3.8.23 NPC

Pittsburgh Courier Pittsburgh Courier

Homeownership is very important for Pittsburgh’s Black community

Homeownership Forum shows how to create generational wealth

by Rob Taylor Jr.

Courier Staff Writer

If you’re Black, living in the Pittsburgh region and do not own a home, you’re far from alone.

The online lending marketplace LendingTree in February released the results of a study it conducted on Black homeownership across the U.S., and found that Blacks in the Pittsburgh region, who make up 7.5 percent of the population, own less than four percent of all the homes.

The study comes on the heels of a 2022 report by the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group, which found that African American homeownership within city limits was at 31.4 percent in 2019. In other words, almost 70 percent of Blacks living within Pittsburgh are not homeowners, and it’s even worse across the multi-county region.

Even before the LendingTree report was released, a collaboration between the Pittsburgh alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma

Theta Sorority Inc., Petra

International Ministries and Monique Winston of MWINS Consulting resulted in a highly-attended Black Homeownership Forum, Feb. 4, at Petra International Ministries in East Hills.

“African Americans are the lowest percentage wise when it comes to homeownership and it hasn’t changed much since the ‘60s,” Winston said at the event. “Our goal is to help change the trajectory of Black homeownership.”

Nationwide, the gap between White and Black homeownership rates is wider today than it was in 1960. The Pew Charitable Trust reported a 27 point gap in 1960, compared to a 29 percent gap now.

“There is a huge connection between homeownership and economic wealth-building,” Winston said. “A lot of people think, just buy a house for the sake of buying a house...

They don’t realize that for African Americans, the largest percent of our net worth comes from the eq-

SEE HOMEOWNERSHIP A4

Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance launches Legal Candidate Forums

by Mackenzie Phillips

For New Pittsburgh Courier

With the upcoming 2023 elections, the Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance is hosting a series of Legal Candidate Forums as an easy and accessible venue to chat with candidates seeking public office running for legal positions in Allegheny County.

The forums will give the public a chance to see who is running for office and where candidates stand on specific issues.

These events are open to the public and hosted virtually via Zoom, with the full schedule and a way to register for the forums on

the Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance’s website.

Questions are taken from the public and presented to the candidates in a non-biased setting.

The kickoff to this year’s forums was on Jan. 21, featuring personal injury attorney Todd Hollis as the mediator and Matt Dugan, a candidate for district attorney. Questions presented to Dugan ranged from numerous aspects of their campaign to their intended goals if they were to win the position. For the upcoming forums, PBLA will target specific issues in the legal system in Allegheny County, such as bail reform,

Damara Carter named Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh Chief Financial Officer

firearms and environmental crimes. The next forum will be at 3 p.m., Saturday, March 18.

A problem arises when constituents don’t know what elections are taking place or who to vote for, attorney Frank Walker said. PBLA strives to raise awareness of issues in Black communities for those that may not know how to use their votes.

Walker, the president of PBLA and a practicing attorney in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, said he understands firsthand the injustices people of color face in and outside of the courtroom, making every vote and every election

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) has named Damara Carter as its new Chief Financial Officer, becoming the first Black woman to hold the position in the URA’s 77year history.

The announcement was made Tuesday, March 7.

“I’ve watched Chief Carter work tirelessly for close to two decades in the economic development field,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “Her dedication to ensuring that all of our communities are being served means she will do all that she can to help everyone have opportunities to thrive.”

Chief Carter brings over 27 years of accounting and finance experience to the organization, plus a wealth of institutional knowledge unique to the URA.

Chief Carter joined the URA in February 2009 overseeing accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and eventually other functions of the URA’s Finance department, giving her a comprehensive view of the URA’s financial and accounting operations. She has been instrumental in stabilizing and

improving operations of the URA Finance department, overseeing management of public money, and ensuring fiscal responsibility.

“My faith has sustained me through all of the turmoil I’ve experienced in my career. I’ve learned what it truly means to let go and let God. Any success I have is because I’m committed to treat-

ing people the way I deserve to be treated,” said Chief Carter. “When I got a chance to strengthen the URA’s Finance department, I did. I knew what needed to happen. I can say my department and staff are great.”

“On behalf of the entire board, I want to

STATE FARM AGENT DANIELLE HOWARD, far right, among the participants of the Homeownership Forum held, Feb. 4, at Petra International Ministries in East Hills. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

DAMARA CARTER

EXECUTIVE TEAM OF THE PBLA—Frank Walker, Lena Henderson, Paul Ellis.

Zindell Brown, Shaeed Woodard identified as Americans killed in Mexico

Black Information Network

Two of the four U.S. citizens who were kidnapped by gunmen in Mexico on Friday (March 3) have been found dead, according to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The other two Americans were found alive, with at least one of them being injured, the Mexican President said on Monday (March 7), per ABC News.

Latavia “Tay” McGee and Shaeed Woodard, who are cousins, along with Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams were previously identified as the four Americans abducted while traveling to the Mexican border city of Matamoros.

Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were killed. Williams and McGee have been returned to the U.S., alive.

According to the San Antonio division of the FBI, the four drove into Matamoros, a city largely controlled by the Gulf drug cartel, on March 3 in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. Unidentified gunmen opened fire against the group before they were “placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said.

The four Americans were abducted “after getting caught in the middle of a confrontation between groups,”

according to Mexican officials per ABC News. Unverified video circulating on social media shows armed men loading four people into the back of a white pickup truck. One of the four appears to be moving and sitting upright, while the other three appear to be limp as they are dragged into the bed of the vehicle.

Zindell Brown’s sister, Zalandria Brown,

This Week In Black History A Courier Staple

• MARCH 8

1977 Henry L. Marsh III is elected the first Black mayor of Richmond, Va. Before becoming mayor of the capital of the old confederacy, Marsh had made a name for himself confronting the city’s White power structure as a civil rights attorney. He also served in the state senate.

1993—Jazz great Billy Eckstine dies at 78 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Eckstine came to fame in the 1940’s and 1950’s as a singer and bandleader who worked with some of the greatest names of the era including Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne. He was one of the greatest influences upon modern Jazz and B-bop. Among his best known ballads were “Everything I Have Is Yours,” “Blue Moon,” “Caravan” and “That Old Black Magic.”

• MARCH 9

said her brother was accompanying one of four Americans who was planning to have tummy tuck surgery in Mexico. “This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” she said.

Republicans are trying to build a multiracial right—will it work?

by Joseph Lowndes

University of Oregon and Daniel Martinez HoSang, Yale

Divinity School

Former Republican South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley launched her bid for president recently in a video that began by describing the racial division that marked her small hometown of Bamberg, South Carolina.

Meanwhile, another presumptive GOP candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has continued his crusade against “woke ideology,” most recently on a tour of Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, presenting himself as a defender of law and order.

Taken together, these events present a fundamental question about the future of the Republican Party. Does it continue to move rightward, exciting its base by stoking White racial grievance?

Or does it pursue a multiracial strategy that can expand the party’s reach?

Recent trends in the GOP suggest that it wants to do both—and that indeed the two strategies are not so much at odds as it might appear.

Right-wing candidates of color on the rise

In a striking development, Michigan Republicans selected in February 2023 a Christian nationalist and election denier as chair of the state party.

This rightward shift of the party is not itself surprising. What’s striking is that Kristina Karamo, a Black woman, was elected over a White male candidate who also had Trump’s endorsement.

The same voters who elevated Karamo also cheered Trump’s supercharged racist rhetoric against Black people, immigrants, Mexicans, Muslims and nonwhite countries more generally during his campaigns and presidency.

And yet Karamo is hardly an anomaly.

While the party has made no substantive changes or moderation to its politics or policies around long-standing racial justice issues, it is slowly but steadily growing more racially diverse in its grassroots base, elected officials and opinion leaders.

In the 2022 midterm elections, for instance, a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives was secured by a number of Black and Latino candidates who ran strong races while avoiding the extremist label.

Though the U.S. Senate race in Georgia saw Black GOP candidate Herschel Walker lose to Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, there were seven victorious Black or Latino Republican newcomers to the House, four of whom won seats previously held by Democrats.

Most notable among the growing number of Republican lawmakers of color is Byron Donalds, a two-term representative from Florida. He was nominated by a GOP col-

league to serve as speaker of the House during the chaotic several days and 15 rounds of voting that preceded Kevin McCarthy’s election to that role.

Relatively young and new to national politics, these GOP politicians are largely aligned with Trump on substantive issues.

What’s more, none downplayed the issue of race, but rather are using their biographies and experiences of racial discrimination to legitimize their conservative bona fides.

The GOP race card

In Haley’s speech, she decried a national “self-loathing” that is “more dangerous than any pandemic” in regard to the country’s racial history.

“Every day we’re told America is flawed, rotten and full of hate,” Haley said. “Joe and Kamala even say America’s racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Take it from me, the first female minority governor in history.”

Meanwhile, African American Republican Sen. Tim Scott also appears close to entering the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Like Haley, Scott uses his own biography to undercut Democratic claims to represent people of color.

“For those of you on the left,” Scott said in a February 2023 speech in Iowa, “You can call me a prop, you can call me a token, you can call me the n-word. You can question my blackness. You can even call me ‘Uncle Tim.’ Just understand, your words are no match for my evidence. … The truth of my life disproves your lies.”

Neither Haley nor Scott is running as the colorblind conservatives of years past.

Both embrace their racial identities and talk openly about racial issues and politics, with little damage to their electoral prospects. Both have won large pluralities of conservative White voters in their states.

But the path ahead is mired with challenges and vexing contradictions.

1841—The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Joseph Cinque and his fellow mutineers are free men. Along with several of his Mendi tribesmen, Cinque, son of an African king, had been captured and sold into slavery. But in 1839, he led a revolt on the Spanish slave ship Amistad, killed the captain and seized control of the ship. However, a U.S. military ship seized the Amistad off the coast of Long Island, New York. The seizure led to protracted court battles in which Cinque and his men were charged with murder. But in an unusual ruling for its day, the high court held, in effect, that the men had a human right to try to escape bondage and allowed them to return to Africa.

1871—Noted Black politician Oscar De Priest is born in Florence, Ala. After moving to Chicago, he becomes a major political force in the city serving on the board of commissioners and then on the city council (1915-1917). However, De Priest became a national political figure when he was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1928. Throughout his years of political service he was known as “a persuasive agent for the Black masses.” He died in 1951.

1931 Walter F. White is named executive secretary of the NAACP. The Atlanta, Georgia-born White was arguably the most devoted and determined person ever to head the civil rights organization and was easily one of the top Black leaders of the first half of the 20th century. The light-complexioned and blue-eyed White also became a legend in 1919 when he “passed for white” in order to investigate a race riot in Elaine, Ark., which had left over 100 Blacks dead. He barely escaped with his life when news leaked out as to who he was. A train conductor, thinking he was White, is said to have joked with him saying, “You’re leaving too early. The fun is about to start. The boys are going to lynch a yellow Nigger passing for White.”

1997—Rap artist The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) is shot to death in Los Angeles, Calif., as a result of an alleged east-coast-west-coast dispute in the Rap music industry. The killing has never been solved criminally. But a civil suit in Los Angeles federal court accused two rouge Los Angeles police officers of arranging the drive-by shooting that led to his death.

•

MARCH 10

1913—The “greatest conductor of the Underground Railroad” Harriet Tubman dies on this day in Auburn, N.Y. Born in slavery in Dorchester County, Md., in 1819 or 1820. Harriet was a person of strong wild and principle. For example, at age 12 she received a severe blow to the head from a White overseer when she refused to help tie up a slave who had tried to escape. Around age 30, fearing she was about to be sold into the Deep South, Tubman escaped to Canada. But she returned to Maryland on numerous occasions helping family members and over 300 other slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. She frequently threatened to shoot any slave who became frightened and wanted to turn back.

1969 The man officially convicted of assassinating civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pleads guilty to the crime on this day. However, James Earl Ray promptly tried to withdraw the plea suggesting that there had actually been a government conspiracy to assassinate King, which involved the Mafia and members of the right-wing Cuban exile community in Florida. Ray admitted buying the rifle and renting the room in the Memphis, Tenn., flophouse from where the deadly shot was fired. But he maintained he gave the rifle to a mysterious man named Raoul. The House Select Committee on Assassinations would later conclude that Ray fired the shot but was probably part of a broader conspiracy.

1972 The first modern National Black Political Convention began on this day in Gary, Ind. It drew over 3,000 delegates and 500 observers as well as participation from just about every major Black political and civil rights organization in the nation. However, some moderate civil rights groups, like the NAACP, withdrew after the convention adopted resolutions critical of busing and Israeli racism against the Palestinians.

• MARCH 11

1874—Charles Sumner, one of the greatest White heroes of Black history, dies at age 63. Sumner became involved in politics as a powerful orator against slavery. For his efforts he was brutally beaten in

the Capitol Building by a South Carolina Congressman in May 1856. But he was not deterred. It was Sumner who introduced the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery in America. He was also among those who proposed aiding the economic advancement of the former slaves by giving each Black “40 acres and a mule” through the use of government land and by seizing land from the former slave owners.

1959—Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” opens on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre with Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil in the starring roles. With 530 performances, the play became the longest running African American-written play in Broadway history, and the first Broadway hit written by an African American woman. Hansberry’s promising career was cut short by cancer in 1965. She was only 34.

• MARCH 12

1773—This is the most probable date when Black explorer Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable begins building the settlement, which would eventually become the city of Chicago, Ill. The Haitian-born (c 1745) de Sable would over time become a man of considerable wealth, owning commercial buildings, docks, trading posts and a mansion. Du Sable was the product or a Frenchman and an African woman. He died Aug. 19, 1818.

1791—Pierre Charles L’Enfant was commissioned to design and lay out the nation’s capital city—Washington, D.C. However, a dispute with President George Washington forced his departure the very next year. Thus, the final design and layout fell to Black inventor and mathematician Benjamin Banneker. Although two White men were nominally in charge of the project, historical records show that it was Banneker’s mathematical skills and his memory of L’Enfant’s plans that enabled the project to be completed.

1955—One of the chief founders of modern jazz, Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, died on this day in New York City. Parker is widely considered “the greatest jazz saxophonist of all time.” His death at 35 was reportedly a result of pneumonia worsened by drug and alcohol abuse.

1964—Legendary Black leader Malcolm X formally separates from the Elijah Muhammad-led Nation of Islam although his initial statement of resignation was given March 8. The separation was triggered by growing differences over Islam and the proper role of religion in the Black liberation struggle as well as by Malcolm’s objections to Elijah Muhammad’s infidelities. Less than a year later, Malcolm was assassinated by men allegedly connected with a Nation of Islam mosque in New Jersey.

• MARCH 13

1794—Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin—a device that made cotton production much more profitable by more efficiently separating the seed from the cotton. The invention had the effect of extending the life of slavery in the South. However, there remains a historical dispute as to whether Whitney actually invented the cotton gin as most history books claim. There is some evidence that Whitney’s entire idea was based on a device developed by slaves laboring on the Georgia plantation of Catherine Green. Whitney, a lawyer, worked briefly for Green and it was while working for her that he allegedly invented the cotton gin.

1868—The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the United States Senate. The ultimate failure to convict and oust Johnson from the presidency was a major setback for the recently freed slaves. Even though he was Abraham Lincoln’s vice president, Johnson actually favored the former slave owners and the continuation of White power in the South. He was also opposed to Blacks having the right to vote. Although the impeachment and trial weakened him, his continuation as president helped pave the way for the emerging power of the Ku Klux Klan and the denial of rights to Blacks.

