9.6.23 NPC

Pittsburgh

by Rob Taylor Jr.

Courier Staff Writer

There is so much history inside the walls of the Afro-American Music Institute, in Homewood.

Take a tour inside, and you’ll see the irreplaceable photos of some of jazz’s alltime greats, along with today’s jazz aficionados who are keeping the famed music genre vivacious.

You’ll notice the different instruments, countless videos and audiotapes, and the rooms where Dr. James T. Johnson teaches some 200 to 300 students yearly the ins and outs of music through a specialized curriculum in gospel, jazz, and other forms of the African Diaspora.

But the energetic Dr. Johnson told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, July 6, that oftentimes, when one of his students performs at their recital, “one student...would bring the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, sister and the brothers, and the first cousin,” he said. “It got

to the point that I would have to ask some young people to get up to let the older people sit down.”

Dr. Johnson’s talking about the loading dock in the rear of the AAMI building that’s used as a multi-purpose room. It holds about 75 people, and that’s where a lot of the organization’s events and performances are held, namely the popular “Jazz on the Loading Dock” series.

Dr. Johnson’s wife, Pamela, said enough was enough. “We need to have our own space,” she told the Courier, which led her to announce that the Afro-American Music Institute would be expanding its physical space.

Pamela Johnson said the addition to the building at 7131 Hamilton Ave. will be in the rear, and it will be able to hold up to 200 people, almost triple the amount of the current loading dock space.

Reverend Deryck Tynes, chairman of the board for

by Rob Taylor Jr.

Courier Staff Writer

There’s 50 million reasons for residents in Bedford Dwellings in the Hill District to be excited.

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that the housing complex and surrounding areas in the Hill have received a $50 million neighborhood revitalization grant, with the goal of rehabilitating the housing at Bedford Dwellings, along with making “investments to create a neighborhood that is vibrant, well-connected to services and public transportation, and is safe and welcoming for Pittsburgh residents,” according to a release from Congresswoman Summer Lee’s office, July 21.

Known to many locals as “Chauncey” (for Chauncey Street and Chauncey Drive, which runs through the complex), Bedford Dwellings is the oldest

public housing site in Pittsburgh; constructed in 1938, opened in 1940.

“This is a meaningful step towards righting past wrongs of racist urban development decisions, chronic disinvestment, and harmful policies,” Congresswoman Lee said in a statement sent to the Courier. “This was the product of years of hard work and coordination between community groups, the City of Pittsburgh, development partners, local organizations, philanthropy and Allegheny County to put a winning proposal together. I am thankful to Secretary (Marcia L.)

Fudge and her team at HUD (Housing and Urban Development) for this award, and look forward to continuing to work with our local leaders and federal partners as we begin the process of rehabbing

by Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Amidst a news cycle that now routinely features wildfires, former president indictments, and extreme weather events, the world is grappling with the resurgence of COVID-19 as a new and concerning variant, BA.2.86, emerges. This variant, informally dubbed “Pirola,” has ignited alarm among public health experts due to its substantial spike protein mutations.

Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious diseases specialist at Yale Medicine, warned that Pirola exhibits over 30 spike protein mutations compared to the previously dominant XBB.1.5 variant in the United States. The spike protein is critical for the virus’s entry into human cells, and such a high number of mutations raises red flags.

In an online Yale Medicine article, Dr. Roberts compared the mutation count to the shift from the Delta to the Omicron variant in 2021, which caused a significant surge in cases due to its immune evasion capabilities.

What’s particularly concerning is that Pirola has been detected in at least six countries, and these cases appear unrelated. Experts said that suggests undetected community transmission and international spread, sparking concerns of a potential resurgence.

According to medical experts, BA.2.86 is a designated variant of Omicron, a variant of the SARSCoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19. BA.2.86 stems from BA.2, a previously circulating Omicron subvariant. The variant was first identified in Denmark in late July and made its way to the United States in August.

Knowing that cases aren’t linked indicates broader circulation, significantly as COVID-19 surveillance

This Week In Black History

• SEPTEMBER 6

has waned, medical experts asserted.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that current COVID-19 tests and medications, such as Paxlovid, Veklury, and Lagevrio, seem effective against Pirola. However, Pirola may be more adept at infecting individuals who have had COVID-19 or have been vaccinated. There isn’t any current

dividuals or wastewater.

Some regions have reinstated mask mandates in response to the spike in COVID-19 cases. Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, is among the institutions requiring masks in clinical areas to protect patients and staff.

The CDC reports a nearly 19 percent increase in weekly new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., marking the sixth

1865— One of the great White heroes of Black history, Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens , first proposes an addition to the Freemen’s Bureau Act which would have required the confiscation of land from former slave owners and the redistribution to former slaves in “40 acre lots.” Although Stevens was at the time the most powerful person in the U.S. Congress and a friend of Blacks, he was unable to get the measure passed. The so-called “40 acres and a mule,” which promised to aid Black economic development after slavery was defeated in Congress on Feb. 5, 1866 by a 136 to 36 vote. The lopsided nature of the vote reflected lingering pro-slave owner sympathies in the Congress and a general lack of support for the freed slaves.

• SEPTEMBER 7

1859—John Merrick , co-founder of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company was born on this day in 1859. He would help make the Durham, N.C., based firm the largest Black controlled insurance company in the nation. Merrick was born in Clinton, N.C. He died in 1919.

1957— Ghana becomes the first African country to break from White colonial rule and become an independent nation. The West African nation, once known as the Gold Coast, was led to independence by the dynamic Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah . He championed the slogan “Africa for the Africans” and encouraged the participation of Blacks throughout the world in building a strong and free Africa. However, the U.S. educated Nkrumah would be overthrown in a military coup in 1966. He befriended American activists ranging from W.E.B DuBois to Martin Luther King Jr.

• SEPTEMBER 8

evidence that it causes more severe illness.

The increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. is attributed to XBB lineage viruses rather than Pirola. The multitude of mutations in Pirola raises concerns about its potential to bypass immunity from natural infection or vaccination.

Dr. Roberts emphasized that ongoing studies would reveal the true nature of Pirola’s threat. The unprecedented number of mutations in Pirola is reminiscent of significant shifts seen in other respiratory viruses, such as the 2009 swine flu. However, he noted that these variants sometimes fade away without causing a significant impact.

The critical question now is whether Pirola will follow the explosive growth pattern of Omicron or fade away, as everyone hopes.

As of August 30, the CDC has identified Pirola in at least four U.S. states through samples from in-

consecutive week of rising admissions.

The arrival of new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax in mid-September is expected to offer robust protection against variants. Until then, experts stress that masking remains a crucial tool for safeguarding against COVID-19, even for individuals with normal risk levels, depending on their location and contacts.

Dr. Stephen Thomas of the Upstate Medical University in Syracuse told NPR that the facility has reverted to mandating masks.

“We wanted to, No. 1, protect our patients, and, No. 2, protect the men and women who work in our facility, and take care of them,” Thomas told NPR.

“So, we implemented universal masking for staff, visitors, and patients only in clinical areas. So, we’re a university. We’re large. We have a lot of non-clinical regions. Universal masking is not being mandated in non-clinical areas.”

1925— On this day in 1925 a series of events are set in motion which would lead to one of America’s periodic trials of the century. In this case, prominent Black doctor Ossian Sweet moves into an all-White neighborhood in Detroit, Mich. The following day a crowd of nearly 1,000 angry Whites gather around his home in a bid to force him out. Sweet had anticipated trouble and had 11 family members and friends in the house to help defend his property. A shot rings out from the Sweet home killing one member of the angry mob. All 11 persons in the Sweet home are charged with murder. The family is defended by Clarence Darrow—one of the nation’s best known and most progressive lawyers. Sweet’s brother admits to firing the deadly shot, but Darrow convinces an all-White jury he acted in self-defense and they found him not guilty. Charges are then dropped against all the others. Sweet would later write “I have to die a man or live a coward.”

1965—Dorothy Dandridge , perhaps the most prominent African American actress of the 1940s and 1950s, commits suicide in Los Angeles, Calif. She had been suffering from a host of financial and emotional problems. In the early years of her career, she starred in a number of so-called “race films” oriented at Black audiences, but Hollywood “discovered” her and expanded her roles while simultaneously subjecting her to various forms of discrimination. Nevertheless, she would become the first Black actress nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category. She was only 42 when she died.

•

SEPTEMBER 9

1739—The so-called Stono, S.C., slave revolt begins. It was led by a slave from Angola named Jemmy. The group gathered near the Stono River about 20 miles from Charleston and began a march and insurrection, which resulted in the deaths of at least 25 Whites. Marching under a banner proclaiming “Liberty,” it took a couple of hundred armed Whites to put down the revolt.

1817— Merchant, anti-slavery activist and “Back to Africa” advocate Paul Cuffee dies on this day in 1817. Cuffee had been born free in Massachusetts in 1759. Shortly after America’s war for independence from Britain, Cuffee and his brother built a boat and started a trading business. Over time, Cuffee became a wealthy man. However, he grew frustrated with America’s injustices against Blacks and became a “Back to Africa” advocate. On Dec. 10, 1815, he sailed a group of free Blacks to the West African nation of Sierra Leone to establish a settlement. The settlement rapidly became successful but on a return trip to the U.S. in 1817, he died.

1817— This is the day that Alexander Lucius Twilight received his B.A. degree from Middlebury College and thus became the first African American college graduate. Twilight,

born free in Vermont, would go on to become a Presbyterian minister and pastor at several churches.

1915— The “Father of Black History,” Carter G. Woodson , leads the founding of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History during a meeting in Chicago. It was originally called the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The organization became the nation’s leading organizing center for the dissemination of information on Black history. Woodson was also the founder of Negro History Week, which grew into the current day Black History Month.

1934— Renowned poet Sonia Sanchez was born Wilsonia Benita Driver on this day in Birmingham, Ala. She has authored more than a dozen books of poetry and has been a professor at several American universities. Sanchez joined the Nation of Islam in 1972 but left in 1975 following a dispute over the issue of women’s rights.

• SEPTEMBER 10

1847—John Roy Lynch is born into slavery on this day near Vidalia, La. Lynch would be among the first group of Blacks to serve in the United States Congress after slavery. He represented the state of Mississippi. Lynch would even serve as temporary chairman of the Republican Party National Convention. During this period, the Republicans were the more progressive and friendly-to-Blacks party. But as the period of Reconstruction faded and Southern politicians made it virtually impossible for Blacks to remain in political office, Lynch moved to Chicago and practiced law. He died in 1939 at the age of 92.

1965—Father Divine dies in Philadelphia, Pa. From about 1910 to his death in 1965, Father Divine was Black America’s foremost spiritual and cult leader. Indeed, he claimed to be God and his full self-given name was Rev. General Jealous Divine. Critics called him a charlatan and a religious scam artist. But initially as a traveling preacher and then from a base in New York City, Divine built his small church into the International Peace Mission—a large mass congregation with members and churches throughout the United States and several foreign countries. Little is known about his background, but he was probably born in Georgia and his real given name was probably George Baker. During his heyday, Divine’s only serious competition was another Black spiritual-cult leader by the name of Daddy Grace.

1976—Mordecai Johnson , the first Black president of historic Howard University in Washington, D.C., dies. He was one of the nation’s foremost educational leaders. He was 86 when he died.

