people who have been vaccinated, the disease will not spread quickly to other people. This protection is called “community” or “herd” immunity. But when larger numbers of people are not getting vaccinated, herd immunity breaks down and people are no longer protected when diseases arise.

Also, according to Richard K. immerman, MD, MPH, professor of family medicine, and associate professor of behavioral and community health sciences, University of Pittsburgh, u vaccine rates dropped 40 percent last year, and 79,000 people in the United States died from the u (the typical number is 23,000).

children. Researchers have studied whether vaccines cause autism. Despite how common that myth is, no research study has found a link between vaccinations and a likelihood of developing autism.

A disparity exists in vaccination rates among different racial, ethnic and age groups. Dr. immerman points out that children overall have higher vaccination rates than adults.

The CDC reports that White adults have higher vaccination rates than African American, Latinx and Asian adults. Barriers to vaccination include not having appropriate health insurance coverage and a lack of knowledge about which vaccinations to get at what GIVE A SHOT—In this file photo, a sign telling customers that they can get a flu shot in a Walgreen age. See elsewhere on the store is seen in Indianapolis. (Darron Cummings/AP) page for links to vaccination schedules by age group.

So, why are peoan inactivated Part of Dr. immerman’s ple not getting vaccine,” said Dr. research involves how to vaccinated and immerman. “Al- get more people vaccinated. breaking down most all vaccines Along with recommendathe protection of are inactivated tions for health care providherd immunity? [meaning, they ers, Dr. immerman cited Many researchare made with three different factors in ers have found dead viruses, helping people get vaccithat vaccination bacteria or nated—habit, attitude and myths are one of toxins . People social in uence. People the reasons peosay they get the tend to get vaccinated more ple are not getu after getting when they develop a habit ting immunized a u shot, but of doing so. If people have against preventthey more likely the attitude that vaccines able diseases. caught an illness help them and everyone One of the most from someone stay healthy, they are more common vaccielse in the waitlikely to get vaccinated. Fination myths is ing room.” nally, when people encounthat vaccines can In recent years, ter the social in uence of RICHARD K. ZIMMERMAN, MD, MPH cause illnesses or one of the bigsomeone like a health care diseases. gest myths about provider who encourages injection site, but people “About one in five people childhood vaccines was that vaccines, people are more can’t get an illness from will get a sore arm at the they can cause autism in likely to get vaccinated. Dr. immerman also notes that incentives—like insurance For more information about vaccines, their safety and why getting them is importcompanies offering credits ant, Dr. immerman recommends the following websites: or lowered copays—help 1. CDC cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html people get vaccinated.

2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia accine Education Center chop.edu/ Even if people think they centers-programs/vaccine-education-center are safe from preventable 3. immunize.org diseases, Dr. immerman 4. pkids.org recommends that they think To view the CDC’s recommended vaccination schedule for children, go to https:// about getting vaccinated to www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/downloads/parent-ver-sch-0-6yrs.pdf. help keep their loved ones For teens, go to https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/ safe. A health care provider preteen-teen.html. can help people know what For adults, go to https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/adult. vaccinations they need and html. when to get them.

Myths about Human papillomavirus (HPV)

Researchers hard at work finding vaccine for Human metapneumovirus (MPV) A team with members of Pediatric Immunology, from UPMC Children’s University of Pittsburgh, Hospital of Pittsburgh and has been studying MPV the University of Pittssince its discovery. His burgh is hard at work on group has developed and vaccines for a virus you tested several possible may not have heard of vaccines. These include but you have had. Human vaccines containing metapneumovirus (MPV) virus proteins—similar to was only discovered in in uen a vaccines, or “vi2001 but has been around rus-like particles” that look for at least 200 years. like a virus but cannot MPV is a common cause infect or cause disease, of respiratory infections which is similar to human like colds, bronchiolitis papillomavirus vaccines. and pneumonia. MP is When these vaccines the second most common were tested in mice, the JOHN WILLIAMS, MD cause of lung infections vaccines stimulated a in children worldwide (after its cousin, respiratory strong immune response and protected against syncytial virus or RS ). All children are infected disease. However, many steps remain before by age 5. People can be re-infected later in life. testing vaccines in humans. Human immunity to MPV is also an important cause of lung infecMP is not well understood, so Dr. Williams and tions in older adults. MP is more likely to cause his team are using mice that have human immune severe infections in people with underlying health genes to “map” the human immune response to problems, such as prematurity, lung diseases MP . This research will identify the targets for (including asthma and emphysema) and weak protection that an MPV vaccine needs to hit to be immune systems, or in people older than 65. MP effective in humans. The u vaccine is an importaffects people worldwide of all races and ethnicant way for people to protect themselves against ities equally. Unfortunately, there are not yet any severe disease Dr. Williams hopes that one day licensed vaccines against MP . an MPV vaccine will also be available to protect John Williams, MD, Henry L. Hillman Professor children and adults.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of 150 related viruses that are spread through intimate, skin-to-skin contact.

The HPV vaccine is a safe, effective cancer prevention tool. Pittsburgh’s Jewish Healthcare Foundation has a strong public health campaign to get the word out on immunization that will protect nearly 100 percent of the otherwise 27,000 cases of HPV-related cancers occurring in the United States annually.

The foundation’s website, hpvpittsburgh. org, highlights some common myths that they want to dispel.

MYTH: HPV only affects girls and young women.

FACT: Some strains can cause genital warts. Some can cause cancers in both males and females. It is the most common sexually transmitted disease.

MYTH: The HPV vaccine has caused many deaths.

FACT: Tens of thousands of people who have received the HPV vaccine have been studied to determine whether the HPV vaccine causes any serious side effects. No link between the vaccine and serious illness or death has been found.

MYTH: People with HPV always have symptoms.

FACT: Most people who have HPV do not have any visible symptoms. People can still pass on the virus even when they do not have any symptoms.

MYTH: The HPV vaccine only lasts for five years.

FACT: The HPV vaccine was licensed in 2006. There has been no evidence of the vaccine becoming less effective over time.

MYTH: The HPV vaccine affects fertility. If given to young girls, it might make them infertile.

FACT: The HPV vaccine has not been shown to cause infertility. In fact, because HPV can cause precancerous or cancerous abnormalities that potentially require medical treatments that may cause infertility, the vaccine could indirectly help protect against it.

Now what? Contact your health care provider or your child’s pediatrician to schedule an appointment. People as young as 9-years-old can be vaccinated.

Just recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for people up to age 45.

METRO

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

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‘We got some fighters, we got some competitors.’

TREY MCGOWENS is one of three Pitt freshmen who have helped turn the program around in such a short time. The Panthers beat No. 11 Florida State, 75-62, on Jan. 14 to improve to 12-5 on the year. Pitt plays next at Syracuse, Jan. 19. (AP PHOTO)

All of a sudden, the Pitt Panthers are back on the college basketball map

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

While you were sleeping, the Pittsburgh Panthers’ men’s basketball team has taken the college basketball world by storm.

No, seriously.

It’s hard to imagine that just one year ago, there were so few people attending Pitt games that you could hear the Pitt players conversing on the bench.

Just one year ago,

ROB TAYLOR JR. Pitt had lost their sixth straight ACC game in a row, en route to losing 18 straight conference games, plus an ACC tournament game on March 6, 2018 for good measure.

Just one year ago, Pitt had no toughness. No consistent aggressiveness.

Players had decided to transfer, such as Cameron Johnson, now starring for North Carolina. Kevin Stallings, who was in his second year as head coach, was yelling at the top of his lungs at his players, but I believe it fell on deaf ears.

Pitt, in its first three seasons in the ACC, was 6637 (28-26 in-conference), with NCAA Tournament appearances all three seasons. In the Kevin Stallings era (2016-17 and 2017-18), Pitt was 24-41, with just four conference wins in 2016-17 and none in 2017-18.

Thus, after Pitt defeated No. 11 Florida State, 7562, on Monday night, Jan. 14, at the Petersen Events Center in Oakland, it’s proof that the college basketball world has their eye on the Panthers.

The win on Monday night was their second win in the ACC this year in four tries (they defeated Louisville in overtime on Jan. 9). It was their 12th win of this season overall (four more than all of last year), and they were within range of beating then-No. 15 N.C. State, but fell in the final minutes, 86-80, Jan. 12, in Raleigh.

So how did Pitt turn this thing around so fast? First things first. Heather Lyke,

the Pitt athletic director, promptly fired Stallings, and hired Jeff Capel, the first African American head coach in Pitt men’s basketball history. Capel commands respect. He was a star player at Duke University. He was a head coach in a high-profile position at Oklahoma, where one of his players was NBA All-Star Blake Griffin. He’d spent the last years as an assistant under Duke coach Mike Krzyewski (pronounced Sha-Shef-Skee for all my non-sports fans). All Coach K is, is the greatest college basketball coach of all-time, in my eyes.

Since Capel’s reign at Pitt, some players decided to leave the program. Others decided to stay. Some decided to sign on the dotted line, such as Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens and Au’Diese Toney.

If you’ve been drinking the “Will Antonio Brown be a Steeler next year” kool-aid so much that you couldn’t spell Pitt if I spotted you the “P” and the “T”…then wake up.

Pitt is good again.

“We got some fighters, we got some competitors,” Capel said postgame after his team’s 13-point win over Florida State, Jan. 14.

“We feel like we’re gonna

fight every time we play.”

The ACC is tough as steel (pardon the pun). I’m talkin’ about No. 1 Duke, No. 4 Virginia, No. 9 Virginia Tech, the aforementioned No. 11 Seminoles, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 17 N.C. State. That’s six ACC teams in the Top 25 rankings. More than the SEC or Big Ten conferences. We’re talking the best college players in the country that Pitt must encounter from now until the end of the season.

They’ve shown me that they’re ready for the wild ride. It all starts with McGowens. He never backs away from a challenge. He will drive on you. He will dunk on you. He will take your contact. He will go to the free throw line. He will get his points.

“I’m fearless, I guess,” McGowens told the media after he scored 30 points Monday night, Jan. 14, in the win over the Seminoles. “No matter how big, I’m just going to compete and we’re just going to have to make a great play.

That’s what coach says: ‘make them make a better play.’ That’s really what we’ve tried to do.”

Add the X-man, Xavier Johnson, in the mix, and I’m not sure who’s Batman

and who’s Robin. The fellow freshman slasher can put a move on you that will have you on Sportscenter for all the wrong reasons; he can knock down a three-pointer from the top of the key; he can somehow get an acrobatic shot to go from down low. To be fair, he’s turnover prone, but his good far outweighs his bad.

Toney isn’t a top scorer on the team, but he might be the team’s best defender. Plus, this guy has never heard of the phrase “body fat.” The 6-foot-6 sculptured, tatted-up guard from Huntsville, Ala., is not afraid to get in someone’s grill, and I ain’t talkin’ Foreman. He’ll take a charge, he’ll block shots, he’ll dive for loose balls.

“One of the things I loved about them as we got to know them during the recruiting process, and I have said this from the beginning, is that all three of them are competitive,” Capel said after the Florida State game about his three freshmen. “You don’t find that a lot. They are very competitive, which means that they have a toughness about them. And they aren’t afraid. Not one time this year have they been afraid—I don’t think my team has been afraid.

We are trying to develop that and make that the culture of this program— toughness, togetherness and fighting every second you are out there.”

So, there’s 14 ACC games left in this regular season for the Panthers. Coach Capel has his players’ undivided attention, and the players are giving their coach their all. I’m not Miss Cleo—I don’t know how many more games Pitt will win this season, or if they’ll even make the NCAA Tournament. But one thing’s for sure. You can no longer look on a college basketball map and not find Pitt. They’re making their presence known.

