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Vol. 110 No. 26

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JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

‘My church knows we are not to walk in fear’

PPS won’t relocate Milliones Middle School students to Arsenal…yet

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

PASTOR MICHAEL A. DAY, with First Lady Amber Day, Robert Day and Jennifer Benton. The Legacy International Worship Center on the North Side was the target of an alleged bomb attack that the FBI thwarted, June 19. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

Legacy Worship Center remains grounded in faith after FBI thwarts planned bomb attack

by Rob Taylor Jr. and J.L. Martello Courier Staff Writers

The Rev. Michael A. Day was assured by the FBI that he didn’t do anything wrong.

“All my tickets are paid,” Rev. Day told the FBI agent over the phone last Wednesday, June 19, as they shared a quick laugh.

But what Rev. Day heard next from the FBI agent was no laughing matter.

The FBI employee informed Rev. Day that the church he leads, the Legacy International Worship Center, on Wilson Avenue on the North Side, was the target of a planned bomb attack.

Thankfully, the FBI intercepted the suspect’s plans and arrested him hours earlier.

“I was overwhelmed,” Rev. Day told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, June 23. “But I THANKFUL THAT THE BOMB ATTACK WAS THWARTED BY THE FBI… immediately became grateful to be

alive. My family was alive, my congregation was alive.”

Of course, hate is never promoted inside Legacy’s church walls. That’s why, one week later, it’s still puzzling how one person, who seemed like your normal person, your normal next-door neighbor, would have hate on his heart and mind, and allegedly want to cause so much harm to others inside a place of worship.

Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, recently graduated from Brashear High School and lived in nearby Northview Heights. The FBI said Alowemer allegedly pledged an oath of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group, then purchased bomb-making materials. However, Alowemer didn’t know he was purchasing those materials for an FBI undercover employee. Earlier this month, when Alowemer took a person to the church to scout the atmosphere around it, he didn’t know an SEE LEGACY A7

$1.00

Sylvia Wilson was ready— more than ready—to vote yes.

The longtime Pittsburgh P u b l i c Schools board member has great faith that the consistent academic growth of the students at Arsenal MidSALA UDIN dle School in Lawrenceville will only continue. And she is an ardent supporter of Arsenal’s principal, Patti Camper.

So when it was made public last month that the district wanted to relocate the 99 students in middle school grades 6-8 at Milliones (University Prep, or

U-Prep) to Arsenal, Wilson was all in. After all, the majority African American middle school students at U-Prep are well behind the Arsenal students academically.

“I don’t think that anybody is opposed to offering students as much enriched opportunities and experience that SYLVIA they possiWILSON bly can, and I think that is our main goal and objective,” Wilson told fellow board members during a board meeting, June 19.

But feedback from many parents in the district felt this type of decision to reSEE PPS B5

Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable: New approaches, successes

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

Asked what the over/ under was on how many times his name would be glowingly referenced at the Black Political Empowerment Project’s annual Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable forum at Duquesne University, Evan Frazier, whose Advanced Leadership Initiative program has made remarkable progress in highlighting, training and advancing African Americans in Pittsburgh’s corporate sector, couldn’t help but grin.

“It’s almost embarrassing, but of course we’re very pleased,” he said. “But hats off to Tim Stevens for doing this. This is a great conference. It’s really important for the community.”

The conference, now in its eighth year, featured numerous panelists and speakers making presentations on increasing racial diversity, inclusion and equity in the upper echelons on the region’s corporate and nonprofit space.

When it first began, Stevens, the B-PEP chairman, SEE EQUITY A4

Spirit of King plaque rededicated, with tree planting Honoring those who have personified Dr. King’s legacy

by Christian Morrow

that he has the weather on lock,” he said.

And he did—after Rev. Harris gave the invocation, the ceremony went off without a hitch, and without a drop of rain.

Bankston—whose Kingsley Center hosts the annual Spirit of King ceremony, honoring those who best personify the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and who have impacted the region in the areas of civil rights, leadership, culture and education— explained that the award was spearheaded by then-Port Authority Equal Opportunity Manager Katie Everette-Johnson,

Courier Staff Writer

With storm clouds threatening as participants from the Kingsley Association, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, and friends and family of past honorees assembled in the plaza above the East Busway in East Liberty to dedicate a new Spirit of King plaque, Kingsley Executive Director Malik Bankston assured the audience that all was well.

“Jimmy—I call him Jimmy because I’ve known him since long before he was a pastor—but Rev. James Harris has assured me

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REDEDICATION—The Port Authority rededicated the Spirit of King plaque near the East Liberty Busway, June 19. Pictured are Edward Greene, Ashley Johnson, Malik Bankston, Gwendolyn Allen, Eric Wells, and Evelyn Newsome. (Photo by J.L. Martello) who received the posthumous Spirit of King award in 2018.

The former plaque, which was mounted at the bus stop at Penn and Shady avenues, was taken

down when the Port Authority redeveloped the entire area into a plaza connected to the busway below.

The new, larger plaque, made of

J. Pharoah Doss on

brushed bonze and brass, and set in stone amid the plaza’s greenery, contains the names of all the SEE KING A4

Treaty of Versailles centennial, and police not priest Forum B6

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INTERNATIONAL

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

This Week In Black History

A CORRUPTION PROTEST...

Trouble brewing in Liberia and new president feeling the heat (TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN)—Liberian President George Weah is having a few bad days. And more may be on their way.

A citizen action group—the Council of Patriots (COP)—has a long list of demands covering governance, human rights and the rule of law, national peace and reconciliation, integrity and accountability, among others.

The group has called on President Weah to part ways with some of his closed lieutenants they believe are not up to the task and may cause him more harm politically.

Thousands of Liberians turned out on June 7 to protest corruption and economic decline that many blame on their once hugely popular president, former soccer star George Weah.

“We feel downhearted. We feel dissatisfied,” said Marian Barrole, a student at United Methodist University. “We feel that we are not being treated the right way.

We voted Ambassador George Manneh Weah for change but we have not seen the change. We have seen the worst. So, we gather here today in our numbers to make him understand that we are suffering and he should do something about it.”

She urged the President to take immediate action against sexual violence. “Rape matters to me so much because as a female we are being abused by many people, especially male government officials and other cruel men. We feel that whenever girls are raped, the government cannot do anything, no investigation.

“The case of the students at the United Methodist School on the highway that was allegedly raped and killed and many other victims, most of them young girls and nothing can be done. So, I am holding my placard to say stop the rape. We are future leaders and they should stop destroying our future.”

Economic issues are at the forefront of the

list of many complaints, starting from a stagnant economy in which most still live in deep poverty and a scandal in which the country last year lost $100 million in newly printed bank notes destined for the central bank.

“Weah is not governing our state the right way,” said Ishmael Hassan, who voted for Weah in 2017 but has since become disillusioned. “The economic situation in our country is going down the drain,” he told a reporter.

Among the other allegations against the government the misuse of public funds, violating press freedoms, and failing to adequately fund health and education programs.

Even Weah is accused of constructing “scores of luxury homes” after he declined to publicly declare his assets.

“I supported this government, but the way things are going, we want to save the state,” said protestor Bob Blue.

Netblocks, an NGO that monitors internet freedom, said that the Liberian government has blocked Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Whatsapp in response to the protests. Liberia’s Minister of Information confirmed the black out to CNN and said it was due to “security concerns.”

A member of the Council of Patriots, Henry Costa, told Deutsche Welle news: “We are in North Korea. We have a dictator on our head.”

The protests were given the #SavetheState hashtag on social media. The Council of Patriots held out the prospect of saving Liberia from “total breakdown.”

“Encouraged by growing consensus among Liberians at home and abroad about the need for urgent, peaceful and concerned citizens’ mass actions to save the Liberian state from total breakdown as the governance environment continues to worsen.”

Joint statement on violent protests that have left Haiti at a standstill WASHINGTON, D.C., (NNPA)—Representatives Frederica Wilson, D-Fla.; Kathy Castor, D-Fla.; Lois Frankel, D-Fla.; Val Demings, D-Fla.; Alcee Hastings,, D-Fla.; Debbie Murcarsel Powell, D-Fla.; Darren Soto, D-Fla.; Donna Shalala, D-Fla.; and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., have issued the following statement in response to violent protests in Haiti: “We are extremely troubled by news reports coming out of Haiti that describe a country in a state of emergency as protests continue and at least two lives have been lost.

“Congressional lawmakers have made several trips to Haiti and have witnessed

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firsthand the devastating toll that natural and manmade disasters have taken on the island nation and its citizens. We must do all that we can to ensure that Haiti does not become a failed state as this crisis unfolds.

“While the frustrations that have prompted the protests are justifiable, the violent acts being used to express them are indefensible and hurt the very people they’re meant to help.

“Violent protests have shut down government services and businesses and are preventing people from getting to work and school. The loss of even one day’s pay could set an already struggling family back by weeks, while the primary targets of the protests continue to live in great comfort.

“One of the key pillars of

a democratic society is the freedom to stand up and speak out, and we fully support the right of Haiti’s citizens to do so. The protesters are urged to remember, however, that violence only begets more violence and its continuation could undermine the international support that Haiti so urgently needs to right itself in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

“To address this growing crisis, we plan to convene in July a meeting in South Fla.orida that will include members of the Haitian diaspora and its advocates, elected officials from Haiti and the United States, and other key stakeholders to discuss strategies that will strengthen the rule of law and civil society in Haiti to the benefit of all Haitians.”

Week of June 26-July 2 June 26 1899—Black inventor William H. Richardson redesigns the baby carriage. While the idea for the baby carriage is nearly 300 years old, Richardson’s patent, filed at the Boston patent office, included several new features including a special joint which allowed the bassinet to be turned to face the mother or whoever was pushing the carriage. Many of Richardson’s designs are still in use today. [There is some authority that Richardson’s patent was actually filed on June 18.]

1942—Harvard medical student, Bernard W. Robinson, becomes the first African American to win a commission to the United States Navy.

PAUL LAWRENCE June 27 DUNBAR 1872—Paul Lawrence Dunbar, one of the most popular poets in Black American history, is born in Dayton, Ohio. Dunbar first gained national recognition with a collection of works published in 1896 entitled “Lyrics of a Lowly Life,” which included “Ode to Ethiopia.” Despite the power of his poetry, Dunbar angered some Blacks who were concerned about “what will White people think” because he generally used Black dialect and not Standard English in much of his poetry. Dunbar’s first poem was published in a newspaper owned by high school friends and American airplane pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. The Wright brothers would also provide Dunbar with funds to open the Dayton Tattler—a newspaper geared toward the city’s Black community. Unfortunately, Dunbar died at the age of 34 in 1906 of Tuberculosis.

June 28 1839—Cinque, original name Senghbe; after being kidnapped JOSEPH CINQUE and sold into slavery, is placed on the Spanish slave ship Amistad. The son of a King of the Mende, Mendi) tribe in West Africa would lead the most successful revolt on a slave ship during the entire history of the slave trade. The Amistad was captured by the slaves who killed the captain and attempted to sail the ship to Africa. But due to delaying tactics by the remaining White crew, the ship was captured by a U.S. naval ship. Cinque and the rebellious slaves were taken to New Haven, Conn., and put on trial for murder. Amazingly they won their case and were allowed to return to Africa.

1971—Muhammad Ali is allowed to box again after winning a victory in the United States Supreme Court. The court overturned his conviction for refusing to be drafted and serve in the United States war in Vietnam. When asked how he could claim to be a pacifist opposed to war while being a professional boxer, Ali’s most frequent response was, “I am not going 10,000 miles from here to help murder and kill and burn poor people to help continue the domination of White slave masters over the darker people.”

MUHAMMAD ALI 1978—The United States Supreme Court hands down the Bakke Decision which undermined affirmative action programs that had been designed to give preference to Blacks and other minorities in education and industry in order to compensate for decades of past discrimination. Although the court ruled affirmative action programs were constitutional; it struck down the use of quotas and that had the effect of weakening the affirmative action programs.

June 29 1970—NAACP Chairman Stephen Gill Spottswood creates a national controversy by telling the annual convention of the civil rights organization that the administration of President Richard Nixon was “anti-Negro” and was pursuing policies “inimical to the needs and aspirations” of African Americans.

1972—The United States Supreme Court rules in a historic five to four decision that as it was being carried out in America, the death penalty was “cruel and unusual punishment” and thus violated the Constitution. The ruling also suggested that the death penalty was racist. At the time 483 of the approximately 600 people waiting to be executed in the nation were Blacks or members of other minority groups. However, since the decision, at least 38 states and the federal government have re-instituted the death penalty by supposedly meeting Supreme Court guidelines.

June 30 1847—Dred Scott, and his wife, Harriet) files his famous lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Court arguing that after living with a slave master for several years in non-slave territories, they should be considered free. After several twists and turns, the case makes its way to the United States Supreme Court where the court rules against Scott and Justice Roger B. Taney writes what may be the most racist decision ever rendered by the DRED SCOTT court. Taney wrote that Scott was “private property” and had no right to sue in federal court. He also declared that Blacks were not citizens of America and never could be. Then he topped the decision by writing of Scott and all Blacks, “being of inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the White race…they have no rights which the White man is bound to respect.”

