12.21.22 NPC

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Tragically, seven people have died in four residential fires in Allegheny County in the past week and a half.

Five were African Americans.

On Sunday night, Dec. 11, a fire started in an apartment on the 12th floor of the Roosevelt Building, Downtown. An 80-year-old African American woman, Barbara Johnson, attempted to escape the fire by going down the stairwell, but was unable to make it out. Firefighters found her in the stairwell. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The following morning, Dec. 12, a fire caused residents to evacuate from the Brinton Towers apartment building in Braddock Hills. An African American man, 60-yearold Kevin Prince, was in the building at the time of the fire. He was rushed to a hospital where he died.

And in the early morning hours of Saturday, Dec. 17,

a fire was reported at a home in the 3400 block of McClure Ave. in Brighton Heights. Thirteen people were inside the home at the time. Two adults and eight children were able to escape; however, firefighters found three people—a 19-year-old Black man, Dijon Hutchinson, and two African American children—inside the home. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

A report released in July 2021 from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that between 2016-2018, African Americans had nearly double the rate of residential fire deaths as the national average. A population of 13 percent in the U.S., Blacks accounted for 24 percent of all residential fire deaths and 27 percent of all residential fire injuries.

But the data isn’t just confined to that threeyear period. It was essentially the same disparity in a 2014 National Fire Protection Association report, which studied house fires from 2007-2011.

Local investigators are in the process of determining the causes of the fires, including the fire at a home in Sewickley early Tuesday morning, Dec. 13, that claimed the lives of two young children. The investigation will also reveal if there were working smoke detectors in the residences, and sprinkler systems in the high-rise buildings and specific apartments.

Dr. Darryl Jones, who is the City of Pittsburgh’s fire chief, was heartbroken in an interview on KDKA Radio, Dec. 12, upon learning of the Sewickley fire, which, at the time, was the third fatal fire in as many days in the county.

“That’s the one thing that troubles me all the time is the death of the children,” Dr. Jones said.

“No matter how hard we really try to educate, and the technology changes and everything that we try to do, despite our best efforts, sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want them to.”

by Rob Taylor Jr.

Courier Staff Writer

Not every problem requires a call to 911.

For Dr. Kathi Elliott, the outspoken CEO of Gwen’s Girls, a minor issue here, a minor issue there can oftentimes be solved not through handcuffs or a jail cell, but through trained personnel and mediators who have young people’s best interests at heart.

Enter “Caring Connections for YOUth,” a new Allegheny County-wide initiative that will serve as a pre-arrest diversion option for youth; girls and boys.

Caring Connections for YOUth will give everyone, including school officials, police, other youth, family members, etc., a chance to call “211” instead of “911,” and then press “#3” to be connected with a live person who can take the name of the young person who may be in need of help. Professionals will then follow up and at-

tempt to meet with the youth in question, with family involvement.

“The ultimate goal is to stop the usual calling of 911 for a lot of incidences that can be addressed in the community,” Dr. Elliott told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “This is community-led...a lot of youth are referred (to different services) from the back-end (penal system). Let’s try to do it as a prevention (before the penal system).”

“211” is managed by the United Way of Pennsylvania. Dr. Elliott said the “#3” service, managed by Gwen’s Girls, is currently up and running. While the goal of Caring Connections for YOUth is to reduce the number of youth arrests and those referred for system involvement, another long-term goal is to also see a reduction in racial disparities which has persisted despite a multitude of system and community-based efforts.

DR. DARRYL JONES is fire chief for the City of Pittsburgh.

by Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Harvard University has announced Claudine Gay as its new president.

The dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Gay becomes the first African American to serve as the university’s leader and the second woman president in the institution’s illustrious history.

Founded in 1636, the university has graduated Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, W.E.B Du Bois and other famous individuals and leaders.

Lawrence S. Bascow currently serves as Harvard’s 29th president. Gay will take office in July 2023, becoming the 30th president in Har-

vard history.

“I am humbled by the confidence that the governing boards have placed in me and by the prospect of succeeding President Bacow in leading this remarkable institution,” Gay said.

“It has been a privilege to work with Larry over the last five years. He has shown me that leadership isn’t about one person. It’s about all of us, moving forward together, and that’s a lesson I take with me into this next journey.”

Penny Pritzker, chair of Harvard’s presidential search committee lauded Gay as a strong leader who will honor and continue to grow the university’s strong reputation.

“Claudine is a remarkable leader who is profoundly devoted to

sustaining and enhancing Harvard’s academic excellence, to championing both the value and the values of higher education and research, to expanding opportunity and to strengthening Harvard as a fount of ideas and a force for good in the world,” Pritzker, who also serves as senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, told the Harvard Gazette.

In her current role as Edgerly Family dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Gay leads the university’s largest and most academically diverse faculty, spanning the biological and physical sciences and engineering, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts.

Gay has been celebrated for her guided efforts to expand student access and opportunity, spur excellence and innovation in teaching and research, enhance aspects of academic culture and bring new emphasis and energy to areas such as quantum science and engineering; climate change; ethnicity, indigeneity, and migration; and the humanities.

Prtizker said she and the search committee are excited about Gay’s transition to president and knows she will bring her expertise to strengthen, not only the institution, but the world at large.

“We are confident Claudine will be a thoughtful, principled and inspiring president for all of Harvard, dedicated to helping each of our individual Schools to thrive, as well as fostering creative connections among them.” And she is someone eager to integrate and elevate Harvard’s efforts— throughout the arts and sciences and across the professions—to address complex challenges in the wider world.”

• DECEMBER 21

1865— Following the example set by Mississippi, South Carolina on this day enacted a series of “Black Codes.” The codes displayed a White Southern obsession with three things after losing the Civil War. 1) They still desperately wanted to control Blacks. The primary method was forcing the now landless and money-less ex-slaves to sign “labor contracts” with White employers, which were so strict that they came close to re-instituting slavery. 2) They were obsessed with preventing sexual relations between Blacks and Whites. This took the form of banning interracial marriages and relationships. 3) They wanted to retard Black economic progress with a series of measures designed to require that Blacks work for Whites and not establish their own businesses. The codes barred Blacks from even selling farm products without the permission of a White employer. Fortunately, many of the codes were never fully enforced because Northern troops occupied the South and voided many of the “Black Codes.”

1956—The Montgomery Bus Boycott ends . For more than a year, Montgomery, Ala., Blacks had boycotted city buses to demand an end to segregation and demeaning treatment of African-Americans. The boycott had been sparked by the dramatic refusal of Rosa Parks to give up her seat on the bus to a White man. The boycott ended when the United States Supreme Court ruled that public transportation segregation was unconstitutional. By the time the boycott ended, Parks and boycott leader Martin Luther King Jr. were national heroes (at least among Blacks).

1988— National Black political leader Jesse L. Jackson Sr. begins a campaign encouraging use of the designation “African-American” instead of “Black” to denote Americans of African ancestry.

• DECEMBER 22

1898— Historian and author Chancellor Williams is born on this day in Bennettsville, S.C. Williams authored the book “Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D.” The book is considered a must-read for any serious student of Black history. Williams died in 1992.

• DECEMBER 23

1815— Abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet is born in Kent County, Md. Perhaps second only to Frederick Douglass, Garnet was the leading Black abolitionist of the 1800s. He was known for his tremendous oratorical skills and being bold in expressing his opinions. After the Civil War, however, he became frustrated with the slow pace of Black progress in America and favored the establishment of an independent Black nation in Africa.

1867—Madame C.J. Walker is born Sarah Breedlove on a Delta Plantation in Louisiana. A high level of self-esteem and a near unmatchable level of energy enabled her to launch a hair care products business, which is believed to have made her the first Black millionaire in America. Her story is truly an amazing one. As an orphan at age 7, she quickly became an independent woman. She began working for another Black woman with a line of hair care products. But she soon launched her own—“Madame Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower.” She traveled for a year and a half promoting her products throughout the South and Southwest. By 1910, she had settled in Indianapolis, Ind., where she built her factory. By 1913, she traveled through the Caribbean and Central America promoting her products. By 1916, she moved to New York in a Harlem townhouse that was as fabulous as anything on Fifth Avenue. In 1917, she was part of a delegation of prominent Blacks who visited the White House to protest against lynching. Once asked the secret to her success, she said, “I got myself a start by giving myself a start.” She died in 1919 as the wealthiest Black woman in America.

• DECEMBER 24

1881— The Edgefield Exodus begins. More than 5,000 Blacks, driven in part by a wave of White violence and economic exploitation, begin leaving Edgefield County, S.C., and resettled in Arkansas. The movement

was also encouraged by people like Pap Singleton who believed Southern Blacks could enjoy a better life if they moved to the Midwest. It is also believed that some Whites also encouraged the exodus in a bid to reduce South Carolina’s Black population, which was a majority in the state in the 1870s and 1880s.

• DECEMBER 25

1760— The first poem written by a Black person and published in America is published on Christmas day 1760. It was written by Jupiter Hammon —a slave in Long Island, N.Y., who was allowed to attend school. The poem was entitled “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries.” Hammon also wrote a poem to Phyllis Wheatley—another early and great African-American poet. Hammon is thought to have lived until he was 95 (1711-1806). He was devoutly religious.

1838— At the Battle of Okeechobee on Christmas Day 1838, a force of Seminole Indians soundly defeated U.S. government troops who were trying to force them off their lands. The Seminoles were led by a Black chief named John Horse. The Seminoles were perhaps the most racially integrated of all the Indian tribes. During the early 1800s, Blacks escaping slavery in Florida and Georgia were frequently granted safe haven by the Seminoles. Significant intermarriage resulted. Their aid for escaped slaves was one of the reasons the government wanted so desperately to relocate the Seminoles from Florida to the Midwest. 1951—Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Moore are murdered when a bomb explodes under their home in Mims, Fla. Both were teachers and courageous civil rights activists. It is believed the bomb was planted by a White terrorist organization such as the Ku Klux Klan.

2006—James Brown dies . “Soul Brother #1”—one of the most influential figures in Soul or R&B music of the 20th Century dies at 73 while preparing for a performance. Born in Barnwell, S.C., Brown began his amazing career in 1953 and rose to fame to in the late 1950s. He remained highly popular through the 1960s and 1970s. While less popular, he continued to perform until the day of his death. Brown was also known for his soulful dancing style. His full name was James Joseph Brown Jr.

•DECEMBER 26

1848— In one of the most daring escapes from slavery in U.S. history, on this day in 1848, William and Ellen Craft began a 1,000-mile journey from a plantation in Macon, Ga., to freedom in Boston, Mass. The light-complexioned Ellen disguised herself as an infirmed White man and the dark-complexioned William pretended to be the faithful slave. The escape, though harrowing, was successful. But in 1850 when Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, the Crafts found themselves being hunted down by both slave catchers from Georgia and U.S. Marshals. Then members of Boston’s powerful abolitionist and Underground Railroad communities stepped in. They helped the Crafts flee to Canada and then to Liverpool, England, where the couple stayed until after the Civil War.