“With as many young freshmen that they have on their team, for them to be as focused as they are says a lot about the coaching staff and how hard they’re working with them to give them a level of confidence that it takes to go out and compete,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said about the Panthers. “I think the people in Pittsburgh should be very happy that they have a guy (Capel) who’s come in and kind of brought that swagger back that Pitt’s been accustomed to for over a number of years.”

Harvey Adams Jr., Walter Little—The ‘Spirit of King’ honorees SPIRIT FROM A1

lowed him into the legal profession—she in the district attorney’s office and her sister in the public defender’s office—because, as a father, he had instilled values in them long before becoming a judge.

“He taught us we had a responsibility to help others,” she said.

But her father wasn’t the only one who promoted that lesson in her life, she said. So did Adams. “I was happy when I got the email saying my father was to be honored this year, but when I saw it was to be with Harvey, I was elated—because his daughter, Caroline, and I are best friends. I called him Uncle Harvey, like she did with my father.”

And while the honorees’ commitment to improving civic life for African Americans was reflected by the presence of current and former police officers and command staff like county Deputy superintendent Maurita Bryant; attorneys, magistrates and judges including Oscar Petite and President Judge Kim Clark, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, city Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle and state Rep. Jake Wheatley, the bridge between the public and private connections Adams

and Little forged was best exemplified by state Rep. Ed Gainey.

“Judge Little came out of public housing, like me. He was an activist. In court he took no nonsense. He made it better—and he gave me the belief as a young man

that I, too, could speak truth to power,” he said.

“And Harvey, where do I start with Harvey. My mom was a single mother and he took her in, gave her a job, but he was much more than a boss. He wasn’t an idol to me, he was a mentor, and

that’s much more important. He was the baddest man I ever met.”

Representative Gainey said back when he was first dating his wife, she told him she had a mentorship-relationship with someone she thought he would find impressive.

“I was like, sure, whatever. What’s his name,” he said? “Harvey Adams, she said. I was like, what? We’d grown up just a few blocks from each other but never met, and neither of us knew we both knew Harvey. And I’ll never forget

one thing he told me when he knew I was going into politics—I try to live by it.

He said, if you want to be good, do what everyone else does. But if you want to be great—serve the people.

I owe who I am to Harvey Adams.”

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PEOPLE

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

TEENS TALK AGAINST BULLYING Dec. 27, 2018 Warrington Recreational Center

An event that aims to stop bullying in Pittsburgh-area schools by uniting kids from different neighborhoods

KEYONDRA EACKLES, MIAKA MITCHELL, MZ. NIK, TISNIAKA MITCHELL

BRIAN CLARK JR. teaches his daughter, Brooke Clark, how to DJ, during the Teens Talk Against Bullying event at the Warrington Recreational Center on the South Side, Dec. 27. (Photos by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)

TALASIA EGGLETON, 13, NE’ONI YOUNG, 8, DESTINY MILLS, 5

BRAYDEN CLARK

JENNIFER CLARK dances with her daughter, Brooke Clark.

LIFESTYLES New Pittsburgh Courier

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com

Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report Will we be welcome?

Last Sunday I was watching “Sunday Morning,” one of the features was on the movie “Green Book.” I have not taken the time to see the movie and might be resistant to seeing it due to the subject matter. The movie is actually about a real book, a travel guide for Black people to travel through the Jim Crow south.

I remember those days.

I’m talking about the fifties and sixties, the Jim Crow era was supposed to be abolished with the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. But there were times when it did not feel like things had really changed.

Often before we went somewhere out of our neighborhood my mother would inquire from a trusted source, “will we be welcome?” The “we” meant will Black people be welcome to make a reservation or stay in a particular hotel. I remember a time at Harvey’s Restaurant in Wilkinsburg on Penn Avenue, my mother and I went there to eat and the White waitress was so angry that she had to serve us. When she brought the water to the table—you didn’t have to ask for water back in those days, it was automatic—she slammed the water on the table so hard that the water flew out of the glass onto the table. I can’t remember if we stayed and completed our food. It was such a bad experience.

When I was working for Johnson & Johnson as a sales representative I went to the Boston area for training. My trainer was a young White man around the same age as myself. This was in 1978. I remember when we were going out to dinner it has to be carefully planned because there were places he did not feel comfortable going to with a Black co-worker.

I still have that feeling today when I am not eating at a chain restaurant.

Although eating at a chain is not a guarantee. Just look at how many stories have been in the news in the last few years about how Black people have been treated in public places and also at large chain restaurants.

We have been asked to leave hotels that we were checked into because we were taking a call in the lobby, we have been asked to pay our bill before the meal has been served, and in some cases we have not been served at all allegedly because we are Black. It is not a good feeling.

I have never had a book to refer to that would tell me if I would be welcome in a certain restaurant or hotel. But in recent months I have asked a few people about some restaurants that I want to visit. In 2019 you would pretty much assume that it would not be a problem. However it seems like things are starting to revert back to a time that I hoped was over.

I am going to see “Green Book,” I’ll let you know my thoughts. Let’s hope the truth has been told about that era.

(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com.)

ACHIEVEMENT HONOREES—Quintin Bullock and Kevin McNair

UNDERGRADUATE MAN OF THE YEAR—David Steele Jr. and Ken Minefield

Iota Phi Foundation Achievement Awards Program

OMEGA MEN—Fred Crawford and John Holloway

Domenique Ross (CAPA), Khari Smith (Penn Hills High School), Jayden Thomas (Uniontown Area High School) and Makayla Washington (Seneca Valley Senior High School).

Also on this evening the 2018 Achievement Honorees were recognized. This stellar list represented business, education, medicine and community. The honorees included: Frank Walker/Exemplary Service Award for Business, Sharon G. Flake/ Exemplary Service Award for Education, James E. Taylor, Ph.D./Exemplary Service Award for Medicine, Dr. Quinton B. Bullock/Exemplary Service Award for Community Advocacy, State Rep. Jake Wheatley Jr. and Kevin McNair/Emerging Leader Award.

by Debbie Norrell Lifestyles Editor

Since 1984, $145,000 in scholarships has been awarded to young African American men and women by the Iota Phi Foundation/Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., so that they could further their education.

On Nov. 30, 2018, at the Rivers Casino, the Iota Phi Foundation held their 2018 Achievement Awards Dinner with Rodney B. Jones Sr. as master of ceremonies. The Iota Phi Foundation 2018 Scholars sponsored by UPMC included: Laela Lumsden (Northgate High School), Marshall McArthur (Penn ACHIEVEMENT HONOREES—Frank Walker, Sharon G. Flake and James E. Taylor Hills Senior High School),

OMEGA MEN—Rodney Jones, Ken Minefield, Eric Anderson and Ron Lawrence

OMEGA MAN OF THE YEAR—Joseph L. Washington (Photos by Debbie Norrell) Each year the men of Omega Psi Phi honor their own. Joseph L. Washington was selected as Omega Man of the Year. Washington is currently a senior vice president for PNC Financial Services. The Undergraduate Omega Man of the Year is David Steele Jr. Steele recently graduated from Robert Morris University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Cyber forensics and a minor in Criminal Justice.

Steele is also the current Basileus of Omicron Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Guests enjoyed a great evening of dining, dancing and the beautiful atmosphere of the Rivers Casino.

BEAUTIFUL COUPLE—Nneka and Rahmon Hart

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS—Laela Lumsden, Makayla Washington, Marshall McArthur, Domenique Ross, Khari Smith and Jayden Thomas

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

RELIGION

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

BETHEL AME CHURCH IN MONROEVILLE ‘Operation Critical—Destination Unity’

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Praise & Worship ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH Crawford & Centre Ave. Pgh., PA 15219 412-281-3141 Mass Sunday 10:00 A.M. www.stbtmchurch.org

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

www.cathedralofhope.com Worship on Sunday: Journey Worship........8:45 a.m.

Sanctuary Worship........11 a.m.

Taize Prayer Service (Wed.) 7 p.m.

Curious about Quakerism?

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

Pittsburgh Friends Meeting 4836 Ellsworth Avenue BETHEL AME CHURCH PASTOR DARRYL E. LOWE reads the scripture, at the 20-year anniversary of the church’s Prison Ministry, Jan. 12. (Photos by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)

DIANE BANKS prays over John Ricci

http://www.quaker.org/legacy/pghpamm

Seminary at the Tabernacle 43 Belvedere St., Crafton, PA 15205 Sept. 10, 2018-May 16, 2019 Sr. Pastor Tony Armstead, MDiv Christian Leadership School (CLS) a Four-year Program currently offering Four non-credited courses in four years.

Teaching includes Doctorate and Master of Divinity Teachers.

When: Fluctuates Mon. or Thurs., 6:308:30pm Cost: $75 per class, plus any required books Contact: Rev. Marjorie Davis, Ph.D. 412335-2832

New Destiny CME Church 114 North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212 412-231-7882 Rev. Kornelus Neal, pastor The Rt. Rev. Marvin Thomas Sr., presiding bishop

FRESH ANOINTING

Sunday School....................................9 A.M. Morning Worship Service............11:00 A.M.

CARL TERRY

ROBERT CHAMBERS, HONOREE JOE DEBONE, PASTOR DARRYL E. LOWE. Debone was honored at the event.

ROBERT CHAMBERS holds up the church’s Hall of Faith plaque that will be placed inside the church.

REV. STEVE MARSHALL of Vermont Baptist Church in New Kensington.

REV. DANTE SNOOKS

Lyda Jo B. Russell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1934 to John Maurice and Thelma Candace Lee Boswell. Lyda Jo Boswell was educated in the public schools of Pittsburgh and completed a year at the University of Pittsburgh. She entered the Irwin Avenue School of Practical Nursing and after graduation married James D. Tucker of Paris, Kentucky. Of this union she became the proud mother of James D. Tucker, II, Barbara Jo, and Jon Maurice.

In 1960 the family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. While in Minnesota, Lyda Jo was the office manager for the medical practice of Martin, England, and Bostivick for 20 years. She returned to Pittsburgh in 1983 and married John E. Trower until his death in February of 2000. In 1985, at the request of Leon Haley of the Urban League, Lyda Jo volunteered, then was employed by the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Inc. until she retired in 1997 as Director of Minority Elderly Outreach and Development. In October 2003, Lyda Jo and Reverend Robert Russell were married in The Church of the Holy Cross.

Lyda Jo was an active member of the Church of the Holy Cross, a charter member of Club 21 and the S.E.T. (Sisters Eternally Together), and a member of The Pittsburgh Pioneers.

In August of 2017 Lyda Jo moved to Cumming, Georgia to live with her daughter Barbara Jo and family. Lyda Jo B. Russell is preceded in death by her parents, her two older brothers Robert W. Boswell (Bobby), Carlton L. Boswell, and sister Barbara Ann Boswell Ricketts.

Cherishing her memory are sister-in-law Cecelia Epperson (David), children James D. Tucker (Catherine), Barbara Jo Snow (Bernard), and Jon M. Tucker (Joy). Grandchildren Carmen, Jaymie, and Bernie Snow, Jade and Jordan Tucker, many nieces, nephews and loving friends.

A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held Saturday, January 19, 2019, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM at 7425 Ramsgate Ct., Cumming, GA 30040, the home of her daughter Barbara Jo Snow.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.woodstockfuneralhome.com

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Muting R. Kelly is the only choice Several women describe abuse at the hands of the R&B singer in Lifetime documentary

by Merecedes J. Williams For New Pittsburgh Courier

One of R&B’s biggest stars is under fire after a damaging documentary sparked off the new year. R. Kelly has released 12 albums, sold over 75 million records, and earned three Grammys. We’ve all been to a gathering where his hit song, “Step in the Name of Love” was on the playlist, and “I Believe I Can Fly” was a moment of inspiration. But, even in the midst of all that success, seven women came forward in Lifetime’s heartbreaking six-part docuseries, “Surviving R. Kelly.”