1932—The first Black daily newspaper begins publication. The paper was the Atlanta Daily World and it was founded by William A. Scott III.

• MARCH 14

1821—The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is officially formed in New York City. However, the church had been actually operating since 1796. A decision to officially separate from the White-controlled Methodist Church was reached in 1820. The dispute centered in part around the refusal of Whites to allow Black ministers to preach. Among the founders were James Varnick, Abraham Thompson and June Scott. Today the denomination has an estimated 1.2 million members and operates Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C.

1933— Legendary music composer and producer Quincy Jones is born on this day in Chicago, Ill.

1977—One of the unsung heroines of the Civil Rights Movement, Fannie Lou Hamer, died on this day in 1977. Hamer, the youngest of 20 children born in Ruleville, Miss., became active in voter registration and later became Mississippi field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee as well as head of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She also coined the phrase, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

SHAEED WOODARD ZINDELL BROWN

LATAVIA WASHINGTON MCGEE ERIC JAMES WILLIAMS

Homeownership is very important for Pittsburgh’s Black community

uity of our home. I’m not saying this is the only way to build generational wealth, but for us as a demographic, homeownership always makes up the largest component of our net worth.”

The 200 people in attendance—primarily Black women—heard firsthand stories on how an individual progressed to become a homeowner, step by step. The attendees broke into smaller groups to get information from banks like First National Bank to hear about their programs for first-time homebuyers. The attendees heard about the different obstacles to becoming a homeowner, while learning how to overcome those obstacles.

“It’s not difficult to purchase a home,” said Helen Bowers, president of the Pittsburgh alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., in an

exclusive interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier. “You have to have the mindset, understand what the responsibility is in owning a home. It’s not hard to do, it just takes more of a thought process.”

The recurring theme during the forum on the first steps to homeownership was for people to get their finances in order. Experts always discuss that a person should have an emergency fund large enough to pay their bills for six months in case they experience a job loss. But when saving for a home, it adds thousands of dollars to the savings game, usually in a different category than the “emergency fund.” Many African Americans have a hard enough time with the emergency fund, let alone the typical 10 or 20 percent down payment for a home. However, there are a number of programs

through the Federal Housing Administration that allow for first-time homebuyers to be able to put 3.5 percent down on a home.

In addition to a person’s finances, Bowers told the Courier there’s another aspect to homeownership—a person’s credit score. “We cannot share our credit score. That’s personal to ourselves and we need to hold it tight so that no one else affects it. It takes a lot to rebuild your credit,” Bowers said. It’s not uncommon for people to co-sign for a friend, relative, etc., for the purchase of a car or to obtain an apartment. But Bowers warned that it’s not wise to put oneself in a position where another person can hurt your credit. The higher a person’s credit score, the more likely they are to be approved for a home loan, and get a lower interest rate.

For Winston, who lived in Pittsburgh for 17 years but now resides in Houston, she just wants Black Pittsburghers to start thinking about being a homeowner. “It’s never an if, it’s just when,” she said. “Maybe you can’t do it for six months, two years, five years; let’s just start thinking about how we can get on the track to

ownership for African Americans in Pittsburgh and across the country is the lack of a two-parent household with two incomes. Studies, as well as common sense, show that having two incomes from two parents coming into a household increases the chances of being able to save for a down payment on a home. But in Allegh-

Homeownership Forum, discussed its “FNB Homeownership Plus,” a new mortgage loan designed to remove some financial barriers to homebuying. It features down payments as low as zero percent and access to up to $5,000 through the bank’s closing cost assistance grant. The program features flexible qualification standards and takes into account rent or utility payments into consideration if a homebuyer doesn’t have a sufficient credit score or history.

Other banks in the region, such as Dollar Bank, have programs that assist first-time homebuyers, many of whom are African Americans.

“I feel like homeownership, especially within the Black community, is something that needs to be taken more seriously,” said Tamiah Barrett, a licensed real estate agent in the Pittsburgh area. “Not a lot of people feel like they can afford a home or there are stipulations to where they just cannot get to that next level.”

start that.”

Winston added: “That first home doesn’t have to be your last home. You can leverage that to get your second, third home. I personally know people who, through the equity of their home, they’ve started their business, they’ve put their kids through college.” Another barrier to home-

eny County, 56 percent of the Black families are headed by a single mother, compared to under 20 percent for White families. Focus exclusively on Pittsburgh, and the percentage of families headed by a single Black mother ups to nearly 70 percent.

Pittsburgh-based First National Bank, the platinum sponsor of the

August Wilson House

But for Barrett, it was pleasing to see the number of African Americans who were at Petra International Ministries to learn about attaining that elusive first home. For local resident Muriel Fox Alim, she came to the Homeownership Forum to pass the information she learned on to her children. She told the Courier she bought a house on her own, “so that I can leave something for my children. I recognize the importance of property ownership and generational wealth.”

continues

Legacy Brick campaign

It’s not too late to join the community—the community of individuals and groups that have purchased a Legacy Brick to support the work of August Wilson House in the Hill District.

When you purchase a Legacy Brick, you’ll be in good company. Actors Russell Hornsby and Carter Redwood are there, as are civic leaders Marimba Milliones and Brenda Tate, and artistic legends such as Bill Nunn and Vernell Lillie.

August Wilson House (AWH), the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s childhood home, opened as an arts center for the Hill District last summer. The home is a tribute to Wilson’s legacy, and offers educational, cultural and community programming aimed at strengthening youth, neighborhood residents, and nurturing artists and scholars locally and around the world.

To support the programming, which is often offered free to the community, AWH is continuing its Legacy Brick campaign, offering Wilson fans and AWH supporters the chance to purchase commemorative and memori-

al bricks.

The deadline to purchase for this phase of the campaign is March 13, 2023.

Legacy Bricks costs $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 and will be placed at various locations around the house. All the bricks will be limited to up to three lines of text and 14 characters (including spaces and punctuation) per line.

Denise Turner, president and acting Chief Executive, AWH, says the Legacy Brick campaign allows

people to honor the legacies of their own families by offering words of memorial and tribute to loved one.

“August Wilson left an eternal legacy,” she says, “and now his supporters and fans have an opportunity to create their own.”  For more information, visit: https://augustwilson house.org

THE LEGACY BRICKS AT AUGUST WILSON HOUSE

MONIQUE WINSTON OF MWINS CONSULTING (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)

HELEN BOWERS, PRESIDENT, PITTSBURGH ALUMNAE CHAPTER OF DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY INC.

Take Charge Of Your Health Today. Be Informed. Be Involved.

Building reproductive health equity upstream

CARLOS T. CARTER

Reproductive healthcare

The Urban League has been deeply committed to the health and well-being of children and families, and this can be seen in the work we do through the Family Support Centers.

How do the Family Support Centers and other initiatives in our region help to address greater equity in reproductive health?

We leverage our centers as a hub to connect our families to resources that address the needs of the whole person.

The Family Support Centers provide to each visitor in need (individuals, parents, or families) a variety of services. These services include transportation to any type of medical care appointment and one-on-one support and guidance to each person seeking reproductive healthcare.

This support extends to assisting in and engaging with healthcare concierge services provided by their healthcare provider, as well as finding providers in, or surrounding, their community.

Our staff is trained to educate our visitors on their healthcare options, such as informing them what is 100% covered and what may require a copayment. Our team guides and supports our visitors to be their own advocate: for their bodies, their health, and, ultimately, their children and families.

If an individual does not have healthcare coverage, we work to connect them with resources.  Additionally, our team educates families about the importance of prenatal appointments and makes sure their children and babies have regularly scheduled checkups. Throughout their visit, the Family Support Center staff connects each visitor to resources that help them meet their basic needs and opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.

What can we all do to promote reproductive health for Black Women?

I believe the most important thing we can do is to listen to Black women. We must understand their — and their families’ — needs and offer unconditional support.

Too often, medical professionals and the broader community refuse to give our Black women the same attention and concern that others receive. That must change.

We need to ensure that our women feel loved, heard, respected, and supported.  We must guarantee that they are equipped with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about their bodies and wholistic wellbeing.

Our Black women are the rock of our community and deserve to live long, healthy, and productive lives!  Black women matter and it is time that they get the chance to thrive!

Carlos T. Carter is president and CEO of Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh

The term “reproductive health” holds great meaning. It includes the ability to have safe, healthy relationships. It involves being able to afford and use health services that educate and provide inexpensive contraception. It covers access to prenatal and postnatal care, as well as services for unplanned pregnancies. Good reproductive health is about well-being and autonomy. It’s about making your own decisions about family type and size. It’s about having support for those decisions, not only from your family and community, but also from your healthcare system — including the decision not to have children.

As with other healthcare areas, reproductive health is unequal for Black birthing people compared to their White counterparts.

For example, the latest national care rates for pregnant women show that Black mothers were twice as likely to receive late or no prenatal care compared with white mothers. National fetal death rates were also 2.3 times higher for Blacks vs. Whites. (Health & Human Services)

In Pittsburgh, infant death rates be-

fore the age of one year are especially grim. They’re more than four-and-half times more likely among Black versus White women. (Pittsburgh Equity Indicators)

Black maternal death rates in Pittsburgh are also higher than 97% of similar cities. That’s especially alarming when you consider two things. First, prenatal care in Pittsburgh begins earlier than it does for Black women in similar cities.

Second, Black women here have lower rates of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and infection.

At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Marian Jarlenski, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, is working to change these and other reproductive health inequities.

Dr. Jarlenski and her associate Dr. Dara Méndez, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, recently received a grant to see how three equity-based policies in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program could promote racial equity and justice for Black pregnant persons and young children.

The duo’s work focuses on tackling social determinants of health upstream at the policy level, which will help to

dismantle structural racism and improve health inequities quicker and more completely.

The idea is to reshape policy with structures and processes that help to cancel out the unfair conditions in which underserved people are born, live, work, and play. This involves partnering with community organizations so that healthcare outcomes are the same for all populations.

When systemic racism is confronted and corrected within programs like Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, and the ACA (Obamacare), the change is meaningful and advances healthcare equity more rapidly.

“By building equity into healthcare policy, underserved people will have better coverage and care that’s easier to access regardless of where they live,” Dr. Jarlenski explains.

That type of equitable care looks like this: Health clinics are staffed with pro-

viders who recognize and address structural racism and its impact on a person’s reproductive health.

There’s ready access to pharmacies for contraceptives, as well as abortion services and support.

In an equitable healthcare system, there are Black doctors, nurses, medical researchers, and support staff in numbers that echo population percentages. Black people are also included in — and the focus of — more health research and information gathering processes.

Black birthing people receive more information and support that encourage them to take good care of their reproductive health before, during and after pregnancy. “It doesn’t sound scientific, but there is a lot of ‘energy’ behind this focus on policy structure,” Dr. Jarlenski states. “Changing policies ‘upstream’ to address injustice is happening for many reasons.”

Some of those reasons are due to the startling inequities highlighted during the pandemic, as well as our country’s high infant mortality rate and the Dobbs decision, with states banning abortions after the Roe overturn — even though voters disagree.

“The past 3-5 years have been a flashing red light about the inequities of our public health system,” says Dr. Jarlenski. “However, those negatives are leading to positives.

Dr. Jarlenski is referring to the resilience and leadership in Black communities that’s helping to dismantle inequitable systems and create policies that reward inclusivity.

“In Pittsburgh, we’re seeing equitable politics and policy advocacy in organizations like New Voices for Reproductive Justice which fights for the health of Black women, girls and gender-expansive people, including abortion access, maternal and child health, and more.

“We’re seeing it on the Pitt campus with a student-led Planned Parenthood Generation Action group that’s raising awareness and engagement about reproductive rights.

“There’s also Healthy Start Pitts-

burgh which advocates for women, children, fathers, families, and communities to have good, inexpensive maternal and child health care and quality of life.

“Those are just three examples,” Dr. Jarlenski continues. “There are many more organizations in our city that are leading the way for reproductive health justice.”

Dr. Jarlenski’s most recent research project is part of that advocacy. The three programs she and Dr. Méndez are studying include paying Medicaid health plans that have excellent outcomes for Black pregnant persons and young children, rewarding providers who reduce racial inequities, and creating local health councils whose members design equitable community interventions. “It’s a human right to control your own body, sexuality, and gender, including having access over when — and if — you’ll become pregnant, give birth, and form a family,” says Dr. Jarlenski. “We’re hopeful our research at Pitt will be part of a renewed effort to extend that human right to everyone equally.”

How concussion affects female sexual and reproductive health

Over the last 20+ years, medical research about concussion (temporary unconsciousness or confusion caused by a blow to the head; also called “mild Traumatic Brain Injury”) has resulted in better treatment of and equipment for athletes and people who work in jobs where concussion is a risk.

In this country, however, most of the research is done on men.

That disparity doesn’t sit well with Dr. Martina Anto-Ocrah, a Reproductive Epidemiologist in Pitt’s School of Medicine.

“There is a great deal of research about concussion in men, especially young athletes,” says Dr. Anto-Ocrah. “That includes how concussion affects their sexual and re-

productive health.”

She continues, “For example, we know that concussion has been associated with changes in sexual functioning in men. Because we know this, we can now try to understand why and how that happens; and develop ways to treat the dysfunction. However, there are very few of such studies on women — especially non-athletes.”

One of the first researchers in the U.S. to tackle this bias, Dr. Anto-Ocrah believes representation matters — especially in medical research. She and her colleagues set out to evaluate the impact of concussions on female sexual functioning.

After recruiting females visiting the Emergency Room for their research, and

analyzing data on two types of patients — those needing concussion care and those needing care for other physical, non-head injuries — Dr. Anto-Ocrah found that those with concussions were 70% more likely to report sexual dysfunctions compared to their study counterparts.

“We’re talking about things like diminished desire and interest in sex, trouble having sex due to pain, as well as decreased sexual pleasure; even changes in their relationship dynamics with their

partners” Dr. Anto-Ocrah explains. In her latest research, Dr. Anto-Ocrah and colleagues studied pregnancy and concussion, including what impact, if any, concussion has on a female’s reproductive health.

The team looked at the data of more than 240 women aged 18 to 45. Some had concussions and others had physical, nonhead injuries.

“What we found is that women with concussions were 76% less likely to become pregnant than women in the other group,” Dr. Anto-Ocrah notes. “That includes taking into account things like obstetric history and birth control use.”

This information, she feels, serves as a loud-and-clear call for researchers to do

more studies on the long-term reproductive effects of concussion on women, including developing effective treatments.

Studying this data closely is validating for Dr. Anto-Ocrah personally as a researcher and as a woman. “Concussion can happen to anyone. Now women can go to their healthcare providers with proof that the pain they’re having during sex or the trouble their experiencing getting pregnant may be related to the fact that they’ve had a concussion,” she states. “The data demands we take their symptoms seriously.”

Why has it taken so long for the research to begin to catch up? “It goes back to social determinants of health,” she says. “In many countries, including

my own birthplace in Ghana, West Africa, gender and socio-cultural norms around reproduction often determine one’s socio-economic status, and their access to healthcare.”

“Ghana is not that far from the United States (US). Women who live in underserved communities in the U.S. still find it difficult to access good healthcare simply because of the circumstances of where they’re born, live, and work.”

Dr. Anto-Ocrah also believes the unequal representation of female outcomes in this line of research has to do with the taboo of sexuality. “We need to treat women’s sexuality in the same way we treat men’s — as an essential part of our health as human beings.”