• SEPTEMBER

11

1740— Was he America’s first Black doctor and or dentist? It is unclear but on this day in 1740 the Philadelphia Gazette carries a report of a “Negro” named Simon who was skilled in the abilities to “bleed and draw teeth.” During the colonial period, such a phrase was normally used in reference to doctors and dentists.

1851— In a fairly unusual development, a group of Blacks on this day in 1851 rout a group of slave catchers who had come to Christiana, Pa., to re-capture runaway slaves. One White was killed and a second one was seriously wounded.

• SEPTEMBER 12

1913— Track and field athletic legend Jesse Owens is born on this day in Oakville, Ala. Owens would achieve international fame when he won four gold medals at the 1936 summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. His feat helped undermine Adolph Hitler’s myth of Aryan or White superiority.

1977— One of the greatest unsung heroes of the struggle against then White-ruled South Africa’s system of racial suppression known as apartheid is murdered on this day by South African law enforcement officials. Steve Biko was a leader of the country’s Black Consciousness Movement. He believed that one of the most destructive attitudes undermining Black progress throughout the world was that Blacks were not truly proud to be Black.

1992—Dr. Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman in space when she was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on this day as part of a joint U.S.-Japanese mission. Since resigning from NASA, the multi-talented Jemison has started a company which aims to improve health care in Africa. In addition to her native English, Jemison speaks Russian, Japanese and the East African language of Swahili.

Massive overhaul coming to Bedford Dwellings

BEDFORD FROM A1

affordable housing at Bedford Dwellings as well as developing the surrounding area to create a neighborhood that rights the past wrongs of chronic disinvestment in the Hill District, and centers our Black, marginalized, and low income neighbors.”

Plans for Bedford Dwellings include adding more housing in addition to replacing the more than 400 units that currently comprise the complex. The City of Pittsburgh already had plans to rehabilitate some of Bedford Dwellings, but the $50 million grant puts a confirmation stamp on making the city’s dreams for overhauling Bedford Dwellings a reality. Over the next six to eight years, there should be brand new housing for residents, and roughly 400 more housing units, making about 800 units in Bedford when all is

Neighborhood Planning Grant was awarded to map out how to redevelop the Allegheny Dwellings housing complex on the North Side, and the former Hawkins Village complex in Rankin is in the midst of a $35 million transformation. Now it’s Bedford’s turn.

“Housing is more than

start,” Senator Bob Casey said in a statement sent to the Courier. “As the foundation of a neighborhood, housing determines whether businesses can thrive, the potential of future economic development, and the sense of community residents that feel. Community leaders in the Hill District have

said and done. Low-income housing across the county has been getting a makeover. In 2021, a Choice

just a roof over your head; it’s the place where safety, well-being, and community

been working tirelessly for years to reimagine Bedford Dwellings into a neighborhood anchor

where residents can live, work, and play in a vibrant and safe environment and with this funding, they can make that vision a reality.”

“Housing is a human right, and this massive investment will help create more affordable housing in Pittsburgh and improve the conditions of this complex and neighborhood,” added Senator John Fetterman, in a statement sent to the Courier. “As a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, which covers housing issues, I’ll always fight to make sure every Pennsylvanian has access to safe and affordable housing.”

MAYOR ED GAINEY (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)

MICHELLE SANDIDGE, WITH THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH

CASTER BINION, HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

COUNCILMAN R. DANIEL LAVELLE

City calls use of force in Black man's arrest 'justified'—NAACP, others not happy

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

Pittsburgh Police officers using the “closed fist” on a Black male whom they were trying to arrest in Downtown Pittsburgh on Aug. 25 didn’t sit well with many African Americans in the city, who viewed the video on social media tens of thousands of times.

But when Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto announced on Sept. 1 that the use of force the officers used was “justified,” that really didn’t sit well with some African Americans

in the city.

Thirty-two-year-old Jashon Martin, according to police, was observed by officers engaging in drug dealing and other activities in the Downtown area on the evening of Friday, Aug. 25. When they tried to apprehend him, he was taken to the ground and subsequently punched by at least one officer. The officers outnumbered him by at least 4 to 1, with other officers in the vicinity. In their official statements, police said they found a fixed-blade knife near where Martin was arrested. The initial punch from

an officer came from the reasoning that he thought Martin was reaching for a weapon.

Prior to Scirotto’s announcement on Sept. 1, a collective statement was released to the media from Tim Stevens, Black Political Empowerment Project Chairman and CEO; Daylon A. Davis, NAACP Pittsburgh Branch President; and Brandi Fisher, Alliance for Police Accountability President and CEO. It read, in part: “The arrest of Jashon Martin raises concerns regarding the methods and approach deployed by the

Pittsburgh Police Bureau during his detention and apprehension, shedding light on potential broader issues that goes far beyond the specific criminal charges he is facing. This situation also underscores the growing expectations for law enforcement to maintain transparency and accountability as they interact with the public. The community is increasingly vigilant about holding officers and public officials accountable when departmental policies contradict ethical & moral standards. In our shared pursuit of a safer Down-

town, it’s imperative that we address these issues with a profound respect for human lives and consideration for residents and business owners of the City of Pittsburgh.”

Mayor Ed Gainey, standing next to his police chief, said on Sept. 1 that the city had come up with a “Sentinel Review Task Force,” which will investigate all police use of force incidents in the city. But at least for the incident involving Martin, activists like Davis, the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch President, wasn’t impressed by the officers’

use of force being justified by the city.

“We have now elected a Black man to be our mayor...and still we have the same issues,” Davis said at a press conference following the city’s announcement on Sept. 1., reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We will hold this administration accountable as well as our state elected partners and while this may be the current policy, it will not be the policy going forward.”

Dr. Juel Smith named executive director of CCAC’s Homewood-Brushton Center

The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) has appointed Dr. Juel Smith, CCAC’s Associate Dean of Sciences, as the new executive director of the college’s Homewood-Brushton Center, the New Pittsburgh Courier has learned.

In this role, Dr. Smith will collaborate with academic deans and department heads to develop and implement comprehensive credit and noncredit educational plans and manage the center’s schedules to meet the needs of students and the community. As part of her responsibilities as executive director, she will

provide leadership and support in various areas, including trade and business apprenticeship programs, the development of outreach programs and the promotion of community partnerships.

Dr. Smith will continue to serve as Associate Dean of Sciences, a position she has held since 2019. In this capacity, she works in concert with the Associate Vice President & Dean of Nursing, Allied Health & Sciences to develop and implement college policies and advanced strategic initiatives, supervise course scheduling, and maintain high-quality classroom

instruction—overseeing and evaluating more than 100 full- and parttime faculty.

An established leader with more than 10 years of higher education experience, Dr. Smith has demonstrated expertise in curriculum and academic program development. Her many accomplishments can be attributed to her strong commitment to student success and to the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Throughout her career, she has conducted extensive research in the biological sciences and in STEM education with

a proven track record of securing alternative funding, raising nearly $700K in grant money for

BRANDI FISHER, ALLIANCE FOR POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

DAYLON DAVIS, NAACP PITTSBURGH BRANCH PRESIDENT

TIM STEVENS, BPEP (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)

Afro-American Music Institute plans expansion with ‘Ahmad Jamal Performance Hall’

the Afro-American Music Institute, said $500,000 in funding has already been raised, and an aggressive plan is in the works to raise the $2 million more needed to complete the building addition.

Pamela Johnson and Rev. Tynes said the space would be called the “Ahmad Jamal Performance Hall,” or a similar title that, no matter what, would honor Jamal, one of the most accomplished jazz musicians of all-time. Jamal, born in 1930 and who died in April of this year, was a Pittsburgher who graduated from Westinghouse High School in 1948. Among Jamal’s numerous awards was the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2017.

Reverend Tynes said the new space, scheduled to open by the fall of 2026, could be available to the community for outside events.

Dr. Johnson, known as “Dr. J.,” told the Couri -

er the new space should have “some type of quality performance (every quarter) from a musical group from the Diaspora since our mission covers the Diaspora. When people come to know that it’s going to be something there of quality every quarter; ‘we don’t know what it’s going to be but it’s going to be good, so let’s show up,’ that’s what I want to get to.”

Reverend Tynes said AAMI is in talks with the corporate and philanthropy community about their contributions to the new performance space. He also said individuals can contribute to the capital campaign by going to AAMI’s website, afroamericanmusic.org. What can be experienced right now at the AAMI building is a new “Mural Museum,” curated by artist Kyle Holbrook. Holbrook, known for his murals all throughout the Pittsburgh region, the nation and the world, said he’s had a “longtime rela -

tionship with Dr. J and Pam,” and knows how much they mean to the Pittsburgh community, the Homewood community, and the music community internationally. Visit the Afro-American Music Institute, and you’ll see the paintings outside of the music greats—Ahmad Jamal, Mary Cardwell Dawson, Billy Strayhorn, Maxine Sullivan, George Benson, Kenny Clarke, Phyllis Hyman, Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, Dakota Staton and Art Blakey. It took pretty much the entire summer for Holbrook to perfect the murals, but that’s not all. He said each mural will have “QR codes” under them, which allows a person to scan the code with a smartphone. The phone will then show information on that particular musician.

“They (the Johnsons) wanted to do something that was going to be here that would be educational,” Holbrook told the Courier, “so people can know who they are

because these are legends.”

Holbrook painted a mural on an outside wall of the AAMI building back in 2005, but these murals are on the columns on the front and sides of the building. They’re painted in purple, green and gold colors.

Dr. Johnson, who started the Afro-American Music Institute in 1982, told the Courier you can’t say “jazz” without “Pittsburgh.” He said when you combine the talent that came from Pittsburgh with the impact they’ve had on the jazz circuit, it’s unmatched.

“Pittsburgh is a city of innovators,” Dr. Johnson told the Courier. “Everybody else...is a city of imitators.”

MURAL MUSEUM FROM A1

ARTIST KYLE HOLBROOK, FAR RIGHT, WITH LEADERS OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC INSTITUTE IN HOMEWOOD.

A MURAL OF AAMI FOUNDERS THE JOHNSONS. SEE ALL THE FINISHED VERSIONS NOW AT THE AAMI BUILDING.

HARD

HOLBROOK HAS COMPLETED THE MURALS ALONG THE FRONT AND SIDE OF THE AAMI

The 17th Annual East Hills Community Day

It was the “Love & Healing East Hills Community Day” on Friday, Aug. 25. The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and his Executive Advisor of Legal Policy, Zeke Rediker, presented back-to-school bookbags for the students in the community. Dr. Sheila Beasley told the Courier that there was an uplifting positivity parade through the East Hills community, basketball tournament with cash prizes, and

food and fun for the children. The City of Pittsburgh Office of the Mayor, Pittsburgh Police, Cure Woodland Hills Violence, Center for Victims and REACH were the event sponsors along with East Hills community leaders.

“Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase. So shall your barns be filled with PLENTY, and your presses shall BURST out with new wine.”

- Proverbs 3:9-10

REV. WALKER SAYS: The Word of God, Malachi 3:10: Bring ye (you) all the tithes into the store house, that there may be meat in My house, and PROVE ME now herewith, saith the Lord of Host, if I will not open YOU the WINDOWS of Heaven, and POUR YOU out a Blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

CELEBRATING EAST HILLS COMMUNITY DAY...