Decades of abuse are the premise, explaining how these accusers survived the unthinkable. The first two parts of the documentary, which premiered on Jan. 3, gave audiences background information about R. Kelly’s own sexual abuse he suffered as a child, his big break, and relationship

with Aaliyah, an R&B singer whom he discovered.

Episodes four and five debuted the next night and addressed the infamous sex tape. The tape, which allegedly showed R. Kelly engaging in sexual acts with an underage girl, is what brought about the 2008 child pornography trial, where he was found not guilty on all 21 charges.

The final installment premiered on Jan. 5, and it was primarily about families on a daunting search for their daughters. Specifically, three women who were under R. Kelly’s spell and being held against their will.

The documentary reminds us constantly that R.Kelly has denied any wrongdoing.

“Surviving R. Kelly” is a never-ending horror show. It seems like there was not enough tissue for the women who reminisced on the real-life nightmares they underwent at the hands of the “Bump ‘n Grind” singer.

R. KELLY, seen here with Aaliyah. The Lifetime documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” goes into detail about how R. Kelly and Aaliyah were married for a time in the mid-90s. At the time of the marriage, Aaliyah was just 15 years old, even though her age read 18 on the marriage license. Aaliyah died in 2001 in a plane crash at age 22.

The nail in the coffin for me was the number of people who turned a blind eye to pedophilia, abuse, and human trafficking. R. Kelly is a monster, and it is time to silence R. Kelly indefinitely.

We need to not only “Mute R. Kelly” (#MuteRKelly is a nationwide movement), but we must strip him of every civil liberty and financial resource. Hurting his pockets and livelihood is the only way to stop a vicious predator from destroying any more lives. We need to stop buying his records and purchasing concert tickets.

Celebrities with power and influence, specifically those who have worked with R. Kelly in the past,

no coincidence that the vast majority of R. Kelly’s survivors are African American women.

If the 14-year-old girl in R. Kelly’s infamous sex tape were White, I would not be writing this review. There would have been so much outrage, and White people would have asked for R. Kelly’s immediate crucifixion. White women have a level of protection and privilege that would not allow a Black man to have sex with a White child without severe consequences.

“Surviving R. Kelly” became an instant hashtag and trending topic during its opening weekend. The conversations and debates were intense as some defended R. Kelly, now 52

SPARKLE, another R&B protégé of R. Kelly, is certain that it was her niece seen on the infamous sex tape with R. Kelly. During the 2008 child pornography trial, R. Kelly was found not guilty. Sparkle discusses in the Lifetime documentary that her niece never publicly said it was her on the tape. need to denounce him as well. Similar to John Legend, who was part of the docuseries, they should publicly express their concern about his predatory behavior and refuse to work with him on any level.

The documentary is an eye-opener for other survivors, too. During the airing of the documentary, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) experienced a 27 percent increase in calls at the National Sexual Assault Hotline. Girls for Gender Equity released a Viewer’s Guide “to help audiences process and discuss the themes discussed.”

There is an ongoing war against Black women when it involves sexual crimes, a narrative that has been shaped since slavery. It is

years old, while others took a stand to emasculate him.

To the skeptics, who have gone out of their way to declare his innocence or justify his crimes, stop playing the blame game. It’s not the fault of neglectful parents or fast tail little girls. Stop pulling out your custom Venn Diagrams to convince us how other notable men have done the same without public backlash.

Lastly, please stop with the “R. Kelly is a distraction from the real issues” speech. I can sympathize for R. Kelly’s victims, remain prayerful that the U.S. Government Shutdown ends soon, express concern for Jazmine Barnes’ senseless murder near Houston, and rejoice in the clemency of Cyntoia Brown all at the same time.

Read more of Merecedes’ Movie/TV show columns now at... newpittsburghcourieronline.com

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‘Leading with Influence’

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Charlene Crowell

Commentary

Maxine Waters makes history

OUTLINING KEYS TO INFLUENCE—Keynote speaker, Dionne J. Edmonds, is committed to empowering women to be all that God has created them to be. (Photos by Diane I. Daniels)

Professional Women’s Network kicks off new year with theme message

by Diane I. Daniels

thing to action, keynote speaker Dionne J. Edmonds said, “Like waves in the ocean are influenced by wind levels, so are people influenced by their leaders. Science tells us that Professional Women’s Network kicked off 2019 with if the wind blows strongly enough that it will produce mastheir annual Women’s Empowerment Luncheon, Jan. sive, powerful waves. Ladies, I remind you that you and I 5, at the Fairmont Hotel, Downtown. carry within us the capacity to cause those that follow us “This is such an exciting day,” said Danielle Parto produce major waves in the spheres that we influence.” son-Rush, the group’s founder and executive director.

Her three keys to leading with influence were knowing Themed, “Leading With Influence,” she deyour who, what and why. “Who influences you?” she asked. scribed the purpose of the luncheon as bring“Whomever influences you will impact the way you influence ing women from throughout the Pittsburgh those around you, the way you influence those that reregion together for a message, to provide a port to you and the way that you lead.” needed pep talk for the start of the new Addressing the key of knowing your what, she year. The theme’s aim was for the audisaid in these times of social media that it is imence to explore six questions: how they portant to “stay woke,” to be alert, cognizant are using their influence to make a and aware because so much of what we do is lasting impact; are they recognizing often influenced by what other people their worth; what is driving them; are doing. She advised to be careful is there something stopping them; of determining what you do based on what is in the way; and how can others. Such a mindset, she said, is the PWN women help in making what keeps us from pursuing what is 2019 their best year ever. authentic to us.

Defining the word influence as to SETTING THE STAGE FOR 2019—Founder and executive director SEE PWN B2 move or impel someone or some- of PWN, Danielle Parson-Rush, is excited about the year ahead.

For New Pittsburgh Courier

by Stacy M. Brown

As 2019 begins, there is also a new Congress with leadership in the House of Representatives that makes history for people of color and women alike.

Long-time California Representative Nancy Pelosi returns as Speaker of the House—the first time in 50 years that a Member of Congress has achieved this feat. On a gender note, Speaker Pelosi becomes the most powerful woman on Capitol Hill and the only female in the nation’s history to do so.

There’s also another key woman and legislator that is making history. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is now the first Black and the first woman to chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee. Having served on this committee since 1995, and its Ranking Member in the previous Congress, Waters will set the committee’s agenda in key areas affecting the economy, banking, housing, insurance and securities.

The House Financial Services Committee oversees the activities and responsibilities for major financial regulators, agencies, and the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve. These agencies include but are not limited to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—that insures monies in depository institutions, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission that is charged with maintaining fair and efficient investment markets.

In other words, the fiery and bold Black lawmaker who earned a reputation for challenging Wall Street and major lenders during the housing crisis will now set the direction for a range of financial players, regulators, and institutions. From monetary policy to the production and distribution of currency, and expanding financial access to affordable housing options, a progressive and principled committee chair is running the show. She is also expected to set standards of performance that level the financial playing field and hold lenders accountable when they take advantage of consumers or discriminate in their lending.

With the right kind of regulation and committee oversight, the nation may be able to change financial trends that have worsened both racial and gender wealth gaps.

For example, a December 2018 report by the Asset Funder’s Network analyzed raSEE WATERS B2

African American chefs break the glass ceiling in the culinary world

For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)—The culinary business world is as cut throat as any other. It’s also known as an industry that hasn’t always allowed for much diversity in management and ownership at its higher echelon.

However, it appears that African Americans are finally breaking barriers, starring in many kitchens around the nation and serving up fine delicacies and treats that have those of all races and backgrounds coming back for second-helpings.

“Memphis is a foodie town with a minority-majority makeup… thoughtful discussions about equity in the food industry are at the forefront here and folks care about presentation, which is at the heart of the issue,” said Cynthia Daniels, the founder of Memphis Black Restaurant Week. “I’ve also seen the difficulty that Black-owned restaurants experience with not having big marketing budgets to advertise for new business,” Daniels said.

That’s why she founded Memphis Black Restaurant Week and have advised other cities to do the same.

“It’s a celebration that

EXECUTIVE CHEF EDOUARDO JORDAN/Courtesy The Strand House advocates for Black chefs, brings more awareness around their food and beverage traditions, generates new income, and moves the needle in terms of inclusivity in the culinary world,” Daniels said.

That inclusion and enthusiasm appears to have caught on.

“I am truly optimistic for the future with the culinary industry because

while there are still a lot of areas in which to grow, we are slowly chipping away the stereotype of what African American chefs have to offer,” said award-winning executive chef and QVC Food Stylist Kristol Bryant.

“We are diversified in our skills, talents and cuisines.

African American chefs are no longer just soul-food or southern cuisine chefs, we are so

much more,” Bryant said.

“Through education and exploration, we can finally break into areas that we never knew were there.

Being seen on television is great for us but being a legitimate authority in culinary in the corporate, private and entertainment sectors is the next step.”

An article in the culinary-centric publication, FSR Magazine, noted that

when its reporters wrote about the rise of African American chefs in the U.S. three years ago, several themes prevailed, including that a wide range of talented African American chefs had emerged, like Executive Chef Edouardo Jordan in Seattle, Marcus Samuelsson in New York, and Mashama Bailey in Savannah, Ga. Often, African American chefs are stuck in the kitchen as sous chefs or line chefs and routinely failing to be given an opportunity to become head chefs, according to FSR. And, African American chefs, on the whole, have encountered tougher obstacles raising funds to open their own establishments.

However, the industry now has several African Amer-

ican chefs serving as role models and paving the way for more minority chefs to make their mark in the U.S. Examples include Chef Dieuveil Malonga, a 26-year old Forbes 30 under 30 Congolese Chef and a finalist for the Basque Culinary World Prize. Malonga works closely with luxury and fashion brands such as Rick Owens to bring awareness about the African continent through exclusive culinary experiences around the world.

With private clients like ASAP Rocky, Mos Def and others, Malonga has been featured by The New York Times, Vogue, BBC. He’s also spoken at The United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Chef Ronnie Rainwater of Delmonico Steakhouses also serves as another example of African Americans breaking the proverbial glass ceiling in the culinary world.

“He grew up in the kitchen, shadowing his Southern grandmother at the stove; anxious to taste anything he could get his hands on,” said Sade Mills of One 7 Communications.

Rainwater attended Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon and obtained a Culinary Arts DeSEE CHEFS B2

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BUSINESS

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

‘Leading with Influence’ Would you know what to

PWN FROM B1

“Looking at what everybody else is doing and the way they do it leads us further and further away.

There is something that you were put on this earth to do that nobody else can do. There is something that you carry, your life experiences, your makeup, your background, where you grew up, your particular family that you were placed in, contributes to who you are and helps you to lead the way that you do.”

Knowing your why, she pointed out, is what will keep you going when the odds are against you. It will keep you awake at night, will have you with a journal next to your nightstand, writing down notes of your dreams and ideas. “Your why has to be bigger than you, not just about money or material things.”

She challenged the audience to think of their why as something timeless. “Something that outlives you.”

She said to wrestle with the question of why you are doing what you are doing.

Her final challenge to the audience was for them to be the kind of woman that leads from within versus without. “Because of what is carried on the inside, lead in such a way that the environment doesn’t change you, but you change the environment. There is something special about us as women that when we gather what we are able to bring to the table is unique to us that only we can do.”

Driven to serve women through the teaching of God’s word, Edmonds is passionate about making disciples for Jesus Christ and believes in the importance of empowering women to be all that God has created them to be. Describing herself as a wife,

mother, daughter, sister and lover of God, she is a graduate of Duke Divinity School, with a Master of Divinity, and completed her undergraduate studies at Howard University.

