Don’t say African American History Standards

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law the Parental Rights in Education Act in 2022. It said that classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity by school officials or third parties is not permitted in kindergarten through third grade or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for pupils in accordance with state standards.

Democrats immediately denounced the new measure as anti-LBGT+ and dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”

Sex education occurs in either the fourth or fifth grade, when students reach puberty.

But SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, a non-profit that advocates for comprehensive sexuality education, believes that sex education should begin in kindergarten. Students, in their opinion, should be prepared for the changes that their bodies will go through during puberty.

The Parental Rights in Education Act of Florida didn’t dispute puberty preparation. It simply said that discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity are inappropriate for students in grades K-3.

The real issue was when schools should discuss sexual orientation and gender identity. Should this happen before or during puberty? Republicans in Florida decided it should happen after K-3, but they never said it shouldn’t happen at all.

“Don’t say gay” was a Democratic tactic used to create a nationwide overreaction in order to slow down the Republican overhaul of the state’s educational system.

Republicans in Florida didn’t slow down in 2023. They established new standards for teaching African American history in middle school. This time, Democrats charged Republicans with whitewashing history, but their assertion was as nonsensical as “don’t say gay.”

On the first 20 pages of a 216-page document titled Florida State Academic

Standards: Social Studies 2023, African American history lessons and benchmarks are listed. On page 6, it states: Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation). The benchmark stated: Instructions include how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.

Democrats highlighted that benchmark and accused the Republicans of teaching children that African Americans benefited from slavery by treating slavery like a job training program. This time, the Black Conservative Federation was on the Democrats’ side. The BCF stated that the new standards undermine the unimaginable hardships endured by millions of enslaved individuals. Florida’s new academic standards do not undermine hardships at all.

On page 9, students are instructed to compare slave living conditions in the British North American Colonies, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The benchmarks focused on harsh conditions such as inadequate nutrition, malnourishment, sickness, hard labor, harsh weather, and infant mortality rates of slaves vs. free people.

The BCF also said, “Attributing their acquired skills as a benefit is an oversimplification and can obscure the true nature of their experiences. Slaves did not have ‘agency!’ They were forced to do jobs with- out pay. This is not a benefit by any stretch of the imagination.”

Dr. William Allen, former chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and member of Florida’s African American History Standards workgroup, addressed all of the criticism. He said the new standards never claimed that slavery was beneficial. It is a historical fact that Africans proved resourceful, resilient, and adaptive, and that they were able to develop skills and aptitudes that benefited them both while enslaved and after enslavement. With that said, to extinguish the negative publicity, Florida’s State Academic Standards for Social Studies in 2023 should add the following benchmark: The instructions will include the “hire-out system” depicted in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This practice was common in the South. Since it was more profitable than selling slaves, slave owners would contract out their slaves. The slaves hired out were skilled laborers. The slave owner kept the majority of the money while allowing the slave to keep a small portion. Many slaves saved enough money to purchase their freedom.

This is an example of how slaves used their skills for personal benefit.

It’s important to note that the BCF also said, “Slaves had no agency.” If the BCF truly believed that notion, they should demand that the Florida State Academic Standards delete lessons about the 1739 Stono Slave Rebellion and the Underground Railroad because rebelling and escaping captivity require agency.

Dr. Allen further stated that attempts to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fail to recognize their strength and courage. Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances there were to benefit themselves.

Black Americans need to recognize that we face a disturbing political reality. Despite his avalanche of seemingly intractable legal problems, Donald J. Trump remains the favorite to be the nominee of the Republican Party in the general presidential election in 2024.

That would mean a rematch between President Biden and Trump.

The outcome of that election is likely to be determined by a few tens of thousands of votes. In the 2020 presidential election, the margin of victory for Joe Biden in Georgia and Arizona was less than 12,000 votes.

In stark terms, the winner of the presidential election next year will be sworn in in just 18 months. A second Trump administration will be better thought out and effective than his first—which saw a huge setback to our interests and concerns.

It is this alarming political reality that makes the self-absorbed, narcissistic third-party candidacy of Cornel West troubling.

He is making a poor political choice with his quixotic third-party presidential campaign.

Notwithstanding his right to run and the idealism he cited in his announcement (much of which I agree with), any measure of political acumen forces one to recall West’s ill-fated support of Ralph Nader’s spoiler campaign against then-Vice-President Al Gore in his race against George W. Bush. There were disastrous consequences of the outcome of that race for people all over this country, in Iraq, and around the globe as a result of Bush’s denial of climate change.