1917—Glamorous Singer-Actress Lena Horne is born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to an upper-income Black family. She would perform with Jazz greats such as Artie Shaw, Teddy Wilson, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. She also became the first African-American woman to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. But she became disenchanted with Hollywood and returned to her nightclub career. She is best known for her 1940s hit “Stormy Weather.” In her later years she became active in civil rights including participation in Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington.

Horne died on May 9, 2010 at the age of 92.

LENA HORNE 1967—Major Robert H. Lawrence is named the first Black U.S. astronaut in the NASA space program. The Chicago-born Lawrence would later die under somewhat mysterious circumstances during a training exercise in December 1967.

1974—A deranged Black man, Marcus Chennault, shoots and kills the mother of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Along with Alberta Christine Williams King, a church deacon was killed and another church member wounded. Chennault, a Dayton, Ohio, native, reportedly claimed that Black Christians were deceiving and misleading Black people.

1995—Song-stylist and singer Phyllis Hyman commits suicide in New York City shortly before she was scheduled to perform at a concert. Hyman was one of the premier female vocalists of her day. The reasons for her suicide were unclear. She left a note which read in part “I’m tired. I’m tired.” Hyman was 45—six days short of her 46 birthday—when she died.

July 1 1863—Walter Francis White is born in Atlanta, Ga. For nearly 25 years White was one of the most inFla.uential Black leaders in the nation. He headed the NAACP from 1931 to 1955. However, PHYLLIS HYMAN he first received national attention because of the way he looked.

As a light-complexioned Black man with blue eyes, White was able to infiltrate racist groups and investigate planned brutality against Blacks. But in 1919, he barely escaped with his life while attempting to investigate the deadly Elaine Race Riot in Phillips County, Ark., which had left more than 200 Blacks dead. Somehow the mob discovered that White was in the area and set out to lynch him. But he was able to catch a train back to Little Rock before he could be identified. While on the train, the White conductor told him he was leaving town too early because the mob had discovered “a damn yellow Nigger passing for White and the boys are going to get him.” White would die in New York City in 1955. His autobiography is entitled “A Man Called White.”

1899—Thomas Andrew Dorsey is born in Villa Rica, Ga. Dorsey is widely credited with being the “Father of Gospel Music.” During the early 1930s, after leaving Atlanta for Chicago, Dorsey combined gospel and the blues while performing under the name “Georgia Tom.” He wrote more than 400 gospel and blues songs including his most famous “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” He died in Chicago in 1993 at the age of 96.

Once asked to comment on his life, Dorsey said, “I had hope, faith, courage, aspiration and most of all determination to accomplish something in life.”

July 2 1777—Vermont becomes first U.S. territory to abolish slavery. By 1783, New Hampshire and Massachusetts had followed Vermont’s lead. The abolition of slavery was formally placed in the Vermont Constitution, which was formally adopted on July 8, 1777. A major force in the early abolition movement was a group known as the Rights of Man Movement.

1822—Denmark Vesey and five of his co-conspirators are hanged in Charleston, S.C. Vesey’s “crime” had been the organization of the largest slave rebellion in American history. But the insurrection was betrayed by a “house slave” before it could be implemented. Vesey was actually a former slave who had purchased his freedom.

1908—Thurgood Marshall is born in Baltimore, Md. Marshall would go on to become chief counsel for the NAACP and the lead attorney in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which led to the desegregation of the nation’s schools. President Lyndon Johnson would, in June 1967, nominate him to be the first African American Justice on the United States Supreme Court because as Johnson put it, “It was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

NATIONAL

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

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Nicole Frazier named White House’s director of African American outreach (NNPA)—After a monthslong vacancy, the White House Office of Public Liaison recently announced the hiring of Nicole Frazier as director of African American outreach.

The position has been a top priority for the Trump administration as it ramps SPEAKING TO NNPA—U.S. Sen. Bernie (I-VT) has openly reached up reelection efforts, inout to African American leaders like NAACP President Derrick John- cluding plans to increase son and others, where he’s discussed the economic climate, voter Trump’s 2020 support among African Americans. suppression, jobs and other issues facing the Black community.

Frazier, who previously served as a regional director for Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., will succeed Henry Childs II, who replaced Omarosa Manigault Newman after she was fired in 2017.

Childs now serves as

national director of the Minority Business Development Agency.

“I’m glad President Trump was able to identify such a capable person in Nicole, to serve in OPL for this incredibly important position,” Paris Dennard, who served as White House director of Black outreach under George W. Bush, told Axios. “It’s a good thing to have another African American at the table in the White House as our advocate and I stand ready to help her succeed.”

The White House declined to comment, and Gardner’s office did not respond to requests for comment.— (Washington Informer)

Bernie Sanders sole candidate to address Black Press at Juneteenth reparations hearing National Convention on H.R. 40 puts reparations

by Stacy M. Brown debate in national spotlight For New Pittsburgh Courier

Every major newspaper and news organization in the country has labeled the Black vote crucial to success in the 2020 presidential election, and statistics show that African Americans are 60 percent more likely to utilize and trust print-related resources for information than the general public.

However, of the 24 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the only one that has agreed to address key influencers of the African American community—the Black Press of America—at the NNPA annual convention this week in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It’s no secret that Sanders has work to do to get his campaign message through to African Americans. “We thought we could do respectably in South Carolina, and we got decimated,” Sanders said in a campaign memo released earlier this year in which he discussed losing the Black vote to Hillary Clinton in South Carolina.

Clinton won an astonishing 86 percent of South Carolina’s Black voters in 2016.

“This is our revolution,” said Sanders, who will speak during the NNPA Convention’s Lifetime Legacy Award Black Tie Gala, Friday June 28 at 7:30 p.m. at The Westin Cincinnati Hotel. Also in attendance will be former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner, a key surrogate for Sander’s 2016 campaign and co-chair of his current campaign for the Democratic nomination and presidency.

The NNPA represents Black-owned newspapers with millions of weekly readers across the country, including major markets like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago and all of the nation’s “swing” states.

“You’ve got to win Black voters to win the primary,” Lawrence Moore, a former Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention, told NBC News.

“It took [Sanders] a while to grow into and learn the issues, but he’s willing to listen and understand, unlike other politicians,” Moore said.

In a poll commissioned

by The Black Economic Alliance and conducted by Hart Research and Brossard Research, Sanders currently trails former Vice President Joe Biden among Black voters.

The poll, which measured how enthusiastic Black voters are about the Democratic presidential candidates, showed that 76 percent of respondents said they were most enthusiastic about Biden; 64 percent said they were most enthusiastic about Sanders who finished ahead of Sens. Kamala Harris of California (53 percent) and Cory Booker of New Jersey (43 percent).

African Americans surveyed said affordable healthcare, college and the

creation of more jobs with good benefits, were most important.

Sanders has openly reached out to African American leaders like NAACP President Derrick Johnson and others, where he’s discussed the economic climate, voter suppression, jobs and other issues facing the Black community.

In addition to Sanders’ campaign office, NNPA Newswire has contacted each of the remaining 24 Democratic presidential candidates for comment, including Biden, Harris, Booker, and Texas’ Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand.

“The path to economic security is rocky for families in America but that path is even rockier for Black families who have stared down decades of government sponsored discrimination and institutional racism,” Sen. Warren told NNPA Newswire in an email.

“This campaign is about making our government and our economy work for everyone and Black Americans will be on the frontlines of that conversation.

The Black Press of America and its journalists are an integral part of how we make our democracy work,” Warren said.

In a statement to NNPA Newswire, O’Rourke’s campaign said they’re grateful for the invitation to speak to the attendees of NNPA’s annual convention and wishes the 2020 candidate from Texas was able to participate in the dialogue.

“Beto believes we cannot just pay lip service to the problems faced by communities and towns often forgotten or written off, but that we must also listen to their ideas and welcome them to be a part of the solution,” the statement reads.

“That’s how he served in Congress and it’s how he has been running his campaign—making sure no person, no group, no constituency is taken for granted.

We thank you for your continued coverage of topics that matter to all Americans—especially the African American community—and look forward to partnering with you to address these topics in the future.”

Last month, Harris cleared her schedule to attend and deliver a keynote address at the 75th anniversary celebration of the San Francisco Sun-Reporter newspaper where she said the Black Press was “more important than ever before.”

“The Sun-Reporter is an example of the significance of the Black press in America,” Harris said at the event held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown San Francisco.

“There are issues that are unique to the Black community, and until we have true diversity in the press we must rely on papers like the Sun-Reporter,” Harris said.

In addition to the decision to skip the NNPA’s Annual Convention, with the exceptions of Warren and O’Rourke, no other candidates responded to our request for comment.

by Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor

“These are the vestiges of enslavement that people don’t want to deal with,” said Dr. Julianne Malveaux, the former President of Bennett College.

Malveaux testified at a House hearing on legislation that would set up a commission to study reparations for the ancestors of enslaved Africans kidnapped and brought to America.

Dr. Malveaux and others testified on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act which would seek to analyze the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its continuing impact on communities.

The hearing was held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on June 19th.

On June 18, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Americans, in part, made up for slavery by electing Barack Obama.

“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea. We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We elected an African American president,” McConnell added.

“I think we’re always a work in

NICOLE FRAZIER

progress in this country… No, I don’t think reparations are a good idea,” the Republican from Kentucky concluded.

Another view was heard at the Juneteenth hearing on the House side of Capitol Hill.

“Enslavement reigned for 250 years on these shores. When it ended, this country could’ve extended its hallowed principles—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—to all, regardless of color. But America had other principles in mind,” writer Ta-Nehisi Coates said at the hearing. In 2014, Coates wrote “The Case for Reparations” in The Atlantic. The lengthy article reignited a national discussion on the issue.

“Victims of that plunder are very much alive today,” Coates said at the hearing.

“We recognize our lineage as a generational trust, as inheritance, and the real dilemma posed by reparations is just that: a dilemma of inheritance. It is impossible to imagine America without the inheritance of slavery,” Coates also said.

The congressional discussion on reparations was the first of its kind.

Though former Congressman John Conyers authored legislation to study reparations for many consecutive years.

Rep. Sheila Lee Jackson (D-TX) a sponsor of H.R. 40, said, “It is only [African Americans] that can singu-

larly claim to have been slaves under the institution and leadership of the government. H.R. 40 is, in fact, the response of the United States of America long overdue.”

Commenting on social media on the hearing, Howard University African American Studies Department Chairman, Dr. Greg Carr wrote, ‘A couple of things #HR40 hearing is reinforcing: 1. The need to study the long #Reparations movement and it’s well-established objectives is greater now than ever; 2. Supporters of White American nationalism can find an American Negro to say anything they need them to.”

Though the hearing was discussed widely on social media, both CNN and MSNBC spent most of June 19th running footage of former White House staffer Hope Hicks walking down a hallway in the Rayburn House Office Building while saying nothing to reporters before and after refusing to contribute testimony on alleged White House misconduct Capitol Hill.

“Imagine if we had cable news networks that treated the #Reparations hearing as important as the #HopeHicks hearing… whew! I’m Beat!,” wrote DCBeat founder Tiffany Cross on twitter.

South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott said reparations are a “non-starter” when asked about the issue.

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METRO

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Old School music returns to Pittsburgh’s airwaves with 107.3 The Beat

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

OK, Whiskey Dicks, Chauncy’s, Donzi’s, and Squawkers isn’t coming back, but the music that made these nightspots a household name with many African Americans is.

Martz Communications, which also operates under the name Radio Power, launched 107.3 The Beat at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 25, with the moniker, “Pittsburgh’s Old School and Today’s R&B.” From Chaka Khan, Gregory Abbott, Prince and De La Soul, to Diddy, Usher, New Edition, and Notorious B.I.G., the station is looking to capitalize on an underserved 25-54 age demographic that loves the throwback jams of the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s.

WAMO was the station of many generations of Black-oriented music for over 60 years until the station dissolved in 2009.

Tim Martz, owner of Martz Communications, brought WAMO back on the AM dial (660) in 2011, and purchased a translator signal (100.1) to simulcast WAMO’s AM signal to the FM signal. Over the years, WAMO management looked to improve the signal’s coverage, and in 2018, added another translator, at 107.3 FM. After nine months of simulcasting WAMO’s hiphop format on both FM signals, the decision was made to split the two signals and keep WAMO’s

WHITNEY HOUSTON AND PRINCE are some of the artists you’ll hear on 107.3 The Beat. hip-hop on 100.1 and bring R&B and old school music to 107.3.

Jamal Woodson, general manager of WAMO and 107.3 The Beat, told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, June 25, that “I’ve been working hard with programming for the last two years to make this happen.”

Woodson added: “We get tons of feedback…there was just a void, nothing for the older demographic.”

The Steve Harvey Morning Show, which was the highest ranked show on WAMO in the 25-54 age demographic (except for evenings) in the mid- to late-2000s, is returning to Pittsburgh on 107.3 The Beat. It was part of the new WAMO’s lineup until October 2018, when it

was removed in favor of the younger-leaning The Breakfast Club.