A CELEBRATION FOR THE KIDS! IN EAST HILLS

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!

:10—Hold up, wait a minute...before we go anywhere, let me get to a matter of extreme importance first. If you want or need to have a complete, thorough and precise understanding of how to kill a man quickly and without a conscience, then you need to run, not walk, but run to your nearest movie theater and see “Equalizer

3” starring Denzel Washington! Look, all I can tell ya is this. When I left the theater, Denzel, aka Robert McCall, was still killing people. As a matter of fact, it’s seven days after the fact and for all I know he’s still corkscrewing the bad guys. (When you see the movie, you’ll understand

the corkscrew reference... (big smile)).

:09—Now on to the other stuff. At long last...ARE YOU READY FOR SOME

FOOTBALL??? Your Pittsburgh Steelers kick off their season (see what I did there?) Sunday, Sept. 10 at home against the past-legendary San Fran 49ers. And this season holds high expectations for them, so the going will be tough.

:08—Of course preseason being what it is, we can’t put too much in the Steelers’ three-game preseason winning streak. That being said, you have to feel good about not only what they did, but how they did it. #1, the of-

fense certainly surprised us all and represented themselves well. #2, the defense lived up to expectation and gave a clear view of what to expect. #3, most impressive of all was the improved “special teams” units. Let’s take a look at them all.

:07—But first let me take away any suspense you

might have and state my season predictions loud and clear. I’ve got the Steelers winning 12 games and I am expecting two playoff wins at the minimum. See me at the bye week for my Super Bowl prediction!

:06—We have to tip the hat to Kenny Pickett. A big transformation added to his quality showing last year. He put on 25 pounds of muscle, knows the game plan from A to Z, should be on a better page with his offensive coordinator, clearly has more weapons, and most importantly, I strongly compare him to Joe Montana... he’s cool under pressure, he’s cool when there’s no pres-

sure, has an above-average arm and has big heart.

:05—Keeping with that thought, if you have George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, Allen Robinson, and Pat Freiermuth to throw to, that’s a good day!

:04—You can put away any thoughts of Jaylen Warren taking away Najee Harris’ starting job at running back. Number one, it’s great to have a one/two punch like that and number two, you don’t sit #1 draft picks, especially if they come from ‘Bama!

:03—The O-line is better and will get even better and with Dan Moore looking over his shoulder as huge

Broderick Jones comes on only makes for great competition and better protection for Pickett.

:02—T. J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Alex Highsmith, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Joey Porter head up what will most likely be the Number 1 or 2 defense in the NFL! (Barring injury of course)

:01—Chris Boswell, kick the ball man, do what you do. And Pressley Harvin, kick the ball man, do what you do better. :00—Coach Mike Tomlin. Voted one of the top five coaches in the NFL. ‘Nuff said!!! GAME OVER.

Tales from the NFL Steelers’ new GM Omar Khan seems to be working wonders heading into season

Aubrey “Nostradamus

Junior” Bruce and his expert team of professional football “archaeologists” recently traveled to a secret “bone orchard” located in “Middle East,” Pennsylvania and exhumed his long-buried and long-lost Ouija board with his historical football GPS now back in hand. Henceforth, this communique will forever be known as “Tales from the NFL,” not “Tales from the Crypt.”

“You can’t win without the horses.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers NFL HOF scout William Nunn Jr., once told me: “You can’t take a mule to the Kentucky Derby.”

During the past few years, the talent evaluation process of the Pittsburgh Steelers has been, shall we say, “a bit under the weather.” There have been instances when the Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have been wrapping duct tape around leaky “personnel information” pipelines rather than replacing those sources of information. Don’t believe me? Ask the Jarvis Jones diehard fans. Oops, sorry, can’t find any. Jones has been exiled to the “valley of dry bones.”

The Steelers thought the

drought had ended when they selected Ryan Shazier as their #1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. However, Ryan Shazier suffered a career-ending spinal injury on Dec. 4, 2017. The Black and Gold chose linebacker Devin Bush as their #1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It has taken the Steelers almost five years for their defense to recover from the Ryan Shazier tragedy and the Devin Bush debacle.

Enter current GM, Omar Khan. Khan does not fit the image of a slick, fly-by-night Vegas gambler. Rather his persona appears to be that of an unassuming soft-spoken type of gentleman with a razor hidden up his left sleeve and a cannon in his right back pocket. Oh, and he also owns the dice and the cards. Many of his adversaries didn’t realize it until it was too late but Omar Khan won the fight before it even began.

From almost every vantage point, it appears that Omar Khan has addressed almost every defensive and offensive discrepancy that the Pittsburgh Steelers had after the conclusion of the 2022 season.

From the quarterback position to the offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends it appears that the Steelers are poised to have a breakout season, at least from the offensive side of the ball. Kahn and Head Coach Mike Tomlin have removed some of the dead weight from the offensive side of the ball and acquired a few more draft picks in the 2024 NFL draft.

In 2022, the Steeler defense was already a bit limited, and it seemed that the defense was almost always just one injury away from being a “onetrick pony.” For example, the Steelers’ all-universe outside linebacker T. J. Watt missed seven games due to injury. During his absence, the Pittsburgh defense all but tanked. After that disappointing turn of events, Omar Khan went out, drafted, traded, and signed available free agents in order to supplement an excel-

lent group of starters that were already in place. However, unlike the Steelers’ offense, which seemed poised to strike, the Steelers’ defense was already striking. They were just waiting for the offense to catch up.

Put me in coach, I’m ready to play! The following are a few excerpts posted regarding the head coaching abilities and ranking of the head coaches in the AFC North by NFL writer Jarrett Bailey. Mr. Bailey recently posted his thoughts on behindthesteelcurtain. com: “There is a vocal part of the Steelers’ fan base that will always refuse to give Tomlin his flowers, but those people are simply wrong. The lack of playoff success over the last half-decade is a very valid criticism of Tomlin, but there is no denying he is one of the three best coaches in the NFL today and the best coach in the AFC North.” There were times that Tomlin didn’t win championships because he didn’t have the horses, not because his coaching was or is lacking. For the last 3-4 years his offense was saddled with the ineffective and subpar per-

formance of his franchise quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, who, for several seasons, was not very “franchise-like.” However, Mr. Bailey dishes out mad props to the Ravens’ Headmaster John Harbaugh (whom he rated the second best head coach in the AFC North), glowing about his coaching ability: “Even when Lamar Jackson has gone down, Baltimore has remained competitive. They were a playoff team in 2022 and were just one game outside of earning a playoff berth in 2021. All of that was made possible by their coach who gets the absolute best out of his roster year in and year out.”

Haven’t Mike Tomlin’s teams been competitive, year in and year out, without a starting QB?

Why won’t they give Tomlin his flowers while he remains alive and in Pittsburgh? It is my theory that many of them will not praise his work or his deeds even after he is long gone. A line from William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Julius Caesar, says it all. “I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The good is oft interred with their bones.”

So let the good that he does, die with Tomlin... oops, I meant Caesar. It seems that day after day, month after month, and year after year, many of the Steelers faithful come to praise everyone but Mike Tomlin. As far as they are concerned, every criticism of Mike Tomlin is valid based on the fact that he should have never become the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first place. Seven Steelers opponents outside of their AFC North Division had losing records in 2022. The Cleveland Browns had a 7-10 record last year. The strength of the Steelers’ 2023 schedule indicates that they should post a 3-3 record within their division, and they will end the 2023 season at 10-7 if they defeat the Patriots or the 49ers. They will finish at 11-6 if they defeat the Patriots and the 49ers. Both games will be played at Acrisure. As the Late Walter Cronkite might say: “Goodbye good luck and good news tomorrow.”

How will the Steelers fare this season?

Labor Day study reveals ongoing economic challenges for Black workers in America

Ebony JJ Curry Michigan Chronicle

In a sobering reminder of the enduring economic disparities faced by Black Americans, a new Labor Day study from the Pew Research Center sheds light on the persistent challenges that have plagued the community for decades. While the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom sought to eliminate employee discrimination in the American economy, the findings of this study underscore that these issues continue to hinder the economic mobility of Black workers today.

Over 260 years after the abolition of slavery, a majority of the 21 million Black American workers still grapple with the legacy of Jim Crow in the economic system. The Pew Research Center poll reveals a stark reality: Black Americans remain disproportionately clustered in lower-paying jobs demanding physical labor, earning less than their White counterparts, experiencing double the national average unemployment rate, and enduring discrimination in hiring, retention, and promotion.

Notably, Black Americans express strong support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the workplace. However, the study highlights a glaring contradiction: 28 percent of Black workers believe their employers pay insufficient attention to DEI, a larger share than any other racial or ethnic group.

While President Biden has celebrated record-low Black unemployment rates as the economy rebounds from inflation, the Pew Research study casts doubt on the notion that economic growth is equitably

benefiting all segments of the population. Black workers continue to be overrepresented in physically demanding or in-person roles, such as postal service clerks, transit drivers, nursing assistants, security guards, and home health aides, while being underrepresented in higher-paying industries like engineering and some science occupations.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s poignant words from the 1963 March on Washington still resonate today: “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” Despite strides toward equality, the Pew Research Center’s Labor Day study serves as a stark reminder that systemic barriers persist in the economy.

A century after the end of slavery, Jim Crow laws and customs relegated Black Americans to second-class status, and

this Labor Day, Pew’s study reminds us of the ongoing challenges. Even as the U.S. Supreme Court began dismantling racist segregation laws, discrimination remained pervasive in both the South and the North. Black migrants seeking better opportunities in the North often encountered hostile conditions and opposition from White communities.

Much like the 1960s, today’s Black workers cite racial discrimination and a lack of access to educational and training resources as primary obstacles to upward mobility. The study reveals that Black workers continue to earn less than their counterparts, with an average income of $878 compared to $1,059 for all U.S. workers in the same age group. Furthermore, the Black unemployment rate, at 5.8 percent in August 2023, nearly doubles the national rate of 3.8 percednt.

These disparities are reminiscent of a re-

cession, as highlighted by the Economic Policy Institute’s research spanning 1963 to 2012. As America observes Labor Day in 2023, the study indicates that racial discrimination remains a formidable barrier for Black workers. A staggering 41 percent of Black employees report experiencing discrimination in hiring, pay, or promotions due to their race or ethnicity, a higher percentage than any other ethnic group. Surprisingly, only 1 percent of Black workers view increasing DEI in the workplace negatively, with nearly 80 percent endorsing it as a positive initiative. However, many express disappointment in their employers’ lack of commitment to these efforts.

In a climate where rightwing figures stoke fear and hatred against racial justice, the nation must consider whether its “bank of justice” remains solvent. In response to racial upheaval in the 1960s, the 1968 Kerner Commission Report proposed systemic solutions, emphasizing large-scale programs, immediate impact initiatives, and experimental changes to address racial disparities. Whether today’s leaders will act on these decades-old recommendations remains uncertain, but hope endures.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., uttered over six decades ago, “We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” As the nation commemorates Labor Day, this powerful message serves as a reminder that the quest for economic justice continues.