Expressing no regrets for his stance with Nader in 2000, West is about to do something like that again. There is much to admire in what West has advocated in the past. Although we should not forget some of his over-the-top ad hominem attacks on Barack Obama after he won the presidency in 2008.

Of course, West always cites his outspoken defense of poor and working-class people as the motive for his actions. I don’t disagree with his avowed purpose for running as a champion for “truth and justice” as a presidential candidate “to reintroduce America to the best of itself —fighting to end poverty, mass incarceration, ending wars and ecological collapse, guaranteeing housing, health care, education, and living wages for all.”

Amen. I don’t disagree—and I respect him as a pioneering theorist, but I think he is making a poor political choice with his quixotic third-party presidential campaign. But that is not the issue here. Rather it is the damage his third-party candidacy could do to Biden’s re-election and the future direction of the country if Trump or a MAGA facsimile prevails next year. The only possible impact of West’s vain, selfish candidacy is to take some votes away from Biden that might allow Trump or some likeminded far-right wing Republican to return to the White House.

We should not squander our votes on Black “vanity” candidates.

Whatever Biden’s shortcomings, the political system does not give us an opportunity to build a viable political and electoral coalition alternative. West and many other Black political figures seem to think that because they have every right to run, they should run campaigns that satisfy their personal aspirations and/or needs at the expense of the greater good of their communities.

We need to learn from our history in this country about the strategic importance of a galvanized Black electorate to make realistic and smart decisions.

In 1948 the FDR political but reprehensible Democratic Party coalition—that included racist Southern Democrats—was shattered after a civil rights initiative was included in the party’s platform. President Truman’s upset victory was only made possible by a surge of Black voters in swing states. This is an experience that has been repeated in several other closely decided presidential elections.

This teaches us that we should not squander our votes on Black “vanity” candidates, no matter how sincere, who offer no path for advancing our interests and concerns.

The stakes in next year’s election are too high to ignore hard political reality. Remember how we got a 6 to 3 hard-right majority on the U.S. Supreme Court? Elections do have consequences.

(Donald M Suggs is the publisher and owner of The St. Louis American.)

MAGA-USA, Make America Great AgainUSA is Trump’s botched coup against the US federal government. It is the recent US congressional hearings on flying saucers. It is without question Marjorie Taylor-Green and George Santos actually getting elected to the US Congress. It is Donald Trump actually getting elected to the White House, and it is much more.

But most of all MAGA-USA is the tens of millions of White folks in the United States of America who embrace and support all of the national dangers and absolute stupidity just cited.

These people are the end-products of 400 years of White racism institutionalized in religion, law, and habit. All of this has been to justify the murder, robbery, and genocide of Native American peoples and African peoples.

Today in MAGA-USA the word “woke” is a synonym for the “N-word.” That’s why it is so wildly popular among the MAGA masses. That is why it is a major political asset for MAGA politicians. It is not a dog whistle to rally the racist dogs. It is clearcut, absolutely precise, no confusion.

Saying “Woke” in MAGA-talk is chanting the N-word at a Klan rally. MAGA politicians are campaigning for office on the well-established White racist “Southern Strategy.” The Southern Strategy put Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush I, George Bush II and Donald Trump in the White House. Way before then, it was the politics of Benjamin Tillman, South Carolina’s governor 1890-1894 and US senator 18951918. “Pitchfork Ben” campaigned for office in support of lynching Black people. He bragged on the floor of Congress that he had killed some African Americans himself. Look for the Woke howling to intensify and escalate as MAGA politicians—Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump are two examples—compete to out-WOKE each other in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Recently, DeSantis has been in the news badmouthing US Vice President Kamala Harris and Florida US congressman Tim Scott. Harris is a Democrat. Scott is a Republican. Both are Black.

Trump is in the news, almost every day, badmouthing DeSantis. Ron DeSantis is afraid to attack Donald Trump in the media. So, he howls and chants “Woke! Woke! Woke!” In effect, he attacks the Black community Trump is facing possible jail time. He is very worried, and he will move even further to the right. To outdo a desperate Donald Trump, DeSantis may have to campaign for the White House in a Klan robe. After he lost one of his early campaigns, the civil rights era arch-segregationist George Wallace reportedly said that he promised himself to never let another segregationist opponent “out-seg” him for the

White racist vote in a campaign. There is a clear political logic to the US rights-wing frontal attacks on Black Studies. The front-line battles in education—in the US Social Sciences—are fought over who does and who does not have power.