While no date has been confirmed to the Courier on Harvey’s return, the station is currently playing 10,000 songs in a row without commercials, which is typical for a new station.

Woodson also said on a video post on Facebook, June 25, that The Beat will be “bringing back two former WAMO DJs from back in the day that everybody loves. We’ll be doing a whole lot of new things.”

The current Quiet Storm show that airs on WAMO on weeknights will move to 107.3 The Beat, though an exact date has not been determined.

When the original WAMO left the airwaves in 2009, and no other radio compa-

nies in Pittsburgh filled the void with a hip-hop or R&B station, the general consensus was that the Pitts-

station financially, with the advent of a new ratings system called PPM (Portable People Meter).

With PPM, a select number of listeners have a pager-style device that automatically records the stations a person is exposed to.

That severely affected many hip-hop stations across the country, as oftentimes, for example, a WAMO listener may have the device at work, where another station, such as WISH 99.7, is playing.

In the ratings system, it will show that listener as a WISH 99.7 listener, rather than a WAMO listener. In the previous ratings system, the diary system, listeners were asked to write down the station(s) they listened to over a certain period. A WAMO listener, who may not have actually been listening to WAMO at the

to habit, which gave many hip-hop and Black-oriented stations more ratings credit.

The diary system is still in place in smaller markets like Dayton, Youngstown, and Charleston, W.Va. Woodson said the plan is for WAMO (100.1) to superserve the younger, 1834 age demo, and 107.3 The Beat to superserve the 25-54-year-olds.

The plan is similar to most sizable markets, where a hip-hop station and R&B station are owned by the same company in a market. In Cleveland, Urban One owns Z1079 (hip-hop) and 93.1 WZAK (R&B). In Philadelphia, Iheartmedia owns Power 99 (hip-hop) and WDAS FM (R&B).

“I love the way it sounds, Babyface, Keith Sweat, Bell Biv Devoe,” Woodson told the Courier about Pitts-

JAMAL WOODSON, general manager of WAMO 100.1 and 107.3 The Beat. burgh market couldn’t support a Black-oriented radio

time, could still write down burgh’s new station, 107.3 they listened to WAMO due The Beat. “I love it.”

Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable: New approaches, successes EQUITY FROM A1

said the idea was to publicly promote the work of corporate entities and leaders who had made a commitment to diversity and were working to increase the presence of African Americans. Conversely, it would also publicly note those that had not. But that, Stevens said, was counterproductive.

“People get defensive,” he said. “Plus, there were, and still are, people who want to do the right thing in terms of diversity and inclusion but who don’t have the systems and practices in place to do it effectively.

So it has become more of a cooperative effort. How can we help put those practices

in place and move everyone forward?”

Several of the presentations made during this year’s June 17 conference looked at that. Marsha Jones, executive VP at PNC Bank, talked specifically about a “Best Practice” for ensuring diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Katherine Kelleman, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, noted that when the Port Authority began doing business with small, minority-owned businesses, they were allBlack. But now there are women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, Hispanic- and Asian-owned businesses—but the size of

the authority’s “pie” hasn’t changed. So Black firms are competing for a smaller piece of it.

Internally, she has put many more people of color in top positions—her chief of staff is second-generation Puerto Rican, the chief of operations, Maurice Bell, is African American. She has also “banned the box” and eliminated questions about previous salary history and tied salaries and raises to national industry standards for a given position.

One of the more interesting presentations came from Vibrant Pittsburgh President and CEO Melanie Harrington on the new Vibrant Index. It harkens

back to what Stevens said about cooperation. The initiative is a way for companies to get a picture of how they compare with other companies in the region in terms of diversity and inclusion best practices. Eligible companies use the Vibrant Diversity and Inclusion diagnostic tool to indicate which best practices they follow. They then receive a feedback report with scores and recommendations and can follow up with a Vibrant Talent Consultant for bespoke advice for their organizations.

“It’s not about calling people out, it’s about calling them in,” Harrington told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “If we don’t address the capabilities of our companies, we can’t move the needle.”

Harrington said Vibrant Pittsburgh is recruiting companies now, and thanks to its affiliation with the Allegheny Conference on

Economic Development, it has access to hundreds “of all sizes and across all sectors.” Progress reports will be confidential and shared with the companies only, but Vibrant Pittsburgh will put out an aggregate report card on the initiative.

“We’ve only just started, but I hope that by August or September, we can report out some of our findings,” she said. “We already report out scores and yearover-year, we haven’t seen much change. So we’re focusing on practices we know work and on getting them implemented to favorable change.”

Stevens said he was pleased and thought it was one of the most powerful conferences because he was able to report gains that have come about through CEIR’s work. He applauded UPMC for being front-andcenter at the conference, as the hospital giant “was willing to connect their di-

versity suppliers with any interested company or corporation, thus building the economic opportunities for their existing minority suppliers.”

Stevens added: “They transformed that into the free-standing event now called SHARE, which now has several corporate partners who are also willing to ‘share’ their diversity suppliers with others. This has produced millions of dollars in contracts for African Americans and other minorities.”

Stevens also noted the success of TALI, or The Advanced Leadership Initiative, founded by Frazier, which advocates for African Americans acquiring C-Level Suite positions; the adoption of “ban the box” by multiple corporate entities; and the adoption of a modified “Rooney Rule” to make sure African Americans are in the mix when executive level hiring is underway.

Spirit of King plaque rededicated KING FROM A1

honorees from 1989 to 2019 and has room for twice that many more.

More than one of the speakers commented on the symbolism of placing the plaque above the busway—because its full

name is the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

“Where we’re standing is a bridge,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “It’s a bridge of opportunity because a busway connects people to education, to jobs and other opportunities—just like the honorees on that plaque were bridge-builders. I want to introduce another bridge-builder, Port Authority CEO Katherine Kelleman.”

Kelleman noted that the first event she attended after coming to Pittsburgh— before she’d even officially started, was the Spirit of King ceremony.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it—transportation is a civil right, it’s a human right,” she said. “From Selma to the Freedom Riders to that bus right over there, opportunities don’t matter if you can’t get to them. We want to make sure everyone can. That’s our mission.”

Spirit of King planning committee member and New Pittsburgh Courier Advertising Coordinator

Ashley Johnson then gave some historical context prior to the unveiling of the new plaque, noting that three years before the annual ceremony began, a tree was planted, and a parklet was dedicated at the former East Liberty bus station to Wilhelmina Byrd Brown—the first Spirit of King honoree.

“Through the desire to continue this historical tribute…something much greater has been created. It is something that will withstand time; and serve as a constant remembrance, to all who visit or pass through, of the legacies that positively impacted and shaped the City of Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities,” Johnson said. “This area will also function as a reminder that each one of us should be dedicated to fighting for equality for all, so that this city will truly be the most livable city for all, and not some.”

Following the plaque unveiling, a symbolic, newly-planted tree was dedicated at the site.

METRO

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

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AARON DONALD, after the unveiling of the new “Aaron Donald Football Performance Center” at Pitt’s practice facility, June 19. (Photos courtesy Pitt Athletics)

Pittsburgh’s own Aaron Donald— Everybody knows his name ‘Aaron Donald Football Performance Center’ unveiled at Pitt’s South Side facility

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

The theme song to the iconic TV sitcom “Cheers” states that a person wants to be “where everybody knows your name.”

For Aaron Donald, that will never be a problem.

as a Panther.

Even more sweet for Pittsburghers, Donald knows his way around town—he’s a Steel City native who later played football for Penn Hills High School.

Drafted thirteenth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft by the then-St. Louis Rams,

I believe in what coach (Pat) Narduzzi is building at Pitt and this was an opportunity for me to make a difference for our current and future players. Pitt will always be my school and I’m honored to be able to support the Blue and Gold.”

Two months later, Donald

Donald has ascended into the league’s best defensive linemen by most expert accounts. Some say he’s the best overall defensive player in the league.

The Rams had no choice but to pay the man after Donald’s prolonged holdout in the summer of 2018. The Brinks truck backed up into Donald’s driveway to the tune of $135 million over six years, making Donald the highest-paid defensive player in league history.

In April, at age 28, Donald made a $1 million donation to Pitt, becoming the youngest seven-figure donor in university history.

“It was a dream come true to play for the University of Pittsburgh,” Donald said in a statement at the time.

“My experience as a Panther is something that influences my life every day and I want to pay that forward.

saw his name in a way he’d never seen it before. Every Pitt player, coach, administrator, trainer, equipment specialist, doctor, etc., will see Donald’s name. Future players, five, ten years down the road, will see Donald’s name as they work out, practice, get stronger in the gym, doing whatever it takes to make it to the NFL one day, like Donald.

Even when the Rams’ public address announcer introduces Donald to 70,000 fans in L.A. as Donald storms out the tunnel, his name under the lights on the national stage, what happened at Pitt on June 19 is different. It almost made Donald come to tears.

“This is home,” Donald said. “This is the school that I watched on TV as a kid and dreamed about playing for, so for it to be here in my hometown, at a university

AARON DONALD, with son, A.J. How about 100 million viewers watching Donald star as a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII (53) this past February…

He’s a five-time NFL Pro Bowl selection…

A two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year…

He led the NFL in sacks last season with 20.5…

And now, his name is tattooed on the front and back of the University of Pittsburgh’s practice facility on the South Side.

It proudly says, the “Aaron Donald Football Performance Center,” unveiled at a much-heralded ceremony, June 19.

Donald starred for the Panthers from 2010-13, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2013, his senior season.

Overall, Donald racked up 29.5 sacks and 181 tackles

that I grew up cheering for and wanting to play for, and coming full circle how it did, you can’t write that story no better than that.”

Without Pitt, and former head coach Dave Wannstedt, whom Donald said, “took a chance on me,” the NFL may not have been in

Donald’s cards. He wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school, but Pitt saw something in him.

And Donald, who picked Pitt over Rutgers, Toledo and Akron, saw something in the Panthers.

Fast forward to today. Everyone knows Aaron Don-

ald’s name.

“I love Pittsburgh, this is where I’m born and raised,” Donald said. “I never would have thought this would even be possible, for me to give back and do something like this. You can’t put it in words, really. It’s crazy, it’s a blessing and I’m honored.”

LIFESTYLES New Pittsburgh Courier

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JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report Where everyone knows your name When you attend parties, luncheons and teas for a living, getting a free moment to just take off and relax is rare. Sometimes I just want to chill, get in the bed and see how many levels of Candy Crush I can smash. By the way I am on level 2010.

Do you remember the column I wrote about this game and how stupid I thought it was? I must have ignored the “highly addictive” disclosure because yes, it is addictive and just like other things I have become addicted to (shopping) I must look for a replacement, let’s hope it will be exercise. If only someone would put a Candy Crush screen on the treadmill. And why hasn’t anyone done that? I digress...

So last Saturday someone that I am Facebook friends with let me know that she was going to be in town and invited me to a gathering.

We are more than Facebook friends, we grew up in the same neighborhood, and I attended her wedding. Frankly that is the last time I saw Donna Moncrief. I was delighted when I got her message that she was in town. So I pulled myself out of bed and went to the meeting place. It had been years since I was at the FROG (friendly rivalry often generates success) house. Her dad, Lawrence Moncrief, is a FROG and he was in town as well. Mr. Davenport (Ron) greeted me at the door. Yes I call him Mr. Davenport because during my WAMO days he was the big boss, so I never called him by his first name. When I walked in the door there were so many people that I knew.

Que the “Cheers” theme song: “Making your way in the world today takes everything you got, taking a break from all your worries it sure would help a lot, wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came you want to be where you can see The troubles are all the same, you want to be where everybody knows your name” Immediately I was so happy that I came out of the house. Bill Fisher was there and it was his 95th birthday. I was invited to his 90th birthday and covered it for the New Pittsburgh Courier. What is so exciting is he remembers it all. After saying hello to everyone I found Donna and her sister, Carol. We had a great time talking and catching up. Then their cousins started to arrive. I had no idea that Keith Moncrief was their cousin, I never put the names together. The world is so small. We are all in our sixties now and we had so many life experiences to share and compare. It was a great evening and I was glad that I went. I hope more people that are on Facebook because they actually know each other get together in person when they are in the same city, there is nothing like seeing each other in person.

(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com.)

STUNNING HATS

BEAUTIFUL IN BLUE

SERVANT’S HEART AWARDEE—First Lady Vickie Grigsby, center, with Deaconess Ruth Thomas and Deaconess Cheryl Morand

Tenth Annual Spring Hat Sensation

by Debbie Norrell Lifestyles Editor

On May 11, at the beautiful LeMont Restaurant on Mount Washington, Central Baptist Church’s Deaconess Ministry held their Tenth Annual Spring Hat Sensation with the theme “Hatitude and Gratitude.”

On a beautiful day hundreds of guests enjoyed the music ministry of Tubby Daniels featuring songstress Anita Levels. Guests enjoyed lunch, door prizes, great vendors and the centerpiece of the afternoon was the Hat Stroll featuring sensational hats from A Woman’s Touch in the Penn Hills Shopping Center and Mel and TiAnda Blount as guest models.