Five insights to help you find your dream job

(StatePoint)—With one in four U.S. adults currently job seeking, it’s a competitive market, but experts say that finding your dream job is within reach if you use smart strategies.

“A well-executed job search that combines powerful search tools and the right mindset will connect you with companies that value their employees and set them up to thrive,” says Kristin Kelley, chief marketing officer of CareerBuilder. As you get your job search under way, consider these five tips and insights from CareerBuilder:

1. Define your dream job:  Research shows that the goals and desires of job seekers vary by industry. However, whether you’re an administrative assistant, a retail worker or a software developer, it’s important to define what matters to you

in a job, as doing so will help you narrow your search. This means nailing down details like your salary requirements, while also considering intangible factors, such as whether the work will allow you to make an impact and whether the company’s values and culture align with yours.

2. Build a better resume: A resume is often the first point of connection between you and your next job, yet knowing its importance can make it feel daunting to create. To make a great impression with a minimal amount of effort, check out online tools like CareerBuilder’s “Create Resume” feature. The platform allows you to create multiple variations of your resume that call out specific areas of expertise as they may relate to particular roles. The site has already outlined the most important fields for you to fill in, making it easy

to authentically highlight a mix of hard and soft skills that will get you noticed by top employers.

3. Streamline your search: Work smart, not hard. Rather than apply for jobs individually, turn to a job search platform that will make your profile and resume available to thousands of employers. In the case of CareerBuilder, you don’t actually need to register for an account to search through its millions of job listings. Search for jobs using filters like degree requirement, keywords, industry and mileage radius, then apply for positions directly on the site. A salary search function, along with career advice and tips, make it an invaluable one-stop site for job seekers.

4. Prepare for interviews: Preparing answers to common interview questions and even practicing with a spouse or

friend beforehand can help you feel competent and confident when the real interview rolls around. For behavioral questions, CareerBuilder recommends using the STAR method, in which you describe the Situation, Task, Action and Result to explain how you would act in specific work situations.

5. Check the terms: A dream job is only a dream job if the terms of employment suit you. Before signing a contract, check such details as compensation, start date, the company’s leave policy, professional development opportunities, perks and benefits, as well as items that could impact you in the future, like non-disclosure agreements. If you plan to negotiate, decide whether you’ll take the job if the employer doesn’t

SEE DREAM JOB B2

Student loan forbearance ENDS!

‘On Ramp’ payments period EXPLAINED!

‘SAVE’ student loan repayment plan BEGINS!

Trying to stay up to date on what’s going on with student loans has been a juggling act. One week they’re discussing “payment pause.” Another week they’re discussing “student loan forgiveness.” More recently they’re discussing a new student loan repayment plan being billed as SAVE—Saving on A Valuable Education.

If you’re confused about what’s going on with student loans, you’re not alone. Understanding what’s going on with student loans has been a juggling act because the politics revolving around student loans has been a whirlwind circus. In this article, I’m going to attempt to do what the ringmasters have failed to do. I’m going to stop monkeying around and attempt to provide the information and insight you need to know relating to your student loan.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March 2020, student loan borrowers in the United States have been granted a much-needed reprieve through various relief measures, including forbearance. In response to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic, the U.S. government implemented a series of relief measures to provide financial support to individuals

and families. Among these measures was the suspension of federal student loan payments and the accrual of interest, known as student loan forbearance. This move aimed to ease the financial burden on borrowers grappling with sudden job losses, reduced incomes, and economic uncertainty.

As the country continues on its path to recovery, the student loan forbearance period which started in March 2020 was set to end on Sept. 1, 2023. That’s 40 consecutive months of no student loan payments for the vast majority of people who held federal student loans. During this 3.5-year forbearance period, there was no interest accrual on the outstanding loan balances.

While loans were in forbearance, President Joe Biden initiated a bill that was to forgive up to $10,000 of student loan debt for millions of borrowers. For those individuals who received a Pell Grant, their student loan forgiveness amount was to

be up to $20,000. Millions of people were banking on their student loan debt being forgiven. The idea of no payments for 3.5 years followed by student loan debt being forgiven seemed promising. That was until the Supreme Court ruled against Biden’s Debt Relief program on June 30, 2023. As it stands today, interest on outstanding student loans began to accrue on Sept 1, 2023. Payments on those loans will start October 1, 2023. Services are required to inform borrowers of their respective due date at least 21days before its due.

This transition marks a significant milestone, with borrowers now needing to prepare for the resumption of loan payments and adjust to the new financial landscape. Student loan payment resuming is sure to create payment shock to the budget for millions of people forcing them to make hard decisions and sacrifices in other areas of their budget to make ends meet.

In an effort to ease people into resuming

student loan payments, President Biden announced that federal student loan borrowers will have a 12-month “on ramp” period that will start September 2023 through September 2024. During this period missed payments will not be reported to any of the major credit bureaus. Also during this period, no loans will be placed in delinquency or default status.

During this period, interest will continue to accrue on these loans. As a result, if you opt to make a partial payment or no payment during the on ramp period, unpaid interest will be added to your loan balance creating a larger principal balance and more interest accruing. Those of us in the industry refer to this as “The Debt Trap.” As a result, if you have the financial wherewithal to make full monthly payments, I strongly encourage you to do so. The issue of student loan debt has been a pressing concern for millions of Americans, hindering their financial stability and impeding economic growth. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, President Joe Biden has proposed a comprehensive plan

(GETTY IMAGES STOCK PHOTO)

Six decades after King’s historic speech, report shows Black economic equality is ‘Still a Dream’

by Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Sixty years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a groundbreaking new report has laid bare the stark truth of ongoing black economic inequality in the United States.

Titled “STILL A DREAM: Over 500 Years to Black Economic Equality,” the report, co-authored by prominent experts Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo, and Sally Sim, and published by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), underscores the enduring disparities faced by Black Americans and highlights the pressing need for concerted action to address these disparities.

“Sixty years ago, Dr. King observed that America has defaulted on this promissory note to Black citizens,” stated Chuck Collins, an IPS senior scholar who directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good in Washington, DC.

“Six decades later, despite incremental progress on some fronts, the check of opportunity has still come back with insufficient funds.”

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Race, Wealth, and Community for NCRC, lamented, “It is deeply troubling that, sixty years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Black economic equality remains nothing more than a dream for most Black Americans.”

“The revelation that it would take more than 500 additional years to close the economic gap for Black Americans is a stark reminder of the systemic inequities that persist,” Asante-Muhammad asserted.

Sally Sim, a senior organizer, and project spe -

cialist at NCRC, emphasized the urgency of the situation.

“The sobering projection and findings of our report sixty years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom reinforce that the dream for economic equality for Black Americans remains unfulfilled,” Sim stated.

“On this historic anniversary, let us turn this report into a catalyst for meaningful action towards comprehensive solutions and public support for policies and initiatives that promote Black economic equality.”

Some key findings from the comprehensive report were that, despite modest advancements made by African Americans since the 1960s, including reduced poverty rates, increased high school attainment, and lower unemployment

rates, income disparities between Black and White Americans have only slightly improved.

The report exposes that in 2021, African Americans earn 62 cents to every dollar earned by White families.

The report’s authors said, at this rate, achieving income parity would take an astonishing 513 years.

Further, the wealth gap between Black and non-Black Americans has experienced only marginal growth, with African Americans possessing 18 cents for every dollar of non-Black wealth in 2019. If this pace continues, it will take approximately 780 years for Black wealth to match non-Black wealth.

Median household income for African Americans has shown minimal growth, growing just 0.36 percent since the turn of the century.

Strikingly, it remained lower than White median family income in 1963.

Even after over six decades, the Black-White homeownership divide persists.

Black homeownership has grown from 38 percent in 1960 to 44 percent in 2021, while White homeownership surged from 64 percent in 1960 to 74 percent in 2021.

The report outlined a series of recommendations to combat Black economic inequality:

1. Advocate for full employment and guar-

anteed jobs to ensure equal economic opportunities for all.

2. Enact a substantial land and homeownership program to address the enduring homeownership gap between Black and White Amer-

icans.

3. Commit to individual asset building, including financial education, asset matching programs, and supportive policies, to facilitate access to wealth-building opportunities for Black Americans.

4. Implement policies to reduce dynastic concentrations of wealth and power, tackling the structural barriers that impede economic progress for Black Americans.

5. Explore targeted reparations to address historical injustices and provide meaningful redress for the economic disparities Black Americans face.

The authors noted that, as the nation reflects on King’s enduring vision for equality and justice, the report serves as a sobering reminder that pursuing Black economic equality remains an unmet challenge in America.

“The findings of this report are sobering and demand immediate and comprehensive action to address the economic disparities faced by African Americans,” remarked Omar Ocampo, a researcher for the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at IPS.

“We must invest in transformative policies that address systemic racism and create an equitable society.”

Find your dream job

modify the contract. Stay courteous and professional throughout the process.

For more career advice, or to register and search for jobs, visit careerbuilder.com/jobs.

Landing a dream job can be a labor intensive process. However, leaning on new tools and tech to do some of the ground-

work for you can help ensure you start your new position with purpose and energy.

Student loan forbearance ENDS!

aimed at alleviating the burden of student loans. The “SAVE plan” offers a range of initiatives and reforms intended to streamline repayment processes, reduce interest rates, and provide greater relief for borrowers.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the official launch of—the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan and kicked off an outreach campaign to encourage eligible borrowers to sign up for the plan.

The SAVE plan is an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size—not their loan balance —and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years. The SAVE plan will cut many borrowers’ monthly payments to zero, will save other borrowers around $1,000 per year,

will prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest, and will get more borrowers closer to forgiveness faster. To sign up for The SAVE Plan, go to www. studentaid.gov/SAVE.

Below are some key tenets of the SAVE plan: Income-Driven Repayment Overhaul: At the heart of the SAVE plan lies a major overhaul of the income-driven repayment (IDR) options. Under these reforms, monthly payments would be capped at 10 percent of discretionary income, easing the financial strain on borrowers. Additionally, individuals earning less than $25,000 annually would be exempt from making any payments, allowing them to focus on building their financial stability.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Enhancement: The SAVE plan seeks to enhance the Public Service Loan Forgiveness

(PSLF) program. Borrowers who work in critical public service roles, such as teachers, nurses, and other essential positions, could be eligible for up to $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student debt relief for each year of eligible service, for a maximum of five years.

Debt Cancellation for

Low-Income Earners:

The SAVE plan also includes provisions for immediate relief by canceling up to $10,000 of student loan debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year. This measure aims to directly assist those facing financial challenges due to their student debt.

Addressing Predatory

Lending Practices: The plan takes aim at institutions with poor student loan repayment rates, urging accountability. Schools failing to meet certain repayment standards might face potential loss of federal funding.

This approach emphasizes institutions’ responsibility in equipping their students for successful loan repayment.

Streamlined Repayment Plans: Acknowledging the complexity of existing repayment options, the SAVE plan seeks to streamline these choices. By simplifying the selection process, borrowers can more easily identify the repayment plan that aligns with their financial circumstances.

Tax Relief for Loan Forgiveness: The plan addresses the concern of taxable income on forgiven student loans. The SAVE plan proposes that borrowers who receive loan forgiveness will not be subjected to tax liability, providing further financial reprieve.