Holistic health for Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people

In Pittsburgh, New Voices for Reproductive Justice is lifting up and celebrating Black voices on issues like race, gender, and environmental justice.

The organization is dedicated to dismantling patriarchal anti-Blackness using tools and programs that focus on voter engagement, community organizing, and leadership development in Pittsburgh and throughout the state.

Three key strategies Voter Engagement Increase voter registration and ensure that Black women

and gender-expansive people have the information and knowledge they need to cast their vote on behalf of themselves, their families, and their communities.

Community Organizing Provide training, workshops, and events that support a communal and shared commitment to create a future where Black women and gender-expansive people enjoy lives free from violence, abuse, and neglect.

Leadership Development Create and sup-

port youth projects that equip the next generation of advocates, policymakers, activists, and change makers, including expanding Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive people’s understanding of reproductive justice.

Black Women, Green Future

One of the organization’s most unique leadership development programs is Black Women, Green Future, which supports and promotes Black women and femmes who are environmental justice leaders acting upon a share vision.

“Reproductive and environmental justice are linked,” explains Hannah Litchfield, External Affairs Manager.

“For example, environmental degradation has a profound impact on Black birthing people and their children’s quality of life. We like to point out that your first home is the womb, but it’s not your last.”

Recently, the organization held its annual Black Women, Green Future awards ceremony where it celebrated five Black leaders for their environmental justice work.

Reach out! You can follow New Voices for Reproductive Justice on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @newvoicesrj. The organization’s website also includes information about abortion access.

What you can do right now: Vote and educate yourself Hannah encourages all Black women and gender-expansive people to educate themselves about candidates that support body autonomy. “Find out which candidates believe in the right for people to make their own bodily

choices,” she says. “Also, if you’re not registered to vote, please register now. It’s never too early.” Hannah notes it’s equally important for Black woman and gender-expansive people to educate themselves on reproductive justice — and have conversations about reproductive rights with family members and significant others. “This movement has been around since the 1990s and was founded by Black women experts,” she states. “Learn about it, support it, and continue the work.”

DR. JARLENSKI

DR. MENDEZ

DR. ANTO-OCRAH

McAuley Ministries announces recipient of the 2022 Sister Susan Welsh Good Neighbor Award

McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy’s grant-making foundation, announced that Brenda Tate, of the Hill District, was the recipient of the 2022 Sister Susan Welsh Good Neighbor Award. McAuley Ministries made the announcement on Feb. 15.

The Sister Susan Welsh Good Neighbor Award recognizes a resident of the Hill District, Uptown, or West Oakland who exemplifies the ideals of a “good neighbor” – a person who is compassionate, friendly, and helpful; a willing volunteer; an organizer of neighborhood events; and devotes time, talents, and resources to make their neighborhood a better place to live. The award is named in honor of Sister Susan Welsh, RSM, former president and CEO of Pittsburgh Mercy, a founding board member, and a current board member of the McAuley Ministries Foundation.

Brenda Tate exemplifies all of these traits and more. She has committed her life to serving as a faithful servant of God.

Brenda Tate is the mother of two sons, James E. Tate Jr. and Demetrius J. Tate, and is a proud grandmother. She has spent many years as a community activist and is committed to organizing events that educate and raise social justice awarness in the Greater Pittsburgh area and surrounding communities. She has even performed missionary duties in Africa and Eastern and Western Europe. To put it succinctly, local resident Tonya Ford said, “Brenda Tate is the Hill District Community hero with a commitment to service.”

Tate stated, “We here in

the Hill District are extremely blessed to be the beneficiaries of McAuley Ministries benevolence, and I am extremely honored and humbled to have been chosen as the recipient of 2022 Sister Susan Welsh Good Neighbor Award. To be awarded such a prestigious award bearing the name of a trusted servant as Sister Susan Welsh, will leave an everlasting impres-

sion on my life. Thank you for the good work you continue to do in this community.”

In addition to the Sister Susan Welsh Good Neighbor Award, McAuley Ministries announced two new appointments to its board of directors: Sister Judith Stojhovic and Dr. Howard B. Slaughter Jr. Each will serve a three-year term.

Protecting your most important asset!

Read about it from the Courier’s personal finance guru Damon Carr on page B1.

DR. HOWARD B SLAUGHTER JR.

MCAULEY MINISTRIES SISTER SUSAN WELSH GOOD NEIGHBOR AWARD WINNER BRENDA TATE, FAR RIGHT.

SISTER JUDITH STOJHOVIC RSM

Join our growing Praise and Worship Church Community!

For rate information, call 412-4818302, ext. 128. We want to feature positive youth from our Pittsburgh church community. Please mail their bio and photo to:

Obituary

December 27, 1927 - February 24, 2023

The Honorable Livingstone Morris Johnson, retired Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, died peacefully, surrounded by family and dear friends, on February 24, 2023, at the age of 95, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Judge Johnson was born on December 27, 1927, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, to Oliver Livingstone Johnson and Irene Olive Morris Johnson. Judge Johnson attended Johnston Elementary School, Horner Middle School, and Wilkinsburg High School. He played the trumpet in the high school band and was a bugler at Camp Twin Echo, a Boy Scout camp. Judge Johnson joined the Boy Scouts in 1939. He earned his Eagle Badge in 1945 as well as membership in the Order of the Arrow. Later in life, Judge Johnson was deeply honored to be awarded the Silver Beaver Award, the most significant council level distinguished service award for adults in the Boy Scouts of America. In addition, Judge Johnson was profoundly moved when the Boy Scouts of America, Laurel Highlands Council created the Livingstone M. Johnson Legacy Endowment Award in 2015 to present to a volunteer who has demonstrated their commitment to serving underprivileged youth through Scouting. Judge Johnson was a member of the board of directors of the Laurel Highlands Council. He received his A.B. from Howard University in 1949 where he was in the ROTC program. While at Howard, Judge Johnson joined Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi in 1945. Becoming a Que was especially meaningful to him because it was the same Chapter of the Fraternity that his father had joined in 1913 and that his older brother, Oliver Morris Johnson, joined in 1941: Theta Psi Chapter at West Virginia State. Judge Johnson would later be especially pleased to see his grandson, Jacob Walker Pettiford, continue the tradition as Jacob joined Omicron Psi Chapter at the University of Pittsburgh in 2022.

Based on his ROTC commission as an officer, Judge Johnson was called to active duty in the United States Air Force in 1949. He graduated from Navigator, Radar-Bombardier school at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas in 1951. As an Air Force officer in Korea, Judge Johnson flew 58 combat missions over enemy territory at night, including many low-level machine-gun strafing attacks. For heroic action in the line of duty, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Commendation Medal, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf clusters, along with other awards. Judge Johnson was honorably discharged in 1954. On the strength of his wartime performance, he became a charter member of the Allegheny County Hall of Valor in Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in 1962.

Upon his return from Korea, Judge Johnson entered the University of Michigan Law School, earning an LL.B. degree in 1957. Those who knew him, knew not to call the house during Steeler games, but most especially never, ever during Michigan games. He was very happy that his daughter Lee Carol Cook, L ’86, and His granddaughter, Emma Campagnari, LSA ’23, joined him as proud Wolverines. Judge Johnson returned to Pittsburgh upon his law school graduation and joined his father in the practice of law at the firm of Johnson and Johnson. They were joined by their son and brother, Judge Justin Morris Johnson, in 1962 and the firm became well known as Johnson, Johnson and Johnson. Judge Johnson distinguished himself as an assistant county solicitor from October 1962 which included spearheading litigation which enabled Allegheny County to successfully force the then United States Steel Company to comply with environmental air pollution regulations. He was active in representing the interest of Allegheny County and its citizens before the Pennsylvania Milk Control Commission, and the Public Utility Commission in matters involving Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the Pittsburgh Railways, the Pennsylvania Railroad, Duquesne Light Company, and Equitable Gas Company.

As a civil rights activist, Judge Johnson was chair and chief negotiator of The United Negro Protest Committee in their quest to gain equal hiring for African Americans at Duquesne Light, served as chair of Pittsburgh Friends of Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) Freedom Center, which raised money and collected clothing, food and supplies for COFO projects and then rented trucks to take them to Mississippi during Freedom Summer. He also represented the Urban League in negotiations with the Pittsburgh Pirates to ensure the hiring of African Americans on staff.

As his law practice grew, Judge Johnson became active in social and community affairs. It was during this time, in 1957, that he saw the former Lee Brun Johnson, at a picnic hosted by the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Judge Johnson asked her to dance the Cha Cha with him. She declined at that moment, but they met again in 1958 when Judge Johnson assisted in the mediation of a dispute at the Bethany Baptist Church where Lee Brun worshipped. A month after that, a mutual friend re-introduced them at another party. She finally agreed to a dance and became interested in learning more about this persistent young man. They were married at Heinz Chapel on April 30, 1960. Judge Johnson and Lee Brun moved to a farm that he bought for her when she expressed joy at her surroundings on yet another bucolic picnic. They raised five children in O’Hara Township on that former farm that came to be known as “The Calmwood.” Those children, Lee Carol, Oliver, Judy, Liv, and Patty gave Judge Johnson and Lee Brun their absolute pride and joy: the nine grandchildren, collectively known as “The Cousins”: Lauren, Kristen, Robinson, Ellie, Emma, Jacob, Olivia, Lily, and Alex. Judge Johnson and Lee Brun, known as “Pepop” and “Gam”, unabashedly spoke, with the deepest pride, of the love the Cousins have for each other and their family, and of the Cousins’ growth into exemplary young people.

Judge Johnson was appointed as a Common Pleas Court judge by the governor in 1973. He served for over 9 years in the juvenile section of the Family Division, conducting 21,500 hearings involving juveniles experiencing delinquency, dependency, and mental health problems.

In 1982 Judge Johnson received the outstanding juvenile court judge award from the Allegheny County League of Women Voters. In 1985 he received the Juvenile Law Award from the ACBA juvenile law committee in recognition and appreciation of his significant contributions to the field of Juvenile Justice and child welfare. In 1994 he was the first recipient of the Homer S. Brown Law Association Achievement Award.

As a judge in the Allegheny County Civil Division, Judge Johnson was recognized for his demonstrated commitment to the equal treatment of women in the courtroom, as parties, lawyers, and judges. In 1995 he received the Susan B. Anthony Award of the Women’s Bar Association on the unanimous vote of that body’s Executive Board.

On December 28, 1997, Judge Johnson assumed senior status and continued to serve as a Common Pleas Court judge until his retirement in 2007.

Judge Johnson was always active in his community. He was a lifelong member of St Mark AME Church in Wilkinsburg which his parents chose as their family church in 1922. He was also a lifelong member of numerous professional, charitable, and community organizations including Omega Psi Phi, Tau Epsilon Rho, and Sigma Pi Phi, Rho Boulé fraternities, the NAACP, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, the Allegheny County Bar Association Board of Governors, the Homer S. Brown Law Association, and the American Inns of Court-Pittsburgh Chapter. He was a lifelong member of the American Judicature Society and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Judge Johnson is a former charter member of the disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Business and Job Development Corporation, the Variety Club of Pittsburgh, Ozanam Strings, Inc, the YMCA, and Indian Guides, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc, American Red Cross of Allegheny County-Pittsburgh Chapter, Boys Club of Western Pennsylvania, and served on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Public Broadcasting (WQED/WQEX). Most memorably, Judge Johnson was a member of The Allegheny County Bar Association Players; a theater group that allowed him to excel in his star turn as a traffic cone.

Among his many awards for community service, Judge Johnson was honored by the Guardians of Greater Pittsburgh, by the staff of Juvenile Court for dedicated service to the youth and families of Allegheny County, by the Greater Pittsburgh A.M.E. Ministerial Alliance for his untiring dedication and service to God, church and community, by Pittsburgh National Bank and WPTT-TV 22 in recognition of the countless contributions made to the community and the legal profession; and by the American Inns of Court-Pittsburgh Chapter for his distinguished service as counselor to that chapter.

Judge Johnson was predeceased, after 59 years of marriage, by his wife, Lee Brun Johnson, his parents Oliver Livingstone Johnson and Irene Olive Morris, his siblings Aliscena Whitaker (James) Hargrave, Oliver Morris Johnson, Irene Morris Johnson (Gian Luigi) Guerrini, and Justin Morris (Florence) Johnson. He is survived by his sister, Justine Morris Johnson (Ricardo) Gutzmer; five children: Lee Carol Johnson (William) Cook, Oliver Morris (Mabel) Johnson, II, Judith Lee Johnson (Christopher) Campagnari, Livingstone James (Elisabeth) Johnson, and Patricia Lee Johnson (Brian) Pettiford; nine grandchildren: Lauren Lee Johnson, Kristen Lee Johnson, Robinson Johnson Cook , Ellison Jordan Cook, Emma Helen Campagnari, Jacob Walker Pettiford, Olivia Johnson Pettiford, Lillian Grace Johnson, and Alexander James Johnson; and many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and very dear friends.

A public Visitation will be held at East Liberty Presbyterian Church on Friday, March 17, 2023, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. The Funeral Service will immediately follow the Visitation at 11:00 am. A private burial will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a memorial contribution to one of the following organizations, which facilitate higher education and/or mentoring to financially disadvantaged students: The University of Michigan Law School. Under “Gift Options”, select “Tribute Gift”. Then Select “in memory”. Type Livingstone M. Johnson in the open box.Student Support – 321752 https://leadersandbest.umich.edu/find/#!/scu/law/student OR,

Checks should be made payable to “University of Michigan Law School” with “In memory of Livingstone M. Johnson” written on the memo line of the check. Those should be mailed to:

University of Michigan Law School

c/o Erica Munzel

Development & Alumni Relations

Suite 4000 701 South State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Howard University Annual Fund Scholarships marked:

“In memory of Judge Livingstone M. Johnson for Student Aid” https://giving.howard.edu/givenow

Boy Scouts of America, Laurel Highlands Council marked:

“In memory of Judge Livingstone M. Johnson for Scoutreach” https://lhcscouting.org/giving/

Healthy Start and The Midwife Center partner to offer group prenatal care

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Healthy Start and The Midwife Center (TMC) will soon offer “CenteringPregnancy,” a group prenatal care model that has been shown to decrease racial disparities in preterm birth rates. Funders, government officials, community partners and others are invited to a program kickoff event that will take place, Wednesday, March 15, from 4-5 p.m. at The Midwife Center at 2831 Penn Avenue, Strip District. The event will feature a presentation about the Centering Pregnancy Program by staff members of Healthy Start and The Midwife Center. Tours of The Midwife Center will follow the presentation.

Starting in late March, pregnant clients can join a cohort of peers due in the same month for prenatal care at The Midwife Center. The program follows the recommended 10 prenatal visit schedule, but each visit is 2 hours for clients to have more time with a provider, engage in conversation, and learn about nutrition, stress management, breastfeeding, labor, delivery, and more. Each client also receives private time with their provider for a belly check.

DeJané Dozier, MSN, CNM, a TMC midwife who will serve as the lead provider, says, “Centering Pregnancy is used across the country. It is a great way to bond with other pregnant people, to learn and discuss pregnancy topics, and to receive your prenatal care all in one. And it has been shown to improve outcomes for both the pregnant person and baby!”

This partnership will combine CenteringPregnancy with the midwifery model of care, which emphasizes client-centered, safe, and supportive care. Healthy Start, an experienced local CenteringPregnancy facilitator, will collaborate with TMC to provide educational opportunities, resources, and referrals to the group. Enrollment in Healthy Start also grants participants access to a holistic support network of home visiting, doulas, fatherhood programming, and more. “Partnering with TMC to offer the Centering model of prenatal care gives

us an opportunity to help our moms rethink their circle of support during their pregnancy,” said Jada Shirriel, Healthy Start Chief Executive Officer.