The “Campus and Community,” Black Studies Movement is at the very forefront of “Cultural Studies’ which directly pose this challenge to the US race, class and gender status quo. That’s why the US right is banning Black history books, storming school board meetings, threatening educators, salivating “Woke! Woke! Woke!”

Question: If MAGA-USA has put African American Studies on trial, then what does it imply for the status of Irish American Studies, Italian American Studies, Polish American Studies, for European American Ethnic Studies? In the fray, we ask in the allocation of power, wealth, status and privilege who will be the whitest in politically polarized MAGA-USA, German Americans, Polish Americans, Irish Americans, etc.? It has only been 100 years since the US immigration struggles of the 1920s made many Europeans-ethnic groups officially USA-White.

The MAGA blatant open White racism will further intensify and consolidate African American opposition to the overall rise of right-wing reaction. Here is one example of this: this year, the Black-led Association for the Study of African American History and Life will hold its annual (108th) conference in Jacksonville, Florida, Ron DeSantis home state. The 2023 ASALH theme is “Black Resistance”

AI RESEARCH ENGINEER II, NATURAL LANGUAGE ML Duolingo, Inc. has multiple openings for AI Research Engineer II, Natural Language ML in Pittsburgh, PA to perform following duties: Identify problems, prototype solutions, evaluate return on investment, & implement best solution at scale to improve lives of Duolingo users; Develop new applications of machine learning for natural language that improve Duolingo’s products; Design & build infrastructure, tools, & libraries to train, experiment, debug, & launch machine learning models at scale; Draft & disseminate scalable AI best practices including w/respect to benchmarking & comparative evaluations involving software frameworks & advanced & innovative hardware platforms; Provide expert guidance on topics involving AI & data; Participate in, or lead design reviews w/peers & stakeholders to decide amongst available technologies; Perform research w/respect to optimization of machine learning software & hardware performance; Write tests to validate system performance & compliance; Develop & deliver advanced training content for project briefings, seminars, workshops, & tutorials. Reqs: Master’s degree in Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Machine Learning or related technical field & 2 yrs exp. w/Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning or alternatively Ph.D. in Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Machine Learning or related technical field. Must have demonstration of AI published papers. Must have knowledge of: (1) C++ & Python;

(2) Algorithms & Data Structures;

(3) Machine Learning for Natural Language; (4) PyTorch; (5) Artificial Intelligence; (6) Machine Learning; (7) Problem Framing for AI. Email resume to: jobs@duolingo.com with Job No. 825 & title “AI Research Engineer II, Natural Language ML” in subject line.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh. The vacancy will occur as of April 23, 2024 upon the retirement of current United States Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy. The current annual salary is $213,992. The term of the office is eight years.

A full public notice and the Application for United States Magistrate Judge form are available on the Court’s website at http://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/ employment or may be obtained from the Clerk’s Office at each of the United States Courthouses located at the Joseph F. Weis Jr Courthouse, Suite 3110, 700 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219; 17 South Park Row, Room A-150, Erie, Pennsylvania 16501; and 208 Penn Traffic Building, 319 Washington Street, Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15901. Applications must be personally completed by potential nominees and must be received by 4:00 p.m. on August 23, 2023.

Brandy S. Lonchena

Clerk of Court 412-208-7500

ASSOCIATE CONSERVATOR OF PAINTINGS

Carnegie Museum of Art seeks Associate Conservator of Paintings for the examination, study, proposal, and execution of research and treatment of painted artworks in the Museum’s collection. Will participate in scholarly research, publications, and public engagement activities. View full description and apply at www.carnegiemuseums.org > opportunities

HOSPITALISTS

University of Pittsburgh Physicians seeks Hospitalists to provide and direct inpatient medical care for hospital patients. May be required to work overnight shifts as a Nocturnist (a Hospitalist who works overnight shifts). Possible worksite locations at hospitals and medical centers throughout the state of Pennsylvania.

Requirements: medical degree; must have completed a U.S. accredited medical residency training program in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine; valid Pennsylvania medical license. Apply by following these steps; visit http://careers.upmc.com and enter 2300022O in the “Search Keyword /Job ID” field and click Go. EOE/Disability/Veteran.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER SENIOR

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. seeks a Software Engineer Senior in Pittsburgh, PA, with the ability to telecommute with appropriate telecommuting systems for up to three days per week, with a minimum of two days per week in the office. Participate in all aspects of PNC’s Retail Banking Systems Engineering Group activities. Specific duties include:

(i) lead the technical design and development of software solutions; (ii) analyze current business processes, define and develop different tasks and workflows; (iii) create business and technical designs for assigned processes, tasks and workflows and create requirement definition and technical specifications; (iv) work closely with onsite and off-shore teams on daily basis to develop solutions for financial banking; (v) develop solutions from technical specifications to do unit testing of the modules and deploy it into Non-Production and Production; (vi) assist in mentoring junior developers; and (vii) prepare development-related artifacts to support application development for future use.