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

DAMON CARR FROM B1

‘Chair’-ity begins at home

The Black community in America recently experienced somewhat of a catharsis…an event took place in Alabama that pumped a certain kind of adrenalin into the collective Black mind. After years of maltreatment from a certain kind of White person, several Blacks got an opportunity to fight back. They did not lose the fight!

The fiasco started in Montgomery, Alabama. Several White men refused to move their boat so that an incoming vessel could dock at Montgomery Riverfront Park.

During the confrontation several White men jumped a Black employee and a melee ensued. More Whites joined the fray, and a Black teenager actually swam from the incoming vessel to the dock, to join in the fight to help his co-workers. Other Blacks joined in and the brawl was on!

For once, the Blacks were on the winning end of the fight. At one point, someone picked up a folding chair and used it as a weapon. Interestingly, that chair used as a weapon has become a widespread meme related to Black unity! This gives new meaning to the saying that “Chairity” (‘Chair’ity) begins at home!

Several people have been taken into custody or questioned and an investigation is ongoing. But there is no mistaking the glee Black people all over America experienced to see Blacks come to the rescue of other Blacks to combat aggressive White men.

Black people have been lamenting the problem of a lack of Black unity for quite a while, and to see those dreams come together in a brawl was unexpected, but you could feel the elation that many Black folks felt that unity had finally happened.

It’s unfortunate that people have become so out of touch that animosity is one of the first responses from some people when approached with a reasonable request. It is as though people do not believe in cause and effect; it doesn’t take too much common sense to understand that violence begets violence. Warfare and evil actions have not solved the world’s problems. As we look around, violence is everywhere, yet problems prevail.

Regarding the brawl and its fallout, let’s hope it’s not a Pyrrhic victory where the repercussions of the brawl turn into something bigger and more menacing. (A Pyrrhic victory is one that inflicts such a devasting toll on the victor that it is tantamount to a defeat).

As mentioned earlier, a lot of people are already coming from a violent mindset and instead of people coming together, many are becoming more uncivil. It’s no secret there is a cadre of White supremacists waiting for the war between the races to happen.

Regarding the boat brawl incident…there is no question in the minds of many that the White guys who refused to move so the boat could dock were in the wrong. They are, therefore, seen as the villains in this scenario, and it will be interesting to see if a rational motive regarding their behavior surfaces.

In the meantime, the Black community should seize upon the opportunity of this unexpected “moment of unity” to change collective behavior. In other words, now that people have seen that unity is possible, let’s expand the idea of what that means, to begin or continue, the process of a genuine unity.

Turn that momentum into peace in Black communities; into economic development; into education that teaches real history; into making it safe for people to navigate city streets without being carjacked or mugged; into shopping at Black-owned businesses.

In a nutshell, this is a time of opportunity; a time to change the way the Black community relates to each other. Seeing that unity during the brawl can spark the imagination to see the possibilities of widening that vision to include the beginnings of a whole new Black ethos, one that is based in love and cooperation. The possibilities are there, waiting to manifest.

There is also another type of hope generated from the brawl fiasco. There were a lot of White people who saw the folly of the behavior of the White perpetrators, and have not responded with anger toward the Black men who jumped into the fray to defend and assist their brethren.

Let’s hope there are enough reasonable people like this who can serve as allies to help change American culture to something more humane. We must reach an understanding that a scorched earth policy, one based on separation and violence, can result in a situation that will be catastrophic for all of us, regardless of race, color or creed.

Yes, some good could possibly come from the “brawl.” Let’s hope it outweighs the bad. A Luta Continua.

(Reprinted from the Chicago Crusader)

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Before

Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp became Georgia’s governor, he served as Secretary of State. At that time, Greg Palast told us the story of who Brian Kemp was at that time. The article Palast wrote was Voting Gangnam Style: The New Kim Crow in Georgia. We already knew about Jim Crow. The article did not show Mr. Kemp in a positive light.  At that time, he noticed that Asian Americans had begun to register in big numbers and apparently, they were not expected to vote for Kemp’s Republicans. Palast’s investigation was on how Georgia’s Secretaries of State had increased the old Jim Crow tactics against Asian Americans. He called it the New Kim Crow.  At the time, Asians were the fastest-growing population in Georgia and had been voting for Republicans, but something caused them to change their minds.

Just a note of intrigue! Asians began doing a new thing. They were registering Asian voters big time. They turned in the registrations and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation raided their office. Their registrations were questioned. Leaders of the voters registered was a woman who made copies of the registrations as a backup to know who had registered.  When she checked with the Office of the Secretary of State, the leaders were told there was no record of those registrations!  When they were told they had

copies of the registrations, they were told that making such a copy was illegal! What could be wrong? Well, along the way, Asians had fallen in love with a Democrat and they voted 73 percent for Barack Obama!  The influx of Asians suddenly voting for Democrats became a problem for Republicans. Stacey Abrams was running a great race, and she appeared to be well on her way to possibly becoming Governor. Now, guess who Secretary of State was and also hoping to become Governor—so Stacey’s candidacy would have been a problem. Yes, the Secretary of State at the time was Brian Kemp!

Let’s move all the way up to August 31, 2023.  Governor Brian Kemp suddenly became the sensible, logical politician (and we are glad he did), but his new position gave us pause when he sat at his desk, seemingly looking over a proposed bill from his legislature that would’ve attempted to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the prosecution of Donald Trump! Shocking to many of us, it didn’t work.

The same Brian Kemp who is now Governor of Georgia went on television and called the attempt to silence District Attorney Fani Willis POLITICAL THEATER! He is correct, but the question is why? He was certainly firm in his statement and appeared to be sincere. Just maybe, Governor Kemp has other ambitions, and he will need not only the Black vote but also the Asian American vote. After all, they are the fastest-growing number of voters in Georgia. It’s quite possible he will need all their votes for his next move whether it’s for the United States Senate or even President of the United States.  We don’t know what the Governor’s next move is, but we need to keep our eye on whatever it is.  Meanwhile, let’s thank him for doing the right thing this time to allow District Attorney Fani Willis to continue the people’s case against Donald Trump and his unfortunate friends who followed him to break the law so many times to help Trump. Governor Kemp has done his part by refusing to cooperate in allowing the Georgia legislature to unfairly and without cause to relieve Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of heading up the work that would send what should soon be a convicted criminal back to the White House.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams, President of The Dick Gregory Society. and United Nations Peace Ambassador.)

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—On Saturday, August 26, three African Americans were murdered by a 21-year-old White gunman at the Dollar General Store in Jacksonville, Florida, who then shot himself. The murderer was motivated, Jacksonville Sheriff T K Waters reported, by an “ideology of hate.” The shooting took place 15 months after 10 African Americans were murdered in another racially motivated shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo.

Racial violence against Blacks has scarred America since the first slaves were forcibly shipped to America. The Jacksonville murders, for example, took place one day after the 63d anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday, where 200 Ku Klux Klan members armed with ax handles attacked Blacks holding a peaceful sit-in to protest segregation in Jacksonville.

Sadly, the Jacksonville shooting occurred on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, when Martin Luther King summoned Americans to his “dream” of a society of equal justice under the law, in which children would be judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

This history—of hate and hope—continues to this day. Each movement toward racial equality in this country has been met with a fierce and violent reaction. After the bloody Civil War, the 13th Amendment was passed abolishing slavery, and America began a brief period of reconstruction for the defeated Confederate states. Against great resistance, African Americans gained not only their freedom, but the right to vote, to serve on juries, to own property and to retain their families. In some Southern states, multi-racial reform coalitions took power, redrafting state constitutions, providing for public education, and launching

Jesse Jackson Sr.

efforts to rebuild the economy.

That progress was met with a reign of racial terror, including literally thousands of lynchings. The Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups, often led by the plantation elite, murdered with impunity. White sheriffs helped cover up the crimes; White juries and judges ensured that any accused would go free.

When the federal government withdrew even the limited protection that had been offered the freed slaves, the holocaust spread. The Black vote was suppressed by violence, destroying the reform coalitions. Millions of Blacks fled north in a mass migration. The terror lynchings and violence enforced the imposition of segregation across the South. The reaction culminated in a reactionary Supreme Court ruling that segregation was constitutional, inventing the doctrine of “separate but equal.”

It took almost a century before the nonviolent civil rights movement roused the conscience of the country. Nonviolent demonstrators kept going, even in the face of beatings, murders, and police riots. Under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s, the federal government stepped in, passing the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, providing federal guarantees of equal rights. The Supreme Court ruled that American apartheid—segregation— was unconstitutional.

Once more progress was met by a fierce reaction. Republicans revived their party by appealing to the racial back-

lash and grounding their party in the White South. Ronald Reagan opened his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the infamous site of the 1964 murders of three civil rights organizers —Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney. Race-bait politics have been combined with systematic efforts to limit the right to vote, making voting harder in urban areas, purging voter lists, limiting early voting and banning same-day registration and more. A reactionary majority on the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, opened the floodgates to secret corporate money in politics, and gave political gerrymandering a green light.

Once more, the reaction has been accompanied by violence—racially motivated killings, often reinforced by racially biased policing. In Ron DeSantis’ Florida among others, politicians feed the hatred, fanning fears of “critical race theory,” censoring history courses, banning books, loosening gun control laws even as mass murders spread.

Yet when reaction seems on the march, remember that it is always darkest before the dawn. In 1955, 68 years before the Jacksonville shootings, a 14-yearold boy—Emmett Till—was abducted, tortured and lynched in Mississippi. Despite a national outcry, his murderers went free. Yet in December of that same year, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the civil rights movement that transformed America. Today’s reaction is brutal and ugly, but a new, more diverse generation promises a new time of organizing, movement and progress. History,” Maya Angelou wrote, “with its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—As we celebrated Labor Day, it was an exciting a time as any in recent memory to be a part of a union. Working people are seeing what the union difference is all about, and they want to be a part of it.

Unions are overwhelmingly popular as the newest Gallup poll on attitudes toward labor unions shows. Across the country, there is a bold surge of worker activism, as more people raise their voice on the job and claim their seat at the table.

Workers are organizing with renewed vigor and winning some of our best contracts in decades. In the cultural sector, for example, 6,000 workers at museums, libraries, zoos and other cultural institutions have joined AFSCME since 2019. Municipal workers in New Orleans – a part of the country that hasn’t historically been labor-friendly—won collective bargaining rights this summer.

In city after city, we are seeing that same energy and enthusiasm during local job fairs that AFSCME is sponsoring as part of “Staff the Front Lines”—our new initiative to recruit qualified people for vacancies in public service. Job seekers are flocking to these hiring events in droves—nearly 200 people showed up in Philadelphia on a recent Monday afternoon.

They have heard our message that public service jobs are good jobs that can support a family and provide a career path. These are very often union jobs that come with strong protections, plus a unique sense of solidarity and fellowship with your

co-workers. You get excellent benefits, including a pension so you can one day retire with dignity. These are also jobs with a purpose that allow you to make a difference in the lives of your neighbors.