The wife of the Senior Pastor of Macedonia Church of Pittsburgh in the Hill District, Brian Edmonds, she has had the opportunity to teach women in many ministry settings across the city, the country and the world. She is the author of a book, “Calling Up Your Boaz: How to Date in A Way That Honors God” and has served God through mission’s work in South Africa and Mozambique.

Other program participants included Susan Baida, director of community engagement, who discussed UPMC’s community commitment.

Final remarks were provided by Jessica Brooks-Woods, PWN’s advisory committee chair. Lisa Washington of KDKA-TV served as the luncheon emcee.

Known for connecting, engaging and inspiring, PWN was founded three years ago by Parson-Rush to nourish women to excel in their personal and professional lives while being a positive and active influence in their communities.

Its vision is described as to connect and uplift professional women to build stronger communities.

PWN will hold an event, Feb. 22, called the “Wine Experience.” The event will be held at CKV Suites in Homewood, featuring wine education and tasting with the Hue Society, with wines produced, bottled and distributed by African America brands. “A Learning to Lead: Strategies for Success” workshop will be held, March 6, at the Rivers Club, and the “Ladies Who Lead” recognition is April 26 at Audi Pittsburgh.

Chefs break glass ceiling CHEFS FROM B1

gree in 1999. One of his early jobs in the industry was an internship in the kitchen at The Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, where he helped prepare dinners and private events for guests.

In June 1999, Ronnie was offered a position as a cook at Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian and moved to Las Vegas.

In 2007, he was promoted to executive sous chef at the restaurant.

In January 2011, after working with Emeril for over 11 years at his restaurants in Las Vegas and on the East coast, he was tapped to become the next chef de cuisine of Delmonico Steakhouse.

“Today, he leads the kitchen at Delmonico and oversees all facets of its culinary operations, from sourcing products, to managing the restaurant’s in-house dry-aging program for prime U.S.D.A. beef, to crafting ambitious nightly tasting menus for guests at his kitchen table,” Mills said.

“His love of simple fresh ingredients has helped him

cultivate close relationships with local farmers who supply the restaurant with their best products including beets, heirloom tomatoes, squash blossoms and seasonal herbs,” she said, noting that a local orchard provides him with fresh apples and cider, along with the apple wood used to brine and smoke the restaurant’s house cured bacon.

The rise of the African American chef also was seen at the 2018 James Beard Awards, where four African American and Caribbean American chefs were honored at the ceremony.

“There is a black hand in many pots and today, talented chefs are using their culinary skill-set as platforms to create, motivate and inspire,” said Charla Draper, a former food editor at Ebony and Southern Living magazines, who now serves as a consultant providing marketing services for food and food-related business.

“Chefs are using their talents traditionally and non-traditionally to mentor and open doors for others,” she said.

do if you lost your job?

by Russell T. Jackson For New Pittsburgh Courier

(BlackpressUSA)We all know how important it is to be prepared for a fire, flood, or other type of emergency. What about something that seems less dramatic, but can be equally devastating, like unemployment?

You can’t dial 911 or stop, drop, and roll, but you can take steps to help minimize some of the fallout from losing your job.

1. Stay positive. It’s important to remember that the decision was probably based on the economy or other external factors.

2. Be professional. If you handle yourself with decorum, your employer may be willing to serve as a reference, recommend you to vendors, and even provide assistance with interviewing and résumé building.

Plus, if their economic situation continues to improve, who’s to say they won’t hire you back?

3. Account for every penny. Review your terms of employment and claim any money owed to you from bonuses, commissions— even unused vacation. Also, find out if you are entitled to a severance package. If not, file for unemployment benefits right away since it may take weeks to process.

4. Replace lost benefits. If your spouse works, see if you can add yourself to his or her health care plan. If not, you can apply for COBRA coverage within 60

days of termination and extend your health care benefits for 18 months.

Similarly, you may want to purchase an affordable term life insurance policy to help replace any workplace coverage you may have had.

5. Evaluate your retirement plans. While some employers allow you to leave your 401(k) in place,

provided for information purposes only as a courtesy by Russell T. Jackson, Agent New York Life Insurance Company. To learn more about the life insurance and financial strategies, please contact Russell Jackson at 904-699-3480 or rtjackson@ft.newyorklife. com *When considering rolling over the proceeds of your employer-sponsored retirement plan to an IRA, you have the option, among others, of leaving the funds in your existing plan, if permitted, or rolling them into your RUSSELL T. JACKSON new employer’s plan, if it may not always be the one is available and rollright move. Have a finan- overs are permitted. Each cial professional look the choice offers advantages plan over and see if you and disadvantages, dependare better off rolling over ing on the desired investthe funds into a traditional ment options and services, IRA or Roth IRA.* fees and expenses, with6. Network-Network-Net- drawal options, required work. You never know minimum distributions, tax where your next job will treatment, and your unique come from, so take advan- financial needs and retiretage of every networking ment plans. (Neither New opportunity. Also, be sure York Life Insurance Comto use social media plat- pany nor its agents provide forms like LinkedIn to help tax or legal advice. Consult connect with people online your own tax and or legal and let them know you’re advisors regarding your looking. particular situation.)

(This article originally apThis educational third-party article is being peared in The Florida Star.)

Cash is still king for most Black consumers

by Frederick H. Lowe For New Pittsburgh Courier

(TriceEdneyWire.com)— Cash is king. Well, er, let me modify that statement.

It is still king with African Americans, but other racial and ethnic groups are pulling out their debit and credit cards to pay for purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study.

“Roughly three-in-ten adults, or 29 percent, claim they don’t make any purchases with cash during the week. This is up from 24 percent in 2015, “ Pew reported.

Blacks are more likely than Whites or Hispanics to rely on cash: 34 percent use cash for all or almost all of their purchases, compared with 15 percent of whites and 17 percent of Hispanics, Pew reports.

Training Event

JAN. 16—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center presents a First Step seminar, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15282. The event is aimed at new businesses and start-ups and covers: Business Structure and Formation; Fictitious Name Registration; Employee Issues, Financing; Taxation; Insurance, and much more.

Cost: $25. TO register, or for more information, call 412396-1633.

PowerBreakfast Meeting

JAN 18—The African American Chamber of Commerce of Western PA will host its first PowerBreakfast meeting of 2019 with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Rivers Club, One Oxford Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222. Fitzgerald will provide an update on the county’s economic and business health and a preview of 2019 initiatives. Cost $20 for members, $30 for non-members. For more information, call 412-392-0610.

Financing Webinar

JAN. 23—The Chatham Women’s Business Center will host The State of Small Business Lending-Funding Options to Grow your Business webinar, 12 to 1 p.m. Honeycomb Credit Founder George Cook will discuss trends in traditional bank lending and offer an analysis of the increasingly complicated network of alternative lenders while highlighting the pros and cons of various funding options. This online session is free, but registration is required. Call 412-365-1448 for more information.

Exit Planning Training Event

JAN. 25—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center will offer a full day training session on Exit Planning For Your Business, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15282.

The in-depth session will cover methods for preserving a company’s value, finding a business appraiser, lessening taxes, the pros and cons of different ways to sell a business, and a host of other topics.

Cost: $599, includes breakfast and lunch. For more information, call 412-396-6233

Business Workshop

Income determines who does and does not pay with cash. Adults earning $75,000 or more a year are twice as likely to pay for purchases with a card or

another payment method.

Adults who earn less than $30,000 a year are more likely to reach in their wallet and pull out greenbacks.

Maxine Waters makes history WATERS FROM B1

BUSINESS CALENDAR

cial and gender disparities in wealth and found that Black and Latina women have “lost substantial amounts of wealth in the last two decades.”

From 2007 to 2016, Black women ages 45-65 had a 74 percent drop in median wealth, compared to that of White women who experienced a 28 percent drop.

Further, the Asset Funders Network concluded the median “quasi-liquid” savings for single Black and Latina women aged 45-50 was $0.

Earlier in 2017 the Federal Reserve found that nearly 1 in 5 Black families have zero or negative net worth — twice the rate of White families. Additionally the median net worth of Black families was one-tenth of that held by White families.

These wealth disparities continue to plague communities of color in large part because of disparities in home ownership that enable consumers to build wealth.

Year after year, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) report has consistently found that consumers of color are denied access to mortgages, especially private conventional loans that remain the most sustainable and affordable loans.

Last year, the Center for Investigative Reporting published its analysis of the most recent HMDA report. “It found a pattern of troubling denials for people of color across the country, including in major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Antonio,” states the report. “African Americans faced the most resistance in Southern cities—Mobile, Alabama;

Greenville, North Carolina; and Gainesville, Florida—and Latinos in Iowa City, Iowa.”

A second but equally harmful trend is predatory lending that targets these same consumers with high-cost credit that creates debt traps. When consumers find themselves short of cash before paydays, overdraft fees, payday and car title loans are among the most predatory due to their extremely high interest rates and failure to consider whether borrowers have the financial capacity to repay the loans without taking on additional debt.

For all of Black America, as well as consumer advocates and others who believe financial fairness should be the nation’s watchword, an expectation of a new era of accountability, access and transparency is hoped to soon unfold.

“She is a tough and savvy defender of consumer protection and holds the feet of the banks and the Trump administration regulators to the fire,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending in a recent interview.

Should anyone doubt the resolve of Congresswoman Waters, consider her reaction last fall when she and other prominent progressives faced a series of bomb threats and other violence.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing in order to make this country right,” Waters told the Washington Post. “That’s what I intend to do. And as the young people say, ‘I ain’t scared.’”

(Charlene Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s Communications Deputy Director. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.)

JAN. 26—The Chatham Women’s Business Center, Enterprise Bank and the Service Core of Retired Executives will present a Build Your Business workshop, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 4091 Mt. Royal Blvd., Allison Park, PA. 15101.

Seasoned business experts and entrepreneurs will discuss: business planning, marketing and sales, financing, legal issues and business lessons learned. A continental breakfast will be provided. Cost: $10. Registration is required.

For more information, call Anne Flynn Schlicht at 412365-1448.

Training Event

FEB. 7—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center will present Get Behind The Numbers and Increase our Profit, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15282. This hands-on workshop takes a step-by-step approach to explain two important financial statements: profit and loss statement and balance sheet. A representative from Wilke & Associates will offer clear examples for using these statements to make informed decisions, identify potential problems within your business and set realistic financial goals. Cost: $25. For more information, call 412396-6233.

Celebrating Black Women Entrepreneurs

FEB. 8—The Chatham Women’s Business Center will welcome and celebrate a panel of African American women business owners who will relay their stories, successes and what they’ve learned as part of its Women Business Leaders Breakfast Series, 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the James Laughlin Music Center at Chatham’s Shadyside campus. Cost: $25.

To register online, visit www. chatham.edu/cwe/events.

OPINION

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

B3

A change for the better: House rules on staff diversity

Guest Commentary

Trump’s weak appeal to Blacks on border wall President Donald Trump’s game of Uncle is not working for Congress or the American people. His effort to force legislators into submission to address illegal immigration by building his $5.7 billion wall between the U.S. and Mexico has merit but lacks credibility, and his prime-time speech on Dec. 22 before the American people failed to change minds.

Also, why is it that Trump turns to African Americans when he believes his message to his base is failing? He did it during his presidential campaign at a time when he, and a vast number of American voters, believed he could not win the presidency. It was then that he spoke directly to African Americans before a crowd of very few African Americans in Michigan where he asked them the most absurd question, “What the hell do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?” And during his first primetime speech on Tuesday he invoked African Americans again by stating “all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration” and “among those hardest-hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans.”