Jaime Johnson, a former participant of CenteringPregnancy with Healthy Start and Primary Care Health Services said, “Participating in Centering was very important. I was pregnant with my second son. My first pregnancy resulted in a premature birth at 32 weeks and an extended stay in the NICU. I felt so alone. I didn’t want to have a similar experience. In Centering I felt connected, supported, and cared for–not just a participant but as a woman and a mother sharing a similar experience with other Black women who are mothers. I am grateful for the opportunity, and I encourage others to participate as well.”

Healthy Start Inc.’s mission is to improve maternal and child health to reduce poor birth outcomes and infant mortality in Allegheny County. Since 1991, they’ve offered free, community-based programs to families—with a focus on Black families—during the perinatal period. Healthy Start supports healthier pregnancies, safer births, stronger families, and a more equitable healthcare system. More information is available at healthystartpittsburgh. org.

The Midwife Center promotes wellness by providing exceptional, client-centered primary gynecological, pregnancy and birthing care in southwestern Pennsylvania’s only licensed, independent birth center. More information is available at midwifecenter.org.

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate US from the LOVE OF GOD, which is IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.”

- Romans 8:38-39

REV. WALKER SAYS: The WORD OF GOD, Romans 8:31: What can we say to these things, IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US.

JADA SHIRRIEL, Healthy Start Pittsburgh CEO

Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance launches Legal Candidate Forums

often, no one knows what happens in the criminal justice system until you’re in it,” Walker told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “You can anticipate, you can speculate based on what you see on TV, what your friends tell you, what you see on YouTube, but no one really knows what happens unless you’re

practicing in this field.”

PBLA was founded in early 2020, following numerous media reports of inappropriate remarks —including racist comments—given by former Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark V. Tranquilli.

Lena Henderson, founder and now vice president of PBLA, organized the group from her living

room. What started as a group of 10-12 Black lawyers on Feb. 8, 2020, has now expanded to dozens of members, all with varying connections within the community.

“We wanted to be an independent group that decided what we were gonna do,” Henderson said. “I like to believe we were instrumental in getting this judge off of the bench.”

Tranquilli resigned his seat in November 2020, on the eve of a misconduct trial, after making racist comments about a juror prompted six separate misconduct complaints against him from his time in both family and criminal court and following a history of inappropriate comments from the bench.

PBLA has also participated in local expunge-

ment clinics and has partnered with the Black Law Student Alliance at both the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University to further expand their educational reach within the region.

Prior to COVID-19, all meetings and forums of the PBLA were in person.

Switching to a virtual setting, however, has allowed for the forums to be more

accessible to candidates and the public.

“The main mission... could be summed up as equality for all,” Walker said, “and how do we go about that as we make sure that everyone is getting an equal playing field in the courthouse and outside of the courthouse.”

Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh names Damara

CARTER FROM A1

congratulate Damara on becoming CFO of the URA,” said URA Board Chair Kyle Chintalapalli.

“As someone who has been behind the scenes of the work for so many years, she has provided steady leadership for her team in the Finance Department and shown consistent care for her colleagues over that time. It is difficult to find someone with the

Carter as Chief Financial Officer

financial acumen to navigate the URA’s finances, patience and skill to explain those complexities to others, and connection to the work in our communities, but we have that in Chief Carter and are lucky to have her as our CFO.” Chief Carter will assume a strategic role in the overall management of the URA as a steward of public funding. She

will lead accounting and finance functions, shortterm and long-term strategic planning, property management, deal analysis and negotiations, investor relationships, and partnership compliance.

“I am excited to see Damara in this well-deserved role and want to extend my sincere congratulations,” said URA Executive Director Susheela Nemani-Stanger.

“Damara has been a quiet, but strong, driver of the URA’s financial operations over the years, as well as a responsible steward of public funds. I have no doubt in my mind that her knowledge, expertise, compassion for people, and dedication to the work will support us in carrying out our mission to create sustainable prosperity for all of Pittsburgh.”

Chief Carter first developed her love of finance and business during her time as a student in the Career and Technical Education Program (CTE), located at Westinghouse Academy. She was part of the first class of the CTE Program and got her first job with the H. J. Heinz Company the summer of her senior year of high school.

Chief Carter is a Pittsburgh area native and currently lives in Highland Park. She holds a Bachelor of Science in finance and accounting from Central State University and a master’s degree in finance from Strayer University. She enjoys spending time with her three children and partner, traveling and exercising.

College hoops is alive and well in Pittsburgh!

:10—As a basketball kind of guy, you know, the guy who ran the Connie Hawkins Summer Basketball League every summer for years, I have to say this has been one heckuva year for the local college basketball scene. Pitt, under head coach Jeff Capel, is almost surely going to the Big Dance, aka the NCAA Tournament, and with a good showing in the ACC Tournament this week, could have a decent seeding come Selection

Sunday, March 12. The Duquesne Dukes went 2011 this year, the second time they’ve won 20 under head coach Keith Dambrot in four years, and although Robert Morris had a disappointing 1617 record and lost in the second round of the Horizon League tourney, they have been to the NCAA Tournament 3 times in the past 15 years so we’ll give them and head coach Andrew Toole a pass this year. So, let’s talk some local hoops.

:09—The Duquesne Dukes, picked to finish dead last in the Atlantic-10 this year by most pundits, ended up in 6th place and earned a 1stround bye in the A-10 tournament. Who would of thunk it back in October? Coach Dambrot

has been a bright spot on the Panthers

forged a team-first attitude from his squad from the first jump ball November 8, 2022, against Montana and everyone bought into it. Under Coach Dambrot, Duquesne has edged back into relevance up on the bluff, taking the team from an almost annual afterthought in the A-10 to a solid, emerging squad that next season could be a contender and could be headed to the NIT this year. Kudos to Coach Dambrot and the players and the absolute exceptional year they’ve accomplished.

:08—In Coach Dambrot’s sixth season at Duquesne, he’s taken a program that, unfortunately, was too often mired in mediocrity and instilled in it a sense of winning and all-out effort. In order to win at the Division 1 level with the talent he’s able to attract, Coach Dambrot has to design a game plan involving all the players on his squad and he’s done a truly exceptional job of that, pushing aside egos for team play and showing the results once again this season. I believe the program has turned the corner and nothing but success lies ahead for him and his future players.

:07—Well, well, well. To all you Coach Jeff Capel

haters out there, and don’t worry, I won’t mention names, Pitt basketball, picked an abysmal 14th in the ACC preseason polls, ended up in the 5th position somehow. Yeah, yeah, they hiccuped at the end and lost to a lousy Notre Dame team that cost them a share of the ACC title, but if I had told you before the season Pitt would get 5th place and end up 14-6 in the conference, you’d have been very happy and definitely taken those results. So quit your belly aching over last week and remember how much fun it was to watch Pitt beat Miami, N.C. State, North Carolina, Syracuse and roll to a very good 21-10 record.

:06—Let’s give the first real shoutout to head coach Jeff Capel and the outstanding job he’s done in moving the program back to national prominence and respectability. With ballers like Jamarius Burton, Blake Hin-

son and Nelly Cummings lighting it up from beyond the 3-point arc and the athletes believing 100 percent in his system, the Panthers were able to rack up victories and steadily become a team to be reckoned with under Coach Capel’s steady guiding hands. Do not be surprised at a run to the finals in the ACC Tournament and a title is not out of the realm of possibility.

:05—With a victory or two in the ACC tourney, the Panthers could end up a 12 or 13 seed and if they pull off a tourney title in the ACC they could find themselves a 9 or even an 8 seed in the NCAA brackets. They could cause some real damage if they’re able to execute their free throws and shoot the 3s like we know they’re capable of doing. Don’t think this team can’t win two the first weekend with a favorable couple of matchups and end up in the Sweet 16 with a chance at Elite Eight status. I’m just saying, stranger things have happened and this Pitt Panthers squad is completely capable of a strong legitimate run in the NCAA Tournament.

:04—Having attended numerous games at all three campuses this year and felt the visceral

excitement inside their respective hoop halls, I have to tell ya the infectious atmospheres in each home gym was just another offshoot of programs on the rise and hitting on all cylinders; the raucous students shaking and rocking their respective houses till you felt like the walls might come tumbling down. The Oakland Zoo at Pitt absolutely lived up to their name and reputation and Duquesne and Robert Morris weren’t far behind. Nothing beats a college hoops atmosphere when the home team is positively killing it on the hardwood. I mean nothing.

:03—Could Pitt have the Coach of the Year and Player of the Year this year in the ACC? I say yes, Coach Capel and Blake Hinson should be the obvious choices, it’s that damn easy.

:02—Lest you think we’ve forgotten, let’s give some love to the women’s programs as well. Although a definite down year for the women at Pitt this year with a 10-20 record under head coach Lance White, there’s no doubt in my mind the Panthers will turn it around. By the way, Lance White was fired last week after five seasons as head

coach. Duquesne Dukes women’s head coach Dan Burt lead his squad to an impressive 18-11 record in the A-10 though they suffered a second-round loss to George Washington last Thursday, March 2, in the A-10 Tournament but overall an exciting, winning record from Coach Burt and the Lady Dukes. And although the Robert Morris Colonials women’s squad ended their season last Tuesday, Feb. 28, with a loss to the Milwaukee Panthers and had a record of 11-20 overall this year, I predict bigger and better things under coach Charlie Buscaglia’s tutelage. :01—Think about this for a minute. RMU returns to its rightful place and record in the Horizon League and snags another NCAA bid next year, Pitt improves to 26 or 27 wins and the outright ACC crown and Duquesne takes the next step and wins 24 and a piece of the A-10 title. Is it possible the City of Pittsburgh places three teams in the NCAA Tournament next season, maybe a 14 seed, a 12 seed and a 4 seed? Doesn’t sound that farfetched all of a sudden, does it? Can’t wait!!! :00—GAME

PITT’S NELLY CUMMINGS

this season. (Photo by Vince Butts)

Getting creative was vital for three South Side restaurants’ survival

by Aidan Voorhees

For New Pittsburgh Courier

Times have been tough for everyone since the COVID-19 pandemic started forcing people to stay home in spring 2020.

Not being able to sit down and eat was the end of the road for many businesses in Pittsburgh, but for South Side restaurants like Back to the Foodture, Carmi Soul Food and Gabriella’s Gourmet, getting creative was vital for survival. All of them are Black-owned businesses.

“We call it monster marketing,” said Angel Magwood, co-owner of Back to the Foodture of her husband Eddie “Barnz” Magwood’s plan to keep their restaurant alive.

Angel Magwood said that Barnz “just went crazy” in his effort to keep their restaurant in business.

“He bought a chicken suit, and he’d be outside dancing in the chicken suit,” she said.

The Magwoods opened Back to the Foodture in Pitcairn in 2018 before moving the restaurant to South Side Works in 2020.

They added a second location across from PPG Paints arena at the start of 2023.

Social media advertising was a key factor in keeping business flowing for

Back to the Foodture.

“Every day, when somebody came and ordered something, no matter what their food was, we would take pictures of everything that they ordered and put it on our social media pages,” Angel

Magwood said.

Carleen King, co-owner of Carmi Soul Food on East Carson Street, said that shifting completely online and selling their own spices were two strategies that they used to keep business moving.

What is your number one asset? (A) Home, (B) Car, (C) Another valuable possession (D) None of the above. The answer may surprise you. Drumroll…..

If you guessed (D) None of the above, you guessed right. Your most valuable asset is your ability to earn an income. In order to provide food, clothing, shelter, transportation and other necessities and luxuries for you and your family, you need an income to pay for it. By the way, your income is your most powerful wealth-building tool—but that’s another topic.

If you become disabled and cannot work, will you have enough money to buy food, make the house payment, keep the lights and other utilities on, pay the car note and put gas in the car? Statistics show that roughly 40 percent of all foreclosures are the result of a person becoming disabled. Long-term disability (a disability generally lasting 90 days or more) is more devastating on a family’s finances than death. In the event of death there are no ongoing expenses associated with the deceased. When a loved one becomes disabled, a family incurs additional expenses due to the cost of providing care to the disabled person while at the same time they lose the income once provided by the person who is now disabled. Most of us understand the negative effects that death has on a family’s finances. Therefore, many people have life insurance in place (although most are under-insured). However, people tend to underestimate the need for disability insurance. As a result, a large percentage of people don’t have disability insurance. Of those who

do, far too many have skimpy coverage.

You’re twelve times more likely to become disabled than you are to die over a 30-year working career. About half of all employees will have a disability that will last at least 90 days. One out of every 10 people can expect to be permanently disabled prior to age 65.

Your income is your most valuable asset and a potential disability is your highest risk of all. This makes disability insurance an instrumental component of a comprehensive financial plan. Before I share important terms you should know in a disability insurance policy, let me first answer some questions that cause many people to procrastinate getting disability insurance.

“I am in good health, I know I can earn a living.”— Christopher Reeves (Superman) thought he’ll leave this world with a lasting impression of him flying through the air. I can’t shake the images of him in the wheelchair. Although he continued to earn a living, I doubt if he made the same type of money he made prior to his disability. You can sustain an injury or illness in a number of ways including accident, work-related injury or some unforeseen medical condition.

“Won’t Social Security help me?”—I have an aunt who suffered a

“We got an excellent new spice line,” King said, “so even if you couldn’t come out to eat, you could cook Carmi food at home.”

King also said that partnering with GrubHub and DoorDash initially helped with covering some of the costs during the emergency situation but it was not a long-term solution because of how much profit

the food delivery companies took from each order.

“They were able to keep the kitchen moving,” King said. “You’re barely covering costs, including employees and labor and all that. So, it’s helping with costs, but there’s no profit in it.”

Angel Magwood said that Back to the Foodture had to cut DoorDash

stroke in 2003. Her physical limitations resulting from the stroke were obvious. It took the assistance of an aggressive attorney, two appeals, and nearly four years before she received a check from Social Security. Obtaining disability income from Social Security is extremely difficult. The definition of disability under social security is very rigid and requires a mental or physical impairment that prevents you from engaging and what they term “substantial gainful employment” (roughly $900 per month) for a minimum of 12 months or be expected to result in death. There are two types of disability insurance—short-term and long-term. Long-term insurance is the more important of the two. Disability insurance replaces between 50 and 70 percent of your gross income with the average being 67 percent. If you pay for your premiums, the income from disability insurance is tax-free. However, if your employer pays the premium, the income is subject to taxation. Premiums are based primarily on the type of work that you do. A fireman, police officer and someone who works around machines will pay a higher premium than someone who works in an office setting. Group disability insurance offered through your employer is offered at a very reasonable price. If your employer does not offer disability insurance, you can purchase

and Uber Eats when the pandemic began to affect business.

“They take a percentage, and right at that time, we couldn’t afford to pay that percentage because our sales went down so much,” she said.

Pete Henderson, owner of Gabriella’s Gourmet on the corner of East Carson Street and Third Street, said his restaurant may have picked up more business during the lockdown because so many other restaurants closed while he was able to remain open.

“In a way, we got to be recognizable,” he said.

Henderson acquired Gabriella’s in 2017 but has over 30 years of experience as a cook. He credits his ability to stay open to the fact that he runs the restaurant by himself.

“I’m just here every day,” Henderson said. “I get up and I make it. So, if it’s a good day, it’s a good day. If it’s a bad day, we take that as well. We don’t want too many bad days,

but we take them as they come.”