Our strategy is working. After a huge drop in public sector employment during the pandemic, we are seeing a bounce back, especially in places where we enjoy strong partnerships with employers. Those best-indecades contracts we’re negotiating are helping retain valued public service workers. And many employers are making steady progress bringing in new people who want to do work that strengthens their communities, while enjoying the rights and freedoms of union membership. Nationwide, July was the 16th consecutive month of growth in state and local government jobs, with a total of 315,000 added since the beginning of this year. But there are still many positions to fill, and so we are casting a wide net.

In many places, we are doing grassroots outreach to young people, to communities of color and to populations that are underrepresented in these jobs. That means, for example, working with faith leaders, asking

them to spread the word in their churches and mosques that public service employers are looking for new talent—for nurses, corrections officers, sanitation workers, school bus drivers and more. We will do what it takes, because it’s critical that the public service workforce look like our communities.

Diversity in the public service has a rich history. Jobs in state and local government have been an economic lifeline for generations of Black people, especially when other doors of opportunity were slammed shut. This is my family’s story, so this is personal for me. My father drove a city bus in Cleveland, Ohio—a good union job that gave us some modest security and stability. We weren’t living on Easy Street for sure, but there was food on the table for dinner and a roof over my head at night.

We want to give more people of all races that chance—the chance to be one of the everyday heroes of public service, the chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself by joining a union.

This Labor Day, we honored the sacrifice of all working people. And we affirmed that life is better in a union. In the months and years to come, through “Staff the Front Lines” and other campaigns, we will keep fighting to help more people discover the union difference.

(Lee Saunders is president, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).)

The new color of hate speech

The Congressional Black Caucus has denounced Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for his repeated racist remarks that have furthered the racial divide and exposed even more hate in America’s political landscape. Though born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramaswamy is the child of Indian Hindu immigrant parents, which has left many questioning his controversial statements’ true intentions and motives as he seeks an unlikely bid for the GOP nomination.

Ramaswamy’s non-European American heritage and immigrant background certainly add a layer of perplexity to his alignment with certain extremist elements within the Republican base, reminding African Americans that true allies remain hard to come by. The candidate’s recent town hall event in Pella, Iowa, garnered significant attention for his declaration that “our diversity is not our strength.” Such a statement flies in the face of how Ramaswamy and the extreme right in his party have worked against calls for unity and inclusivity nationwide. During the town hall, Ramaswamy made another alarming comparison, likening a Black congresswoman to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Ramaswamy, who has derided former Vice President Mike Pence for not helping Donald Trump illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, compared Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He also compared the existence of White supremacy in the United States to that of unicorns.

“I’m sure the boogeyman White supremacist exists somewhere in America. I’ve just never met him,” Ramaswamy stated. “Never seen one, never met one in my life, right? Maybe I’ll meet a unicorn sooner. And maybe those exist, too.” Within 24 hours, a racist White gunman shot and killed three African Americans at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida. Indeed, Ramaswamy’s provocative analogy, which is deeply offensive and historically charged, raised questions about his understanding of racial dynamics and his willingness to engage in divisive rhetoric.

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Assistant Secretary of Labor under President Lyndon Johnson, published The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, which became one of the most controversial documents of the 20th century.

The Moynihan Report claimed that the welfare state’s gradual expansion harmed Black family structures and that the high proportion of families headed by single mothers made it difficult for them to achieve economic parity with the White majority. According to Moynihan, the rise of Black single-mother families is the result of a damaging “ghetto culture” rooted in slavery rather than structural poverty. The civil rights community condemned The Moynihan Report for paternalism, racism, and blaming the victims rather than the system. After reading the report, conservatives believed that reversing cultural pathologies was more important than resolving systemic issues. Libertarians, on the other hand, have used The Moynihan Report as evidence to eliminate the welfare state. According to libertarians, the welfare state fosters a culture of dependency rather than a community of self-reliance.

For the next four decades, Black libertarian and economist Walter E. Williams argued that the welfare state had caused an epidemic of fatherlessness in Black neighborhoods. Williams stated, “The undeniable truth is that neither slavery, Jim Crow, nor the harshest racism have decimated the Black family the way the welfare state has.”

evidence shows that Black fathers are the most involved with their children when compared to other ethnic groups.

For decades, popular Black talk radio host Larry Elder, a self-described small-l libertarian, has echoed Williams’ points about the welfare state and fatherless households on the air.

Elder is currently running for the Republican presidential nomination. On the campaign trail, Elder explained his position on welfare and poverty. He said, “We have to return to the bedrock constitutional principles of limited government and maximum personal responsibility. The Constitution is a contract that restrains the federal government, leaving everything else to the states and to the people. As for those who need help, it’s the moral responsibility of the people, not the federal government, to assist.”

programs) in the mid-1960s and that ever since, women have been incentivized to marry the government and men have been incentivized to abandon their moral and financial responsibility. Elder then presented statistics demonstrating that Black men commit crimes at a disproportionately high rate. He claimed that fatherlessness, not poverty or systemic racism, was the primary source of this depravity.

The Breakfast Club hosts agreed with Elder on fatherlessness, but for the rest of the episode, they tried to persuade Elder that systemic racism in America was a bigger problem than fatherlessness. Unfortunately, The Breakfast Club hosts squandered a chance to seriously challenge Elder.

Following Elder’s description of fatherlessness as America’s number one social problem, the hosts should have asked Elder if he entered the presidential campaign solely to be a single-issue candidate. In other words, he’s just trying to get the frontrunners to talk about the fatherlessness crisis.

Of course, Elder would say no; he’s running to win the presidency.

“We know you’re a Republican,” the hosts should have stated at this point, “but you lean more libertarian than conservative, right?”

Elder would have agreed with that assessment.

Brown

“[The shooter] targeted a certain group of people, and that’s Black people,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters stated in a news conference. “That’s what he said he wanted to kill. And that’s very clear. And I don’t know that the targets were specific, but I know that any member of that race at that time was in danger. Of the Black race.”

Ramaswamy also defended comparing Pressley, who is Black, and author, Ibram Kendi to the leaders of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 2019, Pressley remarked, “We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice” and “we don’t need any more Black faces that don’t want to be a Black voice.” She explained that she attempted to express a desire for leaders to use their lived experiences to inform their decisions and policies and not ignore the realities of race. However, Ramaswamy argued that Pressley was the modern version of the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, an organization that terrorized, lynched, and killed Black Americans for decades.

“I stand by what I said to provoke an open and honest discussion in this country,” Ramaswamy said, doubling down. “Many Americans today are deeply frustrated by the new culture of anti-racism that’s really racism in new clothing, and we need to have that debate in the open.”

Commentators like Washington Post columnist Philip Bump have noted that Ramaswamy’s discourse encapsulates a distilled form of Republican race rhetoric. For example, Bump noted that when Ramaswamy announced his candidacy earlier this year, he invoked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech during the March on Washington in 1963.

“That was the speech where he said, ‘I hope my four children grow up in a country where they are judged not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character,’” Ramaswamy declared his candidacy in a video. “That dream stuck with me. It meant something to me.”

In that video, and since then, Bump noted how Ramaswamy explained what that quote meant to him. “In keeping with an inordinate amount of Republican rhetoric in recent years, the candidate sees King’s words not in the broader context of his full speech or the historic moment in which it was given but as a sort of Uno-reverse for the race card: that any recognition of racial disparities is at odds with King’s vision,” Bump wrote. Ramaswamy seems to selectively interpret King’s words, using them as a shield against acknowledging the persistent racial disparities in the nation despite evoking his legacy and his vision of a world where character rather than skin color is the determining factor. His assertion that “reverse racism is racism” echoes sentiments that have resonated within segments of the Republican Party in recent years. The notion, a cornerstone of Trump’s appeal, positions White individuals as victims of discrimination, often sidelining the historical context of systemic racism faced by Black and Hispanic Americans. Such statements continue to raise alarm bells about the candidate’s commitment to addressing issues of racial injustice. “Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments against Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley do not provoke ‘open and honest discussion’ on race in America. Rather they reveal the depths of his own dishonesty,” members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) wrote in a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 29.

CBC Chair Steven Horsford of Nevada said Ramaswamy’s words are not merely the ramblings of a deeply unserious person but count as “part of a dark and calculated attempt to obfuscate the truth about racism in America.” He asserted that most reasonable-minded Americans understand that the Ku Klux Klan was, and is today, a group that wishes to reestablish White supremacy through intimidation and violence.

“We tragically saw the consequence of that ideology a few days ago in Jacksonville, Florida,” Horsford noted. “This sort of bad faith comparison about a member of the House who frequently uses their platform to stand against hate and violence is not only an insult to the plight of Black Americans, but to all Americans of moral integrity. Vivek Ramaswamy understands that there is an appetite for racism and bigotry within the base of the extreme MAGA Republican party and he is opting to shamelessly carry the water of White supremacy for his own political gain.

“The Republican Party cannot be silent. If this does not speak to their values, leaders within the Party have an obligation to say so. This rhetoric is beyond dangerous and deserves nothing short of full condemnation.”

Over the last decade, liberals have argued that the fatherlessness crisis is a myth.

Statistics on fatherlessness use marital and housing status as main indicators, resulting in exaggerated figures. Marriage and living arrangements should not be used to determine fatherhood.

According to these liberals, whether Black fathers live in the same household or not,

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009.  Several states have a higher minimum, but a predictable few, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama, are stuck at that low minimum.  If the minimum wage kept up with inflation, it would be at least ten dollars an hour today.  However, twenty-two states are stuck on exploitation and refuse to raise their minimum wage.

Restaurant workers get even shorter shrift.  The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, which means they are expected to earn up to the minimum wage or more with their tips.  But tips are discretionary and arbitrary; sometimes people tip the expected 15 to 20 percent, and sometimes they don’t.  How can they eke out a living wage on other people’s arbitrary judgment?  Were they likable?  Friendly?  Kind?  It doesn’t matter.  Did you get your food?  Was it hot and delivered in a timely way?  If I had my way, I’d charge enough for food to pay workers properly.  Tipping is a practice that harkens back to enslavement.  People should be paid for their work and not have to skin and grin to make a living wage.

In the wake of Labor Day, though, it makes sense to consider how workers experience exploitation and what we must do about it.  Workers around the country are resisting exploitation, whether it is Hollywood writers or on university campuses.  As of this writing, the United Auto Workers is on the cusp of a strike, which will have significant repercussions for our economy.  A United Parcel Service Strike was narrowly averted, and it, too, would have weakened the economy.  With labor productivity up,

To appreciate how far we have come since the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one should not look at any photos or news coverage showing the number of people participating in last week’s remembrance of the 1963 march and some of the actual film footage of the 250,000 plus people who came out for the 1963 march. Yes, today we have C-SPAN television, live coverage and social media streaming the event, but none of that should be a substitute for real live feet on the ground for what we shall call the Continuation March of 2023.

These comments are directed toward the masses of African Americans, particularly those who were absent from the struggle in terms of their physical presence. At the same time, there should be nothing but praise for the very organizations who joined Rev. Al Sharpton in the observance of this event and the elements of the dream, yet to be fulfilled. It was good to see some there who were with Dr. King 60 years ago on this very spot and it was even more rewarding to see two generations who were yet to be born stepping up and taking their place

Elder was recently a guest on The Breakfast Club when he was asked why he was running for president. Elder stated that he is running to address America’s number one social issue, the epidemic of fatherlessness. (Elder stressed that the issue is not isolated to Black America.) According to Elder, even former President Barack Obama referenced research indicating that children from fatherless homes are more likely to drop out of high school, commit suicide, have behavioral issues, join gangs, commit crimes, and end up in prison.