It is true that America’s illegal immigration policy impacted all low-wage workers, including African Americans, who were replaced in low-paying jobs by those who would work for even less. Opportunities for immigrants were created by American employers who saw them as cheap labor, and there was little to no effort by lawmakers to ensure they received a fair wage or to protect the American workers. So here we are today, raising wholesale fear about this segment of the American labor force by calling them all “criminal gangs, drug smugglers, and human traffickers” who need to be kept out of this country by “a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall.” A $5.7 billion structure to be paid for by the American taxpayers—including those presently furloughed due to Trump’s government shutdown—and not the Mexican government as he promised.

What once was a universally accepted unauthorized workers industry mostly in farming and construction, has today become a “humanitarian and security crisis.” What Trump wants is $211 million to hire 750 additional Border Patrol agents, $571 million for 2,000 additional ICE personnel, $4.2 billion for 52,000 detention beds, personnel, transportation, and detention alternatives, and $563 million for 75 additional immigration judges and support staff.

That is what Trump wants to make America great again, and that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will be the beneficiaries. We’re not ready to cry uncle.

(Reprinted from The Washington Informer)

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)

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Diversity matters. In a world that is both diverse and deeply interconnected, companies and institutions with greater levels of diversity are achieving better performance. Most organizations, including McKinsey, have more work to do to take full advantage of the opportunity presented by a more diverse leadership team. Organizations also have more work to do on their talent pipeline to attract, develop, mentor, sponsor, and retain the next generations of diverse leaders at all levels.

But with the rewards of diversity set to increase, investing now is the best plan. Winners will pull further ahead and laggards will fall further behind.

—Management Consulting Report “Diversity Matters,” McKinsey & Co. The National Urban League congratulates the U.S. House of Representatives, which approved a rules package creating a new Office of Diversity and Inclusion and requiring the appointment of a Chief Diversity Officer and the development of a diversity plan.

Congressional staff diversity has long been a top priority of the National Urban League. Just last month, we joined with more than 60 other national civil and human rights organizations and stakeholders in sending a letter calling on Members of Congress to prioritize diversity in hiring top staff.

In the letter we encouraged the Members to take the following steps: 1. Set Clear Goals: Promptly develop hiring goals to ensure diversity among those hired in new top and key mid-level staff position openings in your office.

2. Adopt a Diversity Plan: Develop a written office diversity and inclusion

Marc H. Morial

To Be Equal plan that includes recruitment and hiring goals, retention and development strategies for staff, data collection and analysis procedures, a clear allocation of responsibility among staff and performance evaluation for implementation of the plan, and unconscious bias training for all managerial staff involved in recruitment, hiring, evaluation, and retention.

3. Adopt the Rooney Rule: Formally adopt and implement the Rooney Rule, which would require your office to interview at least one person of color for every top and key midlevel staff position opening. Senate Democrats adopted this rule in 2017. Data should be kept to measure the compliance and effectiveness of the rule.

4. Support Chamber-Wide or Conference-Wide Efforts to Improve Staff Diversity, such as the creation of an independent and bipartisan Diversity Office, the disclosure of demographic data of staff, and adoption of the Rooney Rule.

These are the same recommendations we made when we hosted a panel on diversity at the U.S. Senate nearly two years ago.

Soon afterward, we delivered senior-level resumes of qualified, African American candidates to senators who

represent states with a high percentage of minority residents. Our intention was to encourage senators to consider a diverse pool of candidates when hiring for positions like chief of staff, legislative director, and communications director.

Newly-elected Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama last January appointed the first Black Chief of Staff in the Democratic caucus, joining Republican Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jerry Moran of Kansas.

In a letter accompanying the resumes we sent to the Senate, I wrote: At the core of economic civil rights is the idea that all people should have access to jobs for which they are qualified.

Despite the progress this country has made related to corporate diversity and inclusion, our Congress, specifically the U.S. Senate, has failed to move the needle when it comes to diversity and inclusion. This is deeply concerning and an embarrassment to our country. While policy decisions affecting all Americans are debated in the halls of Congress, persons of color are largely absent in top-level staff positions. Thus, on issues like education, the economy, health care, and decisions of war and peace, Members of Congress are legislating without the perspective of black and brown staff.

According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, more than 31 percent of top staffers hired so far by newly-elected House Members are people of color. As of September, fewer than 14 percent of top staff in the House were people of color.

The rule change is a significant step toward a Congress that truly represents the rich diversity of the nation and an expansion of economic opportunity for all Americans.

It’s your money!

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—I know it’s your business where you spend your money, but I can’t help but wonder where many of us would be today if our ancestors like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Medgar Evers, John Lewis, Rosa Parks, and a whole lot of our warriors for justice would have taken the position that they were not going to risk their lives for the good of our community so long as they were personally benefitting.

What if they had taken money from guilty parties and kept quiet about racist and disrespectful acts against the rest of us? What if somebody gave them a few dollars to back off and not participate with any groups or make any objections to what was hurting our community? What if somebody told you they would continue spending their money with corporations they know are spending the company’s proceeds (your money) to knowingly do damage to your community?

I’m speaking of companies knowingly using their advertising dollars to make it possible for hateful rhetoric that encourages violence, kidnapping, gang rape and random shootings in our community. Much of this hateful language is especially against Black women, and it denigrates our entire community. This must stop. We need your help to stop it.

I think any sensible and caring person would say, “I won’t allow my dollars to destroy my community.” I trust

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary that that’s where most of us are. The National Congress of Black Women, under the leadership of my predecessor, Dr. C. Delores Tucker, has been working to rid our community of this filth called gangsta rap for many years. We’ve continued to make the lives of our young people better. Recently, we’ve been blessed to be joined

by Bob Law—Chairman, National Black Leadership Alliance, Kwabena Rasuli and Bernard Creamer of Clear the Airwaves. Some will tell you these performers are just talking about their reality. To that I say, “Your breath smells bad when you wake up, but you brush your teeth to change that reality. Those who want to change/better their reality don’t do gangsta rap.”

In our continuing effort to put an end to the filth and the damage it creates, we recently invited some of the biggest offenders to meet with us in New York so that we could help them understand what the ads they pay for are doing to destroy our community.

While we had representatives from many groups attend, not one of the

biggest offending advertisers invited (McDonalds, Subway Restaurants, JCPenney, Kohl’s or Adidas) attended. After at least 5 contacts with each company, not one had enough respect for the Black community to send a representative, forcing us to take action.

Our call to action is against “hateful rhetoric that encourages violence against Black women.” Our movement is called “Respect Us” and to be clear, this is not about free speech. It’s about getting rid of hostile environments. All of us appreciate righteous, conscious music, and we would urge offenders to spend their advertising dollars to promote that kind of music.

Since the named corporations have chosen to disregard our willingness to hold a reasonable discussion about the matter at hand, we have been forced to ask every conscious member of our community to refrain from spending your dollars at the offending companies named in this article until they respect our community enough to withdraw their advertising dollars making the offensive gangsta rap possible. Our starting targeted areas are New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. Others may be added as necessary.

For more information or to express your support for Respect Us, call 202/678-6788 or 347/675-0710. You may also find more information at www.respectus.store.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is president of the National Congress of Black Women.)

Trump administration is intent on weakening civil rights enforcement

by Jesse Jackson (TriceEdneyWire.com)—When new U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked on “60 Minutes” whether she thinks President Donald Trump is a racist, she responded with the candor that makes her a compelling force in Washington: “Yeah, yeah, no question.”

This, of course, lit up the social media, with Trump supporters denouncing Ocasio-Cortez and progressives praising her. One would think after his dog-whistle, race-bait politics— from slurring immigrants to slandering a Hispanic judge to embracing the racist marchers in Charlottesville, Va., to denigrating Haiti and African nations as “s—hole countries” — that the question had been answered long ago.

What is clear is that, whatever the president’s personal views, the Trump administration is intent on weakening enforcement of civil rights laws across the board. The same week that Ocasio-Cortez spoke, two widely respected reporters from Washington Post, Laura Meckler and Devlin Barrett, reported that the Trump administration is taking the first steps toward rolling back a centerpiece of civil rights enforcement: the doctrine that starkly disparate impact can provide evidence of discrimination even without proof of intent.

If a government contractor announces that it won’t hire anyone who is living with someone of the same sex, the victims may not be able to provide

direct evidence that the employer intended to discriminate, but the disparate impact of the announcement would provide the basis for finding discrimination. Disparate impact isn’t dispositive. Those accused can demonstrate that they have a rational reason for the regulation or action and that there are no less discriminatory alternatives.

In some areas, like election law, disparate impact is written in the legislation itself. In most areas, however, it derives from regulations on enforcing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, particularly Title VI which bars discrimination based on race, color or national origin by entities, including schools that receive federal funding.

In 2014, as Meckler and Devlin report, the Obama administration formally put public school systems on notice that they could be found guilty of racial discrimination if students of color were punished at dramatically higher rates than White students.

Trump’s Education Department issued a report criticizing the regulation and has begun discussions about rescinding it.

This assault on a centerpiece of civil rights enforcement comes on top of Trump’s stunning reversal of civil rights enforcement across the government. Under Jeff Sessions, the Trump Justice Department essentially abandoned the Obama effort to work with police departments to address systemic racially discriminatory police practices.

Sessions directed the Justice Department to stop defending affirmative action programs and start enforcement actions against them. The administration rolled back protections for transgender students, while banning transgender people from the military.

The Justice Department chose to defend a discriminatory Texas voter ID law, which a district court later ruled was passed with discriminatory intent. In department after department, the administration has sought to weaken civil rights divisions and cut their budgets.

As head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Trump’s acting chief of staff Mike Mulvaney gutted the unit responsible for enforcing anti-discriminatory lending laws. This list can go on. Is Donald Trump personally a racist? Whatever your conclusion, Trump surely campaigned by trying to stoke racial fears and divisions.

And this administration is the most hostile to civil rights and to equal justice under the law than any since the passage of the Civil Rights laws.

Trump’s defenders insist that the president objects to being called a racist, that he signed the recent legislation rolling back some of the discriminatory sentencing practices, and that he happily has his picture taken with African American children. But the record of his administration is clear, and the disparate impact of the measures it has taken provides compelling evidence of its intent.

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Help Wanted

Help Wanted

LIVE-IN RESIDENT ADVISOR (5 week program)

Provide supervision of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s student residence to maintain a safe and supportive living environment during the 5 week Intensive Summer Program. Full description and to apply: https://bit.ly/2W07XaO

GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST (Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission) Design or create graphics such as plan documents, brochures, yers, displays, or web graphics. At least 3 years experience. Must know Adobe Creative Suite. Details at www.spcregion.org EEO/AA/M/F/ ET/ Disability Employer

CITY OF WASHINGTON EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY TREASURER’S OFFICE – TAX CLERK

Responsible for collecting taxes and posting payments.

Hours are Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Benefit package included.

Employment Applications may be obtained at: City Hall 55 W. Maiden Street Washington, PA 15301 From: 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday Last Day To Submit Applications: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 by 4:30 p.m.

City of Washington Residency Requirement: Applicant must live within 7.5 miles of the Washington County Courthouse Located on S. Main St., Washington, PA The City of Washington is an Equal Opportunity Employer Michelle R. Sperl City Clerk CITY OF WASHINGTON ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

MEETING

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s Board of Commissioners passed a resolution on 12/20/18 to hold its 2019 monthly meetings on the following Thursdays in 2019.

The meetings will be held at 10:30 a.m. 200 Ross Street, 13th Floor Wherrett Room, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Thursday, January 24, 2019 Thursday, February 28, 2019 Thursday, March 28, 2019 Thursday, April 25, 2019 Thursday, May 23, 2019 Thursday, June 27, 2019 Thursday, July 25, 2019 M S Thursday, September 26, 2019 Thursday, October 24, 2019 M M Thursday, December 19, 2019

Port Authority is seeking a Buyer to perform activities and coordinate procedures for the procurement of general and speciali ed parts, equipment and services. Secure the best prices while ensuring quality and delivery requirements.