While these businesses have found ways to stay open, other Pittsburgh restaurants have not been so fortunate. The Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland closed at the beginning of the pandemic, and Dough-

an individual policy. The average price is about $40 per month.

Important terms to know:

Benefit Amount—This is the amount you’ll be paid should you become disabled.

Benefit Period—This will define how long benefits will be paid. It could be 5 years or until age 65. It’s worth the extra premium to be covered to age 65.

Definitions of Disability—There are two general types of disability definitions that you should be aware of. Own Occupation—which states that in order to be declared disabled you cannot perform your particular occupation. This is the best option. If you are a singer and can no longer sing, you’re declared disabled and will receive benefits. Any Occupation—this stipulates that you are unable to perform any occupation. If you’re a singer and you can no longer sing but you can earn a living as a stage manager, you will not be declared disabled.

Guaranteed

Renewable—This means the insurance company can’t cancel your policy as long as you pay the premium.

Waiting or elimination period

This is the time you have to wait before payments begin. This is akin to a deductible in other types of insurance policies. Waiting periods may range from 30 to 180 days. A longer waiting period reduces the premium.

ANGEL MAGWOOD said that her husband Eddie “Barnz” Magwood “just went crazy” in his effort to keep their restaurant “Back to the Foodture” in business. In addition to their South Side location, they just opened a new location next to PPG Paints Arena.

PETE HENDERSON acquired Gabriella’s in 2017 but has over 30 years of experience as a cook. He credits his ability to stay open to the fact that he runs the restaurant by himself.

DESPITE THESE DIFFICULT TIMES, Carleen King and her husband, Michael, have worked hard to keep Carmi Soul Food open. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

Historic alliance to develop Black-owned businesses

On Wednesday, February 22, the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and the National Alliance for Black Business (NABB) signed a historic MOU during the NABB’s first annual National Black Business Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The NABB was co-founded by the National Business League (NBL) and the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), which represent a combined 153 years of service to Black businesses and are now collectively working to organize a unified national black economic agenda.

“This historic agreement between MBDA and the NABB will strengthen our collective mission to create a strong, equitable economy for all minority businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Donald R. Cravins Jr., Under Secretary of the Minority Business Development Agency. “Both MBDA and the NABB have uplifted Black businesses in the decades since they were formed. But together under this agreement, we can break down more barriers, open

new opportunities, and create greater access for even more minority entrepreneurs and founders to thrive.”

More than 100 distinguished Black business leaders, organizations, and corporate executives assembled with the Department of Commerce Under Secretary Don-

ald Cravins Jr., Esq. Among them were NABB Co-founders Kenneth L. Harris, Ph.D. (NBL) and Charles H. DeBow, III (NBCC); Hon. Johnny Ford, founder and president of the World Conference of Mayors; Helena Hutton, senior director of strategic purchasing, supplier diversity and

environmental sustainability, Cummins Inc., and member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable; Jane Reindorf-Attoh, CEO, JT International; and conference keynote speaker Terri L. Batch, Director of the U.S. Global Diversity Export Initiative, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration.

“The alliance between the NABB and the U.S. Department of Commerce is a powerful collaboration to build Black economic equity through enterprise ownership and development,” said Charles H. DeBow, III, president and CEO of the NBCC and co-founder of the NABB.

The MOU establishes a framework for the MBDA and the NABB to collaborate on efforts to increase the growth and global scaling of more than 3.2 million Black American businesses, with an estimated $141.1 billion in annual receipts, 1.3 million employees, and about $42.2 billion in annual payroll (2022 U.S. Census).

As part of this alliance, MBDA and the NABB will share information and raise public awareness of

each other’s programs and initiatives.

In 1969, the late Berkeley G. Burrell, the 10th national president of the NBL, played an instrumental role in the founding and creation of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE), known today as the MBDA. Mr. Burrell was vice president of the Advisory Council for Minority Enterprise and under his leadership, the NBL and OMBE initiated decades of Black business participation in the public and private sectors.

“The MBDA was born out of the civil rights movement, as an intentional solution to curb the economic conditions experienced in the Black community that caused Black resistance, rebellion, and retribution in the streets,” said Kenneth L. Harris, Ph.D., president and CEO of the NBL and co-founder of NABB. “By continuing the legacy of Booker T. Washington, today we forge partnerships with aligned priorities to broker economic opportunities for Black businesses that are essential in the global marketplace.”

Reregulation of airlines will have negative impact on travelers of color

by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

For New Pittsburgh Courier (NNPA NEWSWIRE)—

Among the significant strides our country has made to create a more equitable society, air travel does not always come to mind. However, it was not long ago that air travel was only for the elite. Airfares were prohibitively expensive, and flying on commercial airlines was a privilege that almost exclusively upper-class, white Americans could enjoy. Today, the vast majority of Americans from all income levels and walks of life are able to travel by air. According to an Ipsos survey, more than 90 percent of Americans have flown commercial in their lifetime—with 53 percent of Americans taking to the skies before the age of 16. It is hard to believe that only 50 years ago, fewer than half Americans of all ages had experienced air travel.

What spurred this new reality of affordable airline fares and accessibility? The answer is simple: the deregulation of the industry in the 1970s.

Today, there are some in the Biden Administration and in Congress pushing to reregulate the airline industry—a decision that threatens to upend the progress our country has made to

make air travel more accessible for all Americans.

In 1978, President Carter signed the bipartisan Airline Deregulation Act into law—ushering in a new age for air travel. This bill drove tremendous progress in improving the accessibility of air travel, especially among low-income and diverse communities.

The bill introduced a free market in the commercial airline industry. Dozens of new airlines formed, and due to increased airline competition, more planes took to the skies every day, new routes were added, and fares plummeted, providing more and more passengers with the opportunity to take advantage of a fast and safe method of travel.

Today, two million passengers board planes across the U.S. every day to visit friends, reunite with families, and meet with colleagues. These travelers are benefitting from an unprecedented amount of choice— more carriers to choose from, more flights and routes and varying ticket types that include more affordable options.

Two new carriers entered the market during the pandemic, offering new service to small communities and further spurring the fierce competition within the industry. This, in turn, drives down fares—and improves the travel experience—as the carriers all vigorously

compete for the same consumers.

The benefits of the Airline Deregulation Act are still felt throughout the country, with fares remaining remarkably affordable. In 2021, domestic air travel in the U.S. was 55 percent less expensive than it was in 1979. As a result, one-third of Americans boarding commercial aircraft in the U.S. had family incomes under $75,000.

Even as record-high infla-

tion has impacted businesses across the country, U.S. airlines have maintained these affordable airfares. For example, the price of jet fuel averaged 83 percent more in 2022 than in 2019, but in 2022, inflation-adjusted fares averaged 6.8 percent below 2019. Thanks to a reduction in unnecessary, inefficient regulation, air travel is no longer a luxury. Instead, air travel is now an essential method of transportation

for Americans of all races, cultures and incomes. However, potential action by the Biden Administration could change that.

It is critical that the White House recognize that their proposed policies to increase regulation of the airline industry could make it increasingly difficult for low-income Americans, and particularly those of color, to afford airline tickets.

While regulation can sometimes be a useful tool, in the

Attorney Ben Crump and minority lawyers to lead hair relaxer litigation

case of the airline industry, increased regulation can do more harm than good. Let’s not move backwards and reregulate an industry that has made tremendous progress in accessibility and affordability. The people that will be harmed the most from more regulations are those from low-income and diverse communities of color.

(Dr.

by

Chicago Crusader Staff

Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and attorney Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmerman of DiCello Levitt were named co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in litigation against L’Oreal USA and other companies for selling hair relaxers that caused cancer and other health problems. This marks

the first time that a Black man and a Black woman have been appointed as co-leads of multidistrict litigation in federal court.

In October of 2022, a study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, that showed frequent users of chemical hair straightening products, defined in the study as more than four uses a year, were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those

who didn’t use those products. That month, Crump and Zimmerman filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jenny Mitchell, who first started using these dangerous products around 2000 and continued until 2022. In 2018, Ms. Mitchell—who has no family history of uterine or other cancer—was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a full hysterectomy.

Attorney Crump released the following statement: “Generations of women of

color, especially Black women, have been marketed and coerced to believe that using chemicals to straighten their hair equates to beauty. We know now that these chemicals are responsible for the tragic number of users’ reproductive cancer. This litigation will bring justice to these women and their families and hold corporations that put profits over people accountable for their deadly actions.”

Getting creative was vital for three restaurants’ survival

bar, just a block away from Carmi on the South Side, shuttered its doors at the beginning of February.

King believes this may be a result of inflation, as well as the fact that the government stopped giving out stimulus checks.

“Everybody’s struggling,” she said, “so one of the first things that go is entertainment when you’re cutting budget and thinking of

what’s going, and eating out is entertainment.”

Despite these difficult times, King and her husband, Michael, have worked hard to keep Carmi open. “If a business can be check-to-check, I think that, you know, that’s kinda where we’ve existed, and here we are,” she said.

Angel Magwood has seen Back to the Foodture’s food and labor costs rise and said this could be a reason why other restaurants are struggling when these

factors are combined with families struggling to find the money to eat out.

“A lot of times, people aren’t coming out to sit down and get those meals; they’re ‘Oh, McDonald’s has free kids meal Wednesdays.’ So, people don’t have that money like they had before, so it’s less sales coming in food-wise with us. But even though the sales are less, our food costs still go up,” she said.

Angel Magwood said the struggle of working

through the pandemic taught her the value of saving on food costs.

“When COVID hit, that one extra wing or that one extra basket of fries, it adds up. So, it taught me to count food costs better,” she said.

While all three restaurateurs work to put food on the table for their customers, they do their jobs to put food on the table for their families, too.

“Eight hours is sufficient enough to run the business

and earn me a little bit of a paycheck,” Henderson said. “I’m not making a lot of a paycheck. But this is my business, and what sacrifices were made, I do this to feed my family, and take care of them as well.”

King also urges consumers to shop locally.

“If you are able to afford to go out every now and again, because it’s hard, just choose local,” she said. “And not just for restaurants, for any businesses.”

Angel Magwood acknowl-

edged the tough times that local businesses have been through.

“I applaud everybody that went through the pandemic and is still here, because it definitely is hard,” she said. “I know that we’re not 100 percent out of it, but I feel like everybody’s trying to make a way. Everybody just has to work with everybody and be patient through this time while we all rebuild.”

NATIONAL ALLIANCE for Black Business (NBAA) and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Sign Historic MOU Agreement.

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).

AIR TRAVEL is now an essential method of transportation for Americans of all races, cultures and incomes. However, potential action by the Biden Administration could change that.

ATTORNEY BEN CRUMP (credit: Tony Webster)

SURVIVAL FROM B1

Congratulations to Joanna McClinton on becoming Pa.’s first female speaker

On the last day of Black History Month and on the eve of Women’s History Month, Philadelphia state Rep. Joanna McClinton became speaker of the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday, the first female and the second African American to lead the chamber.

In the historic election, the House voted 102-99 to make McClinton the first African American female speaker of the House.

McClinton is the second African American to serve as speaker, after the late Speaker Leroy Irvis. Irvis, who represented the Pittsburgh area for 26 years, was elected the first Black speaker of the House in 1977. He was reelected speaker in 1983 and served in that position until 1988.

McClinton became the first woman to serve as speaker on the strength of a new one-vote Democratic majority.

“It was almost 250 years before a woman could stand at this desk, not just to give a prayer, but to get the gavel,” McClinton said after being sworn in. “That’s pretty incredible.”

McClinton, 40, grew up in southwest Philadelphia, where she still lives, and attended La Salle University and Villanova Law School. She worked as a public defender for several years and as chief counsel to state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams.

Elected to the state House in 2015, McClinton represents West and Southwest Philadelphia, along with Yeadon and Darby, Delaware County.

McClinton is not new to making history.

In 2018, she became the first woman and first African American to be elected as House Democratic Caucus chair, and in 2020 she was the first woman elected House Democratic leader. Recently, McClinton became the first woman to serve as majority leader.

McClinton’s rise to House speaker came nearly two months after Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, became the surprise choice for speaker.

In November, Democrats flipped a net of 12 seats to retake majority control, but their margin didn’t become effective until their candidates recently won three special elections.

“I will not allow the allure of power or the trappings of office to keep me from doing what is right. I was not elected by the people for this office and I will not stand in the way of the woman who was,” Rozzi said in floor remarks. He called McClinton “one of the most intelligent and compassionate women I have met in politics.”

McClinton, D-191st District, said she was in “complete awe and humbled” and acknowledged that it was the first time a woman had been elected speaker in the body’s 250-year history.

“I’m confident if we collaborate rather than criticize, debate rather than disparage and replace shortsighted political gain with sincere cooperation, this body can do better—and will do better,” McClinton said. “Today can be our fresh start. Each of us is here because our neighbors have placed their trust in us. And that collective trust is what empowers us to act in the interest of our communities and to advance Pennsylvania for the common good.”

With the Democrats holding only a one-vote majority, McClinton will have a challenge moving forward an agenda in Harrisburg. She will need to negotiate with Republicans to move legislation forward. She already has the challenge of dealing with a fresh controversy involving Democrat State Rep. Mike Zabel of Delaware County being accused of sexually harassing a lobbyist for Service Employees International Union, one of Pennsylvania’s most powerful unions.

Those who know her say she is ready to lead.

“She has been groomed for greatness years before having ever been elected for office,” said Municipal Court Judge Lydia Kirkland of Philadelphia, a mentor of McClinton. “Based on this moment of time she is destined to fill places and spaces of power.”

“Democrats, as people will tell us, we’re stray cats,” state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But Jo traditionally doesn’t lead with her agenda, she traditionally tries to listen to other people, and I imagine that will be the case as speaker.”

McClinton has already reached out to Republicans, promising to govern with fairness, conviction and diplomacy.

“The majority will no longer silence the minority,” McClinton said.

McClinton told the Democratic caucus: “You put your faith in me to be our collective voice. While we have challenges, we must also have solutions.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro now has an ally in the House of Representatives with fellow Democrat Joanna McClinton.

(Reprinted from the Phialdelphia Tribune)

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Was anyone truly surprised to learn that Marjorie Taylor Greene advocates a divorce between the red and blue states?  Her exact words were: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”

Learning this, I first thought that Greene needed to expand her circle of acquaintances and “talk” to a wider variety of ‘intelligent’ people.  Immediately, I snapped back into reality and recognized the full implication of her statement.  She advocates a complete reversal of the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865, one hundred and fifty-eight years ago.  With this “divorce,” the only unanswered question is the extent of the concurrent cultural reversals she envisions, especially for people of color.

I am no longer hesitant to suggest that Trump, DeSantis, Hawley, Boebert, MTG and a multitude of unnamed commiserates ultimately envision a White America—an America devoid of substantive participation by people of color and denying the full measure of citizenship to us.  Theirs is an America that would serve the interests of its White citizenry and utilize the services and sweat of people of color if our presence is still allowed.

If you think my last statement to be far-fetched, I encourage you to read

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary

the works of the Physicist, eugenicist, and social pariah, William Shockley.  His is the more recent public voice of American eugenics.  In the late 1800s and throughout the 20th Century, eugenics societies sprang up throughout most of the industrialized world, particularly in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany.  It is a movement that, arguably, had an influence on the beliefs of racial purity espoused by Adolf Hitler.  Falling into public disfavor in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Eugenics as a belief system still exists and, some believe, thrives today.  Contemporary politicians like Greene lend credence to that belief.