Elder went on to say that, with the best of intentions, President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty (social

Then the hosts should have followed up by asking Elder to elaborate on libertarianism. Following Elder’s discussion of constraining the federal government, the hosts could have questioned Elder, as a libertarian, what specifically would you do in the oval office to remedy the fatherlessness crisis other than eliminate welfare?

Nobody knows how Elder would have responded, but after answering questions about welfare, libertarians usually lose what little support they had.

eral contractor, is among the most exploitative.  But they aren’t alone.  Too many companies rip their workers off and also enjoy federal largesse.

Given these massive paychecks and massive profits, why can’t we raise the federal minimum wage, and why can’t we pay workers more?  Predatory capitalism suggests that employers must extract surplus value from workers.

workers are unwilling to settle for paltry 2 and 3 percent annual increases when food and gas prices are rising by 5 and 6 percent.  There seems to be no willingness to increase wages to keep workers “even”, and President Biden, with his “Bidenomics” seems to see the big picture, but not the small one.  People are hurting, and employers are pocketing profits and exploiting workers.

The Institute for Policy Studies released a report, Executive Excess 2023, in which they highlight the 100 companies that have the lowest pay and the greater ratio of CEO pay to median worker pay.  Some of these companies have federal contracts, which means when they offer low pay to workers, they also get subsidies from the rest of us, the taxpayers who support food stamps, medical care, and other amenities that workers who earn little qualify for.

The report shows that the ratio between CEO and median worker pay is 603-1.  The average CEO in the Low Wage 100 earned $15.3 million a year, while the average worker earned a scant $31,672 a year.  The most significant offender was Live Nation Entertainment.  CEO Michael Rufino earned $139 million, 5414 times more than the average worker who earned $25,673 a year.  Amazon, a large fed-

That means that, despite rising worker productivity, employers should attempt to pay as little as they can.

The outrageous CEO to worker pay ratios suggest that companies benefit from paying so little.  Will workers revolt?  Can they?

Too many workers are frightened to strike.  They need their jobs and their unions may not have sufficient strike funds to allow them to be out for a long period of time.  Do they need their jobs with exploitative terms and conditions of work?  Must they work with unfair pay?  Is it time for workers to unite?

What would happen if you went to your morning coffee shop to find no one there?  Waited for a bus to find no dirver, no bus?  Managed to get to work to find no coworkers?  Wandered to lunch to find no one serving?  Tried to stop at a supermarket heading home to find no one working and no food available?  Managed home to sort out a mess?  We depend on workers but we don’t want to pay them.  We agree with their labor actions but don’t want to manage inconvenience.  We thought about Labor Day, but we don’t think about workers.  When will we raise the federal minimum wage.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and educator.

in the struggle. People like Dr. King’s granddaughter standing with her mother and father speaking both of the yet-to-be-fulfilled elements of the dream while remembering the Dreamer.

Two days later, we had a visible and visual reminder of the hate still based on the color of our skin as three Black people were murdered in a Dollar General just because of the color of their skin, in Jacksonville, Florida.

It was good to see that, just as in the murder of George Floyd, Blacks and Whites responded in protest by showing up and being visible against the violence out of a sense of humanity. These are positive signs toward the America that Dr. King saw, but these participants are not the ones that are a part of the ongoing problem. All over America, we see racists and bigots quoting Dr.

King, out of context, as they seek to make deceptive associations with his remarks which were more about a check that America had given to Black people promising equality and fairness; a check that Dr. King said had been returned marked “insufficient funds”. Yes, there were some great remarks made on the Mall, some of which spoke to our need for economic gains to close the gap between us and other Americans. But, let us not forget that we hold the keys to our economic and social liberation. The keys rest with the decisions we make over what we will accept collectively and how we choose to respond to the obstacles placed before us. We can focus on how we use our collective dollar power, or we can continue to squander what we have on our desires rather than our needs and expect something different from the same old actions. August 28th has come and gone, we are still here with many of the same problems. The question is what will we do today that will change our tomorrows?

(Dr. John E. Warren is Publisher, San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper)

ENTRY LEVEL POLICE OFFICER

The City of Altoona is now accepting applications for Entry Level Police Officers. Information and applications are available online at www.altoonapa.gov and in the Human Resources Department of City Hall. Applications and applicable supporting documentation must be submitted to the Human Resources Department by Noon on Friday, September 22, 2023.

Human Resources Department 1301 12th Street, Suite 400 Altoona, PA 16601

The City of Altoona is an Equal Opportunity Employer

S&T RESEARCH ENGINEER, EXPERT – ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS (3D PRINTINGS)

PPG Industries, Inc. seeks S&T Research Engineer, Expert –Advanced Optical Materials (3D Printing) in Monroeville, PA (w/ limited remote/at-home work available) responsible for supporting research & dvlpmnt activities & innovation of breakthru Optical Monomers & Coatings prdcts thru materials sci., polymer engineering, & additive mfg. Apply online at ppg.com

MANAGER –PERFORMANCE ANALYTICS

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Manager – Performance Analytics to be responsible for the implementation of business analytics and intelligence from a data quality, utilization, visualization, and standards perspective.

Future business analysts would report to this role, and existing analyst positions in functional areas would have a dotted line to this role, for purposes of vetting reports and information for accuracy and completeness prior to distribution.

Essential Functions:

• Lead information analytics and business intelligence quality through tracking, definition, standardization, support, analysis, and visualization, especially in regard to strategic goals.

• Active leader in the Data Governance and Business Intelligence process in conjunction with Director and other team members across the agency.

• Oversee and coordinate data standardization functions including, but not limited to data definition, data quality, and data lifecycle.

Job requirements include:

• BS Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Data Engineering, Data Analytics or directly related field from an accredited school. Related experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.

• Minimum of six (6) years’ experience in data analytics.

• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience presenting information using PowerBI, Tableau, or other data presentation platform.

• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience coaching functional areas in effective use of data centered around data quality, data management, and data presentation.

• Experience with SQL or other data scripting methodology.

• Demonstrated ability in the use of Microsoft 365. Preferred attributes:

• Experience tracking and presenting Key Performance Indicator.

SAFETY OFFICER – RAIL OPERATIONS AND FACILITIES

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Safety Officer – Rail Operations and Facilities to provide technical and field support to the Deputy Chief Safety Officer, and all Division Management as needed.

Essential Functions:

• Assists Division Directors and Deputy Chief Safety Officer and other Safety Officers in identification and resolution of employee and operations safety issues.

• Provide safety support during all construction projects including design/specification review, site inspections and regulatory reviews.

• Conduct periodic reviews of work zones along the rail alignment to ensure compliance with Rail SOP’s.

• Work with Rail Operations and Maintenance groups to address safety issues concerning equipment and facilities.

• Conduct periodic reviews at various rail locations to determine operational and maintenance rule compliance with Rail SOP’s and Rules. Report non-compliance to Operations for corrective actions.

Job requirements include:

• BA/BS in Safety Science, Occupational Safety and Health, Environment Health and safety or related field from an accredited school.

• Minimum of three (3) years’ experience in occupational safety or related field.

• Ability to obtain the FTA required TSSP-Rail and PTSCTP certifications within 3 years of hire.

• Effective and professional communication skills.

• Valid driver’s license.

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

Preferred attributes:

• Qualified accident and injury prevention provider as defined by Pennsylvania Worker’s Compensation Regulations.

• Prior work in union environment.

• Certified safety professional or associate safety professional designation.

• Heavy machinery/construction experience.

• Mass/rail transit safety experience.

• Investigative and/or police work experience.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Help Wanted CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

ADVOCATE

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is seeking a Customer Experience Advocate to support the Director of Customer Experience of the Port Authority of Allegheny County d/b/a Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) in the effort to promote improved customer interaction using tools such as performance counseling, presentations, and data analysis. Promotes communication skills and techniques geared toward improving employee performance.

Essential Functions:

• Assists Director of Customer Experience in determining appropriate course of action to improve customer service by operators and makes recommendations such as additional instruction, or refresher training.

• Develops and facilitates customer interaction training sessions for operations personnel as per company policies.

• Assists Customer Service Department from initial receipt of complaint to determine appropriate course of action and department to address.

• Maintain training documentation and make updates as per business needs.

Job requirements include:

• High School Diploma or GED.

• Five (5) years of transit operations and/or customer service experience.

• Professional and effective written and verbal communication skills.

• Experience providing presentations for a classroom setting.

• Proven organizational and multi-tasking skills.

• Ability to work independently and collaborate with other departments.

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

• Valid PA driver’s license.

Preferred attributes:

• BA/BS Degree in Communication, Education, Psychology, Business or directly related field from an accredited school.

• Strong understanding of Pittsburgh Regional Transit operations procedures, regulations, and policies.

• Demonstrated ability to compile and analyze data to determine behavioral trends.

• Working knowledge of latest social media best practices and technologies.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

PUBLIC NOTICE ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY

The Professional Services Committee of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will hold a special meeting for general purposes on Thursday, September 14, 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.

CITY OF PITTSBURGH -

PUBLIC MEETING

28TH STREET BRIDGE PROJECT

The City of Pittsburgh invites you to attend a Public Open House that will include updates on many ongoing transportation projects in the Strip District, including plans for the 28th Street Bridge Project. The event offers an opportunity to view the new bridge configuration and bicycle and pedestrian access improvements, plans for Maintenance and Protection of Traffic during construction, and the construction schedule. The project team will also be available to answer questions. Additional project information is available at: https://engage.pittsburghpa .gov/28th-street-bridge-project

MEETING DETAILS

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

STRIP DISTRICT OPEN HOUSE

Heinz History Center 1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

NOTICE

On Thursday, September 28, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., in Council Chambers, 537 Bayne Ave., Bellevue, PA, Bellevue Borough’s Zoning Hearing Board shall hold a Public Hearing re: Application of Sala Trust, seeking Special Exception approval, per Tri-Borough Zoning Ord. §2000-405 & Ord. No. 18-05, to use the property at 552-554 Teece Ave. (Tax Parcel No.:160-G-82) as a Short-term Rental unit. The Application may be viewed during normal business hours at the Borough Offices.

Thomas P. McDermott, Solicitor Bellevue Borough ZHB

PUBLIC HEARING

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

Missy Ramsey Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527

MRamsey@RidePRT.org

EOE

SOUTH FAYETTE TWP.

SCHOOL DISTRICT is seeking an ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT FOR THE

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

Amy Giammanco

Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527

AGiammanco@RidePRT.org

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

Amy Giammanco Employment Department 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527 AGiammanco@RidePRT.org EOE

of Robinson Township, PA. , No. 02-2305925, Holly Marocchi, Exec. c/o Judith A. Lehnowsky, Atty. 102 Penbryn Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

Estate of HARRY C. WELLS, JR. deceased of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, No. 02-23-05743, Linda Olechowicz, Executor, 107 Slater Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 or to TODD A. FULLER, ATTY; BRENLOVE & FULLER, LLC. 401 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, PA 15017

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

NOTICE OF CHANGE IN REGULAR MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the September 2023 regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Allegheny County Housing Authority has been rescheduled for Friday, September 22, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. and will be held in the Authority’s boardroom located on the 2nd floor, 301 Chartiers Avenue, McKees Rocks, PA, 15136, to be preceded by a Finance & Audit Committee meeting at 9:15 a.m. The public is encouraged to participate in the meetings. Questions concerning this notice may be addressed to Katie Stohlberg via email at kstohlberg@achousing. org, or by fax to 412-355-0837.