Essential Functions: Coordinate the procedures for the procurement of assigned material and supplies.

Develop alternate sources, ensuring continuity of supply, consistency of quality and competition pricing.

Meets with or contacts sales representatives/vendors to obtain and negotiate product price and other related information.

Assists in the development and maintenance of the Procurement Policies and Procedures Manual ensuring consistency with proper contracting procedures and governmental regulations.

Job requirements include: High School Diploma or GED. Associate degree in Business Administration, Purchasing Administration Management or directly related field from an accredited school. Directly related work experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

Minimum of three (3) years procurement buying experience Demonstrated ability in the use of Windows.

Effective and professional communication skills.

Preferred attributes: BA/BS degree in Business Administration, Purchasing Administration Management or directly related field.

Demonstrated ability in the use of Microsoft Word and Excel, FMIS (PeopleSoft) or a similar FMIS system. alid PA driver’s license.

We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Interested candidates should forward a cover letter (with salary requirements) and resume to: Danielle Jacobson Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527 DJacobson@portauthority.org EOE

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meetings

Meetings

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The following calendar maintains the tradition of meeting at 6:00 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every calendar month except as noted. The several meetings proposed for Council Chambers attempt to respond to the public recommendation that meeting at a centrali ed location may encourage increased public attendance. ll Meetings Sche ule to egin at 6 . .

Date Neighborhood Address January 22, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building 414 Grant Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (412) 255-2142-office February 26, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 March 26, 2019 Allegheny Center 250 E Ohio Street Alliance Church Pittsburgh, PA 15212 (412) 321-4333 ( 1) April 23, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 May 28, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 June 25, 2019 Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 1811 Brownsville Road Carrick Pittsburgh, PA 15210 (412) 882-3897 ( 3) July 23, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 August, 2019 -Combined with SeptemberSeptember 24, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 October 22, 2019 The Kingsley Association 6435 Frankstown Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 661-8751 ( 5) November, 2019 - Combined with December December 3, 2019 Council Chambers 510 City-County Building Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (The public will be notified of any change of date or location through media publication.)

For Further Information: 412-765-8023 Confidential TipLine: 412-255-CPRB

America’s Best Weekly 315 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Classifieds 412-481-8302 Ext. 140 E-mail: ads@newpittsburghcourier.com Deadline/Closing/ Cancellation Schedule for copy, corrections, and cancellations: Friday noon preceding Wednesday publication

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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY Department of Facilities Management Pittsburgh, PA December 17, 2018

The Office of the Director of the Department of Facilities Management of Allegheny County will receive Letters of Interest with current SF 330s for Professional Services until 4:00 p.m. on January 18, 2019 for the following assignment: COUNTY PROJECT NO. 2019-OPEN OPEN END ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES The Allegheny County Department of Facilities Management is seeking Architectural Services on an “As Needed” basis to supplement the efforts of its’ Architectural Personnel. The consultant must staff all projects with skilled and experienced personnel who are facile in the building type and are competent for the assigned specific tasks.

If your firm is interested in providing the afore-mentioned services, please submit six (6) copies of your Letter of Interest and current SF 330 to: James P. Reardon, Director Allegheny County Department of Facilities Management oo ounty f ce uil ing Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Place six (6) copies of your Letter of Interest with required SF 330 forms in a sealed, opaque envelope with your firm’s name and the words “Letters of Interest for the Open End Architectural Services, Project No. 2019-OPEN” on the front.

If you mail the Letter of Interest, please insert the sealed, opaque envelope containing the Letter of Interest and SF 330 form inside a separate mailing envelope.

The Director will not consider any Letter of Interest received after the set day and hour and will return it to the addressee unopened. The firm is responsible for ensuring that the Director receives the Letter of Interest by the set day and hour.

The County will use only SF 330s of firms responding with Letters of Interest to pre-qualify firms for consideration for these services.

The County encourages responses from small firms, Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women Business Enterprises (WBE), eteran Owned Business ( OB) and firms that have not previously worked for the County.

The County will preselect or shortlist firms for consideration for the Project assignments on the following evaluation criteria: Experience, Record, Size, Workload, and Previous Related Work to the uil ing y e. The County’s Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) goals for this Project will be 13% of the total architectural fees for MBE participation and 2% of the total architectural fees for WBE participation. Certification of MBEs and WBEs by the County is mandatory on or before the due date. Firms submitting a Letter of Interest must have their MBE/WBE participants in place and noted in their Letter and/or SF330 form to be considered for this project.

The Director may reject any Letters of Interest and may waive any irregularity in the Submission of Letters of Interest. For further information contact Richard O iemblowsky, Architect at 412-350-0081.

James P. Reardon, Director County of Allegheny Allegheny County Department of Facilities Management LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

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In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Orphans’ Court Division, Estate of William Cosentino, deceased, Case No. 021807414 of 2018: Notice is hereby given that on December 12, 2018, a Petition was filed by Daniel Cosentino, to terminate the interests of the heirs and devisees of William Cosentino, deceased, in the real estate located at 65 Herr Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15209, and determine that fee simple title is in Daniel Cosentino. If no exceptions to the Petition are filed within 30 days, Daniel Cosentino will seek an Order adjudging that title be put in his name.

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS… THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

Letters Testamentary on the Estate of JOSHUA D. PARRY, Court Term No. 021807610, late of Monroeville, Allegheny County, deceased, having been granted to the undersigned by the Director of Dept. of Court Records, Wills/Orphans Court Division of Allegheny County, notice is hereby given to all persons indebted to said estate to make immediate payment, and to those having claims against the same to present them to the undersigned, duly authenticated for settlement. Maria Parry, Administrator, 1249 Northwestern Dr., Moneroeville, PA 15146, or to Cathy L. Brannigan, Esq., 15 Duff Rd., Suite 6C, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.

LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION OR TESTAMENTARY

Letters of Administration on the Estate of Kenneth Robinson, a/k/a Kenneth Joseph Robinson, Deceased of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA, No. 02-18-06313 have been granted to Lori Wright, 4584 ueen Ann Court, South Euclid, OH 44121, and Keneisha Robinson, 13 Eli abeth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15210, who request that all persons having claims aganist the Estate of this Decedent make known the same in writing to them or their attorney, Thomas E. Pandaleon, Esq., 6824 Thomas Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15208, and all persons indebted to this Decedent make payment to the same.

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF H P S H S FOR MISCELLANEOUS CONCRETE AND LEVELING SERVICES AUTHORITY WIDE - -

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Miscellaneous Concrete and Leveling Services Authority Wide - The documents will be available no later than January 14, 2019 and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 11:00 A.M. on February 1, 2019 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, at which time they will be opened and read aloud.

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

HACP.org. uestions or inquires should be directed to: Kim Detrick Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116 Opt 1 A pre bid meeting will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept.

100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wednesday, January 23, 2019 11:00 A.M. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond to this solicitation.

HACP’s has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and downloa Ps ocu entation. aster . inion Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title II, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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The URBAN REDE ELOPMENT AUTHORIT OF PITTSBURGH will receive bids from qualified contractors for construction of a 4 acre Liberty Green/River Roots Park, a playground and public area in the City of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood, including approximately 22,000 C of grading, excavation, and fill, 50,000 SF of concrete sidewalks, stormwater basins and underground storage tanks, 1,000 LF of 12” - 24” HDPE stormwater sewers, 14,500 SF of resilient play surfaces, playground equipment, picnic equipment, approximately 200 trees and shrubs, 45,000 SF of lawn, and 31 pedestrian and street light poles and luminaires, and all work incidental thereto required to complete East Liberty Site Preparation Contract No. 4 - Rebid, until 11:00a.m. prevailing time on Thursday, the 28th day of February, 2019, at its office on the 11th Floor, 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219, at which time all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud in the 11th Floor Conference Room.

Contract documents will be available on publicpurchase.com on January 16, 2019. Contract documents will also be made available for pick up on Compact Disk (CD) upon request.

Any addenda will be posted only on publicpurchase.com.

A pre-bid meeting will be held at the Kingsley Association at 6435 Frankstown Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, 2019, to discuss the specifications for this project and review the bid drawings. Attendance by prospective bidders is mandatory.

A certified check or bank draft payable to the order of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, negotiable U.S. Government Bonds (at par value), or a satisfactory Bid Bond executed by the Bidder and an acceptable surety, in a dollar amount equal to 5% of the total bid for East Liberty Site Preparation Contract No. 4 - RELi erty reen i er oots Park) shall be submitted for each bid. The bid submittal must include the Bid, Non-collusion Affidavit of Prime Bidder, Bid Bond, Statement of Bidder’s ualifications, Certificate of Compliance - Section 3, and the Certificate of Minority and Women’s Participation.

Wages paid on this project shall not be less than the minimum wages determined by the U.S. Department of Labor as set forth in the Contract Documents.

The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for Federally-Assisted construction contracts. The Contractor must assure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of their age, race, color, religion, disability, ancestry, national origin, age or sexual preference, gender identity, gender expression, political and/or union affiliation. Attention is called to Executive Order 11246, to Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701U, and to the Section 3 Clause and Regulations set forth in 24 CFR, Part 135.

The Contractor will be required to comply with the following laws, rules and regulations: Bidders will be required to submit the package of certifications included with the contract documents relating to the Equal Employment Opportunity and the participation of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises. The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh requires that all bidders complete and submit an MBE/WBE Solicitation and Commitment Statement along with the bid.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to waive any informality in the bidding.

Bids may be held by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days from the date of the opening of Bids for the purpose of reviewing the Bids and investigation of Bidders prior to awarding the Contract.

L PM H P S H Robert Rubinstein Executive Director

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

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT – ACHA Contract No. 1606

Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on February 5, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for: Pgh. Allderdice High School Concrete and Asphalt Repairs General Prime Pgh. Allderdice High School Stair Tower Painting and New Stair Treads General Prime Pgh. Langley K-8 Corridor and Classroom Ceilings and Lighting General, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. Spring Hill K-5 Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on January 7, 2019 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.

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Sealed bid proposals are hereby solicited for the Community College of Allegheny County, 800 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15233 (412.237.3020) on the following items: Bid Proposal No. 1040 – Electrical Construction for Network Infrastructure Upgrades – Allegheny Campus A mandatory pre-bid meeting and site-visitation will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. The assembly point will be the Office of College Services, 800 Allegheny Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15233.

Due date: 2:00 P.M. Prevailing Time on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 The CCAC Purchasing Department publishes all bids and RFPs via the CCAC website at https://www.ccac. edu/Bid-RFP_Opportunities.aspx.

It will be each vendor’s responsibility to monitor the bid activity within the given website (“Bid and RFP Opportunities”) and ensure compliance with all applicable bid documents inclusive of any issued addenda.

Failure to incorporate any applicable addenda in the final submittal may result in the rejection of your bid.

The Board of Trustees reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

The Community College of Allegheny County is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and encourages bids from Minority/Disadvantaged owned businesses.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY LEGAL NOTICE CONTRACT NO. 1695A

Sealed Bids for CONTRACT NO. 1695A - HEAVY CLEANING, CCTV INSPECTION, ROOT REMOVAL, AND POINT LINING IMPROVEMENTS shall be received at the.Engineering Department office of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15233, until 11:00 A.M., Prevailing Time, Wednesday, February 13, 2019, and then publicly opened and read aloud.

A Pre-Bid Meeting will be held at the ALCOSAN O&M Building Conference Room 106, on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 10:00 A.M., Prevailing Time.

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.