1966— The first Kwanzaa holiday celebrations take place. The alternative seven-day holiday period for African-Americans was originated by California Black nationalist Maulana Ron Karenga . Kwanzaa and its principles however, may be more widely respected then actually celebrated among American Blacks.

•DECEMBER 27

1873—William A. Harper , one of the most gifted Black artists of the 20th century, is born in Cayuga, Canada. He was a student at the Henry O. Tanner Art Institute in Chicago. Unfortunately, his brilliance was cut short by tuberculosis. He died in Mexico at the age of 36 in 1910.

1956—Segregation is outlawed on public buses in Tallahassee, Fla. The decision followed a six-month long boycott by the city’s African-American population. The boycott was patterned after the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott sparked by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a White man.

Fires claim five Black lives in seven days

Officials give fire safety tips for homes during winter months

Dr. Jones did say that in the Roosevelt Building fire, sprinkler systems were in place and working in the hallways, but there were no sprinkler systems in individual apartments.

The fire “would have been extinguished a lot sooner if there were sprinklers in the apartments,” Dr. Jones said on KDKA Radio.

In an exclusive interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 20, City of Pittsburgh Assistant Fire Chief of Risk Management, Brian Kok-

kila, said the risk of fire can increase in the winter months.

“There is an increase in fires related to home heating, and sometimes alternative methods of heating,” he said. “It’s important that your primary heating source be well-functioning and be serviced regularly to ensure that it’s operating properly and not an issue.”

Kokkila also said space heaters can cause a problem. “It’s very important that we recognize, space heaters are designed to be plugged directly into

the power source and not to be operated with extension cords. And it’s very important to recognize that those space heaters need to have sufficient clearance from combustible items.”

Kokkila said there must be at least three feet of clearance between a space heater and a combustible item, such as bedding or curtains.

Specifically to extension cords, Kokkila said they “vary in gauge of wire,” which is how much power a cord can carry. “Extension cords are only designed for a temporary

use. Not running a space heater for a day, but rather to run a piece of power equipment or lighting for a very temporary period. They’re not designed for permanent application.”

Kokkila also advised residents to stay away from using candles inside the home. “Candles are an absolute cause of fires, and especially that December-January seems to be the peak nationwide for candles being a home fire cause.”

Having working smoke detectors is a must in the home, as well. The National Fire Protection Associ-

ation recommends having them in every bedroom, in stairways leading to upper levels, and in a living room, den or family room.

Smoke alarms should be tested monthly, batteries should be changed yearly, and alarms should be replaced every 10 years.

The borough of Wilkinsburg suffered a crushing blow when two students, both African Americans, died in a house fire on Shelbourne Avenue on Oct. 29. A fire that started in the kitchen quickly engulfed the home. Seven-year-old Novad Loveings and 6-year-old Brecc Loveings died as a result of the fire. Wilkinsburg Mayor Dontae Comans, the school board of directors and borough Council partnered with the Red Cross and Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire for the “Sound the Alarm” program.

With Dr. Jones, the partners went into homes in Wilkinsburg and installed free smoke detectors. Dr. Jones estimated about 100 smoke detectors were installed for roughly 40 families on Dec. 3, and there are appointments to install even more.

Wilkinsburg residents can request a smoke detector by calling 412-2635278.

Within the City of Pittsburgh, there is a program within the Bureau of Fire that provides fire safety programs and demonstrations to community groups and schools. For more information, residents or groups can call 412-255-2866. The City of Pittsburgh will also supply and install smoke detectors to any city resident who requests one. To request a smoke detector, call 412-255-2863.

Gwen’s Girls to manage new service aimed at diverting youth from justice system

“As the Allegheny County Court President Judge, I have witnessed countless cases where arrest was an avoidable consequence for our youth. We can no longer deny the role trauma and poverty play in bringing young people to the attention of law enforcement and subsequently the courts,” Court of Common Pleas President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark said in a Dec. 15 statement. “This program will help disrupt the cradle to prison pipeline that far too many youth of color face.”

According to a 2019 report from the local Black Girls Equity Alliance, Black girls are 10 times more likely than White girls, and Black boys are seven times more likely than White boys, to be referred to the justice system.

“As the data reflects, far too many children, especially Black children, continue to be referred to the juvenile justice system for behaviors as minor as disorderly conduct in schools,” Dr. Elliott said in a statement. “We need to do more as a community to divert these types of cases and youth from system involvement, and as an alternative provide early, trauma-focused intervention and prevention services to address their needs to set them on a

path for success.”

Dr. Elliott added: “There are great organizations in our city and county that offer support and services, however, families, schools and systems often don’t know about them or how to access them. We found that this is a critical barrier that needs to be addressed if we want to see systemic change. There has been a lot of funding granted to many organizations for violence prevention and intervention supports and services. We want to help ensure youth, families, schools, and systems get connected to these great services.”

Dr. Elliott told the Courier that initially, a focus will be on collaborating with communities and school districts that have higher rates of referrals to Juvenile Court, such as the Mon Valley, Penn Hills, Braddock, East Pittsburgh, and parts of the city proper. Ten “Community Based Resource Coordinators” will be responsible for receiving intake information, developing and utilizing a comprehensive referral network, and providing case management and ongoing follow up. Over a two-year period, Dr. Elliott is confident that this new service can greatly reduce, even eliminate racial disparities seen in referrals to the juvenile justice system.

GWEN’S GIRLS FROM A1

Afrika

Yetu

Boosts African Culture & Spirit

6925 McPherson Boulevard

Pittsburgh, PA 15208 412-540-0003 www.afrikayetu.org

The spirit of Africa is alive and well in Pittsburgh, thanks to Afrika Yetu. Yetu is Swahili for “ours,” and founder and president Elie Kihonia wanted to make sure he and other Africans were not just included in uplifting the African spirit in Pittsburgh but led the conversation.

“We felt like it was important for us to not just be the artists or teachers but become the people who are also sitting at the table,” said Kihonia. “Our culture and identity has to be determined by us, not by professors or scholars or somebody that went to Africa. We felt like it was important to have our own voice and take matters into our own hands.”

Afrika Yetu is the nucleus of arts learning, training and access for the Pan African community. They promote and foster the rich, diverse cultural perspective of people of African heritage through high-quality education, vibrant performances, visual art exhibitions, immigration assistance, and so much more. They aim to universally enrich the African experience in Pittsburgh, especially for immigrants who may be facing

challenges.

“We know language is a barrier. We know technology, if you’re not aware of it, is a barrier. We make sure we teach people computer skills in a way that they will understand. [We show] this is how you communicate for free using WhatsApp, Zoom, etc.”

Over time, Kihonia is proud of the progress Afrika Yetu has made and remains committed.

“In Pittsburgh in the 90’s, I was probably the only person walking downtown with African attire. Everyone didn’t feel good wearing African attire and going downtown,” said Kihonia. “We decided it was important to change the mindset from the core. We got ourselves involved in the cultural district. We got ourselves involved in the school district. We got ourselves involved in churches…We work in grassroots ways to promote our culture.”

Kihonia added that African culture is becoming more mainstream daily.

“Today, you can’t run away from it. It’s in every music [genre], including hip hop with afro beats. You cannot hide it when you see movies such as Black Panther that inspires young persons and persons of color.”

House of Soul Catering: Where Every Bite Feels Like Home

203 Whitaker St. Munhall, PA 15130 Website: https:// www.houseofsoulcateringllc.com/ Phone: 412-461-5000 Email: houseofsoulcatering@gmail.com

Food has always been a big part of Kamahlai Stewart’s life.

“Growing up, my grandparents, my mom, really everybody we were surrounded by food all the time. I grew a liking to it. My mom and dad used to work all the time so sitting around waiting for my parents to cook was a no-go. I took what I learned from my grandparents and my mom and started cooking, that was at age 7,” said Stewart. After moving to Pittsburgh, she had a hard time finding dining options that suited her taste.

“I know when I first moved here, I couldn’t find a whole lot of places that fit my tastebuds as far as soul food was concerned. My husband was like; you should go ahead and do this full-time because we’re not getting what we want, and the only time we do is when you cook.”

From that, House of Soul Catering was born. It is a small family business that has become one of Pittsburgh’s most famous eats because from generation to

generation, their recipes always remind you of home and is cooked from the soul of their hearts.

They provide carry-out and catering services featuring soul food staples where everything is made from scratch. The menu has items like fried chicken, whiting fish, and their number one seller, macaroni and cheese. Additionally, Stewart uses a signature family recipe to incorporate a twist when it comes to the candied yams.

“For our candied yams, we put apples in them. That’s been a staple in our family for over a decade. That’s what we were brought up on versus regular yams.” House of Soul also actively empowers youth within the community by providing employment opportunities.

“Our goal has always been to keep children off the streets and out of trouble,” said Stewart.

Stewart encourages anyone seeking good, quality food to order from House of Soul.

“If they are looking for down-to-earth southern cuisine, they need to come visit us and get their souls fed. Let us feed your soul.”

THE 7TH ANNUAL EQUITY SUMMIT

GWEN’S GIRLS AND THE BLACK GIRLS EQUITY ALLIANCE HELD ITS SEVENTH ANNUAL EQUITY SUMMIT AND AWARDS CEREMONY, SEPT. 29-30, AT THE SHERATON STATION SQUARE.

DR. KATHI ELLIOTT AND AWARDEE TAMARA COLLIER

DR. KATHI ELLIOTT WITH AWARDEE DAUGHTERS OF ZION

DR. KATHI ELLIOTT WITH AWARDEE BRANDI FISHER

DR. KATHI ELLIOTT WITH AWARDEE MINISTER IRIS L. CHAPMAN OF RUTH’S WAY

AWARDEES—JOANNE SMITH AND THE GIRLS FOR GENDER EQUITY

DR. KATHI ELLIOTT AND EMCEE KIKI BROWN OF WAMO 107.3

8302, ext. 128.

itive

Congratulations, Maurice B. Wade Sr., on your 100th Birthday!

Lifelong Monongahela resident Maurice B. Wade Sr. turned 100 years old on Nov. 30, 2022, and there was a huge celebration for him!

Mr. Wade spent his life working for Bell Telephone in the Mon Valley and Pittsburgh area which later became Verizon. He raised three sons in the Mon Valley, and they all earned college degrees and went on to have successful careers. Of course, when you live to be 100 years old, life happens.

Mr. Wade’s middle son, Clark, passed away a few years ago. He cherishes every moment he has with his family. Mr. Wade also pastored the Whole Truth Church of God in Christ in Donora for more than 50 years. His oldest son is now the pastor. Locals will tell you he inspired generations of young people to be their best selves. The celebration was

held, Dec. 3, at the Donora Borough Building. Mr. Wade's 92-yearold wife, Mildred, was there to share her colorful memories and Mr. Wade's sister, 92-yearold Joretta Lyons, was there as well.

The century honorarium included words of accolade, hilarious remembrances and a special poem of endearment from Pastor Wayne Bass of New Haven, Connecticut. A large wall hanging with photos of Mr. Wade, affectionately referred to as "Dad Wade," provided the backdrop for everyone to strike a pose with the distinguished guest of honor, for an evening full of love, joy, laughter and tears of joy.

“Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name EMMANUEL which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US.”

REV. WALKER SAYS: Let’s share the Good News EMMANUEL OUR GOD IS WITH US. We are NOT ALONE thank you JESUS.

MAURICE B. WADE SR.

Adults graduate from eight-week course on ‘coding’

Pitt’s Hill Community Engagement Center site of the training

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Chances are, there isn’t a day that goes by that you’re not using a computer.

And yes, a smartphone is considered a computer.

Computers can only “compute” if a human “tells” them “how” to work. That’s called “coding,” or “computer programming.”

The percentage of human computer programmers who are African American, however, is scary small.

People like Rigina Brown, Charles Bennett, Jymoni Rainey and Jaquala Bibbons are bucking the trend. They are all Pittsburghers who recently graduated from an eight-week course on coding, taught by instructors and graduate students from the University of Pittsburgh.

“Coding is an important skill nowadays, for different career options and other personal goals,” said Rohit Base, a graduate student at Pitt who helped with training. “We are surrounded by coding. That’s a skill everybody

should have.”

By learning how to code, you can learn how to make websites and apps, process data and, most importantly, attain jobs in an industry that’s only growing.

Across the country, the word is out about coding, and there are many organizations that are trying to get more African Americans hooked on coding. Computer programmers made a median salary of $89,120 in 2020, according to a U.S. News and World Report salary study. The highest paid programmers earned more than $115,000 yearly, while the lowest-paid still pulled in close to $70,000.

For Pitt, it’s a determined, strategic effort to connect its resources with what the African American community labels as a priority, such as computer programming, free of charge.

“Hill District residents have highlighted the importance of digital literacy and inclusion,” said Keith Caldwell, executive director of Playspace Initiatives for Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs, at the Nov.

9 graduation. Caldwell said Pitt prides itself on bridging the people to these IT (information technology) careers, “bringing opportunities in that connect with those stated goals (of the community).”

THE FAMILY GROUP PHOTO...

THE GRADUATES—Standing: Taylor McCartney, Charles Bennett, Jymoni Rainey. Seated: Jaquala Bibbons, Rigina Brown. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

Pitt’s Hill Community Engagement Center was the site for the “intro to programming” course for adults where, in addition to the five aforementioned African Americans, Taylor McCartney also graduated from the course.

GRADUATE JYMONI RAINEY

GRADUATE JAQUALA BIBBONS

STACK UP:

Cathy Nedd named President of the Real Times Media Group Make your job work for you

by Sherri Kolade Michigan Chronicle

From quiet quitting and quick quitting during the Great Resignation to reshaping hustle culture while working 9-5 and being an entrepreneur— there’s a myriad of options out there as it relates to having more than just a job or career.

But what about those content in their jobs, although society says otherwise, and those workers are happy to remain there until they retire? It’s almost the antithesis of the entrepreneurial boom that occurred during the pandemic.

It can happen, however, still even in this current inflation-hit economy where an employee can remain at their job and be successful —especially with millions

of opportunities to choose from.

Currently there are over 6.5 million jobs available that are already changing the financial trajectory of people across the nation. Why give that up?

President Joe Biden is even encouraging the workforce to keep at it with their jobs as more are now being created than before in the history of this country.

“The strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the first step in bringing fundamental change to an economy that hasn’t worked for the working people of this nation for too long,” Biden said.

Paul Robinson is the Founder and CEO of ConstructReach, a workforce development initiative and diversity and inclusion enterprise, and he knows a thing or two about letting

one’s job work for him.

His workforce consultant development agency, based in St. Louis, Mo., builds on its passion of teachable opportunities for youth and consultation to help them be ready for work.

“One of the things that we specialize in is putting an emphasis on formalizing internship programs that takes into account a younger demographic,” he said, adding that this industry needs younger people working.

How does that translate to letting one’s job work for them?

Robinson says he and his team build the youth up through hard and soft skill development, teaching them about work ethics and learning how they can fit in at workspaces for long-term success.

“Their managers [help] to put them in the best po-

sition to succeed … as they are becoming professional and entering into young adulthood and into their careers,” Robinson said.

Local solopreneur Pamela Hilliard told the Michigan Chronicle that she has learned to thrive in spaces that she made all her own, which eventually led her to a company she runs—but it didn’t start out that way.

“I was applying for some jobs and I was told I was overqualified or that they would give me $20,000 a year,” she said, adding that letting a job work for you means knowing how to negotiate contracts, appreciating one’s workflow, and learning how to lean into the role and most importantly showing up to the job bringing your best self.

“Know your worth and your value,” she said.

Fair access to financial services is vital to closing the racial wealth gap

by Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com)

—“In 2022, in the United States of America, you can be turned away at a bank because of the color of your skin. The wealth and income disparities between White and minority households are a consequence of the unequal access and treatment minorities have faced. From accepting slaves as collateral for loans, to Jim Crow, to

redlining, to the subprime mortgage crisis’ predatory practices, to the current crypto crisis, Black and brown Americans have never had equal access to or fair treatment in financial services.”—Sen. Sherrod Brown Recently, I had the opportunity to testify to the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing entitled, “Fairness in Financial Services: Racism and Discrimination in Banking,” to shed light on

racism in the banking industry and urge passage of the Fair Access to Financial Services Act.

Throughout our work, we have seen the dire consequences of an American financial system that has systematically cut off and shut out individuals, families, businesses, and communities of color from access to capital.

When people of color suffer racist engagement in

the financial marketplace, it causes substantial monetary and non-monetary harm. Depending on how the racist behavior occurs, be it systematic, digital, in-person, community members often are unaware they received disparate treatment or a discriminatory outcome. This stems from a centuries-long strain of the Black

DETROIT—Hiram E. Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Real Times Media (RTM), announced on Dec. 19 that veteran marketing executive Cathy Nedd will join the company as President of the Real Times Media News Group, a division of RTM’s conglomerate that oversees the organization’s news brands in Michigan, Illinois, Georgia and Pennsylvania, including the nation’s most iconic nameplates, the Michigan Chronicle, Chicago Defender, Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta Tribune and the New Pittsburgh Courier. The News Group also produces major events around the country, most notably the influential Pancakes & Politics speaker series, Men and Women of Excellence, and 40 Under 40, to name a few.

“I am honored and excited to return to the Real Times Media family in this role,” said Cathy. “I love the work RTM does to elevate a positive narrative in the African American community, using its respected platforms to inform, educate, celebrate and memorialize successes in our community. I look forward to working in lockstep with the RTM team to advance the vision for the company, expand our reach, and amplify our voice for an even greater impact.”

Rejoining the company, Cathy previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Associate Publisher of

the Michigan Chronicle. She went on to provide digital marketing services for various high-profile clients through her marketing agency, Cathy Nedd, LLC. Cathy also served as VP of Government Services for MCL Jasco Operations, a minority-owned firm that provides education, outreach, and infrastructure services to government entities in the Midwest and SE United States.

“I have known and worked with Cathy Nedd for more than two decades, and I am well familiar with her incredible work ethic and creativity,” Jackson adds. “Most importantly, she is passionate about Black culture and understands RTM’s role in highlighting African American achievement. With Cathy as President of our News Group, not only are we assuring dynamic growth in the capability and depth of those brands, but it will give me more time to focus on strategy and business development for the overall enterprise. As we continue our evolution as a national media, marketing, and entertainment company I am excited to be able to put a laser focus on our cultural marketing arm Pitch Black, business lifestyle brand, Who’s Who In Black, and Studio 1452, our original content production outfit. I’m confident that bringing Cathy on board is the best choice to allow me to do that.”

The gift that keeps on giving is...

The holidays are upon us. This is the season to be jolly. First Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and lastly the celebration of a New Year. Christmas represents the highest celebration of the big three holidays. As documented by historians, this is a celebration of the birthday of the noblest being to walk the earth. A person of Jesus’ stature is certainly worthy of a day of honor and respect. The sad reality as we approach His day is the fact that we hear less mention of Jesus and more and more mention of Santa Claus. From my perspective, this was a plot by the marketing geniuses of this world to turn a day of celebration into a day of commercialization. Retailers account for 50 percent or more of their profit during this time of the year.

Despite the fact that Christmas has become more commercial over the years, it is one of the few times throughout the year that families come together and enjoy each other’s company. It is one of the few times throughout the year that people attempt to extend a hand to those who are less fortunate. It is one of the few times throughout the year that churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship are filled to capacity. Even though Christmas has become more commercial, there are many great things that happen during this time of the year that we should enjoy and appreciate.

As a financial writer I wanted to write

about a gift that keeps on giving. As I began to reflect on this gift, I put my financial mind to the test. This gift had to be something that all can afford, simple, free of taxes, and offered a guaranteed return on investment unmatched by any other investment.

Treasury bonds are simple, free of federal taxes and in some cases free of state taxes. They have the full faith of the U.S. government. Therefore a return should be realized. However, the initial minimum investment cannot be afforded by all.

Second, the rate of return on treasury bonds is low when compared to other investments. I want to ensure the return on investment on this particular gift was unmatched by any other investment. As a result I have to rule out treasury bonds.

In the world of finance, as you begin to seek out investments with better than average returns, the risk on such investments tends to be great. For a gift to keep on giving, this gift had to be a safe investment. This gift has to have 100 percent certainty that you’ll never lose your initial investment. As a result, I could not con-

sider risky investments such as individual stocks, futures, commodities and hedge funds.

I want this gift to transcend racial, educational, and social backgrounds. Mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are known for being diversified. They both require a relatively small initial investment, thus allowing many to afford them. However neither mutual funds or ETFs are free of taxes. A well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds and ETFs should generate a positive rate of return over an extended period of time. The gift that I’m seeking has to produce more than a positive return. It has to produce a return that’s unmatched by other investments. As a result, I have to exclude mutual funds and ETFs.

I want this gift to be stable enough to withstand the test of time. Real estate has a good track record of withstanding the test of time. Real estate is less volatile than other investments. In most cases it appreciates over time. Both stability and appreciation will allow this gift the ability to keep on giving. The initial investment for real estate including down payment, closing cost and moving expenses may be

too expensive for everyone to afford. Plus the ongoing maintenance cost coupled with other risk factors associated with investing in real estate may create a negative return on investment. Furthermore, it will take three months or more to find a decent property at a bargain price. Christmas is right around the corner. I have to rule real estate out.

I want this gift to be so special that the recipient of the gift will be filled with joy, hope and inspiration. This gift had to be something that the man of the hour (Jesus) will endorse. This gift had to be so valuable that when you receive it, you will want to protect and preserve it.

As I continue to reflect on this gift, I come to realize that no matter how much financial brilliance I can muster, I will never be able to come up with a monetary based gift that will meet the terms and conditions that I was looking for.

I was blessed to identify the gift that keeps on giving. This gift is something that all can afford. It’s simple, free of taxes, and offers a guaranteed return on investment that’s unmatched by any other investment. This Christmas, may we all give and receive the gift that keeps on giving. The gift I am referring to is LOVE.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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

FORMER CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER of the Michigan Chronicle, Cathy Nedd, returns to the Real Times Media Team.