Many who tout their awareness are familiar with the ‘White homeland’ proponents in Idaho and Montana, and that knowledge is a good thing, but, 28 miles from Washington, DC, Oakton, Virginia, is home to the New Century Foundation.  According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the New Century Foundation is a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of Blacks to Whites. It is best known for its American Renaissance magazine

and website promoting its racism in hifalutin language that avoids open racial slurs and attempts to portray itself as serious scholarship. It regularly features proponents of eugenics and blatant anti-Black racists.

According to Jared Taylor, founder of the New Century Foundation and editor of American Renaissance, “Blacks and Whites are different. When Blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization— any kind of civilization—disappears.”  The SPLC characterizes the American Renaissance thusly: Regardless of its calm tone and academic look and feel, the magazine openly peddles White nationalism and Taylor supports the idea of America as “a self-consciously European, majority-White nation” which he argues was “the original conception of [the U.S.], and one that was almost universally accepted until the 1960s.”

My professional boxer friends have always told me that the knock-out punch is the one you don’t see coming.  Like them, we know we’re in a fight, but we can’t afford to become distracted or so comfortable with our achievements that we fail to see the coming challenge.  Overt racism is increasing in intent and intensity.  We’ve only witnessed the tip of the spear.  We must renew our resolve to confront injustice from wherever it comes.

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

In praise of volunteers

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—The recent disgraceful derailment of the Norfolk Southern train in Palestine, Ohio, resulted from predatory capitalism on steroids. Railroads, given free land, have exploited the communities that journalist Robert Hennelly describes as “corridor communities” and endangered them with their unsafe practices. In the case of Palestine, while President Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, and others have visited the site of the carnage, the railroad’s CEO, Alan Shaw, was late to visit and has avoided talking to the people who were affected by the derailment. People’s property values have plummeted, and, more importantly, their lives are imperiled by the toxic waste that has infected the air in Palestine.

An unexamined aspect of Palestine is how much that small (population of 4700) community relies on volunteer firefighters. Bob Hennelly says that of 29,000 fire departments in the United States, the majority—18,000—are volunteer fire departments. Many do not have the proper equipment to protect their lungs in case of toxic spills like this one. Still, because they care about their communities, they continue to volunteer.

In many ways, volunteers are the backbone of civic life. One organization, SCLC Women (founded by civil rights icon Dr. Evelyn Lowery), is fully staffed by volunteers. The week of Bloody Sunday, the organization sponsors a civil rights bus tour (with four busses of youth) and exposes young people to the civil rights history that isn’t taught in school. The Board President, Patricia Ann Ford, notes that from their annual Drum Major Award to their programs for

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary

domestic violence victims, all services are provided by volunteers.

They aren’t the only organization that depends on volunteers, but I lift them because, in this Women’s History Month, the contribution that SCLC WOMEN (which stands for Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now) makes is critical.

Whether in civil rights organizations, our libraries and schools, volunteer fire departments and environmental cleanup, or service to the homeless, and seniors, volunteers provide much-needed service that many organizations could not afford to pay for. Women are the majority of volunteers, and as more women have entered the labor force, with many juggling more than one job, the need for volunteers is acute. Yet it seems that volunteers are more taken for granted than recognized. What would we do if they all disappeared?

In our very divided nation, volunteers remind us that we can come together for the common good of our communities. It doesn’t matter if volunteer firefighters are Democrats or Republicans. It matters that they’ve stepped up to serve. It does not matter what religion they belong to because, as Bahai ancestor Abdu’l-Baha’ said in his Divine Philosophy, “Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.”  His quote suggests reasons a national service corps, designed as a year or two of mandatory service for young people,

might allow us to see each other’s humanity and needs despite the sharp political divide.

While I have always appreciated volunteers, I had no idea that so many firefighters are volunteers and that 62 percent of fire departments are staffed by volunteers. Exploring the role of volunteers’ role in fire departments and organizations like SCLC Women gave me a new appreciation for how people choose to serve their communities. It also reminds me of the many organizations that might not exist were it not for volunteers. Statistics suggest that 25 to 33 percent of all Americans volunteers, with their collective work valued at more than $147 billion annually! But as more Americans have less free time, there is always a need for more people to step up.

We celebrate women during Women’s History Month, many of whose contributions have not been fully amplified. People know about Rev. Joseph Lowery and SCLC but less about Dr. Evelyn Lowery and SCLC Women. We know about programs that serve the homeless but little about the nameless people who are dishing up meals, gathering clothing, and doing other forms of service. As we interact with some of these organizations, we might ask people about their volunteer service and what motivates them. Or, we might try volunteering ourselves.

Volunteers deserve our praise, gratitude, and recognition, although many are less interested in recognition than in service. What would we do without volunteers? I, for one, do not want to find out.

(Dr. Juianne Malveaux is an economist and author. She is also Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA.)

Public safety and policing issues

(NNPA NEWSWIRE)—Following the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020 at the hands of law enforcement—two in a long line of avoidable tragedies—Democrats reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring that law enforcement truly protect the communities they serve. House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to prevent police misconduct by improving law enforcement practices and enhancing accountability. Regrettably, the bill stalled in the Senate due to Republican opposition. Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has restricted the transfer of military equipment to police departments and directed federal law enforcement agencies to end the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

Founded 1910

Rod Doss Editor & Publisher

Now a renewed call for action has emerged as the country mourns the violent death of Tyre Nichols, yet another unarmed Black citizen murdered by police. It has become undeniable that the culture of policing must improve. To reform this violent culture, we must enact public safety reforms that address the lack of accountability and transparency in policing while increasing the standards for those who wear the badge.

Congressman Jim Clyburn

Commentary

department without consequence.

de-escalation skills they need to better connect with their communities and prevent the deadly escalation of force. Training officers in these areas would improve police conduct and help officers better serve their communities.

(1912-1997)

Our communities deserve meaningful change in how they are policed, and increased accountability will further that goal. It is unconscionable that a police officer can be fired from their local department for misconduct only to find employment in another

Lawyers, doctors, public school teachers, and nearly all other professionals face accountability. Police officers have a sacred responsibility to protect the public—they should certainly not be immune from it. Increased accountability goes hand in hand with increased transparency. Police department data, information, and policies should be made available to the communities they serve. There are more than 18,000 local police departments in the United States. However, there is no national requirement for collecting and sharing use-offorce data. Nor is there a nationwide database or registry that tracks problematic officers, preventing those who have been fired from moving on to another jurisdiction without accountability. The lack of transparency erodes public trust and allows dangerous actors to patrol our streets.

Increasing the professional standards for those who serve involves setting national practices and instituting mandatory trainings to ensure officers have the communication and

In his January 7, 2023, State of the Union Address, President Biden urged us to “rise to this moment. We can’t turn away. Let’s do what we know in our hearts we need to do. Let’s come together to finish the job on police reform.” It is time for us to enact the reforms necessary to save lives. I call on our colleagues across the aisle to join in this critical effort.

To those who have lost loved ones to police violence, know this: just because you’re not in the headlines doesn’t mean you’re absent from our hearts and minds. South Carolina remembers Walter Scott, who was shot in the back and killed by a North Charleston police officer the morning of April 4, 2015. His brother, Anthony Scott, was my guest for this year’s State of the Union Address. Together, we heard President Biden’s call for action, and I can assure you that I will do all within my power to answer that call. 2nd Chronicles 15:7 urges, “be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” The road to achieving police reform may be long, but we must not tire. Instead, we must press on in honor of those we have lost and to prevent more Black men and women from falling victim to the same fate.

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—A resident of Mississippi once told me that when it comes to his state, everything is about race. He described how his efforts toward voter engagement and turnout were often met with a sense of hopelessness. He talked about Blacks who had given up by concluding there was no need to vote because it didn’t make a difference. He described people who had reached the breaking point. I realized the broad implications and consequences behind his point. The generational curses and suffering due to race are far worse in Mississippi than in states like Virginia or Maryland, also former slave states. Black people have always been people of hope despite the obstacles placed before us. Therefore, how a person responds to racial barriers will depend heavily upon the amount of hope, trust, and expectations in democracy and the democratic process. The will to fight is gone if the hope is taken away. Without hope, people will see no need to remain united and fight for what is rightfully theirs. Historically, slavery, Jim Crow, and all forms of racial hatred and domestic terrorism were far worse in the Deep South. Mississippi has suffered an unfair amount of deep-seated racism resulting in current generations of Blacks having little or no hope. There will never be full American democracy until the famous words “We the People” becomes and remains all-inclusive.

Has African American Studies strayed off course?

Last year, Kanye West was embroiled in controversy over statements deemed antisemitic. Then he was written off as another anti-intellectual celebrity. Still and all, West made his most controversial remarks on the Lex Fridman podcast. It’s understandable why no one paid those remarks any attention, but they’re repeated here for argument’s sake.

West told Fridman, “We don’t need to teach history. We don’t need to teach anything that is subjective. Any forced, subjective information is just to weaken and indoctrinate our species, and that’s what schools do now.”

In the 1960s and 1970s, teachers who agreed with Churchill’s saying that “history is written by the victors” were against what West called “indoctrination.” At the same time, those educators would have been disappointed that West’s solution was to stop teaching history instead of launching a movement to create alternative academic disciplines.

That movement in the 1960s and 1970s led to an explosion of new fields: Asian Studies, Black Studies, Gender Studies, Latino Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Native American Studies, etc. The idea that the traditional social sciences and humanities, like anthropology, cultural studies, history, literature, political science, psychology, and sociology, were Eurocentric led to the creation of these new academic disciplines.

J. Pharoah Doss Check It

wrong with it at all. These forward-looking institutions believed these alternative fields were necessary on a post-Civil Rights Act/ post-modern campus, where truth was relative. These forward-looking institutions thought the new disciplines would balance out the Eurocentric worldview by providing alternative perspectives to demonstrate how different identity groups contributed to the nation and to Western civilization.

But these forward-thinking institutions didn’t pay attention to the radical tone of those who supported the new disciplines, and no matter how forward-thinking these institutions were, they couldn’t foresee in what direction these new disciplines would go.

these departments turned into since then?

We’ll focus specifically on African American studies.

Two months ago, a podcast host asked Black professor John McWhorter if the advent of African American Studies was a step in the wrong direction. McWhorter was uncertain. He said a study of over a hundred African American Studies departments was needed to know for sure. Early in McWhorter’s career, he was a member of an African American studies department and wrote numerous essays critiquing the field after he investigated different departments at other universities. Today, McWhorter doesn’t believe African American studies departments are exploring the social sciences and humanities to illuminate the totality of the Black experience; he believes these departments focus single-mindedly on racism and inequality as if that’s all the Black experience is.

A month after that podcast, McWhorter asked Vincent Lloyd, director of Africana Studies at Villanova University, what “Black studies” were all about in a nutshell, and Lloyd stated the discipline was always about studying how Black people were dominated. In other words, the only alternative to history written by the victors is history according to the victims. This may balance out the Eurocentric perspective, but it’s still indoctrination.

David W. Marshall Commentary

When the Founders wrote the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, it read, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic Tranquility (peace), provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity (children and grandchildren), do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The preamble represents a powerful introduction to the highest law of the land, but society’s exclusionary actions often contradict the inclusive words of “We the People.” As Frederick Douglass noted, the constitution’s ‘language is ‘we the people,’ not we the white people.” He reminds us that people of all races have the right to claim every written word in the preamble. While slaves were considered property and not whole persons (Three-Fifth Clause), incremental steps of inclusion have been made toward citizenship and the rights of citizens. Those incremental steps, such as the 13th and 14th amendments, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, provided hope and progress toward a perfect Union. Today’s culture war is a continuation of centuries-old attempts to deny, take back, or weaken the rights of citizens of color, which is why we will always be directly connected to our history.

Breaking the will of Black citizens and preventing their participation in the democratic process has long been a political strategy. It represents a fact that should unite instead of divide those within all segments of the Black community. I could never imagine Frederick Douglass reaching the breaking point and not caring. The stakes are high next year with the White House, Senate, and Congress up for grabs. We must remain mindful and vigilant of the tactics and purpose behind the constant stream of voting suppression bills/laws and the anti-woke movement. State representatives are wasting no time setting their sights on the voting patterns for the 2024 elections based on the 2022 results. The Georgia Senate Ethics Committee recently passed a version of an election bill that might violate federal law and includes a last-minute ban on absentee drop boxes. If this bill successfully passes, it represents another attempt to make it harder for people of color to exercise their voting rights as citizens. The motive behind banning absentee drop boxes is clear; we know from history that they will never give up. They want people of color to give up. Georgia has stood tall by sending Raphael Warnock back to the U.S. Senate during last year’s election. While Stacey Abrams did not win her last election for governor of Georgia, she helped develop a political infrastructure that increased voter turnout among Black, Asian, Latino, low-income, and youth voters. It is an infrastructure holding the line with record turnouts even with the voting obstacles. Can the success in Georgia ever be duplicated in Mississippi, which has a higher percentage of Black residents than Georgia? Georgia is approximately 33 percent Black compared to 38 percent in Mississippi.

If Mississippi had a Georgia-type political infrastructure and a strong hope in the democratic process, Mike Espy would be in the U.S. Senate today. Espy’s opponent was not only the Republican candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith but generations of deep-seated racial hate that caused people to lose hope. Georgia has provided Mississippi and other states with a winning blueprint. Unfortunately, the blueprint will not work until enough people accept that “We the People” applies to them and are willing to fight nonstop for the rights that belong to them.

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

These new studies looked at all the traditional social sciences and humanities from the perspective of a specific identity group. The obvious question is: What’s wrong with that? The universities that established the first departments for these new disciplines thought there was nothing

In 1980, Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States became the most popular alternative to “history written by the victors”. The author rejected what he called the traditional approach to history that promoted nationalism and glorified the country. Zinn portrayed American history as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that favor elite rulers. The book has been assigned reading in high schools and colleges ever since.

Zinn’s direction was popular in all the new ethnic and gender studies departments. Now, the question is: what have

Suppose Kanye West is right and forced subjective information weakens minds. Wouldn’t that mind-weakening apply more to students taught history according to the victims than to those forced fed history written by the victors?

Greene’s ‘national divorce’ would be disaster for the South

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—U. S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, now a major figure in the House Republican Caucus, is calling for a “national divorce,” that would “separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government.”

Like her hero, Donald Trump, she claims widespread anonymous support for the idea: “Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issue shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.” This is a call for secession. The last move for a “divorce” led to the Civil War, the bloodiest war in American history. If taken literally, it is treasonous. The conservative former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney reminded Greene that “our country is governed by the Constitution. You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Secession is unconstitutional.” The rightwing Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted that “This rhetoric is destructive and wrong and—honestly—evil.” Republican Mitt Romney was more on point, calling it “insanity.”

Yet, as America’s politics gets more polarized and poisonous, with Donald Trump’s supporters sacking the Capitol in a failed effort to stop certification of his defeat and the vast majority of Republican voters buying into his Big Lie that the election was stolen, Greene’s drivel is echoed elsewhere. Delegates to the Texas Republican State Party convention, for example, recently called for a statewide referendum on whether Texas should secede from the Union. In the netherworld of right-wing extremists, talk about secession or of violent overthrow of the US government fuels murderous fantasies.

Greene is just vamping for the MAGA crowd, looking to create another splash to expand her audience on social media, and —not insignificantly—increase her online

Jesse Jackson Sr. Commentary

fundraising. She has offered no legislative proposal to divide the country, nor written up a declaration of independence. She’s just babbling for effect—but the babble is revealing.