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Electronics and Communication, Computer Applications, Computer Information Systems, MIS or Computer Science, plus 3 years of experience developing software solutions in multiple application frameworks, including Spring, Hibernate, and IDEs (Eclipse, NetBeans and IntelliJ) is required.

Must have experience with: (i) development on Windows, Unix/ Linux systems with applications built using Java or C; (ii) application and web servers, including IBM WebSphere and Apache Tomcat; (iii) database technologies (SQL, MySQL, Oracle and Mongo); (iv) developing in multiple environments (RND, UAT, QA and Prod); (v) full project lifecycles, including analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, support and enhancement using multiple development methodologies (Agile, Scrum and Waterfall); (vi) API development including Microservices, SOAP and REST; (vii) programming with other technologies to include XML, JSON, JDBC, Maven, Log4j, Jenkins, Junit, Selenium, OpenShift Container Platforms and Docker; (viii) tracing and monitoring tools (Dynatrace, Humio, Grafana, TrueSight and Glassbox); and (ix) SRE methodologies to ensure the availability and reliability of systems and services, solving operation problems and automation of tasks. 40 hours/week, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Interested individuals apply online at www.pnc.com using keyword R141207. PNC provides equal employment opportunity to qualified persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or other categories protected by law.

Mira Security, Inc., headquartered in Cranberry Township, PA, has work-at-home Principal Software Engineer position (w/ability to telecommute w/approp. telecommuting sys.; remote worksite must be w/ in commuting distance of Cranberry Township, PA for weekly trips to corp. office) to design & develop new state-of-the art networking & security hardware/software. Send resume to careers@mirasecurity.com w/“Principal Software Engineer” in subject line

SCADA Engineer

CNX (Canonsburg, PA) to be rspnsbl for mntng OT sys. rel. to upstream Production & Measurement: CygNet, FMS, FlowCal, TestIT & iOps; dvlpng CygNet SCADA using VB scrptng; prfrmng version upgrds to OT syst.; tchncl dcmnt of core OT syst. Bachelor’s in Cmptr Scnce, Data Anlytcs, IS or Engnrng. Must know (thru acad training or work exp.) CygNet, FMS, FlowCal, Modbus, Allen Bradley CIP, TotalFlow RTU & MQTT protocols; Microsoft SQL server & Oracle DBS; Ivanti ticketing sys; VB scrptng, Python & R; SQL queries; & AWS, Azure or GCP cloud comp. pltfrms. Send resumes to humanresources@cnx.com

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTRACT SPECIALIST –

MAIN SHOP

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Quality Assurance and Contract Specialist – Main Shop to Under general supervision, measure and monitoring performance of all materials and vendor activities to ensure quality and performance in meeting Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) maintenance and operating efficiencies consistent with adopted guidelines and objectives. Also, to establish, implement and administer processes to ensure vendor and PRT compliance with established and proposed contracts.

Essential Functions:

• Works closely with Fleet Coordinator, Fleet Vehicle Specialist - Bus and Material Control Specialist on matters pertaining to product testing and analysis to ensure contract specification compliance, both in determining successful bidders and for follow-up throughout the contract term. Establishes product testing procedures in order to indicate the applicability of products for PRT use.

• Reviews bid specifications to ensure contract compliance clauses are included, current, standardized and executable.

• Performs complex internal investigations, assessments, and analysis of PRT maintenance activities as an in-house consultant to operations and maintenance management. Assists the Manager of Vehicle Projects in the development and implementation of quality assurance standards and procedures addressing maintenance quality, productivity and performance as they relate to Manchester Main Ship in support of maintenance and service at the bus divisions. Job requirements include:

• Two-year Technical Degree or Associate Degree in Business or related field. Additional experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential functions of the job may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

• Three (3) years of experience managing bus or heavy automotive fleet vehicle maintenance, including a thorough knowledge of bus and/or heavy vehicle systems/equipment is required.

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

• Customer focused, well organized and results-oriented.

• Excellent interpersonal skills.

• Effective and professional communication skills.