Capitol Hill lawmakers push bill that hurts local and Black-owned newspapers

by Stacy Brown

(NNPA)—On the surface, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act sounds like a win for news organizations that remain committed to providing vital information for their communities.

It also sounds suitable for the survival of important local news.

However, like many pieces of legislation that float around Capitol Hill, flaws abound.

Intended to support local journalism, the bill introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) would create a link tax on social media platforms.

The bill suggests lawmakers would carve out an exception in the federal antitrust law and allow U.S. publishers to negotiate payment from websites that profit from aggregating lists of links on the search and social media platforms where users can click on and visit a news site.

In Klobuchar and her colleagues’ attempt to save local news from tech behemoths like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, critics contend that the legislation would be the final nail in the coffin of small and minority-owned newspapers and media companies.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade organization representing more than 230 African American-owned newspapers and media companies, count among those objecting to the

measure.

For further clarity, the NNPA represents the interest of the Black Press of America, which for 195 years, has published through slavery, Jim Crow, Civil Rights, and the modern-day era of Fake News.

“The JCPA would require tech platforms to carry and pay any eligible news publisher for ‘access’ to content. While this may, again, seem well-intentioned at first look, upon deeper inspection, the law defines ‘access’ so broadly it will require payment for simply crawling a website or sharing a link,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. wrote in an editorial.

“Similarly, while a number of conglomerates are scoped into the bill, true independent or small newspapers are explicitly excluded from the legislation because the bill says that an eligible publisher must earn more than $100,000 per year,” Chavis asserted.

The primary problem?

“The bill itself wouldn’t address the underlying problems that have news organizations struggling economically,” Jeremy Littau of Future Tense wrote.

Littau further noted the bill’s structural problem.

“The internet is built in ways that favor free link exchange, and news organizations risk not being missed if they are booted from platforms whose business ironically is built to deliver them traffic,” he wrote.

“There’s no oversight or accountability for whatever money is paid out to know whether the JCPA actually works as intended.”

Littau continued:

“Finally, there’s the innovation problem related to who is excluded. The JCPA would subsidize dying brands and, likely to avoid weighing in on the tiresome debate over whether bloggers are journalists, creates the $100,000 threshold that leaves behind some of our most promising news startups. The future of news can’t

be about propping up struggling legacy players and punishing innovators.”

Chavis also related that many African American and other BIPOC news outlets are independently owned. Furthermore, these news outlets have developed and grown their audiences because mainstream media publications excluded the perspectives of minority voices.

“The Black Press built our own news outlets to support our own voices. As a result, this legislation would only further reinforce harmful racial exclusion trends rather than actually help smaller local publications like those in the NNPA,” Chavis insisted.

“Similarly, recent amendments to the bill requiring non-discrimination would require platforms to carry and pay for hate speech and objectionable content that could harm BIPOC communities.”

He said if passed, the JCPA would boost misinforma-

tion and extremist content. News publications from

side of the aisle that

extremist views will receive money, and tech platforms will be required to carry them on their services.

“This will make it even harder for platforms to moderate harmful and false content. We know that communities like ours will suffer most,” Chavis concluded.

Sen. Klobuchar did not respond to a request for comment from the Black Press.

Several lawmakers in both chambers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), also did not return messages.

“Instead of supporting local broadcasters and improving our access to the news, the JCPA favors big broadcasters and threatens our ability to find factual information online,” ACLU officials said.

Officials at the nonprofit Public Knowledge argued that the legislation would do nothing to help preserve local journalism.

They further claimed that it could compound some of the biggest problems in the information landscape today, including consolidation and declining quality of information.

“While the JCPA has undergone extensive rewrites, it is still an antitrust exemption, a legal maneuver that has a history of failing to achieve beneficial goals,”

“Allowing the largest media conglomerates—like Alden Global Capital, Gannett, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and News Corp—to collude on the terms of access and value of their content will hurt competition and make our news landscape worse, not better.”

Macpherson continued:

“In a bill that is supposedly meant to encourage local journalism, there is no accountability for how the money is spent. Facebook and Google will fund more stock buybacks and executive bonuses than journalists’ salaries. It also introduces a precedent of payment for simply linking to information on the internet.

“This bill is also a threat to content moderation. The JCPA allows publishers to sue Facebook or Google for taking down content that the platforms find offensive or contrary to their community standards.

“And with the most recent amendment, proposed by Sen. Cruz (R-Texas), harmful misinformation, networked disinformation, and hate speech will be even harder to police under this bill—and that is by design.

“The JCPA will not save local journalism. Instead, it will make a few billionaires even wealthier at the expense of a healthy and open internet and information environment for all of us.”

(Stacy M. Brown is NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent)

Seven tips to stretch your money this holiday shopping season

Consumer purchasing power is more diverse than ever, with Black consumers as central drivers of seasonal spending. As you prepare your holiday shopping list—and your budget—remember, a little bit of planning can go a long way to achieving a financially healthy holiday season.

With the holiday shopping season upon us, here are seven essential money-saving tips for consumers ahead of the busy spending season. Build a holiday bud-

get—and stick y to it. There’s so much pressure during the holiday season to buy and it’s easy to spend more money than you planned. Consider using tools like Budget, or another budgeting app, to help you stay on track and prevent overspending. Open a dedicated savings account. You might consider opening a holiday-specific savings account to put money aside each week. Saving for later will help make a difference when it’s time to buy gifts for

your loved ones. Explore your credit card offers. Many credit cards have special offers based on your previous purchases that can help save money on holiday fits, while others give special cash back deals for online purchases. Take advantage of those discounts and be flexible. If you can’t find a good deal on the find you originally planned to buy, see if any of the special offers you qualify for might appeal to someone on your list. Use credit respon-

sibly. Credit cards are handy financial tools, as long as they’re used responsibly. Make sure you pay the balance each month by the due date to avoid interest charges or pay at least the minimum payment to avoid late fees. Resist the temptation to spend more than you can pay in any give month.

Take advantage of coupons and discounts. Retailers have already started holiday sales and, of course, all of the popular discount days—Black Friday,

Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday—present opportunities to save. You can also use money-saving apps like RetailMeNot, Honey and Rakuten to get cashback deals and discounts automatically when you shop online.

Cut back on other expenses. The holiday season is a good time to cut back on impulse shopping or frivolous spending. Cutting out those unnecessary expenditures will allow you to account for the season’s natural surge

in discretionary spending.

Sign up for credit monitoring. The holiday season is a particularly vulnerable time for credit card fraud. Million of people fall victim to fraudulent activity every year, and scams are more frequent than ever. Make sure you monitor your credit score and identity with confidence and sign up to receive alerts for Chase’s Credit Journey.

(Sponsored content from JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.)

Fair access to financial services is vital to closing the racial wealth gap

and minority community with banking institutions. The exclusionary and biased practices have been widely documented, including the banking industry’s tendency to disproportionately open and operate branches in White/non-minority communities.

In addition to the reluctance to operate in communities of color, another source of racial discrimination may be bank employees’ discretionary practices in charging costs and fees. Bank employees wield discretionary power in racially executing bank policies —they determine how much a customer pays in costs, and customers may face varying fees depending on who they talk to at the bank. The concerns about racial discrimination and bias in the banking workforce are also not new and are illustrated in analyses of data from mortgage lending lawsuits brought to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, which illuminated widespread discriminatory

practices, including loan officers who “referred to subprime loans in minority communities as ‘ghetto loans’ and minority customers as… ‘mud people.’

The consequences of these acts are reflected in the data: in the National Urban League’s State of Black America® 2022 Equality IndexTM, Black Americans are less likely to be approved for mortgages than white Americans, at a disparity rate of 41 percent.

Traditionally, decision-making authority at banks has been the bastion of middle- and upper-class White males. A clear solution to this issue is to invest and strengthen Black-owned banks, of which there is an incredible need. In our 2022 State of Black America Report we found that the number of Black-owned banks has dwindled immensely over the years.

Between 1888 and 1934, there were 134 Blackowned banks to help the Black community. Today, there are only 19 Blackowned banks that qualify as Minority Depository Institutions.

Due to historic under-

capitalization, Black banks are small, with average assets of $363 million compared to $4 billion for all U.S. banks.

The small number of Black banks and their small asset size limits their overall impact. A century of data proves that Black banks matter. When there is a Black bank in a community, Black people are more likely to be able to buy a home or secure a small business loan. These institutions help minorities build wealth by providing mortgages, small business loans, and financial services when others will not. That is why the work of uplifting Black banks is so vital.

There is work being done at the federal level and additional bipartisan solutions that Congress and the Executive Branch can take to address these ills and barriers. The National Urban League has partnered with both to be part of the solution, because just as redlining and disinvestment in communities of color is contagious, so is “Greenlining” and reinvestment in those communities.

In March of this year, the Treasury Department certified the National Urban League’s small business lending subsidiary, The Urban Empowerment Fund, as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), bolstering its ability to deliver vital capital to urban communities. The Fund provides direct loans to Black and other minority-owned businesses in tandem with select Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers, which are currently operating in thirteen Urban League affiliate cities.

Perhaps one of our greatest achievements to date, however, will be the opening of the National Urban League’s new headquarters, the Urban League Empowerment Center. Our new home is not just a home for us, it is a $242 million, 414,000-square-foot investment in the community. Our Empowerment Center is one of the most significant economic development projects in Harlem’s recent history. And in constructing it, we are leading with our values. In addition to af-

fordable housing, we are using minority and women-owned contractors and businesses throughout the building’s conceptualization to construction —from our owners’ representative to our construction firms to our professional services firms. Our project—built in one of the toughest real estate markets in the world—is on time, on budget, embraced by the community, and slated to open fully by early 2025.

In 2010, Congress passed, and the President signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Not only did this bill prohibit some of the most outrageous practices witnessed by predatory banking lenders, but it also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). We are disappointed by recent actions and court rulings aimed at preventing the CFPB from using its existing authority to protect consumers from racial discrimination when seeking mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, bank accounts or other financial services. Just

two years after banking executives named themselves allies in the fight against systemic racism, these lawsuits feel like a betrayal to communities who have been too long discriminated against by these institutions.

The Fair Access to Financial Services Act has an opportunity to build upon the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and regulatory protections by ensuring that all Americans have equal access to goods and services offered by financial institutions and that they are held liable if they do not comply with these standards. The legislation would prohibit banking and other financial institutions from conducting discriminatory practices and services on the basis race, color, religion, national origin, or sex—closing the gap and fulfilling the spirit of the Civil Rights Act to ensure that all people in this country have access to economic equity and empowerment. Congress must take action to advance and pass this critical piece of legislation.

either

support

said Lisa Macpherson, Senior Policy Analyst at Public Knowledge.

Guest Editorial

Does truth matter?

What is most important in our sojourn on Earth—racial identity or universal truth? In other words, if a people abide in an oppressed state, and members of their own group are contributing to that state, what’s most important…adherence to truth or to racial bonds?

This question seems to be more relevant every day as we navigate this increasingly topsy-turvy world. We grapple with the reality of our daily lives and are faced with making decisions that are not always in sync with the highest codes of living.