The luncheon is about the hats but just as important is the Servant’s Heart Award presented this year by Deaconess Ruth Thomas and Deaconess Cheryl Morand to First Lady Vickie Grigsby of Central Baptist Church. Vick-

REV. AND FIRST LADY GRIGSBY

WORSHIP IN THE WORD—Rev. Alberta Hall

ie has served at Central Baptist for the past 23 years as First Lady, Ministers’ Wives and Women’s Ministry. The Deaconess Ministry expresses their love and gratitude to a very special woman of God. “She is a shining example of a woman who walks beside her husband in the ministry serving the people whom he shepherds.” The award was a surprise to Vickie Grigsby but the real surprise was the musical tribute performed by her husband Reverend Victor J. Grigsby. Rev. Grigsby dusted off his trumpet and played “You are the Sunshine of my Life” while the first lady was so appropriately dressed in sunshine yellow.

The afternoon concluded with words of worship from Rev. Alberta Hall. She commented on how handsome the crowd was and what a blessing it was to see God’s handiwork on display. Central Baptist Church is located at 2200 Wylie Ave.

READY FOR THE RUNWAY

GUEST MODELS—Mel & TiAnda Blount

A TRIBUTE TO THE FIRST LADY—Rev. Victor Grigsby plays for the First Lady

FASHIONABLE IN BLACK & WHITE—Judge Kim Clark

EVENT CO-CHAIRS—Karen Eady Lockett and Do- TAKING THE HAT STROLL—In reen Mitchell (Photos by Debbie Norrell) pink

RELIGION

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

‘My church knows we are not to walk in fear’

Legacy Worship Center remains grounded in faith after FBI thwarts planned bomb attack LEGACY FROM A1

FBI agent was in the car with him.

FBI agents had Alowemer under heavy surveillance since April. And just at the right time, the FBI arrested Alowemer and charged him with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS and two counts of distributing information about making bombs in relation to the possible attack.

Alowemer identified bombing a “Nigerian” church because, according to information provided by the FBI, “all of them are Mushrikeen (polytheist Christians),” and to take revenge for “our brothers in Nigeria.”

But a Nigerian congregation hadn’t been inside the Legacy church building for a few years. Today, African Americans are the primary ethnic group at the church, though other ethnicities attend and are welcomed.

Jennifer Benton, the marketing and communications manager for Legacy, told Pastor Day she couldn’t talk on the phone when he called moments after getting the news from the FBI. She was at work, her “day job.” Reverend Day texted her and told her to call him “as soon as you can.”

When she left work, she called Rev. Day and learned the news. “I was floored,” Benton told the Courier,

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: Summer Worship Hour...10 a.m.

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

Curious about Quakerism?

THE CONGREGATION AT LEGACY INTERNATIONAL WORSHIP CENTER, during normal Sunday services on June 23, four days after the FBI thwarted a bomb attack on the North Side church. (Photos by Courier photographer J.L. Martello) planned his attack. Neighbors spoke of Alowemer as “to himself,” more on the quiet side, and showed no signs of having terrorist ties or beliefs.

“I think for him, I don’t know what would cause that level of hatred, to say I don’t care who’s there, I just want to bomb this place,” Benton said.

Alowemer appeared in federal court in Downtown Pittsburgh on June 21 and

reaching across our borders to spread their ideologies of hate,” said U.S. Attorney Scott Brady at a news conference following Alowemer’s court appearance. “We want those who embrace those ideologies of hate to know that we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will bring you to justice. The men and women of law enforcement stand on guard.

They stand on guard to

AMBER DAY, first lady of Legacy International Worship Center, 2131 Wilson Ave. June 23. “I just couldn’t even fathom who would want to attack our church.”

Alowemer is a Syrian refugee who had been in America for three years.

He was living in Northview Heights as he allegedly

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was ordered to remain detained by a federal judge.

Charges levied against him could land him in prison for up to 40 years.

“As we know, the threat posed by terrorist organizations is real and they’re

keep our community safe and to protect our freedoms.”

Come this October, it will be two years since Pastor Day welcomed his congregation into the space at 2131 Wilson Ave. where

Legacy stands. The church with the small, family feel has 75-100 parishioners.

Thursday, June 20, one day after the FBI thwarted the planned attack, Legacy held its normal “Hour of Power” evening service.

Parishioners, newcomers, and the media all met at the church—some shouted, some prayed, some embraced, some took photos, some asked for interviews.

The word “fear” didn’t seem to be in the air during the “Hour of Power.” It didn’t seem to be in the air during Legacy’s Sunday service, held June 23 with the media again present.

Pastor Day told the Courier neither he nor his congregation walks in fear.

Upon learning from the FBI that Alowemer was only 21 years old and lived blocks away in Northview Heights, Rev. Day wished he would have been able to connect with Alowemer.

“Just to minister to him,” he said.

“I love young people, I love youth. Our church is diverse, we have many backgrounds. So it didn’t matter where he came from, I just wish we would have been able to connect with him, maybe change his heart or change his mind.”

Reverend Day, now with a few days to process things, told the Courier following his June 23 service that all things considered, “I feel good. God is with me, so I don’t walk in fear, I never did. I am grateful

to be alive, I am grateful that my family and ministry and community is still alive and well.”

Pastor Day, who grew up in Beltzhoover, began teaching Sunday School at age 16 and preached his first sermon at age 20. He and his wife, Amber, have a daughter, Elise. The Day family—hec, the entire Legacy church family— had never been so frontand-center before these circumstances occurred.

From the KDKAs to the NBCs, from the CNNs to news websites around the world, Legacy church and its pastor, Rev. Day, have dominated the news.

What the media—and many viewers—may not have known was that in the face of terror, in the face of hate, in times of distress, Rev. Day and his congregation remain grounded in their faith.

They never let hate win.

“Being that, I guess, because I’m from the hood, gunshots are every day, so to all of sudden be like, ‘oh, someone wanted to bomb a church,’ well, I’m from the hood where you hear gunshots every day,” Rev. Day told the Courier exclusively. “This very church used to be my grandfather’s and so, that door was replaced several times for getting shot at, especially in the early ‘90s…so fear, nah. I’m just grateful to be alive. My church knows we are not to walk in fear. We are to trust in God, believe that God has us, and he does.”

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

Pittsburgh Friends Meeting 4836 Ellsworth Avenue http://www.quaker.org/legacy/pghpamm

Join our growing Praise and Worship Church Community!

For rate information, call 412481-8302, ext.

128.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT CHURCH EVENT! We want to place your event in our Church Circuit weekly calendar!

Send info to: New Pittsburgh Courier 315 E. Carson St. Pittsburgh PA 15219 Or Email us! religion@ newpittsburgh courier.com

LEGACY INTERNATIONAL WORSHIP CENTER PASTOR MICHAEL A. DAY

The Courier is THE VOICE of Black Pittsburgh.

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JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

METRO

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

VALERIE KINLOCH, PHD

Pitt Education Dean Valerie Kinloch elected vice president of the National Council of Teachers of English Dr. Kinloch was a 2018 Courier ‘Woman of Excellence’ honoree The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Valerie Kinloch, PhD, Renee and Richard Goldman Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, has been elected vice president of the National Council of Teachers of English.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the nation’s most comprehensive literacy organization, supporting more than 25,000 teachers across the preK–college spectrum.

Dr. Kinloch will take office as NCTE vice president during the NCTE Annual Convention in Baltimore, in November.

“It is my honor to have been elected as NCTE’s next vice president,” Dr. Kinloch said in a statement provided to the Courier. “Being a member of NCTE for more than 20 years has allowed me to partner with, learn from, and be inspired by dedicated educators from around the world who have an unwavering commitment to language and literacy teaching, learning, practice, and research. The lessons I have learned from our colleagues have significantly impacted my work as an educator, a researcher, and an administrator.

They have also strengthened my commitment to standing in solidarity with others and advocating for justice and equity in education. While this work is not easy, English language arts educators know all too well that this work is absolutely necessary. As we move forward—as an organization and a profession—I will seek to do my best to contribute to the mission of NCTE in ways that build on our collective strengths in light of the many challenges we face.”

Dr. Kinloch, who is also a professor at Pitt, serves as an executive member of the American Education Research Association Consortium of University and Research Institutions and co-chair of the Remake Learning Council.

In 2018, Dr. Kinloch was awarded the NCTE Advancement of People of Color Leadership Award.

In 2015, she was awarded the NCTE Rewey Belle Inglis Award for Outstanding Women in English Education.

NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick said in a statement that “Valerie’s scholarship and leadership have pushed the field of education and literacy for more

VALERIE KINLOCH, Ph.D, a 2018 New Pittsburgh Courier “Woman of Excellence.” than two decades. NCTE has proudly stood with her in an early fellowship and later through service as the director of our prestigious CNV Program as well as the Standing Committee on Research. We are thrilled to now have Valerie join the Presidential Team and ultimately become president in November 2021. We are fortunate to have her leadership as we continue to improve and grow the work we do.”

Dr. Kinloch’s scholarship examines the literacies and community engagements of youth and adults inside and outside schools.

Author of publications on race, place, literacy, and equity, her books include “Service-Learning in Literacy Education: Possibilities for Teaching and Learning” (2015), “Crossing Boundaries: Teaching and Learning with Urban Youth” (2012), “Urban Literacies: Critical Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Community” (2011), “Harlem On Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth” (2010), “June Jordan: Her Life and Letters” (2006), and “Still Seeking an Attitude: Critical Reflections on the Work of June Jordan” (2004). In 2012, her book “Harlem On Our Minds” received the Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the Amer-

ican Educational Research Association, and in 2014, her book “Crossing Boundaries: Teaching and Learning with Urban Youth” was a staff pick for professional development by Teaching Tolerance magazine.

In her candidate statement, Dr. Kinloch said, “NCTE has helped me to engage in this work. From my service on NCTE commissions and committees to editing a column for the English Journal to serving as chair of the Standing Committee on Research, I remain committed to NCTE. As a former fellow and former director of NCTE’s Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color (CNV) Program, I am thankful for the role NCTE has played in my professional life and the way NCTE has cultivated lifelong relationships with colleagues I might have never met.”

Dr. Kinloch earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in honors English at Johnson C. Smith University in 1996. At Wayne State University, she earned a Master of Arts degree in English and African American literature in 1998 as well as a PhD degree in English and composition studies with a cognate in urban studies in 2000.

Dr. Kinloch was a New Pittsburgh Courier “Woman of Excellence” honoree in 2018.

BUSINESS New Pittsburgh Courier

Northside Leadership Conference awards scholarships Metro B7

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ON THE ROAD—The school year has ended, and families across the nation will hit the road for a good old-fashioned summer road trip. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

New Road Trip Report shows rising gas prices, work schedules cramp car travel

by Stacy M. Brown For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)—Nearly half of American drivers surveyed say that rising gas prices are stopping them from heading out on a road trip this summer, according to results of a motorist study released

by CarInsurance.com, a one-stop destination for expert advice on car insurance.

Soon, the school year will be in the rear-view mirror, and families across the nation will hit the road for a good old-fashioned summer road trip.

To kick off the season, CarInsurance.com surveyed 1,000 drivers to find out how they feel when behind the wheel, what their family road trip experiences are like, what they do to cope with traffic and what types of mishaps they’ve had due to poor road conditions.

CarInsurance.com found that 44 percent of people said that gas prices are preventing them from taking the family on a road trip.

That’s an increase from 36 percent last year.

Another reason drivers may skip a summer road trip is that they can’t take time off from work.

Nearly one-third of respondents pointed to not being able to take off time, according to a news release.

The research also revealed that the vast majority of people enjoy family road trips, despite some

respondents mentioning that a family member had a meltdown before the adventure was underway.

More than 90 percent say they’ve taken a family road trip over the past five years.

Only 17 percent of respondents claim to prefer air travel over road trips.

Most of those who favor the road say those trips are just more enjoyable than heading to an airport.

While on the road, 44 percent of drivers surveyed say they feel contentment when driving. A

“You can always save money by comparison shopping, as pricing varies significantly among insurers for the same coverage....you should definitely shop around after an accident. Your current company may assess risk differently than others, so it may no longer be the most affordable.”

PENNY GUSNER CarInsurance.com consumer anaylst

mere 10 percent feel either stressed or “rage-y.”

However, one noted headache associated with road trips is traffic.

Approximately 11 percent called people who they weren’t particularly close to because they were bored.

The survey found that poor road conditions also caused 20 percent of drivers to have a one-car accident, 19 percent report getting into an accident with another car.

Just one accident can raise your yearly car insurance rate by 32 percent, or $450 a year, on average, according to CarInsurance.com’s rate data analysis.

Whether you’ve experienced an accident or not, you can save on car insurance by comparing rates, according to Penny Gusner, CarInsurance.com consumer analyst.

“You can always save money by comparison shopping, as pricing varies significantly among insurers for the same coverage,” Gusner said.

“But you should definitely shop around after an accident. Your current company may assess risk differently than others, so it may no longer be the most affordable,” she said.