Frank Aggazio, Executive Director Allegheny County Housing Authority

For more information, please contact: Erin Feichtner, PE, Project Manager City of Pittsburgh, Department of Mobility and Infrastructure Erin.Feichtner@pittsburghpa.gov

The meeting facility is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, if you or an individual with whom you are familiar does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English desires to participate in this meeting or if you require special assistance to attend and/or participate in this meeting or need additional information please contact the number above.

LEGAL AD NOTICE IS HEREBY given the Emsworth Zoning Hearing Board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, 7 p.m., prevailing time, at the Emsworth Borough Building, 171 Center Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15202, regarding the application from Dominic Mantella for property at 235-237 Center Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15202, seeking a Special Exception from Emsworth Borough Ord. No. 925, Section 245-47-1 to allow for the construction of a retaining wall that extends a height greater than 5 feet to less than 7 feet for approximately 42 linear feet along the east property line. All those interested in the above hearing should be present at the above time and place and you will have an opportunity to be heard.

CATHY JONES BOROUGH SECRETARY

PUBLIC HEARING

The Wilkins Township Zoning Hearing Board shall hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:00 p.m., at the Municipal Building, 110 Peffer Road, Wilkins Township, PA 15145. At that time, the Board shall hear an application for a variance made by John E. Tucker (‘the applicant’), for property located at 637 Brown Avenue, Turtle Creek, PA 15145 (‘the property’).

The property, more fully identified as Allegheny County Tax Map Lot and Block Number 372-S-80, is situated in a C-1 Commercial Zoning District. The applicant seeks a Variance to place three additional wall signs on one lot/establishment in excess of the permitted surface area. The Wilkins Township Zoning Code §450-36, Table 1 and §45042 (C) permits one wall sign per lot or establishment with a maximum surface area of 7.5% of the first two stories of building elevation. The meeting will also be available virtually on Zoom at the following link: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/85374827247

The Wilkins Township Zoning Hearing Board shall hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. , at the Municipal Building, 110 Peffer Road, Wilkins Township, PA 15145. At that time, the Board shall hear an application for variance made by Benderson Development Company, LLC (‘the applicants’), with offices at 570 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14202. The applicants seek a variance on property that is located at 3475 William Penn Highway, Pittsburgh, PA 15235; Allegheny County Tax Map Lot and Block Number 542-C-250, situated in a C-1 Commercial Zoning District. If granted, the variance would permit a drive-in business entrance or exit to be closer than 250 feet to the line of a residential lot pursuant to the Wilkins Township Zoning Code §450-10(E)(15). This code provision can be viewed at the following link: https://ecode360. com/32355795. Interested parties may also attend the meeting virtually via Zoom, at the following link: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/85374827247

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH PUBLIC NOTICE OF FY 2024 MOVING TO WORK ANNUAL PLAN

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) , in accordance with federal law and regulation, is publishing its FY 2024 Moving to Work (MTW) Annual Plan for review and comment. The FY 2024 MTW Annual Plan is available for review and comment from Sunday, August 13, 2023 to Friday, September 15, 2023 on the HACP Web Site: www.hacp.org. Printed copies of the FY 2024 MTW Annual Plan can be obtained by contacting Amy Shaffer in the HACP Executive Office at 412456-5000 extension 3191, or Amy.Shaffer@hacp.org).

Public Hearings to receive public comments on the FY 2024 HACP MTW Annual Plan will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 9:30 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. The Zoom Meeting information can be accessed at www.hacp.org

Written comments on the FY 2024 HACP MTW Annual Plan must be addressed to: “Attention: Amy Shaffer - HACP Moving to Work Annual Plan” at the HACP Executive Office, 412 Boulevard of the Allies, 7th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or Amy.Shaffer@hacp.org, and must be received by Friday, September 15, 2023.

Once approved, the final FY 2024 HACP MTW Annual Plan will be effective on the first day of the fiscal year, January 1, 2024, or after the HACP receives approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Moving to Work Office, whichever occurs later.

If you are a person with disability and need an alternate means of reviewing this information, please contact the Disability Compliance Office at 412-456-5282 to discuss the options available.

CITY OF PITTSBURGH OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET ADVERTISEMENT

Separate and sealed Bid Proposals will be received electronically starting on Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 for:

2023-IFB-219 – Reese Street Caisson Treatment

2023-RFP-229 - NED Capacity Building Technical Assistance (CD)

Information on solicitations is available on the City of Pittsburgh website: http://purchasing.pittsburghpa.gov

Bid proposals are requested on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh. All bids must be submitted via the above website and all required documents must be provided or the bid proposal may be considered non-responsive.

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

The Contractor will be required to comply with the following laws, rules and regulations:

All provisions of US Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as amended by US Executive Order 11375 and as sup-plemented in US Department of Labor Regulations (41 CFR, Part 60), and of the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the US Secretary of Labor. Contractor shall comply with all applicable standards, orders, or requirements issued of the Clean Air Act (42 USC 1857 et. seq.), Section 508 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 1368), Executive Order 11738, and Environmental Protection Agency regulations (40 CFR, Part 15).

Contractor shall comply with the Davis-Bacon Act the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 276a to 276a-7) as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR part 5).

Procedures for compliance to these acts shall be as follows:

All specifications for construction contracts and subcontracts will contain the prevailing wage rates (as enclosed in this bid package) as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276-a to 276-C-5) and provision that overtime compensation will be paid in accordance with the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act Regulations (29 CFR, Parts 5 and 1926). The contract provisions shall require that these standards be met.

Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity (Executive Order 11246):

Bidder’s attention is called to the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth in 41 CFR Public Contracts and Property Management Part 60-4.3 Equal Opportunity Clauses.

Goals for minority participation: 18%

Goals for female participation: 7%

These goals are applicable to all construction work (whether or not Federal or Federally-Assisted) performed in the “covered area.”

As used in this notice, and in the contract resulting from this solicitation, the “covered area” is Pittsburgh SMSA (Allegheny, Wash-ington, Beaver and Westmoreland counties).

The contractor shall comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1988, as amended, Section 109 of the Community Development Act of 1974, with Executive Order 11625 (Minority Business Enterprise) and Executive Order 12138 (Women’s Busi-ness Enterprise).

The Proposers will be required to submit the package of certifications included with the contract documents relating to Equal Em-ployment Opportunity.

Vendors submitting responses on federally funded projects must register on SAM.gov and provide proof of registration.

The City of Pittsburgh reserves the right to withhold the award of contract for a period of sixty (60) calendar days after the opening of bids.

The City of Pittsburgh reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals.

PROJECT NUMBER 22TG01 - REBID (GENERAL)

PROJECT NUMBER 22TE01 - REBID (ELECTRICAL)

PROJECT NUMBER 22TPFS01 - REBID (PLUMBING/FIRE SUPPRESSION)

PROJECT NUMBER 22TM01 - REBID (MECHANICAL)

CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION BID PACKAGE at PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

ELECTRONIC BIDS & BID OPENING PROCEDURE:

Electronic Bids will be received by the Allegheny County Airport Authority until 1:00 P.M. prevailing local time, NOVEMBER 1, 2023

The ACAA is modifying its typical bid opening process; the formal bid opening procedure will be conducted virtually – any/all firms submitting a Bid to the ACAA will be given special access to view the opening event. Once bidding is closed, any/all firms submitting a bid will be issued an Invitation (via email) to access the formal bid opening event via a live webcast. Bidders will also be notified of the results via an email within (24) hours of the Bid Opening event.

ACCESS TO BID PACKAGE DOCUMENTS:

ALL BIDDERS shall be required to provide a completed formal Bid Document Request application in order to acquire bidding documents for any/all of the above listed Project Numbers.

No bidding documents will be issued prior to the Authority’s Construction Manager having a copy of a fully completed Request Application. Bid Document Request Applications can be obtained by sending a Request to the following email address:

TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com

On the Subject Line, include the following: “Bid Documents Request –Customs and Border Protection REBID”.

Once a bidder’s request has been received, provided it is complete, the CM will provide access for the bidder to access and download the bid documents through Building Connected, a web-based bid management platform.

A PREBID CONFERENCE –September 20, 2023 – 11:00 AM

The meeting will be a Microsoft Teams Meeting. To join the meeting the following number can be called (877) 286-5733 - United States (Toll-Free) – Conference ID 374 180 3#. Please email TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com to receive the link to join by computer

A site visit will be conducted. Details regarding the site visit will be provided at the Pre-Bid meeting. Note that no questions can be asked during this Prebid Meeting. Any/all questions must be issued to the CM as an “RFI”.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION (RFIs)

Any/all questions related to this project must be made in writing to the CM. RFIs are to be sent to the CM via email to TMPBids@flypittsburgh.com

BID SUBMISSION

Proposals must be made on the Authority’s forms and in accordance with the Plans and Specifications and the “Instructions to Bidders”’.

Due to Covid precautions, ACAA will not be accepting any hard copy bids for this Project. Accordingly, Electronic Bids are the only form that the ACAA will accept. While the Instructions to Bidders will provide more details, for an Electronic Bid to be accepted in must be sent through Building Connected and it must be received by no later than the established Bid

Date and time deadline.

OTHER ISSUES

Attention is called to the fact that not less than the minimum salaries and wages as determined by the General Wage Determinations issued under the Davis-Bacon and related Acts must be paid on these projects. This project has DBE participation goals; DBE firms must be certified with the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program) (PAUCP). Firms must be certified prior to award of contract. A searchable database of DBE firms can be found on the PAUCP web site: https://paucp.dbesystem.com/

The Airport Authority reserves the right to reject any and all bids or waive any informalities in the bidding.

No bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of one hundred twenty [120] days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids.

To view a complete advertisement, which is also included in the bidding documents visit www.flypittsburgh.com under “Business Opportunities”

SONNY BOY

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

Proposals/bid submittals will be due 11:00 AM on October 3, 2023 and will be read at 11:15 AM., the same day, through your web browser via Microsoft Teams video conferencing, for the following:

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

1 B23-04-27A Janitorial Supplies - Soap Products

2 B23-08-59 Gemini Plastic Seat Inserts

3 B23-08-60A Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid

4 B23-08-61 Voith Transmission Rebuild Kits

5 B23-08-62A Diesel Exhaust Fluid

6 B23-08-63A Coach Brake Drums

To join the bid opening through Microsoft Teams meeting on your computer, mobile app or room device

Meeting ID: 219 435 198 956 Passcode: N9gw3

Or call in (audio only)

412-927-0245

Phone Conference ID: 407 599 587#

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

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held on each of the above items at 10:00 AM on September 19, 2023 through your web browser via Microsoft Teams video conferencing.

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Meeting ID: 282 137 130 93 Passcode: 2FFAUe

Or call in (audio only)

412-927-0245

Phone Conference ID: 498 013 467#

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

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

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

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