LITERARY ARTS // MLK Reads

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ON MON., JAN. 16, the country will celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a federal holiday meant to highlight his many accomplishments. His powerful words have not only been committed to television and film, but also to numerous books written by and about him. See below for a list of titles recommended by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, a Georgia-based nonprofit established by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King.

Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Center calls this award-winning book by Stephen B. Oates an “extensive and well-researched biography” that “allows the reader to experience the life of Dr. King and the times in which he lived.”

My Uncle Martin’s Big Heart

Anyone who wants to introduce their young child to King should consider this 2010 book written by his niece, Dr. Angela Farris Watkins, and illustrated by Eric Velasquez.

Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story

Published in 1958, King’s first book serves as a memoir of the events leading up to the Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott, a seminal event during which the Civil Rights leader and countless other Black Americans protested segregation on public transit.

What Manner of Man: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read this in-depth account from the late Lerone Bennett Jr., a former college classmate of King’s who also served as the editor of Ebony magazine, among other achievements. •

BY JAMIE WIGGAN AND JORDANA ROSENFELD // JAMIE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM // JORDANA@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP ILLUSTRATIONS: LUCY CHEN

CP ILLUSTRATIONS: LUCY CHEN

POLITICS CONGRESS RESUMES WITH NEW FACES FROM PITTSBURGH

IT TOOK SEVERAL DAYS and fifteen rounds of votes for Congressional Republicans to elect a new speaker in the form of Kevin McCarthy (R-California). Talking to Pittsburgh City Paper on Jan. 3 after the first round of stalled negotiations, newly elected U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Aspinwall) expressed frustration.

“And so now we are waiting for our Republican friends to try to get themselves in order so we can do the people’s business,” Deluzio tells City Paper. “Unfortunately, the House is not ready to do this.” Looking forward, Deluzio says his constituents gave him a clear mandate to fulfil. “My sense of things — and folks heard it from me on the campaign trail — is they want our democracy to be [protected]. They want reproductive rights to be protected. They want some basic decency around their economic status,” Deluzio tells CP during an interview last week. He adds, "All of those things are things that I’m planning to fight for.”

Other new faces from the Pittsburgh area include Summer Lee (D-Swissvale), the first Black woman elected from Pennsylvania, and John Fetterman of Braddock, who now represents Pennsylvania in the Senate.

POLITICS STATE OF THE HOUSE

MEANWHILE, the Pennsylvania House prevented a similar showdown by electing a centrist Democrat who subsequently renounced his party to serve as an independent Speaker. Pennsylvania Democrats flipped the lower chamber for the first time in more than a decade, but several winners from the 2021 election, including local politicians Summer Lee and Austin Davis, vacated their seats for higher office, while veteran lawmaker Tony DeLuca died shortly before Election Day. Until their seats are filled by special elections, Republicans maintain a narrow lead.

The new assembly includes many new faces from this side of the state, including La'Tasha Mayes, the first Black, lesbian woman elected to the House, and Arvind Venkat, its first Indian-American.

POLITICS CLOSER TO HOME

THINGS ARE HEATING up locally as campaigns get underway for the municipal elections.

At least four candidates have put their names forward for County Executive as incumbent Rich Fitzgerald concludes his final term. More are expected to follow soon. Down the ballot, challengers are emerging for city and county council seats. Last week, Joanna Doven, press secretary for former mayor Luke Ravenstahl, announced a bid to challenge incumbent progressive county councilmember Bethany Hallam for her at-large seat. Despite positioning herself as a “pragmatic progressive,” Doven now faces scrutiny for tweets from 2015 that local LGBTQ outlet QBurgh calls “antitrans, anti-LGBTQ, and racist.” In response, Doven tweeted a lengthy thread insinuating the QBurgh piece was part of a “coordinated Twitter attack,” writing that she believes in “tolerance, understanding, and quite frankly — loving each other.” Doven also criticized Hallam for voting to delay certification of the midterm election results, rehashed her criminal record, and accused her of sexual assault and “drunk tweeting from a bar and doing egregious sexual acts live on camera.” •