Gusner added: “Our rate analysis of six major insurers shows drivers can save an average of $1,000 by comparing car insurance quotes after an accident.”

America’s Natural Gas and Oil Industry is hiring, building diversity

by Mike Sommers For New Pittsburgh Courier

The economy is booming, but that doesn’t mean it’s all Easy Street for American families. Costs for household essentials continue to rise—with expenses for healthcare up 73 percent over 10 years, education costs increasing 58 percent and food bills rising 26 percent.

There’s one important exception: energy costs.

Household energy expenses have dropped 10.5 percent, and Americans saved $300 billion in 2016 compared to 2010. As recently as 2011, media reports were blaring headlines like “$4 Gas Might be Here to Stay.” With the United States now leading the world in production of natural gas and oil, families are enjoying welcome savings on their utility bills and at the gas pump – savings that help them afford other priorities that keep getting pricier.

For a growing number of American workers, the U.S.

GROWTH INDUSTRY—For a growing number of American workers, the U.S. natural gas and oil industry doesn’t just mean lower bills, it means fatter paychecks. (Photo: iStockphoto) natural gas and oil industry doesn’t just mean lower bills, it means fatter paychecks. A 2018 Bloomberg report called the industry

“the best bet for U.S. workers” thanks to its “paycheck potency”—with salary levels that “topped all sectors, including utilities,

tech and health care” in recent rankings. Non-retail station jobs in the natural gas and oil industry pay an average annual wage

of over $100,000—nearly $50,000 more than the U.S. average. Studies show natural gas and oil industry workers earn more across

all education levels, degree majors, gender and race/ ethnicity groups, and occupation types.

The diversity of career opportunities means there’s something for everyone—across a variety of fields and education levels. Geologists, engineers, rig workers, welders, electricians, communications professionals, truck drivers, environmental consultants, business analysts, computer technicians— you name it.

And opportunities are growing. The industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs across the economy—2.7 additional jobs for each direct natural gas and oil job.

With 40 percent or more of the industry’s worker base expected to retire by 2035, there’s never been a better time to join the energy workforce. Studies project we’ll see nearly 1.9 million job opportunities over that period in the oil and natural gas and petrochemical industries—with 707,000 SEE GAS B2

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jobs, or 38 percent of the total, projected to be filled by African American and Hispanic workers.

We consider that number a floor, not a ceiling. One of our top priorities as an industry is building a more diverse workforce, and ensuring these opportunities reach every community.

One of the biggest barriers our research has identified is lack of awareness about the opportunities in our industry. We’re partnering with a number of organizations to change that. Through coordinated efforts with groups like the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and others, we’re working to spread the word that the industry is hiring.

And we’re building. Constructing the pipelines and other infrastructure needed to keep pace with record energy production—and move affordable energy to homes and businesses—can support up to 1 million-plus jobs per year. That means construction workers, welders, pipe fitters. We partner with the National Building Trades Unions to train workers for these good jobs.

The industry also needs workers with backgrounds in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics) fields. In coordination with these organizations and many more, companies sponsor and participate in job fairs, hands-on educational labs, science fairs and teacher training.

As great as the opportunities are, it’s not all about the paycheck. America’s energy professionals are part an industry that fuels the economy and powers daily life. It’s an industry of innovators – that not only leads the world in production of natural gas and oil but is developing the technologies that make our air cleaner.

The United States leads the world in reduction of carbon emissions, thanks primarily to clean natural gas. Cleaner fuels and other breakthroughs have helped drive combined emissions of the primary air pollutants down 73 percent since 1970—while energy use and vehicle miles have climbed.

Building a better future takes energy, and building the best workforce is essential to keep delivering energy benefits to U.S. families.

Working with our partners in African American and Hispanic communities, America’s natural gas and oil industry is focused on expanding opportunities and building the diversity that will make our workforce even stronger.

WARREN SHADD

The first ever Black-owned piano manufacturing business

Warren Shadd, CEO and founder of Shadd Pianos, grew up around a family of musicians. He started breaking pianos apart and building them back up as a hobby when he was just 12-years old. Now, he makes world-class pianos and is (Mike Sommers is president considered to be the first ever Afriand CEO American Petroleum can American piano manufacturer!

Institute.)

An early start Shadd was exposed to the music world since birth. His grandmother was a ragtime pianist in BUSINESS the South in the 1930s. His grandCALENDAR father invented the collapsible drum set, but unfortunately haven’t patented it. His father was one Duquesne Workshop JUNE 26—The Duquesne University Small Business Devel- of the top piano technicians in the opment Center presents QuickBooks Online, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 country. His aunt, Grammy-award p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh 15282. The winner Shirley Horn, was the NEA session, led by Alicia Davis of Dennis Piper & Associates will Jazz Master pianist and vocalist. cover: product overview setting up files navigating recording At the age of 4, Shadd already transactions; generating reports, and more. Cost: $35. For more started appearing in concert stages to perform. information call 412-396-1633.

With his vast background in muQuickBooks Advanced Workshop sic, it wasn’t a surprise that he realJULY 10 and JULY 17—The Duquesne University Small Business De- ly loved music. His interest was just velopment Center will present a two-day QuickBooks Advanced work- initially for the drums. Although shop, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. both days, 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes he knew a lot about pianos because Ave., Pittsburgh 15282. These sessions are for QuickBooks PC users his father would take him with him experienced with the software who would like to learn advanced func- whenever he did piano repair jobs, tions such as setting up payroll, managing sales tax, and more. The cost he didn’t aspire to be like his father. for both sessions is $90. For more information, call 412-396-1633.

Until he started rebuilding and restoring pianos just for fun while Financial Statement Workshop also performing with different acts JULY 18—The Duquesne University Small Business Development and Broadway shows.

Center will present Get Behind the Numbers, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Taking the family business to the 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh 15282. This handson 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, CPAs 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 412-396-1633.

Training Event

JULY 23—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center will present First Step: Business Essentials, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh 15282. The startup essentials workshop covers the following topics: Business Structure and Formation; Fictitious Name Registration; Employee Issues; Insurance; Government Procurement; Environmental Concerns; Financing Options; Taxation Requirements; and, Major Components of the Business Plan. Cost: $25. For more information, call 412-396-1633.

Chatham Workshop

AUG. 10—Chatham’s Women Business Center in partnership with SCORE Pittsburgh will present a Build Your Business Workshop for women interested in starting or expanding their business, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Eastside Campus, 6585 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh 15206. Business experts and seasoned entrepreneurs will discuss the following topics: business planning, marketing and sales, financing, legal issues and business lessons learned. A continental breakfast will be provided. Cost: $10. For more information, call Anne Flynn Schlicht at 412-365-1448.

next level When his father passed away in 1993, he had to take over the business of tuning, rebuilding, and restoring piano business. With a strong client base, the business kept flourishing even under his new leadership. But when the industry changed a bit, he knew he had to offer something new. That was when he began experimenting and creating his own piano.

Combining his own musical talent and his knowledge in modern technology, Shadd has invented a one-of-a-kind piano design. And he has patents on all of it.

“Being a musician, I have an advantage of understanding what musicians want and what they want to hear,” he told NPR. “If I can compare here—Mr. Steinway doesn’t play piano, Yamaha no, Kawai no, Bosendorfer no, Fazioli a little bit...

They are engineers and businessmen; I’m a musician and an engineer and businessman. I have somewhat of a musical advantage. What I’m crafting is a musical instrument and all those different components that go into that, especially the musical parts.”

Shadd boasts of a piano that has a durable soundboard that produces loud sounds without distortion. It also has an audio system that lets the pianist hear himself play, result-

ing to a better output. The interactive piano also has a computer and touchscreen monitors that allows piano teachers teach piano students even if they’re away. It is also useful for bands to cut tracks live and in real time. It also features a piano bench that has surround sound, making the pianist feel—not just hear—the music.

Going global Shadd Pianos have even caught the attention of several famous musicians and performers. He admitted that it wasn’t easy at first to make others believe that the piano he invented was exceptional. But once they played it, they became overwhelmed. In fact, Shadd Pianos are now being used in several hotels, churches, and shows around the world including the set of American Idol, Rolls Royce showrooms, and even the Vatican.

“I do know there’s a responsibility with this, to make the best piano— not one of the best—the best piano, period, in the world, and that’s what I believe I’ve done. As a people, we can’t be parallel; we’ve got to be three times as good. I’m a perfectionist, so every nuance that goes into this piano has to be the very best.”

(For more information about Shadd Pianos, visit www.shaddpianos.com)

NNPA observes Black Music Month, national homeownership and Juneteenth

by Stacy M. Brown For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)—In June, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) joins with millions of other Americans in celebration of Black Music Month and National Homeownership Month.

As the trade association representing more than 200 African American-owned newspapers and media companies around the nation, the NNPA also observes Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.

Among the many cities planning Juneteenth celebrations this year include Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Ocean City, New Jersey; Lexington Park, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Los Angeles, California; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Atlanta, Georgia.

According to the history of Juneteenth, on June 19th, 1865 and more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which became official on Jan. 1, 1863, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and slaves were now free.

The president’s proclamation freeing slaves had little effect because of the small number of Union troops available to enforce the Executive Order.

However, after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee in April 1865 and the arrival of Granger, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

With many also commemorating National Homeownership Month, the NNPA has long supported fair lending and housing practices as

the organization has said it realizes that homeownership is one of the best ways of creating intergenerational wealth.

Companies like Wells Fargo have developed initiatives to help African Americans achieve the American Dream. In 2017, the banking giant announced a $60 billion lending commitment to create at least 250,000 African American homeowners by 2027.

In 2018, the Black homeownership rate stood at 42.2 percent—only tenths of a percentage point higher than the same rate reported by the U.S. Census Bureau a half century ago when the Fair Housing Act was signed into law.

That troubling fact served as the impetus behind the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) program to increase Black homeownership by two million over the next five years.

“Black homeownership is the first, and most essential step to build economic strength within our communities,” NAREB President Jeffrey Hicks said in a news release.

“We’ve lost more ground than we’ve gained over the past 50 years,” Hicks said.

“Whether through unmeasurable losses of equity during the country’s last economic meltdown, consistently high unemployment rates, unfavorable federal and state policies restricting affordable homeownership, or systemic mortgage lending barriers, Black homeownership—and therefore our wealth-building potential as a people—remain diminished,” he said.

Throughout the month of June, events are held to embrace the achievements, prominent timeliness and impactful moments of Black music.

Founded in 1979 by Kenny Gamble, Ed Wright and Dyana Williams,

National Black Music Month recognizes the achievements, prominent timeliness and impactful moments of Black music.

It’s a chance to remember those musicians lost along the way and to encourage a pathway for young musicians to follow their dreams.

According to the National Museum of African American Music, on June 7th, 1979 Gamble, Wright, and Williams successfully lobbied President Jimmy Carter into hosting a reception to formally recognize the cultural and financial contributions of black music throughout history.

Since that fateful year, Black Music Month has grown from an intimate commemoration to national reach with an abundance of events held annually across the country.

As years went on many musicians, fans and influential individuals joined in celebratory observance during the month of June.

In 2016, via proclamation, President Barack Obama further defined June as African American Music Appreciation Month.

Obama declared that the start of summer would be a celebration for “the rich heritage” of African American music and how these instrumental musicians, “have enriched American music and captured the diversity of our Nation.”

“The music of our Nation has always spoken to the condition of our people and reflected the diversity of our Union,” Obama said.

“African American musicians, composers, singers, and songwriters have made enormous contributions to our culture by capturing the hardships and aspirations of a community and reminding us of our shared values,” he said.

For more information about the NNPA and its initiatives, visit www. nnpa.org.

OPINION

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On Juneteenth we must remember our fight for freedom continues

Guest Commentary

‘Woe is Me’ won’t move the needle; voters will Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told a rally of supporters in Iowa Tuesday, June 11 that President Donald Trump is an “existential threat” to America. He offered three examples, including Trump’s threat to America’s standing in the world, his threat to America’s core values and, lastly, his threat to American democracy. Whether one agrees with Biden’s conclusions about Trump, we agree with his observation that too many Americans are “walking around with our heads down like ‘woe is me.’”

As resilient as the American people are, and as forgiving as African Americans can be, there is measurable fatigue spreading across the country due to Trump’s broken promises to remake America and other politicians’ promises to fix America. The ‘woe’ is growing as Americans feel the loss of hope and experience increased fears tied to unaffordable housing, massive student loans, the threat of losing health care due to threatened limits on pre-existing conditions and uninsured losses caused by floods or fires. In Black and brown communities, rampant gun violence continues to take a toll, while targeted police attacks frequently leading to death and a widespread drug abuse crisis are causing increased despair.

Biden, who is reportedly leading among the 24 Democratic presidential hopefuls, must realize his reflection of America of the past does not sit well in the hearts and minds of Black voters. Neither do Trump’s insults of Biden, calling him a “dummy” as well as others who he opposes.

Voters want more than that. They need to hear messages of hope, but more importantly, they need assurances that politicians will stop their political posturing and cease the practice of offering lip service to the critical needs of voters.