For example, the Black community has suffered greatly from the ravages of community crime, yet many people are in denial of this idea. When people discuss the high rates of crime, others readily point out that White people commit crimes too; that the reason we don’t know about it is because Black crime is highlighted in news reports and White crimes are hidden.

A side consequence of this deflection is that Black residents of crime-addled neighborhoods are reluctant to snitch…the operative phrase is “snitches get stiches!” Because of this, criminals are often able to operate with impunity, knowing that they will not be caught.

Coupled with this dilemma is the fact that White-onBlack crime carries quite a bit more weight than Blackon-Black crime. When the police display excessive force while carrying out their duties, Black people go berserk, yet the community will go out of their way to protect Black wrongdoers.

A lot of this is most likely due to human nature; people tend to be more inclined to take sides with their own group when a historical enemy of the community is involved. This presents a problem, however. It thwarts truth! It foments perpetual bondage to victimhood, both from external enemies and from internal ones.

Exacerbating this situation is the seeming increase in mean-spiritedness that is infecting all human populations. This can be seen in social media, as well as in the lack of regard that people have for each other in public. Possibly due to the anonymity that is the domain of social media, people are able to respond to each other with negativity. People are being mean just to be mean. Black people are participating in this phenomenon.

Basically, we are at a crisis point in the human family, and a lot of people are participating. A definite truth is that we will never be able to experience human progress if we do not admit that what goes around does, indeed, come around. In other words, Black people, and others for that matter, will never EVER experience a better life, as long as we harbor the hatreds and prejudices that are too evident among us.

Lately, one of the most obvious demonstrations of this notion can be seen in the Ye (Kanye West) debacle. Of course, many Black people are reluctant to hold Ye accountable for his multiple faux pas because he is Black, is considered to be a “genius,” and is allegedly telling the “truth,” according to his many apologists.

But let’s just look at a few of the things he is saying or has done that seem to be accepted by many Black people. He has said that slavery is/was a choice; he has cast aspersions on Harriet Tubman; he has expressed admiration for Adolph Hitler.

Additionally, he posted a swastika on Twitter; he embraced former President Trump and expressed that he is a father figure to him; he has spoken opposition to the proceedings of the January 6 Commission; he has openly embraced racists.

Ye wore the confederate flag on his jacket; he made jackets that said, “White lives matter;” he voiced the opinion that White males were the most oppressed people in America; and he has made it a point to generate beef with many, many people. He has burned many bridges. This list represents just a few of the things Ye has done or said that would make us question his judgment. But the most important fallout is related to his far-reaching influence on popular culture and the blind embracing by his followers of everything he says or does.

Many people are saying “We’re with Ye,” even in cases that are illogical and can further fragment our society. In this regard, in his admiration of Hitler, he has overlooked the fact that the Nazis would consider him to be an inferior human.

The danger of co-signing a person with negative behavior just because they share skin color has the downside of encouraging the oppression of others. As long as we do that, we are incurring Karma; if we act as racists, we will be Karma’s victim because “what goes around, comes around.” Yes, truth matters. A Luta Continua.

(Reprinted from the Chicago Crusader)

Palm Office Manager

Founded 1910

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

Ashley Johnson Sales Director Rob Taylor Jr. Managing Editor

John. H. Sengstacke Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

It’s always time for justice!

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—August 28, 1955, was many lifetimes ago, but, in the evolution of this country, it seems like the blink-of-aneye.  Irrefutably, the racism that is pervasive now was even more pervasive, brutal, and accepted as a socio/cultural norm by oppressor and victim alike then.  August 28, 1955 was the day that 14 year-old Emmett Till, an African American youth from Chicago visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, was murdered.

His murder was most heinous.  He was abducted at gunpoint from his uncle’s home, beaten beyond recognition.  He was then shot to death and unceremoniously pitched into the Tallahatchie River with a large fan tied to his body to keep him submerged.  His assailants were Roy Bryant, Carolyn Bryant’s husband, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam.  Emmett’s offense—he allegedly whistled at a White woman!

Later Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-White jury which, unbelievably, deliberated for only 65 minutes! After acquittal, they bragged about committing the murder.  Even later, it was discovered that Carolyn Bryant lied about the circumstances that sent her husband and brother-in-law into a murderous rampage.

We now know that an unserved warrant for kidnapping was issued in 1955 for Carolyn Bryant.  Her maternal responsibilities for her children were deemed more significant than her complicity in murder.  The deaths of her husband and brother-in-law left her only

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary

living participant in that conspiratorial triad.

As more incriminating facts became known, Carolyn Bryant moved around the country.  There is no complete record of her residences after leaving Mississippi, but it is known that she fled to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to live with her son.  From December 3-5, 2022, I visited Bowling Green for a rally to put focus for the murder of Emmett Till back on Carolyn Bryant, and on the radar of the United States Justice Department and the national conscience, where it rightly belongs.

A group of us, including Nia 2X, Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, and John C. Barnett went to Kentucky to hold a rally at the address where Carolyn Bryant purportedly now lives.  The morning of our rally, we awoke to a credible threat against rally participants. We gave thought to personal security, but, considering the gravity of our efforts, soldiered on.

It seemed like every local police officer was assigned to secure Carolyn Bryant’s home and to protect the guilty party!  There were more police than there were of us!

Arriving at the site, I thought about Ida B. Wells in the 1890’s enduring the dangers of working for ending the lynching of Black

people.  Over 130 years later and 67 years since 1955, we must still seek justice for Emmett’s murder. In 2009, Dick Gregory, Janet Langhart Cohen, Mark Planning, and I worked diligently for a simple apology from the United States Senate for never having apologized for this dastardly crime.  After much effort, we were successful.  Notwithstanding, it was another 13 years before the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching law criminalized lynching!

Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother, demonstrated her immense courage by allowing the world to see the horrors of racism by allowing the full display of her son’s body.  Her faith in securing justice never wavered, but she died without realizing justice for the kidnapping and murder of her only child.

Since August 28, 1955, while Emmett lay cold and dead, and Mamie suffered from loss that only a mother could know, Carolyn Bryant has lived an unmolested existence provided by a racist justice system and a social structure willing to ignore the horrors perpetrated against African Americans.

The President and Congress must advocate for the justice denied to Mamie Till-Mobley.  The Department of Justice must serve the warrant on Carolyn Bryant to begin the overdue process of attaining justice.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of The Dick Gregory Society (thedickgregorysociety.org; drefayewilliams@gmail.com) and President Emeritus of the National Congress of Black Women)

Black and Jewish communities share histories

I will not be silent on the issues of racial hatred, violence, and prejudice.

I am speaking out publicly in support of the recent call by billionaire African American business leader and philanthropist, Robert F. Smith, to stand up against the resurgence of racism and antisemitism in America.

Blacks and Jews in the United States have had a long history and tradition of working together and sacrificing together for freedom, justice, equality and equity. Lest we forget that we have marched together for over a century. We have shared blood together. And we have died together for the cause of freedom in the Civil Rights Movement.

Both of our communities today increasingly are the targets of violent hatred, ignorant stereotypes, and a demonic supremacist ideology. Racism and antisemitism are twin evils that cannot be ignored or trivialized.

In a recent full page paid advertisement in The New York Times, Robert F. Smith affirmed, “At a time when racism and antisemitism are on the rise, I am determined to partner with leaders from all faiths to recognize ‘Fifteen Days of Light’. We are unifying to celebrate Chanukah and Kwanzaa together, and encourage communities nationwide to join us in our support for one another.”

“Fifteen Days of Light” is a timely national opportunity to do what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prophetically defined as the development and establishment of a “Beloved Community.” Dr. King envisioned that this would be a nationwide multiracial community where there would be no racism, no antisemitism, and no hatred toward anyone. All people, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or faith would live together with mutual respect and unconditional love for all.

As we prepare to go into 2023, disunity between Blacks and Jews is ahistorical and counterproductive. We cannot afford to be nonchalant or indifferent. Smith’s statement to encourage participation in acts of remembrance across the nation celebrating both Chanukah and Kwanzaa together over a 15-day period this month reminded me of the need to reaffirm the solidarity between Blacks and Jews.

I attended the historic 1963 March

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Commentary

on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his eloquent and transcendent “I Have a Dream” speech. I recall the strong advocacy from Jewish leaders like Arnold Aronson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights that supported Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the NAACP, and other civil rights organizations at the March on Washington.

That day I also remember hearing from a dynamic young freedom fighter named John Lewis who emphasized the urgency for racial equality. Then there was a young Jewish folk singer named Bob Dylan who performed at the March a haunting song he wrote about the tragic assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Mississippi.

On that sunny day in August of 1963 in Washington there were other freedom movement speakers that included a number of prominent Jewish voices from across the country, including the outspoken Rabbi Joachim Prinz, who spoke about “the shame and disgrace of inequality and injustice” facing the Black community.

Later that year in November 1963 Dr. King joined with theologian Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel at the United Synagogue of America’s Golden Jubilee Convention in New York City. King and Heschel pledged to work together to end racism and antisemitism. In 1965 when Dr. King, John Lewis, Hosea Williams and other civil rights leaders marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, the historic Selma to Montgomery March, for voting rights, Rabbi Heschel was there marching shoulder to shoulder in solidarity.

The Black community and the Jewish community share a long, shared history of struggle and fighting for civil rights—from August and Henri-

etta Bondi’s home in Kansas being used as a stop on the Underground Railroad to Jewish organizations participating in the protests following the murder of George Floyd and the acceleration of the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to recent national law enforcement data, today there has been an unprecedented increase in hate crimes targeted against Black and Jewish communities. According to the Anti-Defamation League, 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jews since the organization began tracking incidents in 1979. Thus far in 2022 the incidents of antisemitism have not declined but have steadily increased.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has documented a constant increase in racially motivated attacks on Black people throughout the United States during the past decade. All forms of racism and antisemitism should always be challenged relentlessly. Dr. King said it best, “We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools.”

Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners, Chairman, Carnegie Hall, is taking the right stand at the right time. Smith stated in the ad, “Michael Eric Dyson recently wrote that ‘…African Americans and Jews are passengers on the same ship facing the ferocious headwinds of bigotry and hatred.’ It is time to put aside differences and shift our focus to the shared values that bring all Americans together as God’s children.”

The call to action is: “Join us this holiday season at public events from Los Angeles to New York, or in your own home, to light the Eight Nights of the Chanukah Menorah followed immediately by the Seven Nights of Kwanzaa and the Kinara. Post your own photos of Black and Jewish friends, neighbors and colleagues coming together to #lightthecandles.”

(Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and is Executive Producer/Host of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV stations throughout the U.S. and can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org)

Real lessons from the Georgia victory

It has been said that Hell has no fury like an idea whose time has come. Clearly in the State of Georgia, the idea of overcoming “voter suppression” has truly come and it has been victorious. Again, let us look and learn from this great victory.

We saw after the 2020 election, a rush of bills in more than 25 states to reduce ballot boxes, polling sites, and a reduction in the amount of time available for early voting resulting in longer lines with prohibitions against giving people food or water while waiting in line to vote. Question: How many of us in contrast didn’t bother to vote in the recent general election?