Contract Documents may be examined and obtained at the office of the Authority. A non-refundable fee of $100 (no cash will be accepted) will be charged for each set of Contract Documents. Bid Security shall be furnished by providing with the Bid a Certified Check or Bid Bond in the amount of 10% of the Bid Price.

Bidders are encouraged to obtain a copy of the Bid Documents, if they have not already done so, from the Clerk’s Office, 2nd Floor ALCOSAN O&M Building, either before or following the Pre-Bid Meeting.

Any questions regarding the Contract Documents should be directed in writing and submitted by email to Mr. Shawn McWilliams, Civil Engineer at shawn.mcwilliams@ alcosan.org or by fax at (412) 7346209.

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

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY Jan M. Oliver Director, Regional Conveyance

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

The Allegheny County Housing Authority (ACHA) is seeking proposals from qualified developers to develop new affordable housing (tax credit development and/ or public housing developments) in Allegheny County, excluding the City of Pittsburgh and the City of McKeesport. Request for Proposals are on file and may be obtained at the Allegheny County Housing Authority, 625 Stanwix Street, 12th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222, or by contacting Jack McGraw 412-4022463. The developer to be selected must have experience with market rate housing, tax credit, mixed-financed and mixed-income housing development and is encouraged to offer creative development options.

The Authority is looking to expand opportunities in new markets that are currently not served by affordable housing but welcomes proposals in markets already served.

Proposals will be received at the following address: Allegheny County Housing Authority 625 Stanwix Street, 12th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Attn: Jack McGraw, Director of Development and Modernization The ACHA will begin to accept proposals on a one time basis beginning January 15, 2019 with a closing date of March 29, 2019.

Any proposal received after the expiration of any application period will be not considered. Proposals will be held in confidence and not released in any manner until after the contract award. The ACHA encourages responses from small, minority, and women owned firms, as well as firms that have not previously performed work for the ACHA. The ACHA reserves the right to reject any and all submissions.

Frank Aggazio Executive Director Allegheny County Housing Authority

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT of the SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on February 12, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for: Pgh. Banksville K-5 Wireless Access Upgrades Structured Cabling Prime Pgh. Mifflin PreK-8 Canopy General and Electrical Primes Pgh. Miller PreK-5 Masonry Restoration General and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. Schiller 6-8 Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. South Hills 6-8 Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. Spring Garden ECC Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. West Liberty K-5 Addition & Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Pgh. Westwood K-5 Art and Therapeutic Room Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on January 14, 2019 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.

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JANUARY 16-22, 2019

B5

SONNY BOY

Why are Black NFL head coaches expected to be perfect?

by Aubrey Bruce

They were not in the process of rebuilding, they only needed a manager to step in and keep One of the recent sports the ship sailing. When Danny headlines that I read on www.

Murtaugh was alive and in good nbcsports.com that I wasn’t sure health, Pittsburgh had their I was reading correctly was, manager.

“Should the Steelers trade Mike The current Steelers head Tomlin?” Another “cerebral” coach, Mike Tomlin, is alive gem was, “Steelers trading Mike and well. Tomlin has not even Tomlin could solve some of the reached the age of 50. Why franchise’s problems.” The last would the Steelers want to goodie was, “How the Steelers’ trade him? He has never had a Mike Tomlin created a giant losing record. At the time that mess.” he coached Super Bowl XLIII, What mess has Mike Tomlin he was the youngest coach created? Did he show up with to win a Super Bowl in NFL a mink coat on a 60-degree day history. Danny Murtaugh was not dressed to play football? Did 59 years old when he died. The AUBREY BRUCE he say that he couldn’t really final World Series that Danny relate to a lot of the younger Murtaugh won was in 1971 at vember 1976, Finley made an players in his locker room? the age of 54. The Pirates traded unheard of deal: he sent his Was he the cause of one of his for Chuck Tanner because of manager, (Chuck) Tanner, most valuable players almost the death of Danny Murtaugh. being paralyzed by an untimely to the Pittsburgh Pirates in It now seems as if a significant exchange for catcher Manny injury? segment of the Steelers’ fan Sanguillen and $100,000. This base is trying to kill and bury Wait a minute. Mike Florio was only the second time in posted this article on profootthe career of Mike Tomlin. balltalk.nbcsports.com on Dec. MLB history where a manager Why? Well, just because. Why? 2, 2014: “Teams can still trade was part of a baseball trade.

Well, because the leadership of In 1960, Indians manager Joe for head coaches. The league certain key players is not leadGordon and Tigers manager office has confirmed that ership at all. It’s “Me-dership” Jimmie Dykes were traded for as well as the pseudo-leaders trades can indeed be made of each other. The Pirates were in being infected with the, “throw head coaches. When coaches need of a skipper, with Danny are traded, it doesn’t happen their teammates under the bus Murtaugh retiring from his the same way players are syndrome.” fourth tour of duty as manager traded.”

It seems that if you are an after the 1976 season due to Why would the Steelers African American NFL head stated health reasons. Only make a trade for another coach, the fans and many of three months after stepping coach when their current the sports writers don’t just down as manager Murtaugh head coach has never had a expect you to be exceptional; losing season? There has been would die from a stroke in they demand perfection….do December of 1976.” a precedent established in dah.

Let’s break this down a little Pittsburgh sports as far as *** trading a player for a manger bit. The Pirates wanted to their Correction: In my “Voices from but that was initiated because organization to remain stable the Wilderness” column from so they made a very bold move of dire circumstances.

Jan. 9, I must clarify that Chris to at least attempt to assure the Moore’s “Black Horizons” show Let’s rewind the clock for continuation of smooth sailing a minute. Richard Paloma was the longest-running African for their franchise. The Pirates posted this article on whiteAmerican TV program until it cleatbeat.com in 2016. “In No- were not a losing organization. was canceled in 2012.

For New Pittsburgh Courier

Inside Conditions

Pitt is it…but Duquesne used to be the best

by Bill Neal

owner back before the most important game of the year. There For New Pittsburgh Courier – Is – No – ”I” – In – Team! :10—For some of you youngNow nuff said. sters who have a hard time :04—The NFL’s last man finding the Palumbo Censtanding is taking shape. The ter…1304 Forbes Ave., PittsChiefs put a beatdown on the burgh, Pa. 15282…Allow me Colts, 31-13, and the Rams to remind you of days gone by butted the Cowboys out of in light of their recent success contention, 30-22. The Patriots under the direction of dynamic beat the Chargers like they Coach Keith Dambrot. In days stole something, and the Saints gone by, it was the Duquesne came back to knock the deDukes that attracted the nafending Super Bowl champion tional spotlight with legendary Eagles out of the race. So, this names such as the great Chuck weekend is shaping up to be a Cooper, Dave Ricketts, Willie dandy! Patriots at Chiefs, and Somerset, Sihugo Green and Rams at Saints for the right Jarrett “The Jewel” Durham, to head to Super Bowl LIII in BILL NEAL just to name a few. The greatAtlanta! ness continued to flow with the :03—BTW, tell me again why that supports seven college likes of Barry and Garry Nelyou don’t have your New Year’s son, Norm Nixon, Bruce Atkins, teams and a ton of high school subscription to the New PittsBaron “BB” Flenory, Mike Barr, teams in record numbers. But, burgh Courier…the oldest Black we are led to believe that his Doug Arnold and of course, publication in America? That’s city won’t support a pro team.

Mike James. You only need to what I thought; you have no Non-Sense!!! google any of those mentioned reason. C’mon Man, you’re miss:06—But don’t get it twisted, to be reminded that the harding all this quality information.

Pitt sits atop the city in numest ticket in town to get was Call 412-481-8302, ext. 134. DO bers and dominance due in part IT NOW! “The Dukes.” to their joining the ACC. And, :09—That being said, when :02—This just in. “Mama, in recent days, have shown that there goes that man again!!!” you’re not locked into the under the superior leadership Panthers, do yourself a favor Yep, Belichick and Brady are and direction of Coach Jeff and get down to the Bluff and looking super again.

Capel, they are only a “7-footsee the re-emerging Duquesne :01—“Champions Live” Sports basketball team. They’re back… er” and “a sharpshooter” away Talk Show will be coming your from ACC championship-level They’re good…and, they’re way again live at the Savoy competition. With an upset win exciting. BTW, that goes for the Restaurant. Here’s your calover Louisville on Jan. 9 and a Duquesne women’s team as endar of events. Thursday, Feb. near-upset on the road against well.

14 —“The Real Magnificent 7” N.C. State, Jan. 12, the Panthers Year in Review starring Kevin :08—And, in the interest of have served notice…This is not fair play, you will enjoy RobCameron, Aubrey Bruce, Jim your “Grandfather Stallings” ert Morris basketball just as Frazier, Brian Cook, John Tate, much…a talented, hard-working team. My point has been proved, Ken Ogilvie and Bill Neal. after Pitt’s wonderful 75-62 group that gets after it. Coach Thursday Feb. 21 – a salute Andy Toole…the sixth-youngest win over No. 11 ranked Florida to the Penn Hills High School State just a few days ago at the Football team. Thursday, Feb. head coach in Division I basPete! ketball and is the school’s most 28 — a salute to the Aliquippa :05—Yeah, “A.B.” has gotta go. High School Football team. Free celebrated coach.

Nuff said! OK, maybe not nuff :07—All of which begs the Parking, Food, Drinks, Prizes said. But you can’t bail on your never-ending question as to and the sensation models. See team on the sidelines in a fur why Pittsburgh can’t have and ya there! coat and not call the coach or support an NBA team. A city :00—GAME OVER.

Overtime

B6

JANUARY 16-22, 2019

In praise of Angela Davis (TriceEdneyWire.com)—If anyone deserves a civil rights award, Angela Davis certainly does.

The activist and scholar has been on the front lines of the civil rights movement all of her life. She has been especially active in prison reform matters, but she has also been involved in other civil and human rights issues. When I learned back in October that she would get the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, I was absolutely delighted. I imagined the wide smile the daughter of Birmingham must have flashed when she learned that she would be honored.

Everyone in Birmingham wasn’t thrilled, though. Some people in the conservative Southern town seemed disturbed that she had been a member of both the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. Others were concerned about her support of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement) against the Israeli occupation. She has said that she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and advocates for their fair treatment in Israel.

Some ill informed people consider the BDS movement “anti-Semitic.” They suggest that any questions that one raises about Israel shows a bias against Jewish people. But Davis, a lifelong human rights activist, is concerned about the humanity of Palestinian people, as well as other people.

And she is rightfully concerned, as many of us are, about the spate of laws recently passed that downright outlaw the BDS movement.

According to the Middle East Monitor, a teacher in Texas, Bahia Amawl, refused to sign an oath that required her to pledge that she “does not currently boycott Israel,” that she will not boycott Israel and that she will “refrain from any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel.”

Texas is among some 25 states that have

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary passed laws forbidding the state from doing business with companies that boycott Israel!

It will also not invest pension funds in companies that support BDS. Thirteen more states including Washington, D.C., have similar laws to the Texas law pending, pitting people’s first amendment rights of free speech against support for Israel. And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in the middle of a government shutdown, had the nerve to introduce national legislation that mirrors the Texas law (actually, Illinois was the first state to pass this discriminatory law).

Lots of people in Birmingham aren’t having it. Though the “Civil Rights Institute” has rescinded its award to Dr. Angela Davis, there has been significant protest about the decision. Birmingham’s Mayor, Randall Woodfin, who is a non-voting member of the Museum Board and did not participate in the decision to rescind the award (the city provides the museum with about a million dollars a year in operating funds) has expressed his dismay about the decision. Three board members have resigned from the board. And Alabama columnist Roy S. Johnson has written a fiery column accusing the Civil Rights Institute of insulting Rev. Shuttlesworth and staining its own legacy. Johnson says the Birmingham Jewish community may have been the loudest, but not the only folks pushing for Davis’ award to be rescinded.