Voters must muster up interest and maintain activism over the long haul of the next 18 months to force political hopefuls to stay focused on the real issues affecting their lives because “woe is me” won’t move the needle.

Only their voices and votes will.

(This article originally appeared in 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)

(NNPA)—On June 19, 1865, Texan slaves found out they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, two and a half years after it was issued

by President Abraham Lincoln.

Since then, annual celebrations of the emancipation have been referred to as Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States and honoring African American freedom and liberation.

As we have for years, we celebrate Juneteenth through food, prayer and festivities honoring a rich tradition that continues to promote education and self-improvement. We’ve seen this holiday take root within communities and organizations throughout the country, taking on a national and even global presence with a mission to promote African American culture and respect for all cultures.

But as we continue to cultivate knowledge and appreciation of our history and reflect upon the monumental challenges that our ancestors faced in fighting for freedom from bondage, we must also consider the ways in which the Black community continues to be under the threat of

Derrick Johnson

Commentary hate, xenophobia, and bigotry.

The NAACP stands at a significant moment in time when racial subordination and racial hierarchy is being reinforced at the highest level of leadership in this country. The recent accounts of domestic terrorism at Black churches, images of Blackface populating the airwaves, the increase in hate crimes, and Black lives senselessly taken at the hands of over policing and brutality, shows that we are living in a world that often devalues us as people who have the right to live freely.

However, what we saw during the historic wave of grassroots activism that swept across the country during the 2018 midterms—with women

and people of color leading the way —was an overwhelming rebuke of these heinous acts, and a show of support for an America with a bold, forward-looking and inclusive vision.

As the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, the NAACP has been a leader in the struggle to improve the lives of Black people in America.

However, the historic importance and impending impact of the 2018 midterm elections, have propelled us to bring our activist roots to the forefront.

Many diverse groups, including NAACP units throughout the country, are rising up to advocate for policies that ensure that we empower communities of color to make our voices heard and implement effective strategies to address the growing impact of the rise of white nationalism and emboldened racial rhetoric.

As we celebrate Black liberation, let us continue to unite and fight together to confront the challenges we face today.

(Derrick Johnson is NAACP president and CEO.)

Taraji P. Henson draws attention to mental health (TriceEdneyWire.com)—We’ve seen Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James and others draw attention to challenges in our community. At the recent hearing on Reparations, we heard from Danny Glover. We’ve also just heard from Taraji Henson on the subject of mental health. In our community, we’ve often played down the importance of mental health.

It was as if we knew it existed, but didn’t want to discuss it. We’ve often looked down on people who shared their need for assistance with mental health issues. Taraji wants to change that.

I pray that other stars will take on the fight to bring about justice and fair play for all who’ve been burdened unnecessarily—especially when it comes to race. For Black women, it’s both race and gender.

Our communities have often internalized the negative impact of enslavement, segregation and all forms of discrimination. It appears we’re being pushed backwards. We see too much high blood pressure and other health challenges to ignore the fact that the inhumanity we’ve suffered through the ages has been brought on deliberately and intentionally by others outside our community.

We’ve rarely had the luxury of calling ours “the good life.” There’re always unnecessary stresses in our community. We’re always fighting just to keep our heads above water while others with less education, less

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary compassion, less experience keep on moving ahead of us, and there’re always those around us making an effort to take away the progress we’ve been able to make. We elected Barack Obama as our President and that made us feel some sort of progress. Behind him came #45 who’s tried to destroy everything President Obama did. We had a Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court took that away. We had health care, and some have done everything possible to destroy that.

So, it’s important for us to work with Taraji on her efforts. We must be vigilant in working to get proper funding for mental health. A nation’s budget tells us just how seriously it takes our concerns.

Let’s do all we can to break the stigma around mental health with her organization, the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation (website http://www.borislhensonfoundation. org) which she named for her Dad who talked about mental health. He didn’t avoid the subject as some do.

Let’s keep up with what the Foundation is doing, donate when we can and do all we can to alleviate this challenge. Mental health help is not just for people who are wealthy.

It’s for anyone who needs the help.

We can encourage people who need help to seek it and not feel they’ll be judged badly for seeking help.

Taraji has taken the lead in breaking the stigma associated with mental health by encouraging us to talk about mental health. Let’s vote for those who see the importance of mental health. Put this issue on your list when you’re looking at candidates to represent our community.

Let’s not hide from the issue. It’s real, and we need to pay attention to it and act when necessary to get something done about mental health.

Taraji has said we don’t talk about mental health in our families as her father did with her. She went on to say, “That’s why there’s a shortage of African Americans in the field of mental health, because we don’t talk about it at home. Our children don’t even know, this is a field they can even flourish in.” Yes, they do talk about being a doctor, but they rarely have been taught about the different kinds of doctors like the kind that treat mental health. Let’s talk to change that. Thanks to Taraji. It’s now on our agenda!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is national president of the National Congress of Black Women. www.nationalcongressbw.org.)

Ava DuVernay’s ‘When They See Us’ wins mass attention for focus on falsely accused Central Park Five (NNPA)—The painful true stories of five falsely accused young men, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Korey Wise, has been brought to light in excruciatingly vivid detail by director Ava DuVernay. The group known as the Central Park Five would receive 6 to 13 years in prison.

“When They See Us,” is DuVernay’s new mini-series, featured exclusively on Netflix, depicting the story of the Central Park Five. Her new film features the infamous 1989 case of five boys of color who were falsely accused of the rape of Trisha Meili, a White female jogger who was then an investment banker. The story was reminiscent of the Scottsboro Boys case in 1931 in terms of being a rabid miscarriage of justice that stereotyped men of color as sexual predators.

On May 1, 1989, Donald Trump called for the return of the death penalty in reference to the Central Park Five in full-page ads in all four of the city’s major newspapers. Trump has never admitted he was wrong about the Central Park Five though he has been asked about the case multiple times.

Lauren Victoria Burke

Commentary The members of the “Central Park Five” were coerced into confessing to a crime they did not commit and implicating each other as police detectives

subjected them to lengthy interviews and interrogations.

In 2002, Matias Reyes, a convicted murderer and serial rapist who was in prison, confessed to the crime the Central Park Five were convicted of and his DNA matched

evidence found at the scene. The five convictions of Salaam, Santana, Richardson, McCray and Wise were vacated after more than a decade. In 2014, New York City reached a $40 million settlement with the Central Park Five after Mayor Mike Bloomberg blocked their payout for 10 years.

As DuVernay’s film gained viewers and momentum and waves of publicity, Linda Fairstein, the main prosecutor of the Central Park Five, was dropped by her publisher Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on June 7. Fairstein has never apologized or admitted there was a wrongful prosecution in the case. Several prosecutors and detectives have avoided discussing the series.

The five men are pursuing an additional $52 million in damages from New York State in the New York Court of Claims.

(Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke)

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

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Help Wanted

Help Wanted

CHILDREN’S SUPPORT ADVOCATE and LGBTQ OUTREACH ADVOCATE

SENIOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

employment positions available at the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.

Children’s Support Advocate-provides direct service,advocacy & childcare to child/teen victims of domestic violence crimes and assists with identifying the counseling needs of children who participate in the children’s program. Send cover letter & resume to lainga@wcspittsburgh.org by July 2.

LGBTQ Outreach Advocate-provides engagement, outreach and community-based weekly support groups for LGBTQ victims of domestic violence/partner abuse. Ensures the Sanctuary model informs all services. Send cover letter & resume to adamsc@wcspittsburgh. org by July 2.

•For additional information regarding these positions, please visit our website www.wcspittsburgh.org and find these job postings under the “Who We Are” menu.

PROGRAM MANAGER SCHEDULING

Port Authority is seeking a Program Manager - Scheduling to be responsible for the development and production of efficient operating schedules, production and dissemination of timetables and designing of service to meet the needs of Port Authority and the public. Coordinates activities with division personnel.

Assist with community outreach to support service planning initiatives.

Essential Functions: •Uses HASTUS to develop cost-efficient operation scenarios to support service change recommendations. Supports transit scheduling, routing design and service change activities. Reviews, evaluates and makes schedule changes to ensure service and schedules are effective and efficient. Responsible for cost effective scheduling of service which includes ensuring the schedules are within budget. Supports activities related to Port Authority’s Tactical Plan, including Annual Service Report, Five Year Tactical Service Development Plan, Bus Stop Optimization Plan.

•Develops, prepares and disseminates operating schedules in accordance with provisions of contract agreement; supervises implementation of schedule changes. Manages the production and distribution of picking materials. Oversees the design, production and distribution of public timetables and other customer information materials related to service.

Job requirements include: •BA/BS degree in Business Administration, Analytics, Urban Planning or related field from an accredited school and/or minimum of four (4) years’ experience in scheduling or directly related field. Directly related experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

•Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

•Strong work ethic with ability to multi-task.

•Strong decision-making and innovative problem-solving skills.

•Strong organizational and analytical skills are essential. The ability to gather data and prepare clear and concise reports, to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others and to work independently.

•Demonstrates considerable initiative.

•Proactive and achievement driven.

•Excellent collaboration skills with both internal and external clients.

•Knowledge of research and statistical theories and methods.

•Ability to work independently and in a team environment.

•Ability to prioritize multiple complex projects.

•Knowledge and familiarity with computer systems and database applications.

•Demonstrated ability in the use of Windows and Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

•Valid PA driver’s license.

Preferred attributes: •Minimum of four (4) years’ experience in scheduling or directly related field.

•Knowledge of transportation planning and operations is highly desirable •Knowledge in transit scheduling software preferably HASTUS is highly desirable •Previous supervisory experience.

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

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS GET RESULTS!

SONNY BOY

Advance Southwestern PA transportation plans through outreach and coordination activities. Assess local project opportunities and assist in project development. Details at www.spcregion.org EEO/AA/M/F/VET/Disability Employer The Department of Pediatrics of the University of Pittsburgh seeks a Senior Research Technician IV to work in the Pediatric Institute for Heart Regeneration & Therapeutics (I-HRT) at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. The institute seeks to improve health by repairing hearts through guided regeneration. Will establish single cell RNAseq transcriptome analyses of human heart muscle cells, process patient samples to analyze the cell cycle history of heart cells, & collect fetal human heart tissue. EEO/AA/M/F/Vets/ Disabled Apply at https://join.pitt. edu, #19004575.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SPECIALIST United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania itt rgh Office

The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania (UWSWPA) is seeking a dedicated, detail-oriented Accounts Payable Specialist for our Pittsburgh office. ould you like to build your career while playing a role in creating long-lasting change for the betterment of our community? The Accounts Payable Specialist will be responsible for overseeing the accounts payable function, including preparing and reviewing invoices; billing invoices; processing credit card transactions; and processing the daily bank statement.

Bachelor s degree in finance or accounting, or equivalent combination of education and experience required. Three years of accounting and/or business experience preferred.

Visit our website at https://uwswpa. org/careers/ to view job description and apply for this position. Submissions will only be accepted electronically.

The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity, serving Allegheny, Butler, Westmoreland, Fayette and Southern Armstrong counties.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

MEETING

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s Board of Commissioners will hold its monthly meeting for June on Thursday, June 27, 2019.

The board meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. @ 200 Ross Street, 13th Floor Wherrett Room, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

Estate of AMY ELIZABETH STAIGER, Deceased of Carnegie, Allegheny County Pennsylvania No. 02-19-03487. Robert R. Staiger, Administrator, 669 Little Sewickley Creek Road, Sewickley, PA 15143 or to Robin L. Rarie, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC, 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017 Estate of ANNA MAE MUFFI, Deceased of Pittsburgh. No. 021903728 of 2019. Benita Muffi, Administrator or to c o Jacqueline H. Brangard, Esquire, Scolieri Law Group, P.C. Atty; 1207 Fifth Avenue, Suite 200, Pitsburgh, PA 15219 Estate of ALBERT J. CARLES, Deceased, of Pittsburgh, No. 021903736 of 2019 Anthony M. Carles E tr. Or to c o Jacqueline H. Brangard, Esquire, Scolieri Law Group, P.C., 1207 Fifthe Avenue, Suite 200, Pttsburgh,PA 15219 Estate of WILLIAM L. BANN, Deceased, of Shaler Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. No. 02-19-03874 William M. Bann Executor, 1814 Hartford Path, The Villages, FL 32162 or to Aubrey H. Glover, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC, 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017.

Estate of RICHARD E. FERRI A/K/A RICHARD FERRI, Deceased of Borough of Carnegie, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. No. 02-1903672 Dolores G. Zuppello, Executor, 1300 Bower Hill Road, Apt. 1120, Pittsburgh, PA 15243 or to TODD A. FULLER, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC, 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017 Estate of MR. MARK W. GRIMM, Deceased of 2115 Montour Street Extension, Moon Township, PA 15108. Estate No. 02-19-03709 Ms. Catherine Anne Grimm, 2115 Montour Street Extention, Moon Township, PA 15108, Administrator, c/o Max C. Feldman, Esquire and the aw Office of Ma C. Feldman, 1322 Fifth Avenue, Coraopolis, PA 15108 In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Orphans’ Court Division, Estate of ROSALIE CIBULA, Deceased, case No. 2860 of 2019: Notice is hereby given that on April 30, 2019, a petition was filed by ynn Cibula, to terminate the interests of the heirs and devisees of Rosalie Cibula, deceaded, in the real estate located at 4548 Gates Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15120, and determine that fee simple title is in Lynn Cibula. If no exceptions to the Petition are filed within 30 days, ynn Bibula will seek and Order adjudging that Rosalie Cibula’s title is in Lynn Cibula.