Like the segregationists of the South, a first target is education. Red states after secession, she suggests, “would likely ban all gender lies and confusing theories, Drag Queen story times, and LGBTQ indoctrinating teachers and China’s money and influence in our education.” Blue states “could have government-controlled gender transition schools,” or even “Antifa communist training schools.” Again, this is babble, but it is echoed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, and his much-ballyhooed war on “woke,” including how Black history is taught, what books can be in libraries, even what Advanced Placement courses are sufficiently politically correct for conservatives.

Greene also argues that after secession, red states could control their own elections. Then they would have “one day elections with paper ballots and require voter ID with only the red state citizens or even red state taxpayers voting.” Anyone from a blue state moving into a red state would have to wait five years or so to vote, time for his or her cultural attitudes to acclimate to red state views.

This too is echoed in the systematic effort of Republicans—particularly in red states where they have a legislative majority—to suppress the vote, making it harder for

urban and young voters to cast a ballot, to gerrymander districts to lock in partisan advantage, to purge election rolls to throw off minority voters, to open the floodgates to corporate and dark money and more.

And it’s enforced by the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act and removing restrictions on big money in our politics.

Greene probably doesn’t realize it, but secession would leave most Southern states even more impoverished. Over one-third (37.7 percent) of Georgia’s revenues come from the federal government. Red states constitute eight of the top 10 states that gain much more revenue from the federal government than they pay to the federal government in taxes.

Citizens in several red states already suffer from more medical debt, worse medical care and lower credit ratings—and thus pay higher interest rates—largely because their Republican governors have refused to extend Medicaid to their citizens out of opposition to Obamacare.

It’s easy to dismiss Greene who is just, as they say, “building her brand,” saying outrageous things to get attention like a petulant adolescent. But there is a real menace in the fear and loathing that she spews. After the Civil War stopped the last secession, the plantation class used the Ku Klux Klan, a reign of terror and lynching to retake control, strip the newly freed slaves of their rights, and institute segregation—legal apartheid—on the South. They justified this with the kind of lies and slanders that Greene traffics in today. Their purpose was to suppress democracy and implant one-party rule—and for more than a century they succeeded. Greene’s performance may be “insanity” as Mitt Romney says, but it feeds fears and hate that are a far greater threat to a democracy.

State takeover schemes threaten public safety

Blue cities in red states, beware: conservatives in state government may be coming for your police department.

It’s happening in Jackson, Mississippi, where state officials have a plan to stand up a new city police force that they would manage. And it’s happening in St. Louis, Missouri, where an outstanding young Black mayor—Tishaura Jones—is facing police unions and state legislators who want to wrest control of the police department from her. A state bill in the works would remove the city police force from city control and—you guessed it—put it under the control of a whiter, more conservative state government.

Full disclosure: I know Mayor Jones well, and I know she has been a reformer and a dedicated public servant her entire life. I know she is committed to improving policing and public safety in her city. Last year, her administration led a study that recommended numerous improvements including ending pretextual traffic stops and increasing unarmed responses. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that the police unions and right-wing politicians are rebelling now. But what they are suggesting is not just an affront to Mayor Jones; life in politics is full of affronts. It is in fact deeply undemocratic, and indicative of profound problems.

Police forces are supposed to work for the people in the communities they serve. In

Svante Myrick Commentary

this instance, those people elected Mayor Jones. To reject her leadership is to reject the judgment of the voters who chose it. Those voters chose a leader who ran on a progressive, reform platform: one that included decarceration, emphasizing unarmed responses to 911 calls, and working to better integrate police into the community—including incentives for them to actually live there.

This last item is critical, because when officers do not live in the communities they serve, they become more like an occupying army. Often, racial disparities are a telltale sign of the mismatch. In St. Louis, as in many other large cities, the police force is far whiter than the city neighborhoods themselves.

And now the unions want out from under city control, and the bill that would accomplish that, Senate Bill 78, includes other things the unions want, too: substantial pay raises and additional positions. I get that. A lot of working families depend on police officer salaries; and in fact, a union repre-

senting Black officers in the city has come out in support of SB 78.

But returning to a Civil-War era system of state control over the city police—which is what this bill would do—is not the answer. That antiquated system was already rejected by voters statewide in 2012.

The bigger question is whether this type of reactionary effort will spread. As a former elected official and as head of the nonprofit organization I now lead, I have studied and worked on this issue for many years—and I can tell you that local officials and residents know what they want and need. Community buy-in is essential to any successful effort to improve public safety, whether we want to fight crime or reduce the risk of violent encounters between residents and police. It makes no sense to move control of police to a higher level of government. It’s antithetical to what we know about the best way to manage public safety, which is to make it as local as possible. But now the threat exists, and can be dangled over the heads of local officials who want to enact progressive change.

That would be tragic, because there is so much we can do to improve public safety at the local level and to improve and save lives. The people who voted for Tishaura Jones know that; they deserve to reap the benefits of the reform they voted for.

( Svante Myrick is President of People For the American Way.)

from 9:00AM to 1:00PM

March 22nd – from 4:00PM to 7:00PM

ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE PICKED UP IN PERSON BY THE APPLICANT AND COMPLETED AT THAT TIME. APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:

A. Applicants shall be in good health, of average intelligence, conscientious and interested in learning the trade.

B. Must be 18 years old, as of June 30, 2023.

C. Must be a high school graduate or hold a GED

D. Must have completed one year of high school algebra or one post high school algebra course.

E. Applicant must be willing to take any tests given by or for the Committee.

F. When an apprenticeship is offered, one must submit to a physical and substance testing and a test for color blindness. These tests will be administered by a doctor selected and paid for by the Committee.

G. Must be a resident of one of the following counties in Pennsylvania for at least one year prior to application: Allegheny; Armstrong; Bedford; Blair; Butler; Cambria; Cameron; Centre; Clarion; Clearfield; Elk; Fayette; Fulton; Greene; Huntingdon; Indiana; Jefferson; McKean; Somerset; Venango; Washington and Westmoreland.

H. A non-refundable check or money order for $25.00 (Twenty-five Dollars) will be required with the returned application. Cost of all testing and examinations to be paid by the Committee. We will not accept cash payments; check or money orders only.

I. All applicants must have a valid Pennsylvania Driver’s License for the entire time they are in the apprenticeship program.

J. The recruitment, selection, employment and training of apprentices during their apprenticeship shall be without discrimination due to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or non-job related disabilities. The sponsor shall take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in the apprenticeship and will operate the apprenticeship program as required under Title 29 or the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 30 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WITH YOU:

1. Copy of your High School Transcript/Official or Unofficial (not the diploma) or your GED with scores (not a copy of the certificate) and High School transcript for years attended.

2. Your Driver’s License.

3. A (non-refundable) check or money order only for $25.00 made payable to Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. We will not accept cash payments; check or money orders only.

SENIOR AUDITOR

Goff, Backa, Alfera & Company, LLC seeks Sr. Auditor in Pittsburgh, PA responsible for all phases of audit, review, & compilation engagements, incl reviewing the work of staff auditors & assisting in training subordinate staff members. Apply at: https://www.gbaco.com/careers/

ADMINISTRATIVE

ASSISTANT (HR)

Federated Hermes, headquartered in downtown Pittsburgh, is seeking an Administrative Assistant (HR) Responsible for providing support for recruitment related services and employee engagement activities, hiring and employee separation processes. Apply using keyword 8673 at https://www.federatedinvestors. com/corporate/careers.do

ADVANITY TECHNOLOGIES

HAS MULTIPLE OPENINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS:

Bachelor’s+2yrs exp/equiv.: Scrum Master (ASM22): JIRA, Bullhorn, SugarCRM, ZOHO, Trello and Cbiz. Master’s only/equiv.: Salesforce Developer (ASFD22): Analyze business needs and translate functional requirements into technical requirements.; SQL Developer (ATSD22): Production support and SQL development.; Systems Engineer (ASYE22): Develop and maintain computer software programs. Mail resume with job ID # to HR: 201 Penn Center Blvd., Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA 15235. Unanticipated work site locations throughout U.S. Foreign equiv. accepted.

SALES REPRESENTATIVE (NEWTERRA INC) (MOON TOWNSHIP, PA):

Generate orders in mkts that spprt cmpny’s goals: Prspct w/ targets; Mntn & help w/ mkt prsnc for decentralzd wtr & wstwtr trtmnt systms; Rsrch & dvlp chnnl prtnrs in wtr & wstwtr indstry acrss sectors incl Eng, Cnstrctn & Ops; Liaison btwn custmrs & teams ensrng requirmnts are met; Sell to clients. Reqd exp: Sales exp in wtr mkt; Exp wkg w/ Gnrl Cntrctrs; Capable of srvyg & anlyzg competitve landscp; Ablty to rep & prvd prsntns at indstry cnfrncs; Exp w/ contractg mthds such as Dsgn Build, Dsgn Build Own Op. Reqs Bachelors or frgn equiv in Business, Sci or rltd fld & 1 yr exp in Sales or rltd occup. In alt, no edu & 3 yrs exp in Sales. Optn to WFH avlbl. Trvl rqd - Apprx 20-30% to Southeast U.S. & Caribbean. Salary: $124,800. Send C.V. to careers@newterra.com, reference Sales Representative in Subject line.

SOUTH FAYETTE TWP. SCHOOL DISTRICT is seeking the following positions: CHEMISTRY TEACHER BUSINESS, COMPUTER, AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TEACHER (HIGH SCHOOL) Positions available at the start of the 2023-2024 School Year Complete job descriptions and directions on how to apply are available at: www.southfayette.org

Applications must be received by 4:00 PM March 17, 2023

AVALON BOROUGH POLICE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION NOTICE

Applications are currently being accepted for the position of full-time Police Officer.

Applications are available at the Avalon Borough Police Department located in the rear of the Avalon Borough Building 640 California Avenue, Avalon, PA, 15202-2499 Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.or the Borough Administration Office at the main entrance, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Call 412-761-0353 with further questions.

COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE RETURNED TO THE AVALON BOROUGH ADMINSTRATION OFFICE BY 4:00 P.M., MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023.

Applicant must complete a mandatory written examination and physical agility test, oral examination, background check, credit check, medical and psychological examinations.

· Act 120 Certification is required

· Must be a high school graduate

· Must possess a valid driver’ license

· Must be age 21+ upon hire

A $25.00 non-refundable processing fee will be assessed at time of application is required.

Cash or money order only.

AVALON BOROUGH CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

MANAGER – TRACK WAY

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Manager – Track Way to manage plan, assign and direct activities of skilled and unskilled labor employees engaged in inspection and maintenance of light rail track. Analyze inspection and maintenance reports for corrective action. Maintain inspection files available for review by FTA or designated agency. Prepare and check estimates for labor, materials, supplies and equipment for various work projects involving track and way maintenance and construction. Responsible for administrative activities, outside contracts, and capital project activities, as related to Authority light rail track and rightof ways, structures and support equipment. Investigate maintenance problems and initiate corrective action. Oversee, develop, and administer standardized programs designed to comply with applicable organizational policies and procedures.

Essential Functions:

• Directs and supervises assistant managers and supervisors of the Track Way Department.

• Manages all phases of the Track Way Department including maintenance and repair of all Track Way Department equipment, equipment maintenance and repair which includes light rail track, tunnels, sidewalks, busways, bridges, parking lots, hillsides, retaining walls and other structures.

• Researches and evaluates track maintenance products/practices to prevent premature rail and track infrastructure wear.

• Manages all activities associated with the daily scheduling of preventive maintenance and repair activities along the light rail system, busways, operating locations, office buildings and other Port Authority maintained areas.

• Maintains all operational structures at a high status of readiness and supplies immediate repair support under any emergency conditions.

Job requirements include:

• High School Diploma or GED.

• Associate degree in Engineering or directly related field from an accredited school. Experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in rail/railcar/track maintenance and construction including a minimum of two (2) years of supervisory/managerial experience.

• Knowledge of and experience with safety practices as they pertain to track systems and equipment including Knowledge of FRA Track Safety Standards Part 213 subpart A to G including Defect Codes.

• Knowledge of inspection, maintenance repair, installation, troubleshooting and testing of LRT track systems (e.g., roadbeds, grade crossings, ties, rails, frogs, replacement of track switches and embedded track) with the ability to diagnose corrective action necessary to repair track related problems.

• Knowledge of theory, construction, industry practices and principles of track and track maintenance equipment.

• Demonstrated ability to read and understand drawings, blueprints and specifications including the ability to comprehend sophisticated track blueprints and designs.

• Effective and professional communication skills.

• Demonstrated ability in the use of Windows and Microsoft Word.

• Ability to respond on a 24-hour basis.

• Customer focused, well organized and results oriented.

Preferred attributes:

• Project Management Experience.

• Track Inspection Certification.

• Experience in track installation and maintenance.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Help Wanted

FULL TIME POLICE OFFICER –MUNHALL BOROUGH

Qualified persons are invited to apply to the Borough of Munhall Civil Service Commission to take competitive examinations leading to eligibility for appointment as Full-Time Patrol Officer in the Borough of Munhall Police Department. An application can be obtained beginning March 6, 2023 at the Borough Building, first floor, 1 Raymond Bodnar Way, Munhall, PA 15120 between the hours of 8 am and 4 pm, Monday through Friday. Completed applications must be returned by 3:30 pm, on Friday, March 31, 2023 along with a $50.00 non-refundable application fee payable to the Borough of Munhall. No applications will be accepted after this date

REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must be a U.S. Citizen, be a minimum of 21 years of age, must have successfully completed or in the process of completing Pennsylvania Act 120 Certification, required to live within twelve (12) air miles of the Munhall Borough building six (6) months after probation ends, a high school diploma or GED, possess a valid Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Driver’s license, and be physically and mentally fit to perform the full duties of a police officer as determined by the physical and psychological testing. Successful applicants must meet all other Civil Service requirements:

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Starting salary for 2023 is $52,741 (2023 top Patrolmen base salary is $86,557) with an excellent fringe benefit package including 2 weeks of paid vacation after 1 year of service maxing out at 6 weeks’ vacation, 12 sick days per year, 2 personal days after 1 year maxing out at 4 days, comprehensive Health Care package, Uniform allowance of $900.00 a year, longevity and holiday pay, minimum staffing of 2 Officers per shift.

TESTING DATE AND TIME: The physical agility test will begin at 9 am on April 11, 2023, and will be conducted at the Allegheny County Police Training Academy. The written test will begin immediately after the agility test.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

PART-TIME POLICE OFFICERS

CITY OF ALIQUIPPA BEAVER COUNTY, PA

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Help Wanted MT. LEBANON, PA POLICE OFFICER TESTING MT. LEBANON POLICE DEPARTMENT will be conducting a physical agility and written exam for POLICE OFFICER on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Starting at $73,886 annually. Must be a U.S. citizen; 21 years of age at hire; bachelor’s degree from accredited college/university at hire; pass physical, written, oral exams plus a comprehensive background investigation. Full test requirements, description and application may be obtained at https://mtlebanon.bamboohr.com/ careers/147. Deadline ending no later than 4:00 pm, March 16, 2023. Mt. Lebanon provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment based on competence, merit, performance, and business needs. We are committed to valuing the diversity of all individuals without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other classification protected by law. Reasonable accommodations for the needs of otherwise qualified applicants with disabilities will be made upon request to the Human Resource Office at 412-343-3625 or bcross@mtlebanon.org.