Who rescinds an award after it has been granted for statements that were not recently made, but are a matter of record? Angela Davis has long been an outspoken activist, just like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was. Nothing had been changed from the time Davis was notified of the award and Jan. 4, when it was rescinded. The BCRI did not have to honor Davis, but their canceling the award is a special kind of insult. Fortunately, Angela Davis has a thick skin, and she knows exactly who she is.

She didn’t cringe when then-California governor Ronald Reagan had her fired from UCLA for her membership in the Communist Party.

She didn’t flinch when she was incarcerated for a crime she did not commit. And she will not tremble because the BCRI rescinded the award.

Indeed, demonstrating the indomitable spirit that she is known for, Angela Davis will travel to Birmingham in February for an alternative event. And the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum has egg on its face. That city showed a young Angela Davis who they were when the Four Little Girls, some of whom she knew, were killed at the 16 Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. And they are showing her who they are once again. Shame and shade!

Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. One of the founders of the Women’s March has demanded the resignations of Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour because they attended one of Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Savior’s Days. Marc Lamont Hill lost his CNN commentary gig because he spoke up for Palestinian rights. Alice Walker has been criticized because she supports BDS. Now Angela Davis is being denied an award. When is enough going to be enough?

For the record, I support Palestinian rights.

And I support Israel’s right to exist. Are the two incompatible? I think not. The one-state solution, with a right to return, and full citizenship rights for Palestinians makes sense.

But Israel is not about to budge, and BDS as an attempt to influence it. States passing laws to outlaw free speech erodes the first principle of our Constitution and undercut the actions at the very foundation of our nation. Remember the folks who dumped tea into the Boston Harbor because of an unfair tax? Today that action might be against the law!

(Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist.)

FORUM

A real difference between conservatives and liberals

As I have travgan to publish eled across Al- Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick the horrible legheny County, atrocities perI have witnessed formed against and spoken to Blacks, by persons of all southern Dempersuasions, ocrats (conparticularly servatives), Black people. the northern These persons Democrats beare voters and gan to refer to too many non-voters overwhelm- themselves as liberals. In the deep ingly vilify politicians. They gener- south, colored persons had separate ally are in love with the Democratic public accommodations, denied votParty and usually attack the Repub- ing rights, right to work, lynched, licans. The voters are classified in raped and killed. The state of Penntwo categories—there are those who sylvania had more KKK chapters read, but lack the ability to compre- than Mississippi and Alabama hend, and the second and largest combined. rely almost completely on what they The label LIBERAL has been hear on the radio and television. abused and overused. For example, They have absolutely no clue why former President JFK (liberal) was these personalities expound on cer- born and raised in Hyannis Port, tain issues or if they just have axes Mass., in a house that the deed statto grind. ed no non-Caucasian could purchase On a personal level, I have been the property. Former President Jiman active participant in both politi- my Carter’s (liberal and born-again cal parties, and have privately and Christian) church bylaws stipulated publicly taken serious issues with no Blacks could join. Former Presiboth parties. I never allowed myself dent Richard Nixon (conservative) to fall in love with either party. Over was the first president to include the course of my life I have met and HBC (Historical Black Colleges) in known all of the major colored and the national budget. Republican Black politicians (there is a differ- Senator Everett (conservative) was ence) who made a name for them- the leading senator fighting on beselves with the Democratic bosses. half of civil rights during the CivThe overwhelming majority of them il Rights Movement in the 1960s. only cared about self, a minority re- In our hometown, Pittsburgh, the ally attempted to make a difference. Democratic Party (liberals) has Some of these persons were and been in absolute control since 1937, are classified as friends, associates, a total of 82 years. A vast number of professionals, civil rights advocates, persons have begun to realize that devoted Democrats who absolutely political labels no longer work—the refuse to analyze whether there is a liberals now use the term, “progresdifference within either party when sive.” it relates to Blacks.

The absolute failure of those who In the early years of my political currently operate the Republican career the Democratic Party was Party locally has become a reason in known as the party of the working the minds of some colored persons people, colored people and the poor to allow themselves to become dispeople, and the Republican Party ciples for the Democratic Party, irwas known as the party of the rich respective of how they treat or misand the party that freed the slaves. treat Blacks.

(Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a contributor to Once Black-owned newspapers such as the Pittsburgh Courier be- the New Pittsburgh Courier.)

To Tell The Truth

Violent crime is down 23 percent since 1980, may be all-time low—So what!

BDP had a Instead, the song about J. Pharaoh Doss fact-checker police harassfought propament. The reganda with frain went: You propaganda were put here to and displayed protect us, but this fact on the who protects us screen: Viofrom you? Every lent crime has time I see the dropped 23 perphrase—fact cent since 1980 check—I re-arand may be at range that refrain and think: You’re an all-time low. Notice, it says “may supposed to check the facts for us, be at an all-time low.” Why didn’t the but who checks the facts for you? fact-checker check and find out? BeAnd sometimes the fact-checker cause placing this speculation beside points out a fact that is so irrelevant the fact was designed to reverse the I’m forced to ask: So what! president’s emotional appeal. I underRecently, I watched President Don- stand the fact-checker targeted the ald Trump’s first oval office address president’s base, but as a fair-minded online. This specific upload fact person I still have to ask: So what! checked the president’s major points.

Why am I so dismissive of a 23 perThere was a fact that appeared on cent drop in violent crime since 1980? screen, in the fact-check box, that Because it’s a macro-fact that’s caught my attention. First, the pres- dismissive to surges and spikes in ident said: America’s heart broke the violent crime rates during four-year day after Christmas when a young po- intervals. (Or executive terms in oflice officer, in California, was savagely fice.) The last surge was in 2015. murdered…by an illegal alien, who That year, Donald Trump was a Rejust came across the border…in Cali- publican presidential candidate who fornia, an Air Force veteran was raped, claimed America’s inner cities have murdered and beaten to death with a been devastated by violent crime, hammer by an illegal alien with a long and these cities have been historicalcriminal history. In Georgia, an illegal ly governed by the Democratic Party. alien was charged with murder for That is when—the fact—that violent killing, beheading, and dismembering, crime was down since 1980, and may his neighbor. In Maryland MS-13 gang be at an all-time low, gained traction members who arrived in the Unit- in the national dialogue. But accorded States as unaccompanied minors ing to the FBI, homicides went up were arrested and charged last year by 10 percent and violent crime inafter viciously stabbing and beating a creased by 4 percent. The FBI direc16-year-old girl. Over the past several tor acknowledged violent crime was years I met with dozens of families far lower than what it was during where loved ones were stolen by illegal the 1980s, but the FBI director said, “People say to me, ‘Well, the increases immigration.

It’s self-evident to all fair-minded are off of historical lows...’ (but) How people that these incidents (a cop, a does that make any of us feel better? I veteran, a beheading, a 16-year-old mean, a whole lot more people are dygirl) were cherry-picked and com- ing this year than last year, and last piled in a manner to solicit rage, year than the year before, and I don’t confirm bias, promote a crisis, and know why for sure.” In other words, when it comes to the fact-checkers’ blame illegal immigration.

The fact-checker could have refut- speculation that violent crime may be ed these examples with one word: at an all-time low, even the FBI says: So what!

Random.

Now, ask yourself, what’s worse, peoAll fair-minded people would have understood the president’s attempt ple that ignore the facts or facts that to get his mission accomplished, but ignore the realities people face during would not have been persuaded by the years of increased violence?

(J. Pharaoh Doss is a contributor to the these random examples to support New Pittsburgh Courier.) funding for the border wall.

Check It Out

Letters to the editor for publication The New Pittsburgh Courier welcomes all responsible viewpoints for publication. All letters should be typewritten and contain writer’s address and phone number for verification. All letters will be edited for clarity and length. Address all letters to: Letters to the Editor, New Pittsburgh Courier 315 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219 You may fax your letter to 412-481-1360, or via e-mail to letters@newpittsburghcourier.com.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Naomi Shelton

Commentary

Giving students the tools they need to succeed

(BlackPressUSA)—Equity has been a huge buzzword in the field of education this year.

Education advocates and politicians alike have called for an increase in educational equity, but what does the term really mean?

Equity is not Equality. Equity creates equality by prioritizing resources to students who need them the most.

For example, think of a typical track meet.

There are five runners—each in their own lane. Each runner must run one lap around the track. The first runner to complete the lap, wins the race. Now let’s use this analogy to inform our understanding of equity.

Equality would mean that every runner would start the race at the exact same spot in their lane. However, the track is oval-shaped. If each runner began at the same spot, each runner’s distance to the finish line would be different. The runner in the innermost lane would run a shorter distance than the runner in the outermost lane. Sure, they would both start in the same spot (EQUAL), but the runners in the innermost lanes would have an advantage – in distance—than their counterparts in the outermost lanes.

This is precisely why track meets do not operate this way. Since the track is oval-shaped, each runner begins the race in their own lane, at different, equal distance, spots along the track; ensuring that each runner, runs the exact same distance needed to complete the race.

Now, think of our current public education system in this same context. Students—regardless of race, geography, household makeup—start on the same marker on the track.

Some students, like the runner in the outermost lane, have to run harder and faster to get to the finish line. The barrier here is distance.

In the real world, barriers include low-income, resource deprived neighborhoods, disabilities that require additional expertise, culturally negligent curriculum, outdated technology, inexperienced teachers or access to critical supportive services.

Meanwhile, the runner in the innermost lane has it a lot easier. They don’t have to run as fast or as hard to get to the finish line because of their initial position in the race. The barriers here are fewer in number. In terms of education, these innermost runners attend schools in affluent neighborhoods with a surplus of resources. These students have the advantage of local tax-based funding formulas, parent lead fundraising efforts and/or private funding, and state-of-the-art technology.

What we need is education reform that promotes fairness. Fairness equals equity. As Debby Irving in her book Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race states, “Equality means giving all students the exact same thing to meet the same expectations. Equity means holding people of differing needs to a single expectation and giving them what they need to achieve it.” In other words, the playing fields need to be leveled. It’s critical that our public educational system undertakes reform —changes so that each student is given what they need to succeed.

Our education system should support students by allocating the most resources to students who are most in need, just as track athletes arrange themselves for fairer competition. The national education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) targets dollars to the highest poverty schools and districts.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools could lose funding if they failed to meet statewide standards. But under ESSA, states cannot reduce funding by more than ten percent from year to year despite school performance. ESSA also attempts to ensure that low-income students are not disproportionally taught by ineffective, inexperienced, and/or out-of-field teachers.

ESSA requires that state and district report cards include the percentage of inexperienced teachers, principals, and other school leaders as well as teachers with emergency credentials, and teachers teaching subjects out of their range of expertise. ESSA also seeks to relieve some teacher angst surrounding evaluation systems by ending the requirement for state teacher evaluation systems to focus significantly on student test scores.

ESSA gives power back to the states to control education policy. Now, members of the community must hold their school leaders and elected officials accountable to implement system-wide and school-specific measures that ensure equity in our schools.

Furthermore, UNCF’s 2017 community resource, Lift Every Voice and Lead Toolkit: A Community Leader’s Advocacy Resource for K-12 Education, offers step-by-step analysis of African American Education and highlights organizations that have effectively engaged in education efforts at a local level to support efforts in improving the quality of education for all students.

(Naomi Shelton has experience in education related community engagement both at the national and local levels and public administration. Currently, she is the Director of K-12 Advocacy at UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. There, she focuses on national education initiatives and community engagement efforts to ensure more African-American students are college and career ready. Naomi is currently a member of the DC Public Charter School Board, appointed by Washington, D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser. Her passion is educational equity. Follow Naomi on Twitter at @NaomiSheltonDC)