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Legal Notices

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR ARLINGTON HEIGHTS DRAINAGE II, AMP-04 IFB #600-18-19

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR HOMEWOOD NORTH SPRINKLER FREEZE PROTECTION, AMP-20 IFB #600-21-19

Estate of RUTH C. SHEA, Deceased, of Bethel Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania No. 02-19-03957 Susan A. Stefko, Executor, 1542 Amelia Avenue, South Park, PA 15129 or to Aubrey H. Glover, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC, 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017

LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY PUBLIC NOTICE The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) is accepting Letters of Interest and Statements of Qualifications from Professional Companies who wish to be considered for the following: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LABORATORY/INDUSTRIAL WASTE FACILITY AND PARKING GARAGE PROJECT S464 Interested Parties shall submit eight (8) bound paper copies and one electronic copy on a CD or ash drive in a sealed envelope plainly marked: tate ent of a ification New Laboratory/Industrial Waste Facility and Parking Garage Allegheny County Sanitary Authority 3300 Preble Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15233-1092 Attn: Suzanne Thomas, roc re ent Officer All questions should be submitted, in writing, to Suzanne Thomas at Suzanne.thomas. alcosan.org.

An informational meetin g will be held July 2, 2019 at 10:00 am in the ALCOSAN Auditorium at 3300 Preble Ave .. Pittsbur gh, PA 15233 to clarify the !Zoals and purp ose ofthis e e t for a ification ALCOSAN intends to award the services to one firm to perform all of the services. All submittals must be received no later than 2:00 PM August 2, 2019 at the ALCOSAN Contracts Department. Please allow time to process through security. If the documents are sent via courier, it is Consultant’s responsibility to ensure the documents have been received. Late submittals will not be considered and will be returned unopened. Additional information and instructions may be obtained by visiting: http:// www.alcosan.org/Business Opportunities/ RFQsRFPs/ tabid /182/ Default.aspx ALCOSAN encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities, disadvantaged and women’s business enterprises to submit qualification statements or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to the selected Consultant/Firm. The Party selected shall be required to utilize minority, disadvantaged, and women’s business enterprises to the fullest extent possible. The goals of the ALCOSAN’s Minority and Women Business Policy are listed on the ALCOSAN website at www. alcosan.org.

Kimberly Kennedy, PE Director, Engineering and Construction

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS… THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for the Arlington Heights Drainage II, AMP-04.

The construction work is estimated to begin in September of 2019.

Bid Documents will be available on or about Monday, June 17, 2019 and may be obtained from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s webpage, www.hacp. org. Bidders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of charge. Electronic versions of the Bid Documents, including bid forms, project manual, and drawings can be picked up in person, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Mr. Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/ Chief Contracting Officer A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at 9:00 a.m.: Arlington Heights 3123 Cordell Place Pittsburgh, PA 15210 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. Bidders shall come prepared to review all aspects of the construction site necessary to prepare a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Mr. Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/ Chief Contracting Officer until 2:00 p.m. July 22, 2019 at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or reject any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH. The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction Contracts. The Contractor must ensure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sexual preference, handicap or national origin.

HACP has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement at (412) 456-5116 Opt 1.

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

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for the Homewood North Sprinkler Freeze Protection, AMP-20 The construction work is estimated to begin in September of 2019.

Bid Documents will be available on or about Monday, June 17, 2019 and may be obtained from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s webpage, www.hacp. org. Bidders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of charge. Electronic versions of the Bid Documents, including bid forms, project manual, and drawings can be picked up in person, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Mr. Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on Wednesday, July 3, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.: Homewood North 901 Albertice St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. Bidders shall come prepared to review all aspects of the construction site necessary to prepare a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Mr. Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement until 2:00 p.m. July 15, 2019 at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or reject any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH. The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction Contracts. The Contractor must ensure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sexual preference, handicap or national origin.

HACP has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement at (412) 456-5116 Opt 1.

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

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

CLASSIFIEDS/METRO

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

SALE OF SURPLUS EQUIPMENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR INSPECTION, TESTING, AND MAINTENANCE OF FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEMS AUTHORITY WIDE IFB#300-25-19

The following surplus equipment will be offered for sale to the highest bidder(s): REQUEST FOR QUOTATION 190709 - SALE OF SURPLUS Computers, Monitors, Network Equipment, Snow Plow, Piano, Chorus Risers, Etc. Bids are due in to the CCAC Purchasing Department no later than 2:00 PM on Tuesday, July 9, 2019.

For more information, contact Mike Cvetic at mcvetic@ccac.edu.

Community College of Allegheny County Purchasing Department 800 Allegheny Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15233

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 July 16, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for: Pittsburgh Carmalt PreK-8 Chiller Replacement Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on June 24, 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 the project manual.

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby requests bids from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Fire Sprinkler Systems Authority Wide IFB#300-25-19 The documents will be available no later than June 17, 2019 and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 11:00 A.M. on July 9, 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.

Questions or inquires should be directed to: Mr. 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 15219 June 26, 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 download IFB/RFPs documentation.

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

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

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

SONNY BOY

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR LAUNDRY MACHINE SERVICES FOR ALL HACP COMMUNITIES RFP #250-11-19

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR ELEVATOR INSPECTIONS AUTHORITY WIDE IFB#300-27-19

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR Construction Management Services RFP #600-30-19

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): LAUNDRY MACHINE SERVICES FOR ALL HACP COMMUNITIES RFP #250-11-19 The documents will be available no later than June 17, 2019 and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until 11:00 a.m. on July 12, 2019 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

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

HACP.org.

Questions or inquiries should be directed to: Mr. 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-submission meeting will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept.

100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 June 28, 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 download IFB/RFPs documentation.

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby requests bids from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Elevator Inspections Authority Wide IFB#300-27-19 The documents will be available no later than June 17, 2019 and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 1:00 P.M. on July 9, 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.

Questions or inquires should be directed to: Mr. 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 15219 June 26, 2019 1:00 P.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 download IFB/RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion, Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh

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

PPS won’t relocate Milliones Middle School students to Arsenal…yet PPS FROM A1

locate students from one school in one neighborhood to another school in another neighborhood came at them too fast. It was just 35 days between the district’s announcement to reconfigure U-Prep and the anticipated June 19 board vote.

Thus, PPS Superintendent Anthony Hamlet, EdD, just moments before the board was to vote on the controversial proposal, told the board he wanted to delay the reconfiguration of U-Prep by a year, to the start of the 2020-21 school year. That way, everyone— parents, administrators, teachers, community members, board members—would be on one accord.

Board members seemed in agreement to delay the reconfiguration, including Sala Udin. But Udin wants to see such drastic improvement in U-Prep in the coming school year that the students won’t have to leave the school—and the Hill District—at all.

“If you’re planning on driving to New York, New York has to be your clear destination, otherwise you’ll wind up in Kentucky. So what’s important is that we make a clear intention of this board that we are planning for the success of Milliones, not planning how to get to Arsenal,” Udin said.

The board meeting featured some verbal consumer fireworks, but didn’t escalate to the big-time fireworks reserved only for Mr. Zambelli and the professionals. Wilson and Udin sparred about the issue, while board member Kevin Carter—a supporter of keeping kids in the Hill District—voiced his concerns via telephone.

Udin said he attended a meeting at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District days before the June 19 board meeting, and the general consensus from residents was, “We do not want to suffer the closing of another school in the Hill District.”

B5

The district isn’t looking to close U-Prep— by moving the middle school students to Arsenal, the district can focus on making U-Prep the early college program magnet school (grades 9-12) the district promised the community more than a decade ago.

“I do understand that the Hill District has gone through a lot, but hopefully over time, they won’t see it as we’re closing a school, we’re reconfiguring the school,” Dr. Hamlet told the New Pittsburgh Courier exclusively after the board meeting.

“There’s not enough students (in grades 6-8 at U-Prep) to have a full realm of teachers, a ‘teacher team’ in that school, so now you have teachers in a hodgepodge, and they’re actually teaching several subjects, but they can’t go deep in one subject to support the academic growth of kids.”

By moving the middle school students at U-Prep to Arsenal, Dr. Hamlet said, it “gets them to a space where it’s a middle school environment, they have a well-run machine.

Arsenal has high growth.”

Dr. Hamlet believes by putting additional supports and attention into U-Prep as a high school only, the students there will trend upward academically. Not only will current students benefit, but “we’re trying to get them (the U-Prep middle school students who would be relocated to Arsenal) prepared to come back to U-Prep, ready for that early college program.”

Board member Regina Holley called the reconfiguration proposal by the district “a storm that has split the African American community.”

She urged district leaders to take a page out of the book of success that Arsenal has penned, and use some of those strategies in the coming school year at U-Prep. Who knows, Holley said, by next spring there could be such vast improvement at U-Prep

that “it’s not necessary to move the children, we’ve been able to turn this school around.”

On the flip side, if nothing’s working, “then there’s a valuable alternative (Arsenal), a team that is very stable, very aggressive in doing academics,” Holley said.

Arsenal has been recognized throughout the state in student academic improvement incrementally over the past five years. Wilson touted Arsenal’s diverse student population, and she believes students who are exposed to such diversity help their overall growth. “And I’ve seen that happen with my own children and grandchildren, when they have been exposed to a lot more than just those who look like them.”

Most parents Wilson and Dr. Hamlet encountered weren’t against the idea of relocating the U-Prep students to Arsenal— they just needed more time to process, more time to prepare for it.

The majority of parents Udin encountered don’t want to see any more students leave the Hill District under any circumstances.

Udin believes if the district can plan to academically improve the U-Prep high school students, the district should concoct a plan to academically improve the U-Prep middle school students.

Dr. Hamlet sees it differently. He said his plan will have a win-win effect for everyone.

“We are going to make sure we cross all our T’s and dot all our I’s and make sure everything is in support of both schools, not one school, not robbing Peter to pay Paul, we’re not doing that,” he told the Courier exclusively.

“We just want to make sure all of our kids are getting well-supported public education.”

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Construction Management Services The documents will be available no later than June 24, 2019 and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until 10:00 A.M., July 19, 2019 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Parties or individuals interested may obtain information from: Mr. Kim Detrick – Director of Procurement/ Chief Contracting Officer Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116, Option 1 or by visiting the Business Opportunities section of www.hacp.org A pre bid meeting will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Development & Modernization 200 Ross Street, 9th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15219 July 11, 2019 10:00 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 download RFQ/IFB/RFPs documentation.

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

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

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

B6

FORUM

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

Tone deaf congress wants military pork (TriceEdneyWire.com)—The F-35 stealth fighter aircraft is one expensive plane. It costs $135 million to produce a single aircraft, but Congress is prepared to authorize spending for 90 more planes, a dozen more than the Pentagon has requested. Why? Lobbyists for Lockheed Martin, the company that produces these aircraft, have exercised their fine art of persuasion to convince the House Armed Services Committee that these aircraft are needed for our national “defense.” Wouldn’t you think the Pentagon has a better idea of what they “need” than lobbyists? Or are the profits of this corporation more important than the fiscal prudence that so many in Washington crow about when looking at education, Social Security, health care or programs that address human needs?

There is much to object to about the “Defense” budget, as defense spending absorbs more than half of all of spending from our budget. But spending on the F-35 aircraft is especially egregious. More than a trillion dollars will be spent on this aircraft, a trillion. Enough to eliminate all student debt, or fully endow the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with money left over! What do we get from this trillion? We get an aircraft with supply chain problems that the General Accounting Office has described as “falling short of warfighter requirements.” They say the aircraft,

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary “cannot perform as many missions or fly as often as required,” partly because of a “shortage in spare parts and limited repair capability.” So Lockheed Martin is producing this $135 million aircraft, more than two thousand, to be exact, without producing the requisite spare parts or developing the appropriate repair capabilities.

Bloomberg News described the F-35 program, “as the world’s costliest weapons program.” Its entire history has been fraught with both cost and efficiency problems. Why, then, are lobbyist pushing Congress to order more of these planes, more, even than the Pentagon wants? Follow the money. It’s all about the profits.

While the House Armed Services Committee is planning to waste billions of dollars on these costly and flawed F-35 planes, poor people around the country gathered in Washington to hear from Rev. William Barber, and Rev. Liz Theoharis about the Moral Budget. Believe me, there is no room for F-35 fighter planes in the Moral Budget.

Instead, the poor People’s Campaign increased spending on human needs, like heath care, education, and that oh-so-basic need—food! It might have been impactful for members of the House Armed Services Committee to spend a few moments with the Poor People’s Congress, the thousand or so people who crowded into Trinity Hall at Trinity Washington University to demand equity in education, affordable health care, and more.