The real lesson is to use our time for organizing, planning and collective action without concern for the efforts of others working against our

John E. Warren Commentary

interest. The people of Georgia, Black, White and other, understood that patience is as important as money in all battles; that the support of an idea has to be created out of the pains of the issues being fought against; that human and moral issues have no color and that one of the greatest rules for all struggles is that when the laws of man go against the laws of God, the laws of God must prevail. The

Declaration of Independence states that “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The right to vote without fear and interference is such a right. When was the last time that we took a look at our rights from God’s perspective?

The right to live outside of homlessness with food and shelter is such a right. Landlords, developers and local governments should not be allowed to abridge that right. So let’s look at our situations as if we were in Georgia and decide how to organize and achieve desired results as the people of Georgia did, even though it took four elections to get one man, Senator Warnock, into a full term office.

Allison

The price we pay for political cowards

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—We are just weeks away from the end of the 117th Congress, and with it comes the transfer of the gavel from Nancy Pelosi to the new Speaker of the House.

We are also witnessing the end of the congressional careers of Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Regardless of your political beliefs, if you genuinely care about the Jan. 6 insurrection and the lasting impact it will have on our nation, you must admire the political sacrifices made by the two Republican lawmakers.

Since few elected House Republicans have shown the courage to publicly confront and condemn their fellow Republicans over the Jan. 6 attack, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger will be sorely missed. Sadly, many Republican primary voters have it backward. While voters reward political cowardice, political boldness and true patriotism are rejected. “The once great party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan has turned its back on the ideals of liberty and self-governance. Instead, it has embraced lies and deceit.” Kinzinger said in his farewell address to Congress. “Instead of members using our platform to advance the well-being of our nation and her people, we’ve turned this institution into an echo chamber of lies.”

This type of warning to the GOP is not new to Kinzinger, who made efforts during the Trump presidency to inform his one-time GOP allies about the corrosive effects of conspiracy theories. There are consequences when a large part of the electorate forgoes wisdom, good judgment, and common sense when choosing their leaders. We all suffer as a nation when voters choose to be led by elected officials who embrace dishonesty, deceit, corruption, and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, communities of color will suffer more.

This political corrosion is not just limited to Congress. It runs through the courts, state legislatures, and now school boards. There-

David W. Marshall

Commentary

fore, who is at fault when Kinzinger’s warning concerning the threats to democracy is so soundly rejected within his own party? Are the GOP elected officials and candidates who are disingenuous when preaching patriotism at fault? Are the GOP voters who are disingenuous when publicly chanting “USA!” at fault?

There was no “red wave” during the 2022 midterm elections because enough Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters displayed the degree of wisdom, good judgment, and common sense to discern that both sides are at fault. Before Donald Trump, never has a former or current president called for the termination of the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Cheney, who has picked up a solid national following among moderate Democrats and Republicans alike, denounced the former president’s statements. “No honest person can now deny that Trump is an enemy of the Constitution,” Cheney said. The Congresswoman is correct, and we can only hope that enough of those who were previously duped and misled will now start to wake up.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was the last true defender of the Roman Empire, and his story sounds very familiar when compared to today’s politics. Cicero was a loyal politician to the Roman Republic and viewed the informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate to be in direct opposition to the principles of the republic and the authority of the Senate. By refusing to join this alliance, Cicero was vulnerable to attacks from his political enemies, which became an issue when he was criticized for speaking out against the political figure and tribune, Publius Clodius.

Ironically, it is the same reaction Cheney and Kinzinger received by GOP lawmakers when taking a stand against Trump. When Clodius was elected as a tribune, he introduced a bill that revoked the citizenship of anyone who killed a Roman citizen without granting them a trial, a move designed to punish Cicero for his role in putting down an uprising known as the Catalonian rebellion. Cicero ordered the execution of revolutionaries without a trial due to the urgent need to end the dangerous rebellion. With no allies remaining to protect him from Clodius’ attack, Cicero fled Rome and lived in exile. When resisting the rise of dictatorship, Cicero once said, “the enemy is within the gates; it is our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend.” His political opinions were not always popular, and he was ultimately declared a public enemy and executed.

History has a way of repeating itself. Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger are the modern-day versions of Cicero. What was true of the government of the Roman Republic is also true with today’s U.S. government. The enemies of democracy and the Constitution are within our gates with folly and criminality. With Cheney and Kinzinger now “exiled,” who on the Republican side will join Democrat lawmakers in resisting this internal folly and crime? The battle among House Republicans over the speakership is a preview of the next two years. A small band of GOP opportunists has already signaled to their colleagues that any willful group can hold the entire House majority hostage over any issue they want, making governing and accountability impossible. The 2024 elections can’t come soon enough.

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

Racial disparities without injustice?

It’s difficult to have an honest conversation about racial disparities. Especially when it’s suggested there are aspects of “Black culture” that contribute to racial disparities more than systemic factors. Too many Black thinkers dismiss the “cultural argument.”

For these thinkers, the “cultural argument” blames Black victims for outcomes that are not their fault. These Black thinkers want historical, political, social, and structural factors to get the blame they deserve.

With that said, it’s necessary to state that a disparity is just a significant difference or dissimilarity. Therefore, disparities are not negative in themselves.  But when you add the word “racial” to the word “disparities,” the term automatically becomes negative because it is thought that all “racial disparities” are caused by injustice.

Popular public intellectual Ibram X. Kendi has said, “Individual behaviors can shape the success of individuals.  But policies determine the success of groups.  And it is racist power that creates the policies that cause racial inequities.”

Kendi’s rhetoric is crafted to avoid the “cultural argument,” but he inadvertently pointed out that culture is a key variable in his first sentence. Kendi said individual behaviors shape success. The next logical question is: What shapes an individual’s behavior?

The answer is culture.

Right-wing thinkers have labeled negative aspects of Black culture “Black pathologies.” The term pathology implies these negative aspects are caused by some cultural defect or disease. This has reinforced racist stereotypes that Black people

J.

Pharoah Doss

Check It Out

are intrinsically lazy, have lower IQs, and are prone to criminality.

It’s natural for Black thinkers to defend Black culture from this type of assault.

All cultures have aspects that produce undesirable outcomes without those aspects being pathological. Kendi said there is nothing wrong or right—inferior or superior—with any of the racial groups. He also said, “Culture is defined as a group tradition that a particular racial group might share but is not shared among all individuals in that racial group or among all racial groups.”

Kendi is defending “Black culture” from the moral judgment of those who hold “traditional values.” Kendi’s defense is understandable, but too many Black thinkers reduce the “cultural argument” to right-wing political talk about traditional values, personal responsibility, and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.”

Once the “cultural argument” is seen as right-wing nonsense, it’s easy to ignore it and say that all racial differences are caused by systemic problems.

However, culture is more than just group traditions, as Kendi defined it.

Culture is the totality of social factors that cultivate individuals at each stage of

cognitive development from birth to adulthood. At each stage of development, there are so many things that can go wrong or right that it’s impossible to list all of the possible combinations that can lead to good or bad results.

The complexity of the “cultural argument” means it has to be made without judgment, or, as Kendi stated, without viewing a racial group’s behavior as right or wrong.

For example, there have been studies about delayed gratification. Children had a choice of having one snack immediately or waiting 20 minutes for two snacks. The majority of the Black children chose one snack or immediate gratification. One of the studies followed up on the non-Black children who waited 20 minutes for two snacks and discovered their early ability to control impulses and delay gratification was associated with success in many areas of adult life. These children even scored 200 points higher on their SAT.

There is nothing wrong with Black children who want immediate gratification. But it should be acknowledged as one of the many complexities of the “cultural argument.” Suppose these same children grow up and choose career paths that require less schooling in order to receive the fruits of their labor faster. This will result in racial disparities in income that have nothing to do with injustice.

Why then does Kendi claim that racist policies are to blame for all racial disparities?

Could it be because it’s easier than dealing with the problems that the cultural argument brings up?

Far-right school board candidates: ‘We’ll be back’

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Back in August, I wrote that getting “back-to-school” this year would also mean getting back to fighting far-right attacks on education.

The threats included a rising number of efforts to ban books, and the Right’s efforts to take over local school boards.

So how did the Right do in this fall’s school board elections? Well, as in Congress, there was no conservative “Red Wave.” However, the Right did score just enough wins to keep coming back. And the groups behind those wins are promising to do just that.

According to news reports, about half the candidates endorsed by one national group, Moms for Liberty, and a third of those endorsed by another, the conservative 1776 Project PAC, won in November. Earlier this year Moms for Liberty racked up notable wins in their home state of Florida, where extremist Gov. Ron DeSantis gave them a boost; and in addition to taking over some school boards in their home state, they took over some boards in a few districts in South Carolina.

Their strategy was to try for a repeat performance of the Virginia election in 2021, where Republican Glenn Youngkin won the governor’s race on a similar cynical “parental rights” platform.  The platform is code for highlighting culture war battles over issues like COVID mask and vaccine policies, “critical race theory,” and anti-LGBTQ activism. Let’s be clear, despite the marketing behind this movement, it doesn’t represent the views of many parents.

And if the Far Right doesn’t have good ideas, it definitely has plenty of money.

Ben Jealous Commentary

The 1776 Project reportedly spent almost $2.8 million on ads and other campaign material for candidates. In Texas, a rightwing cellphone company called Patriot Mobile spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help right-wing candidates in several school districts, and called it “just the beginning.”

In the end, this campaign strategy was not the universally successful formula the Right hoped it would be. For starters, the so-called “parental rights” groups don’t speak for all parents—especially Black and brown parents. In many places, parents and teachers worked together to push back against ultraconservative takeover attempts.  Winning candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty and the 1776 Project were in the few hundreds, far fewer than the thousands endorsed by the National Education Association—of which more than 70 percent won their races.   This time.

I’m an optimist at heart, and it gives me hope to see that the dishonest and damaging drive to take over school boards did not sweep the nation. It is very good to know that enough parents, teachers—and students—spoke out to prevent that from happening. We want schools where all

kids can flourish. We want schools where history lessons are not whitewashed to hide harsh realities about our nation’s troubled past. As a parent, I don’t want my children lied to in school. That won’t help them succeed in school or in life. As a lifelong student of history, I know that we can’t understand our present reality or begin to shape a more inclusive future without being grounded in the complexity of our past.

But I also know the Far Right wants to make school board races a steppingstone to bigger things. Investing in school board takeovers is a power-building strategy. Ultraconservative activist Steve Bannon said it himself when he claimed the path to “save” the nation will “go through the school boards.” Not only that, but extremists in the GOP—including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—now want to get rid of public education entirely. And yes, many public schools, including those in Black and brown neighborhoods, need to get better. But privatizing education is not the way to get there.

So we need to stay alert to the Right’s efforts to get control of school boards, because they’ll be back. We who care about honest teaching and inclusive public schools should go to school board meetings. We should pay attention to school board races and candidates. And if we can, we should run for the school board ourselves. Our kids’ educations, and their futures, depend on it.

(Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.)