We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Interested candidates should forward a cover letter (with salary requirements) and resume to:

Taylor McBride Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527 TMcbride@RidePRT.org EOE

Qualified persons are invited to apply to the City of Aliquippa Civil Service Commission to take competitive examinations leading to eligibility for appointment as a Part-Time Police Officer in the City of Aliquippa Police Department, with opportunity of full-time. The hourly rate is currently $20.00 plus a uniform allowance. Applications may be obtained beginning Monday, March 6, 2023 by email request to kelly.callen@aliquippapa.gov, or at the Aliquippa Police Department at 300 Franklin Ave. Aliquippa, Pa. 15001. The applications must be returned by mail or in person to: Samuel L. Gill, City Administrator, 581 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa, PA 15001 by 3:00 pm March 20, 2023. During this application period, the customary application fee of $35.00 is being waived and applicants will incur no fees to apply.

Requirements: At the time of application applicants are required to be Act 120 certified or have successfully completed Act 120 Training with the State Exam successfully completed be date of conditional hire, have a high school diploma or GED, be a minimum of 18 years of age, hold a valid motor vehicle operator’s license issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, be a U.S. Citizen and be physically and mentally fit to perform duties of a police officer. Successful applicants must meet all other Civil Service requirements.

The City of Aliquippa is an Equal Opportunity Employer

FIRE LIEUTENANT MT. LEBANON,

PA

The Municipality of Mt. Lebanon will accept applications for the position of fire lieutenant beginning February 13, 2023 . Deadline to submit an application, resume, certifications, and complete the on-line written exam will be May 12, 2023. This is a lateral entry supervisory position requiring substantial fire service knowledge, skills, and background. Job responsibilities include supervision of volunteer staff, fire apparatus operation, fire suppression, fire prevention, public education, rescue operations, and hazardous material and emergency medical response. Starting salary is $76,310.00 with excellent benefits and pension. To review requirements and apply, go to https://mtlebanon.bamboohr.com/ hiring/jobs/150.

Mt. Lebanon is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Articles of Incorporation

ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

NONPROFIT CORPORATION

Jay Arthur Gilmer, Esq., 7246

Estate of RUTH WYNN, Deceased of 107 Grove Road, Verona, PA 15147, NO. 02-23-00581

Arlener Hicks, Executrix, 8029 Mount Carmel Road, Verona, PA

THE WILKINS TOWNSHIP BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC MEETING

Estate of JOHN SMONSKI, Deceased of McKeesport,No.02-13-01550., Kenneth Smith, Executor, 323 S. Home Ave., Apt. 208, Pittsburgh, PA 15202

Estate of MS. DOROTHY CLAIRE KOHUT, Deceased of 7121 Grand Avenue, Neville Island, PA 15225, Estate No. 02-23-01034

Ms. Maureen E. Puskar, Executrix, c/o Max C. Feldman, Esqure and the Law Office of Max C. Feldman, 1322 Fifth Avneue, Coraopolis, PA 15108

Estate of CHRISTOPHER ZBIGNIEW DE MONTFORT, Deceased of Pleasant Hills, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Estate No. 02-23-01043 Bernadette Haverty, Executor, 145 Revere Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 or to Aubrey H. Glover, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC. 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017

Estate of PAUL JOSEPH M. PELLECCHIA, Deceased of Liberty Boro, Pennsylvania, Estate No. 02-23-01251 Kenneth B. Hornfeck, Executor, or to Ryan W. Brode, Atty, 6 Clairton Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15236

Estate of BRIGITTA WEBER A/K/A BRIGETTE WEBER, Deceased of Coraopolis Borough, Estate No. 00579 of 2023 George F. Weber, Executor, 2019 Ewings Mill Rd, Coraopolis, PA 15108; or to Christina E. McKaveney-Malkin, Esquire, P.O. Box 353, Ingomar, PA 15127

Estate of ELIZABETH M. BELFIORE

deceased of Neville Island, PA, No. 01439 of 2023, Paula A. Deacon extr., PO Box 394, Carnegie, PA 15106 or to c/o Jacqueline H. Brangard, Esquire, Scolieri Law Group, P.C. Attys., 1207 Fifth Avenue, Suite 200 Bldg., Pittsburgh , Pa. 15219

Estate of JOSEPH MICHAEL MOZURAK, JR. deceased of Glenshaw, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, No. 02-23-01329, Elizabeth B. Mozurak, Executor., 2317 Middle Road, Glenshaw, PA 15116 or to EMILY H.

HAMMEL, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC. 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017

Estate of VIOLA T. VESPAZIANI deceased of Collier Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, No. 02-23-01330, Beth L. Bonzo, Executor., 1149 Cardinal Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15243 or to ROBIN L. RARIE, Atty; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC. 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017

Estate of PATRICIA L. BUTLER a/k/a

PATRICIA LOUISE BUTLER, deceased of Monroeville, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (No. 022301007). Notice is hereby given that Letters of Administration on the above

Estate have been granted to the undersigned at probate number 022301007, to whom all persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make immediate payment, and those having claims or demands against the same will make them known without delay to the undersigned or their attorney.

Laura M. Butler, Administratrix, 127 Holy Cross Drive, Monroeville, PA 15146

ROBERT A. CINPINSKI, Attorney, 200 N. Jefferson St., Kittanning, PA 16201

Estate of VERONICA J. PROVENZANO

deceased of 718 Willowcrest Drive Gibsonia, PA 15044, No. 02-23-01126, Mark A. Provenzano, 802 Lakeview Court, Mars, PA 16046, Michael A. Provenzano, 202 Eagleview Court, Gibsonia, PA 15044 Co-Executor., or to William C. Price Jr. Price & Associates, P.C. 2005 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Estate of MICHELLE JOHNSON-HOPSON deceased of Pittsburgh, PA 15208, No. 06073 of 2022, Juluis Hopson Jr. extr, 7227 Monticello Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15208 or to Marvin Abrams, Esquire, Allegheny Law Group, LLC. 816 5th Avenue, Ste. 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meetings

PUBLIC NOTICE ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY

The Green Committee of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will hold a special meeting for general purposes on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. prevailing time in the Trefz Board Room at its offices located at 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15233. Official action on the Committee’s recommendations will take place at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors at a later date. The public may view the meeting via livestream by visiting www.alcosan.org.

TOWNSHIP OF WILKINS

PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO ADOPT PROPOSED ORDINANCE NUMBER 1114

The Wilkins Township Board of Commissioners will consider adoption of the following ordinance at a public meeting to be held on the 27th day of March 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 110 Peffer Road, Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania. The complete text of the Ordinance is on file and may be inspected in the Office of the Township Secretary at the aforesaid Municipal Building during normal business hours. The title and a summary of the ordinance is as follows.

PROPOSED ORDINANCE #1114

TITLE

AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WILKINS, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 1095, PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF PLANNED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS.

SUMMARY

The Ordinance adds a definition for

The Wilkins Township Board of Commissioners shall hold a public meeting on Monday, March 27, 2023 at the Municipal Building, 110 Peffer Road, Turtle Creek, PA 15145 beginning at 6:45 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to receive public comments on a proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance which would require certain landscaping in the perimeter buffer of a Planned Residential Development. All interested persons are welcome to attend and speak publicly. A copy of the ordinance amendment will be available on the Township website https://www.wilkinstownship.com by close of business, Friday, March 24, 2023. Virtual access to the public meeting is available through Zoom at the following link: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/84619625991

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Public Notice

CITY OF PITTSBURGH

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

THE HOME-ARP ALLOCATION PLAN FOR HOME-AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN PROGRAM

FY 2021 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN

– SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT

This notice is hereby given by the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA that it will conduct a public hearing on Monday, March 20, 2023, at 12:00 PM, prevailing time , in the City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Community Development Division, Conference Room located at 414 Grant Street, Room 501, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. If special arrangements need to be made to accommodate residents in order for them to participate in the public hearing, please email community. development@pittsburghpa.gov or via phone at (412) 255-2667 or the TDD number is (412) 255-2222 by Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Persons wishing to participate virtually may join via:

Microsoft Teams meeting

Meeting ID: 237 560 550 500

Passcode: tHDQZK Or call in (audio only) +1 412-851-3584,,271097390#

United States, Pittsburgh Phone Conference ID: 271 097 390#

Please note: If you don’t have access to Teams, please email community.development@ pittsburghpa.gov.

The purpose of the public hearing is to present the City of Pittsburgh’s HOME-ARP Allocation Plan for the HOME-American Rescue Plan funds. The City intends to submit its HOME-ARP Allocation Plan in the amount of $8,342,028 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on or before Friday, March 31, 2023.

The HOME-ARP Allocation Plan is required by HUD in order for the City of Pittsburgh to receive federal HOME-ARP grant funds. The HOME-ARP Allocation Plan is a strategic plan detailing the process the City will use to allocate funds to assist individuals or households who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of becoming homeless, and other vulnerable populations, by providing affordable housing, rental assistance, supportive services, and non-congregate shelter, to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability.

In order to obtain the views of residents, public agencies, and other interested parties, the City of Pittsburgh has placed its FY 2021 Annual Action Plan – Substantial

Amendment - HOME-ARP Allocation Plan on public display starting Thursday, March 9, 2023, and ending on Thursday, March 23, 2023 . The Draft FY 2021 Annual Action Plan – Substantial Amendment

- HOME-ARP Allocation Plan may be examined at the City’s website: http://pittsburghpa.gov/omb/ community-development-documents.

All interested residents are encouraged to attend this public hearing and they will be given the opportunity to present oral or written testimony concerning the draft FY 2021 Annual Action Plan – Substantial Amendment - HOME-ARP Allocation Plan. To provide comments, please email community.development @pittsburghpa.gov or via phone at (412) 255- 2667. Written comments may be addressed to the City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Community Development Division, attention

Mr. Kelly L. Russell, Assistant Director/ Labor Compliance Officer, 414 Grant Street, Room 501, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Mr. Kelly L. Russell Assistant Director/Labor Compliance Officer Community Development Division, OMB

TOWNSHIP OF WILKINS

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF CODE

Please take notice that the following ordinance of the Township of Wilkins, notice of the introduction of which had previously been given, was finally enacted at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Wilkins, County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the 27th day of February, 2023.

ORDINANCE NUMBER: 1111

AN ORDINANCE TO APPROVE, ADOPT AND ENACT AN ORDINANCE CODIFICATION AND REVISION OF THE ORDINANCES OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WILKINS, COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA; PROVIDING FOR THE CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUS PROVISIONS; REPEALING AND SAVING FROM REPEAL CERTAIN ORDINANCES NOT INCLUDED THEREIN; ADOPTING CERTAIN CHANGES MADE TO PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED ORDINANCES; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PROPER MAINTENANCE OF THE CODE; AND TO PROVIDE PENALITES FOR THE VIOLATION OF THE CODE OR CHAPTERS THEREOF.

The “Code of the Township of Wilkins” will be in full force and effect on the 1st day of March, 2023. A copy of the Code Adoption Ordinance and the Code are on file in the office of the Township Manager, where they are available for use and examination during regular office hours.

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR FINANCIAL AUDITING SEVICES AUTHORITY WIDE RFP#150-10-23

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Financial Auditing Services Authority Wide

The documents will be available no later than February 27, 2023, and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until: 9:00 A.M. on March 23,2023. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh will only be accepting physical proposals dropped off in person from 8:00 AM until the closing time of 9:00 AM on March 23,2023 in the lobby of 100 Ross St. Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Proposals may be uploaded to the Authority’s online submission site, the link is accessible via the HACP website and within the RFP. Sealed proposals may still be mailed via USPS at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Parties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the Solicitation from the Business Opportunities page of www.HACP.org.

Questions or inquires should be directed to:

Mr. James Harris

Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-643-2832

A pre-submission meeting will be held via Zoom meeting; on March 9,2023 at 9:00 A.M. Please see meeting information below:

Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 838 2861 6751

Passcode: 981986 +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond to this solicitation.

HACP has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation. Caster D. Binion, Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION SERVICES

The work under the proposed Agreement consists of administration of PRT’s unemployment compensation program in general areas, to include unemployment tax management; claims administration; benefit audits; and account management.

The Agreement will be for a three-year period with the option to extend the term of the Agreement up to two additional years at the sole discretion of PRT.

A copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) will be available on or after March 3, 2023 and can be obtained by registering at the PRT’s ebusiness and following the directions listed on the website. Please note that Proposers must register under the ebusiness categories of PSBSPA – Pro Benefits/ Wages/Pension and PSFAIB – Pro Fin Advisory/Invest/Banking for this RFP. Proposers may also register in other categories for any future RFPs issued by PRT. If you have specific questions regarding this RFP, please contact Fred Buckner at (412) 566-5467 or via email fbuckner@rideprt.org.

An Information Meeting for interested parties will be held at 9:30 a.m., prevailing time, March 23, 2023 via Microsoft Teams video conference and/or conference call to answer any questions regarding this RFP.

To join by Microsoft Team video conference: https://bit.ly/3YfY1sI

To join by Microsoft Teams call-in number: (412) 927-0245 United States, Pittsburgh (Toll) Conference ID: 684934629#

Electronic proposals must be both received, and time stamped by a representative of the Procurement Department through PRT’s Ebusiness website at or before 2:00 p.m., prevailing time, April 13, 2023, at http://ebusiness.rideprt.org. Proposals received or time stamped by a Procurement Department representative through PRT’s Ebusiness website after the advertised time for the submission of proposals shall be non-responsive and therefore ineligible for award. Each Proposer shall be solely responsible for assuring that its proposal is timely received and time stamped in accordance with the requirements herein.

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

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

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

Further, proposers and the Contractor shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, disability, national origin, sex, sexual origin, gender identity or status as a parent in the award and performance of contracts or subcontracts for these Contract Services

Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.

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 March 28, 2023, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

Pgh. Langley K-8 Finish Floor Replacements and Miscellaneous Work (REBID)

Asbestos Abatement Primes Service & Maintenance Contract at Various Schools, Facilities and Properties: - Fire Extinguisher and Fire Hoses Service and Maintenance (REBID)

Pgh. Carrick High School

Whiteboard Installations General Primes

PPS Service Center Service Center Fuel Dispenser Island Replacement Mechanical Primes

Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on March 6, 2023 , 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.

REQUEST FOR

QUALIFICATIONS

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) is accepting Letters of Interest and Statements of Qualifications from Professional Companies who wish to be considered for the following:

Professional Engineering Services for the Retained Consulting Engineer

Eight (8) hard copies of sealed Qualifications Submittals and one (1) electronic copy are required.: Allegheny County Sanitary Authority 3300 Preble Avenue Admin Annex, Room 106 Pittsburgh, PA 15233-1092

Attn: Suzanne Thomas, Procurement Officer procurement@alcosan.org

All questions should also be submitted, in writing, to Suzanne Thomas. ALCOSAN intends to award the services to one firm to perform all of the services. All submittals must be received no later than 2:00 p.m. (EST), April 21, 2023. It is Consultant’s responsibility to ensure the documents have been received. Late submittals will not be considered. Additional information and instructions may be obtained by visiting:

https://www.alcosan.org/work-withus/planned-and-active-bids ALCOSAN encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities, disadvantaged and women’s business enterprises to submit qualification statements or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to the selected Consultant/Firm. The Party selected shall be required to utilize minority, disadvantaged, and women’s business enterprises to the fullest extent possible. The goals of the ALCOSAN’s Minority and Women Business Policy are listed on the ALCOSAN website at www.alcosan.org.

Kimberly Kennedy, PE Director, Engineering and Construction