The Poor People’s Moral Budget has the theme, “Everybody Has the Right to Live.” The budget would cut $350 billion in military spending, while increasing taxes on the wealthy, corporations, and Wall Street. It represents a paradigm shift from our nation’s current focus on militarism to a focus on human needs. Our nations hawks, and our President, believe that profligate military spending makes our world safer, which is nonsense! Indeed, the possibility of military action against Iran (and the deployment of a thousand more troops to the Middle East in late June), suggests that militarism makes the world dangerous, not safer. In any case in this militaristic climate, the move to order more F35s than even the President wants is nothing more than a profit-serving move to benefit Lockheed Martin, the corporation that can’t even produce enough spare parts for the planes it has already produced!

The Poor People’s Congress operated in stark contrast to the House Armed Services Committee. Reverend William Barber testified before the House Budget Committee on June 19, calling for an end to police violence against poor people and urged Congress to embrace its moral budget. By continuing profligate spending on F35 fighter planes, and funding more planes than even the Pentagon wants, Congress is engaging in policy violence against all Americans, but especially the 140 million who are poor!

(Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist.)

Plastics are strangling the planet ( N N PA ) — O n my morning Bill Fletcher Jr. walk I pass a tree every day that has a long plastic bag stuck in the branches.

I keep wondering whether my neighbor realizes that the bag is strangling the tree. I am not exaggerating. The plastic is not simply sitting on the branches but is cutting off air to the tree. Over time, that branch could die. Think about that the next time you are driving and see plastic bags flying around landing on bushes and trees. This is not a neutral issue.

I thought, again, about this matter of plastics when I read a fascinating piece in the Guardian concerning the global glut of plastics and the role of the USA in the proliferation of plastic material. It is not just that we, in the USA, are producing an abundance of plastic material. It is that we are shipping the waste overseas to the global South for, alleged, recycling or, in other cases, for simply dumping. A global version of “not in my backyard.”

You have probably heard about islands of plastic (and other garbage) inhabiting our oceans. The impact of this is the dying off of entire segments of oceans. In addition, many countries in the global North, including but not limited to the USA, look at the countries of the global South as a massive garbage dump. What we use and useup, we then send to the global South to be disposed of.

A recent global conference on plastics was stymied by the Trump ad-

Commentary

ministration which wished to take little to no responsibility for the proliferation of plastics and blamed the current glut on Asian countries.

What was so disingenuous about this is the historical role of the USA in promoting the use of plastics and paying no attention to disposal. Instead, the Trump administration acted as if there was no dirt on its shoes, or perhaps, no plastic sticking to its shoes (?), and that the blame lay elsewhere.

It is critical to highlight this issue to remind ourselves that the environmental challenges facing the planet are not solely about climate change, as critical as that happens to be.

There is environmental catastrophe unfolding, much of which is playing out in our oceans.

In this context, the notion of “America First,” in addition to having been a slogan of pre-World War 2 US fascists, is the slogan of idiots. The USA does not exist on planet Earth by itself.

The planetary crisis in plastics is one that no one nation-state can resolve alone. There must be a collective pact, and this necessitates a shift in the attitude of an arrogant US administration. This, of course, will only happen through a combination of mass pressure and the electoral removal of those who think that one can ‘make America great again,’ while watching planet Earth die.

(Bill Fletcher Jr. is the former president of TransAfrica Forum.)

Treaty of Versailles centennial, and police not priest Historians Keynes thought have called J. Pharoah Doss leniency should June 6, 1944 the have been exmost important tended to the day of the 20th Germans, not century. D-day out of fairness, was the largest but for the ecoamphibious innomic well-being vasion in milof all of Europe, itary history. which Keynes 150,000 allied felt the Treaty forces stormed of Versailles prethe beaches of Normandy, France vented. and liberated Europe from Hitler The resulting economic hardships and the Nazis. in Germany led to the rise of the The world just celebrated D-day’s Nazi party.

75th anniversary.

The League of Nations also came The participants of D-day are out of the Paris Peace Conference. known as the “greatest generation” It was the first worldwide organiand generations afterwards were zation with the expressed goals to taught that World War II was “the maintain the peace through colgood war.” But before D-day Pres- lective security, disarmament, and ident Franklin Roosevelt asked to settle all international disputes British Prime Minister Winston through arbitration, therefore, abolChurchill what he thought the lat- ishing war. est global conflict should be called.

In 1920 the American people, who Churchill said, “The unnecessary were hostile toward the previous preswar…Because never was a war (eas- ident’s (Woodrow Wilson) interventionier) to stop than that which has just ist foreign policy, elected Warren G. wrecked what was left of the world Harding for president. Harding’s camfrom the previous struggle.” paign slogan was: Return to Normalcy, The previous struggle was World and the United States refused to join War I, which was idealized as “mak- the League of Nations. This weakened ing the world safe for democracy” and the credibility of the organization from “the war to end all wars.” Between the start and the League of Nations 1914 and 1918 the total number of couldn’t enforce peace or disarmament. military and civilian casualties were And hostilities eventually led to over 37 million.

World War II. At that time, it was considered the After this “unnecessary war” a new deadliest conflict in human history. international organization formed The fighting of World War I ended called The United Nations. This time when Allied Powers and Germany war had to be prevented at all cost signed the Peace Treaty of Versailles because of Hiroshima and Nagasaon June 28, 1919 and peace was final- ki. The lesson the “great generation” ized at the Paris Peace Conference on learned from their predecessors was October 21, 1919. the world had to be policed in order But two things went wrong. 1) Rep- for it to be safe for democracy. arations. 2) The League of Nations.

The United States assumed that Following the Paris Peace Confer- role. (After all the destruction, no othence, famous economist John Maynard er nation had the capacity to do it.)

Keynes, a British delegate in attenBut what went wrong? dance, wrote a book about the peace Bret Stephens wrote in his book, process called: The Economic Conse- America in Retreat, “To say America quences of the Peace. The Treaty of Ver- needs to be the world’s policeman is not sailles required Germany to make rep- to say we need to be its priest, preacharation payments to the Allied powers ing the gospel of the American way.” for all damages during the war. (This In other words, America became was estimated at $31.4 billion, equiv- self-righteous walking the beat and alent to $442 billion in 2019.) Keynes lost its footing.

(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the argued the treaty was designed to further crush the defeated Germans. New Pittsburgh Courier.)

Check It Out

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Mike Jones

Commentary

Democrats in 2020 and the battle for the soul of White America

I made myself a promise not to follow or comment on the Democratic presidential campaign until October or November, primarily because it a pointless exercise that will have nothing to do with who will win the Democratic nomination and whether or not that person can successfully defeat Donald Trump. I consider it like obsessing about what happens in spring training or preseason football, which has nothing to do with who wins the World Series or Super Bowl.

However, while preseason and spring training are terrible predictors of who will ultimately prevail, they can provide insight about a team’s thinking on what a winning strategy looks like.

Like athletes in spring training or preseason, presidential candidates are currently defining themselves, testing their messages, and developing strategies that they think will make them successful once the real campaign starts.

There are two competing theories about what a winning Democratic strategy looks like. The younger, insurgent Democrats believe that political success is tied to expanding the electorate to encompass more of the marginalized America, making it younger and more diverse. This theory says Republicans can only win elections when the electorate is smaller, older and whiter.

This is why Republican campaign strategy focuses on voter suppression.

Despite many more women (including viable candidates for president and a forceful House speaker) and more people of color (including a past Black president and Black candidates for the highest office), the Democratic Party establishment remains a privileged White guys club, much like their Republican cohorts. The difference is the Republican privileged White guys club is in charge of America’s all-White political party, while Democratic leadership has a problem in that they don’t look like the party they lead or the voters they most need.

While their rhetoric and stance on social issues are diametrically opposite to that of Republicans, they share more with Republicans than the casual observer might realize They both represent America’s corporate economic interests and privileged classes. The Democratic establishment also has the same militaristic stance in defense of those corporate economic and class interests as Republicans. This is why when Democrats win, we never get policies that address the need for structural change. Even Obama’s Affordable Care Act was primarily designed to protect the health care industry, not maximize healthcare for underinsured and uninsured Americans.

The entrance of former Vice President Joe Biden into the Democratic presidential fray is an excellent opportunity to develop an understanding of the Democratic establishment’s theory of case and its limitations. The premise of Joe Biden’s campaign is that Trump is an anomaly, an interruption of the linear progress toward a more perfect union. And despite Trump winning a majority of White voters in 2016, the majority of White Americans don’t support Trump, and what Democrats need to do in 2020 is to give that White America a better White option.

When Biden announced his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination, his statement included the following, “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation.” He warned that if Trump is re-elected, “he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

During a campaign stop, Biden touted his bipartisan credentials, claiming the public would witness “an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” GOP lawmakers, Biden predicted, would be willing to work with him once Trump left office.

Biden is only partially right about the 2020 presidential contest being a battle for the soul of America. This election will not be a battle for the soul of the nation, but it will be a battle for the soul of White America.

Trump’s reelection won’t change the character of this country because Trump is a creature of this country, a manifestation of the current character of arguably the majority of White America. With the genocide of the indigenous people, the hereditary slavery of Africans, the Jim Crow oppression of their descendants, and the structural, misogynistic oppression of women, there has never been a time in American history when you couldn’t find Donald Trump.

Through much of our history, in fact, Trump’s like has dominated America.

Trump and Republicans embrace the racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia and religious bigotry that are endemic to America as the natural and proper order. They neither envision nor want a life without White male privilege. They will never negotiate that privilege away.

The unspoken but implied premise of a Biden campaign (and of those other Democratic moderates whose names no one knows) is that winning over older, more moderate White voters is the key to a Democratic victory in 2020.

The problem is that the Democratic establishment and Democratic insurgents can’t both be right, and the party will soon have to make up its mind which path to follow.

Since its founding, the United States has rested upon a set of mutually contradictory principles. The existential political challenge for this country has been, and will continue to be: what are White Americans who know better willing to do about White Americans who won’t do better? What you need to do before you consider what Democrat you’re going to support is to decide what America you live in. How Democrats think about that and what it means to be White in America will ultimately decide how Democrats build their strategy for November 2020.

(Mike Jones is a former senior staffer in St. Louis city and county government and current member of the Missouri State Board of Education and The St. Louis American editorial board. In 2016 and 2017, he was awarded Best Serious Columnist for all of the state’s large weeklies by the Missouri Press Association, and in 2018 he was awarded Best Serious Columnist in the nation by the National Newspapers Association.)

(Reprinted from the St. Louis American)

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

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Northside Leadership Conference 36th Scholarship and Awards Dinner

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEE JAVAUGHN CORBETT-SPARKS, with family.

JAVAUGHN CORBETT-SPARKS, LANI OWENS AND KIANNA COPELAND hold up their scholarship checks, during the June 13 event at the Priory Grand Hall. (Photos by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)

THE 2019 NORTHSIDE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

ABOUT THE EVENT FIFTEEN NORTH SIDE HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS received $1,000 scholarships from the Northside Leadership Conference, underwritten by various sponsors. It’s yet another way of playing one’s part in furthering the achievement of Pittsburgh’s youth as they venture onto exciting and rewarding paths. Scholarship winners were: Cameron Brown, Lauren Krebs, Mikaela DeCarlo, Isaiah Dean, JaVaughn Corbett-Sparks, Savanna Zink, Melvina Black, Lidia Pietrusza, Sharon Soergel, Isabella Johnson, Myra Samuel, Lani Owens, Domenique Ross, Kianna Copeland, and Brady Walker.

DOMENIQUE ROSS, KIANNA COPELAND

ISREAL WILLIAMS, pictured with his mother. Williams, with the Charles Street Area Council, was the SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEE LANI OWENS, second from left, with family. recipient of a Neighborhood/Business Award.

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JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2019

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

‘Brotha Ash’ Woodson

SHAUN AND JAY were on hand at Bedford Hill Apartments’ Community Day, June 11, lending a helping hand. (Photos by Courier photographer Ashley Woodson)

Out & About In the Hill District

ANGELA BROCK-GERMANY, DENA FREEMAN

BEDFORD HILL APARTMENTS 10TH ANNIVERSARY COMMUNITY DAY Deb Holt, a resource coordinator for Bedford Hill Apartments, led Bedford Hill’s 10th Anniversary Community Day celebration honoring victims of violence. Vendors from all over the City of Pittsburgh, along with the many residents, came out to participate in this heralded event.

DEB HOLT, a resource coordinator for Bedford Hill Apartments in the Hill District, with residents during the 10th Anniversary Community Day, June 11.

TRIPPY LEE, QUAY STYLES

DEB HOLT, the creator of Community Day.

TIFFANY, the tattoo artist for the kids…

HAVING FUN AT COMMUNITY DAY...

A COMMUNITY VENDOR has cream oils and jewelry for sale…

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS was in the house…

KELLY RAE AND KELLY with the Paraffin Wax, which soothes the body…