Stop normalizing anti-Blackness

by Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Autumn Robeson Monahan is a 17-year-old Black girl attending high school in Slaton, Texas.  The senior, who transferred to Slaton High School when her parents relocated there from Ohio, hoped to be her high school valedictorian based on her stellar grades.  Instead, she was subjected to regular, vile, racist harassment from White students who showered her with the n—r word, even when she respectfully asked them to “please stop.”

From where I sit, the constant use of the “n” word is assaultive and aggressive.  Autumn complained to school administrators, who did nothing even though there was a policy that students who used such slurs would be suspended.   Instead, the young lady was subjected to multiple verbal assaults and attempted to handle her challenges by asking offending White students to stop using the word.  Their Caucasity was rampant.  They ignored her requests, and one day she snapped, yelling and slapping the fellow student who seemed to find the use of a racial slur amusing. Nobody condones violence, and the use of the N—word is violent.  School administrators chose to take no action against the unnamed White boy (who deserves suspension and more, and his parents should be reported to Child Protective Services for raising such a little monster) but suspended Autumn for 45 days, sentencing her to an “alternative” facility where students are required to wear orange jumpsuits (talk about the

school to prison pipeline) and subjected to extreme so-called discipline.

Rather than submit to such extreme insanity, Autumn ran away from home and was considered a suicide risk.  Her parents have filed a lawsuit against the school district and complained to the Department of Education.  Still, this amazing young lady has had her high school senior year interrupted and besmirched.  And the toxic little White boy who taunted her mercilessly has experienced no consequences.  We don’t even know his name!

Anti-blackness is at a peak, and it is disgustingly virulent.  Black people are being openly massacred by so-called law enforcement officers who face few consequences for their murderous ways.  They claim they fear for their lives.  What did Autumn fear when, after enduring racist harassment, she snapped?  Who wouldn’t snap after the madness?  And why is this so acceptable?  High school administrators say the n—word is “only a word.”  But it is also the last word our ancestors heard before they were lynched.  It is the word that was used to marginalize and criminalize.

It is a word that sometimes seeps into the lexicon, a word that some say stings less when uttered as “nigga” instead of “n—r.”  But it is also a word that is historically objectionable.

The White administrators who said a word is just a word aren’t so weak on enforcement when other ethnic slurs are used.  They wouldn’t say a word was just a word if they were called out of their name.  When a young girl complains about racist hazing, administrators need

to stop it.  They should not protect the intellectually challenged White boy who insisted that he could use slurs because he was empowered to do so.  Autumn complained.  Her parents complained.  Nothing happened.  The young lady felt powerless and alone.  The entire school system is at fault because they looked away from the madness of racial hazing.  But we are also all at fault because we have normalized anti-Blackness.  Racist violence, whether verbal or physical, is the norm in this nation.  It seems okay for White folks to haze, harass, and demean Black people.  It is unacceptable, and there need to be consequences, not just for those who attacked and hazed Autumn, but for all of those who choose to haze and attack Black children in education systems all over the nation.  Too many people think that racism is “no big thing”.  It’s not a big thing for ignorant, myopic, and unaffected people.  But for Autumn, an ambitious young woman, who has been scarred by these incidents because myopically ignorant White administrators failed to take action, it’s a big thing. What action can we take as a collective?  What can we do?  As we end the year and make those empty resolutions, let’s make one with teeth.  Let’s resolve to put an end to virulent anti-Blackness.  Let’s support Autumn and every young student dealing with racist administrators.  Let’s work to get them out of the jobs they do not deserve.  Let’s say no more as emphatically as we can.

(Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at California State University at Los Angeles.)

PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGIST

University of Pittsburgh Physicians located at U. S. Steel Tower, 57th Floor, 600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, seeks a Pediatric Ophthalmologist to diagnose and treat pediatric ocular eye conditions, especially oculoplastic disease and disorders, perform clinical exams for diagnosis and therapy of pediatric eye diseases and strabismus in daily clinics, and operate on pediatric patients with eye disease or strabismus twice per month, at One Children’s Hospital Dr., 4401 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15224, 2599 Wexford Bayne Rd., Sewickley PA 15143, 1400 Locust St., Pittsburgh PA 15219, 300 Halket St., Pittsburgh PA 15213, 200 Lothrop St., Pittsburgh PA 15213, and 5230 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15232. Applicant must have a medical degree or foreign equivalent, must have completed a residency in Ophthalmology and a fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology. Must be Board certified or eligible for certification in Pediatric Ophthalmology and must have a valid Pennsylvania medical license. Position requires travel to worksites within 20 miles. Apply by following these steps; visit http://careers.upmc.com and enter 220003ZN in the “Search Keyword/ Job ID” field and click Go.

EOE/Disability/Veteran.

BOROUGH OF THORNBURG NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that a special meeting of the Council of the Borough of Thornburg will be held at 7:00 P.M., prevailing time, on Thursday, December 22, 2022 in the library of the Thornburg Community Center, 545 Hamilton Road, Thornburg, PA 15205. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and take action on a change order request relating to the electrical work and boiler room construction work being done at the Community Center, as well as any other business that may come before Council. The public may attend and be heard.

Dorothy Falk Secretary/Treasurer

Borough of Thornburg

OFFICIAL NOTICE BOROUGH OF THORNBURG 2023 MEETING SCHEDULE

Notice is hereby given that the regular meetings of the Council of the Borough of Thornburg during the year 2023 will be held on the first Monday of each month, with the exception of the January and September meetings. Due to the Federal holidays of New Year’s Day and Labor Day falling on the first Monday of the month, the regular meeting of January 2023 and September 2023 will be held on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023 and Tuesday, September 5th, 2023.

Meetings will be held at 7:00 p.m., prevailing time, in the Community Building, 545 Hamilton Road, Thornburg, Pennsylvania 15205.

Dorothy Falk Secretary/Treasurer Borough of Thornburg

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

LEGAL NOTICE

ALLEGHENY COUNTY

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Department of Public Works County Project No. 7A00-2301 2023 Capital Roads Reconstruction Program, Various Roadways Various Municipalities

ATTENTION: CANCELLATION OF BID OPENING

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Notice is hereby given that the Bid Opening for the aforementioned project which was scheduled for Wednesday, December 21, 2022 HAS BEEN CANCELLED. The Department of Public Works has rescheduled the Bid Opening for Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

Director Stephen G. Shanley, P.E. Department of Public Works County of Allegheny

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

PORT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY D.B.A. PRT

Electronic Proposals will be received online at PRT’s Ebusiness website (http://ebusiness.portauthority.org).

Proposals/bid submittals will be due 11:00 AM on January 19, 2023 and will be read at 11:15 AM., the same day through your web browser via Microsoft Teams video conferencing, for the following:

Electronic Proposal - Ebusiness website (http://ebusiness.portauthority.org)

Bid Number Bid Name

1 B22-12-120 Underground Power Traction Cable 2 B22-12-123A Janitorial Supplies - Paper Products

3 B22-12-124A Refrigerants

4 B22-12-126 Railroad Cross Ties

5 B22-12-127A Bus Batteries

6 B22-12-128A Contactless Smart Fare Media - Connect Cards

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on January 10, 2023, until 2:00 P.M. local prevailing time for:

Pgh. Carmalt PreK-8 Window Replacement and Envelope Repair General, Electrical and Asbestos Primes

Pgh. Langley K-8

Finish Floor Replacements and Miscellaneous Work General, and Asbestos Abatement Primes

Pgh. Conroy Special Education Center, Schiller 6-8, and Spring Hill K-5 Whiteboard Installations General Primes

Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on December 12, 2022, at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable.

Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

ACHA-1692, DWELLING UNIT CLEANING SERVICES

Allegheny County Housing Authority (ACHA) is seeking Bids from qualified vendors to provide Dwelling Unit Cleaning Service on an as needed basis, per specifications in the IFB. ACHA is now conducting all competitive solicitation on an internet-based eProcurement Housing Marketplace. ACHA is paying for all costs for the use of the Marketplace so, there will be no additional charges for your company to use the Marketplace to download documents or submit responses to ACHA.

AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Guy Phillips, Purchasing Manager Telephone: (412)402-2435, E-mail: gphillips@achsng.com. HOW TO OBTAIN THE IFB DOCUMENTS ON THE EPROCUREMENT MARKETPLACE:

1. Access ha.internationaleprocurement.com (no “www”)

2. Click on the “Login” button in the upper left side.

3. Follow the listed directions.

4. If you have any problems in accessing or registering on the eProcurement Marketplace, please call customer support at (866)526-9266.

PRE-BID CONFERENCE: THERE WILL NOT BE A PREBID CONFERENCE: If you have any questions regarding this IFB or any of the documents, use the “Question and Answer area in the eProcurement Housing Marketplace Website.

QUESTION SUBMITTAL DEADLINE Friday, January 6, 2023, 3:00 PM ET

HOW TO FULLY RESPOND TO THIS IFB BY SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL:

1. As directed within Section 3.2.1 of the IFB document, submit proposed pricing, where provided for, within the eProcurement Marketplace.

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Legal Notices

To join the bid opening through Microsoft Teams meeting on your computer, mobile app or room device Meeting ID: 279 920 108 624

Passcode: rPrv4X

Or call in (audio only)

412-927-0245 Phone Conference ID: 767 593 812#

No bidder may withdraw a submitted Proposal for a period of 75 days after the scheduled time for opening of the sealed bids.

Estate of DOUGLAS S. COLEMAN, Estate No. 02-22-07530 630 Dornbush Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15221, Co-administrators Daniel R. and Darren F. Coleman, P.O. Box 17097, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 or to Attorney William C. Price, Jr. Price & Associates, P.C. 2005 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Estate of VICTORIA EDWARDS, Estate No 07800 OF 2022, Deceased of Pittsburgh, Christine Zapf, Extrx., 3532 Laird St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

Estate of ANNA M. GRANA A/K/A ANNA B. GRANA, deceased, of 1220 Love Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218, Estate No. 02-22-07810 Executrix, Constance Grana, 1400 Smokeywood Drive, Apt. 206, Swissvale, PA 15218. William C. Price, Jr. Price & Associates, P.C., 2005 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Estate of BARBARA S. MORANELLI, deceased Glassport Borough, Pennsylvania, No. 02-22-07942. Lisa Moranelli, Executrix, or to Ryan W. Brode, Atty, 6 Clairton Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15236

Estate of JUDITH A. MCLAIN, deceased of 1915 LaFayette Street, Swissvale, PA 15218 No. 02-22-07287. Executrix, Sherine A. Aulich, 1604 Lucas Avenue, Wichita Falls, TX 76301. William C. Price, Jr., Price & Associates, P.C. 2005 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Estate of PATRICIA ANNE O’CONNELL (deceased), of Mt. Lebanon, PA No. 07873 of 2022. Susan D. O’Connell, Adm., 22 Creighton Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15205

Estate of BLANCHE PLUMMER-JONES , deceased, of Pittsburgh, No. 7366 of 2022 . Destiny Cherry-Igizio, appointed Executrix, November 16, 2022. Peter B. Lewis, Neighborhood Legal Services, 928 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222, Counsel.