• Valid PA drivers’ license. Preferred attributes:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field. Additional experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential functions of the job may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

• Experience in conducting bus fleet, heavy vehicle fleet or industrial machine maintenance analysis.

• Vocational training in mechanical/ electrical-electronic equipment and systems.

• Statistical process control knowledge.

• Knowledge of business practices related to the purchasing of equipment, materials and services required for vehicle and/or machinery maintenance. 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 McBride@RidePRT.org EOE

MANAGER, STRATEGIC BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE (MULTI OPENINGS W/ NATIONAL PLACEMENT OUT OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA).

MS Deg in Healthcare Policy & Mgmt. Foreign edu equiv’t acceptable. Any suit combo of edu, training or exp acceptable. Candidate will plan, initiate, & manage info tech (IT) proj’s. Lead & guide the work of tech staff. Serve as liaison between bus & tech aspects of proj’s. Plan proj stages & assess bus implications for each stage. Monitor progress to assure DL, standards, & cost targets are met. Although no exp is req’d, candidate must have CW or internship in Healthcare Info Sys’s; Bus Healthcare Innovation; Healthcare Marketing; Bus Intel Data Mining; & Health Economics. Able to trvl/relo to unanticipated client sites as needed.

9-5, 40 hrs/wk. $93,454yr FT. Ref# MSB-1122 TRS MS0 & send resume to Treatspace,

Customer Service Representative

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Customer Service

Representative to represent Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a/ Pittsburgh Regional Transit as the first point of contact by providing exceptional telephone skills to reflect a positive corporate image. Provide information to the public that will enable them to use PRT systems and services.

Essential Functions:

• Responds over the phone to a large volume of customer calls providing accurate and courteous information regarding complaints, transit stops, schedules, fares, routings, policies, procedures, lost & found items and Connectcard information.

• Maintain complete updated files pertaining to detours, route changes, schedule changes, fares, transit stops and marketing campaigns in order to provide accurate responses to customer inquiries.

• Utilize Schedule-Dispatch database and computer based applications to access various transportation information.

Job requirements include:

• High School Diploma or GED.

• Minimum of one (1) year customer service experience on the phone or in a call center environment handling large volume of customer calls. Completion of all the following PRT courses can be substituted for one year call center requirement:

(1) Essential Telephone Skills; (2) Listening Skills; (3) Questioning Techniques; (4) How to Handle the Irate Caller; (5) Six Cardinal Rules of Customer Service; (6) Good Grief, Good Grammar and (7) Organize for Success.

• Ability to learn and retain large quantities of route, fares and service information.

• Successful completion of administered Work Keys Assessments.

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

• Professional and effective communication skills.

• Ability to work various shifts, including weekends and holidays.

Preferred attributes:

• Advanced education in a directly related field.

Law Group, P.C., 1207 Fifth Avenue, Suite 200 Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219

ANNOUNCEMENTS Public Notice

NOTICE -

TOWNSHIP OF KILBUCK

The Kilbuck Township Board of Supervisors will hold a special, public meeting to consider the adoption of an Ordinance to terminate the Kilbuck Township police pension plan and purchase an annuity to ensure benefits for remaining plan beneficiaries, and any other business that comes before the Board, said meeting to be held on August 9, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kilbuck Township Municipal Building, 343 Eicher Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

SUMMARY

The proposed ordinance would effectuate the termination of the Township police pension plan, in its entirety, and the purchase of an annuity, to ensure the provision of benefits required by the terminated plan and applicable law to all remaining plan beneficiaries, effective September 1, 2023. A copy of the proposed ordinance may be examined in the office of the Township Secretary, without charge, during regular business hours.

TOWNSHIP OF KILBUCK

By: Andrew Wright, Secretary

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

ADVERTISEMENT

Bids are hereby solicited for the Community College of Allegheny County, 800 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15233 on the following: Bid 1118 – Kitchen Smallwares

Due date: 2:00 P.M. Prevailing Time on Wednesday, August 16, 2023

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

Keith Marrow Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527 KMarrow@RidePRT.org EOE

Any bid or proposals received after this deadline will be considered as a “late bid” and will be returned unopened to the offerer. Proposals may require Bid Bonds, Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds, and Surety as dictated by the specifications.

No bidder may withdraw his bid or proposal for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids. The Board of Trustees reserves the right to reject any and all bids. The Community College of Allegheny County is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and encourages bids from Minority/Disadvantaged owned businesses. For more information, contact Michael Cvetic at mcvetic@ccac.edu.