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held via tele-conference on each of the above items at 10:00 AM, January 04, 2023 as well as through your web browser via Microsoft Teams video conference.

To join the pre-bid meeting through Microsoft Teams on your computer, mobile app or room device Meeting ID: 235 999 039 896

Passcode: wxiFYe

Or call in (audio only)

412-927-0245

Phone Conference ID: 591 911 109#

Attendance at this meeting is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged. Questions regarding any of the above bids will not be entertained by the PRT within five (5) business days of the scheduled bid opening

These contracts may be subject to a financial assistance contract between Port Authority of Allegheny County d.b.a. PRT and the United States Department of Transportation. The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations. Contractor is responsible for expenses related to acquiring a performance bond and insurance where applicable. All items are to be FOB delivered unless otherwise specified. Costs for delivery, bond, and insurance shall be included in bidder’s proposal pricing.

Port Authority of Allegheny County d.b.a. PRT hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively insure that in regard to any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprise will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

The Board of PRT reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

2. As instructed within Section 3.0 of the IFB document, submit One (1) Original copy of your “hard copy” Bid to the Agency Administrative Office.

BID SUBMITTAL RETURN & DEADLINE *Friday, January 20, 2023, 2:00 PM ET

301 Chartiers Ave, McKees Rocks, PA 15136 (The proposed costs must be entered within the aforementioned eProcurement Marketplace and the “hard copy” documentation must be received in-hand and time-stamped by the Agency by no later than 2:00 PM ET on this date).

The Authority encourages responses from §3 business concerns, small firms, minority firms and firms that have not previously performed work for the ACHA. The Allegheny County Housing Authority reserves the right to reject any and all submissions.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY Frank Aggazio, Executive Director

It’s not over, until it’s over Could the Steelers sneak into the playoffs?

:10—Sometimes it’s all just a matter of perspective. If the Pittsburgh Steelers resided in the same division as Tampa Bay and the Carolina Panthers they would be in first place and looking to win the division and head into the playoffs. Unfortunately they belong to the AFC North, and are in last place at 6-8 and looking to see what draft pick suits them when they pick around the 12, 13, 14th or 15th pick. Although mathematically not yet eliminated, and actually their chance of heading into the playoffs has gone up from 2 percent to 3 percent, I’m no longer going to hold my breath on their slim chances. With a winnable game on Christmas Eve at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, the question is does Coach Mike Tomlin go back to Kenny Pickett and the 1-touchdowna-game offense or does he stick with Mitch Trubisky and the move-it-up-anddown-the-field-and-chewup-34-minutes-of-clock offense we saw Sunday, Dec. 18? I’m pretty sure if you asked Diontae Johnson, he of the critical 10 receptions on 10 targets for 98 yards and several crucial third-down catches that kept the chains moving, he’d vote for Mitch. As for George Pickens, 2 receptions for 53 yards, a 26.5 average including

that spectacular down the sideline grab over his head maybe 2 or 3 other receivers in the NFL make, I guess we’ll have to wait for next season to see him excel because for whatever reason, he simply isn’t getting the ball thrown his way more than 3 targets per game. Inexplicable. Maybe if Big Ben was, well, never mind... water under the bridge.

:09—Last week I called the Steelers’ run defense Swiss cheese and it was well-deserved. In their previous 6 quarters of football they had given up over 300 yards on the ground to teams that didn’t have Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Gale Sayers or Tony Dorsett in their backfield. Having heard my stinging words the defense stiffened and gave up 21 yards on 16 carries, a microscopic 1.3 yards per carry. A total team effort, the D stood tall and proud and swarmed to the ball-carriers as bees to honey, allowing no room to cut back or slip through the line and gain big chunks of real estate. Way to go men, that was physical, rough Steelers football on display.

:08—Speaking of physical Steelers football, the early and often much-maligned O-Line has quietly come together and per-

formed as a singular unit for several games now. An almost 12-minute drive to open the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers that was 21 plays in length is all about the O-Line and their ability to impose their will upon Carolina’s defense. It was awe-inspiring to watch them work that series and most of the game. They allowed only one sack and though the yards per carry average was only 3.5 they ran the ball 45 times

huddle for no demonstrable reason. Flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, an automatic first down, it kept the Panthers’ drive alive and allowed them to put 3 points on the board and stay within striking distance of the Steelers, cutting the lead to 21-10. Completely senseless, this allowed the Panthers to eventually close the gap to 21-13 and within one score of tying the game. To say this was a costly penalty is sugarcoating it. Allen needs fined and benched a game.

45. Let me repeat that... he’s 45 years old. I think it’s time to hang up the cleats, Tom, no one wants to see you linger one second too long, you’ve done enough for the NFL and your legacy was long ago assured.

for 156 yards, essentially owning the clock and keeping the Panthers defense on the field for 36 minutes. A monster display by the O-Line in that regard. Give them and the D-Line game balls and call it even.

:07—What was he thinking? At the end of the 3rd quarter, after a stellar defensive stop, forcing the Panthers into a 4th down and 27 yards to go for a first down, Marcus Allen jawed back and forth with a Panthers player, then amazingly made his way over toward the Panthers sideline and their huddle and slipped into their

:06—At 9-8, the Steelers would continue Coach Tomlin’s streak of never having had a losing season. In the big picture scheme of things this season, is it that big of a deal? Well, let me ask you this, yeah, you know who I’m referring to, do you want to be the guy at the Steelers reunion in 20 years that has to explain to Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Alan Faneca, Maurkice Pouncey, Heath Miller and James Harrison how you were part of the team that ended the streak? No, didn’t think so.

:05—Tom Brady, despite some pretty good statistics, is finally starting to show some age and wear and tear on his body and arm. Would anyone put him in the top 7 QBs in the league at this point? He’s

:04—I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say not many of us watched the final of the World Cup before the Steelers game. From the little that I know, Lionel Messi and Argentina won over France to win the World Cup with a 4-2 penalty shootout after the score was tied 3-3 in regulation time. Messi is regarded as one of the all-time best players, in the conversation with Ronaldo, Diego Maradona and the one guy all us old school cats know, Pele’. I’m not a soccer guy by any stretch of the imagination but to end the once in 4 years world championship with penalty kicks is akin to winning the Super Bowl after a tie in regulation by seeing whose punter can kick the ball further or after the 9th inning of a tied Game 7 in the World Series awarding the title to the team whose shortstop can throw the baseball farther. I watched the end of the World Cup shaking my head at the stupidity of such a lame concept. Watching the Pens battle the Flyers or Capi-

tals in overtime is one of the most exciting things you can see in sports. To think of them going to a shootout instead is unimaginable. Playoffs, no matter what sport, and especially championships, have to be decided on the playing field, case closed.

:03—The Pittsburgh Pirates just signed catcher/ defensive specialist Austin Hedges to a one year— $5 million dollar contract. Hedges hit .163 last season and .178 in 2021 for the Cleveland Guardians and should fit right in with the anemic, pathetic Pirates roster. Sheesh. Are you serious? I mean, are you serious?

:02—The Pitt Panthers - UCLA Bruins Sun Bowl game is Friday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. and although the outcome has no bearing on anything except pride for both schools, sometimes these lesser bowl games turn out to be games you wished you’d tuned into. I for one will be watching the game and hoping for a Panthers victory but either way I hope it’s a nail-biter and ends with a penalty kick in overtime....I mean....ends with a touchdown as time expires in overtime.

:01—Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

:00—GAME OVER.

Mike Tomlin deals with issues

Hey, hey, hey, whatta you say? Dem dere Steelers might be on the way to the couch with a platter full of hot wings to watch the upcoming NFL playoffs or they might just be headed to the 2022 NFL postseason, depending on whom you ask. On Dec. 18, the Black and Gold invaded Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, looking meaner than Vikings that had run out of supplies and left with a 24-16 victory, displaying the heads of the Panthers’ running backs on a pole for confirmation. When it was all said and done, the Panthers’ running game performed as if they were a midget league team playing college boys.

Panthers QB Sam Darnold ended the game with 225 yards on 14 of 23 passing with 1 TD and his QB rate was 108.1. Carolina ran the football for 1.3 yards per carry, finish-

ing with 21 yards on 16 carries: this was a paltry effort on the ground by Carolina being as though they had been averaging more than 117.5 yards per game on the ground.

The Steelers had 45 attempts on the ground for 156 yards (3.5 yards per rush). This after the Steelers suffered a terrible loss against the Baltimore Ravens the week before.

The Panthers defense was the cure for what ailed Steelers second-string QB Mitch Trubisky subbing for injured starter Kenny Pickett for the second straight week. The Panthers’ bottom-feeding pass defense allowed Trubisky to complete 77.3 percent of his pass attempts (17 out of 22) for 169 yards. Also, unlike his performance against the Ravens, he did not throw any interceptions. Okay, enough about numbers. During a break in the

action, Steelers linebacker Marcus Allen possibly committed the dumbest penalty of the season and one of the dumbest plays in the history of the NFL. The Panthers were trailing 21-7 late in the third quarter and had thirdand-17 at the Pittsburgh 39-yard line. Cam Heyward sacked Sam Darnold for a 10-yard loss, which pushed Carolina out of field goal range and set up fourth-and-27.

The Panthers were going to punt, but they were awarded a first down when Allen decided that he wanted to venture over to the Panthers huddle

just to exchange a few pleasantries. As a result of that friendly visit, he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Panthers a new lease on life and at that point, casting a slight bit of doubt on the outcome of the game. Allen was also penalized for violating the dumb, dumber, and dumbest rule: but that penalty was declined by Carolina. A few Pittsburgh media members immediately began advocating that Marcus Allen be benched and cut. Also, there is another bunch of journalistic “goons” that dare to accuse Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin of sanctioning the ill-advised behavior of his player.

These folks always desire Mike Tomlin to react as if he wears a dress like them when he reacts like a man and refuses to tie a player to the whipping post when there is ques-

tionable behavior by a player: if Tomlin doesn’t, they tie him to the whipping post instead. Picture this scenario if you will. What, if every time these sports “gurus” wrote a boneheaded article and the public advocated that they be fired? Well, let’s put it this way...only interns would be available to provide stories for the nation’s newspapers because there would be a serious shortage of writers. Now, this is by no means giving Marcus Allen a pass for his behavior, but just because Mike Tomlin decided to handle the situation in an unorthodox manner doesn’t mean that the sky is falling. The NFL is a game, it certainly is not a cockfight or dogfight where players can or should be punished, arbitrarily and whimsically to satisfy some of the bloodthirsty scribes that think even the concussion proto-

col is a sign of weakness; yet many of these cowards hiding behind a computer keyboard would never in their wimpy lives dare to put on a pair of cleats and strap on shoulder pads to venture out onto the football field to compete. Oh, I forgot, they think playing soccer validates them. Makes one wonder how they handle disciplinary issues in their private lives. How many times in their youth were they sent to bed without supper for misbehavior? Hmm, makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

If the Steelers, by any stretch of the imagination, make the playoffs or preserve Mike Tomlin’s streak of never having a losing season, how many dogs are going to be penalized with their Alpo being withheld? Who knows, only the shadow knows.