May 25, 2022 - Pittsburgh City Paper

INSIDE: GORDON PARKS PHOTO EXHIBIT PROVIDES MUCH-NEEDED LOOK AT BLACK WORKERS

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MAY 25-JUNE 1, 22022

FIRSTSHOT

BY JARED WICKERHAM

Summer Lee, pictured here at her Election Night watch party at Emerald City on May 17, officially won her Democratic primary, putting her one step closer to becoming the first Black woman from Pennsylvania in Congress.

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COVER PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM READ THE STORY ON PAGE 4

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

3

NEWS

PUTTING OUT FIRES Rural Pa. training program helps fill dire volunteer firefighter, EMS shortage age

BY JORDANA ROSENFELD // JORDANA@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Connellsville C ll ill Area A Career C & Technical T h i l Center C students d Hannah H h Upton U (left) and Emma Long (right) run through a mock scenario as part of the Protective Services program inside the classroom.

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CH BARRY CHIEF AND HIS BOOKS

R

ON BARRY HAS BEEN a volunteer firefighter for most of his life. At 16, he successfully petitioned the local VFD to start a junior firefighter program and was among the first to sign up. At 52, this is his seventh year as chief of the South Brownsville Fire Company #1, and he has been ttraining future volunteer firefighters, EMTs, and law enforcement in Fayette County at Connelsville Area Career a and Technical Center’s protective services program for 14 years. chiefbarrybooks.com

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Connellsville Area Career & Technical Center students Garrett Shearer (left) and Leland Hollis (right) in the Protective Services program pose for a photo with their teacher, Ron Barry (middle), inside the classroom.

F

OR THE MOST PART, Pennsylvania’s firefighter and emergency medical technician shortages have become more dire each year. Almost all (96.8%) of the commonwealth’s firefighters are volunteers, and their numbers have been dwindling for decades. But about an hour south of Pittsburgh in Fayette County, a training program is working to help fill the gap.

CONNELSVILLE AREA CAREER AND TECHNICAL CENTER casdfalcons.org

Public officials first started sounding the alarm that Pennsylvanians, especially those “living outside of cities,” have “woefully inadequate” protection from fire and other emergencies, according to a 1976 report from the Governor’s Commission on Fire Prevention and Control. At that time, the state had 300,000 volunteer firefighters; in 2018, Pennsylvania had 38,000. (Fire companies are not required to report active personnel numbers, so

it’s not clear how the pandemic has influenced the size of the state’s volunteer firefighter population.)

Pa. EMS providers say they can’t find enough paramedics or EMTs, and, as Jerry Schramm, director of operations for Lancaster EMS, told PennLive in November 2021, “things are frayed close to the point of collapse.” According to the National Rural Health Association, a lack of qualified EMT applicants is “universal” in rural areas, due to, among other conditions, low and aging populations, fewer qualifying ambulance trips that would allow trainees to earn emergency certifications, and tough economic conditions.

Fire Chief Ron Barry’s protective services program at Connelsville Area Career and Technical Center in Fayette County is one of many local training programs stepping in to address this personnel crisis, recruiting and training high school students to become the next generation of firefighters and EMTs. During a recent classroom visit, Barry told Pittsburgh City Paper it’s a “three-way program” that includes instruction on firefighting, emergency medicine, and law enforcement.

He’s also a published author.

His first novel, Jobtown, is a about a hometown firefighter rrising through the ranks of the fire department and was inspired b

by Ba rr y ’s own h o m e town , B Brownsville, Pa. His current project is a children’s book, Six Brave Firefighters and Captain McGurk, which chronicles, in verse, a day in the life of a team of firefighters as they put out a fire and rescue a cat. Crafting the book’s characters, it was important to Barry that the firefighters be of differing races, nationalities, and genders.

“It promotes diversity,” Barry says of the book. “It shows that anybody can be a firefighter.”

— Jordana Rosenfeld

...those “living outside of cities,” have “woefully inadequate” protection from fire and other emergencies.

CONTINUES ON PG. 6

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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PUTTING OUT FIRES, CONTINUED FROM PG. 5

CLOSE TO C HOME

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Connellsville Area Career & Technical Center Protective Services students pose for a group photo with their teacher, Ron Barry.

“We probably do more industry certifications than any other program here.

Just because we have a lot of them to offer,” Barry says, referencing certifications including emergency vehicle driving, hazardous materials awareness, and highway safety certifications for emergency responders.

Fifteen minutes into visiting Barry’s class, a student from another program arrives with an injury he got roughhousing with his brother. Since Barry is a veteran paramedic, teachers send injured students his way when there isn’t a nurse in the building.

“A lot of times, the kids jump right in because they’re trained, and they know what to do,” Barry says, noting that his students are required to become CPR and first aid certified. Barry recommends an 18-year-old junior named Harleigh to wrap the injured party’s wrist.

“This is an industrial school. Accidents

happen, kids cut themselves. Culinary, they work with knives; welding, they burn themselves. So, we’re prepared for anything,” Barry says.

Barry’s “shop,” as students call each of Connelsville’s 13 programs, has industry-standard equipment students train on, such as a 911 dispatch station, a fleet of emergency vehicles including a fire engine, a fire hydrant donated by the local water company, full PPE, and a 14-foot rappelling tower made by students from the school’s carpentry program. (Barry adds that masonry students poured its concrete base, and welding students bolted it to the wall.)

Each year, students practice evacuating a burning building using a digital fire simulator that creates harmless special effects smoke so they can safely train in zero visibility conditions. They suit up in full firefighting gear, including self-contained breathing apparatuses, and are

bili to don d their h i also graded on their ability PPE in two minutes or less. The fire simulator has a digital LCD TV screen with a digital flame and the TV is designed so you can blast it with a fire hose and the flame reacts to the water, according to Barry.

“I can make it flare up again,” he says.

“I can make more smoke, I can change the fire class from ordinary combustibles to flammable liquids to electrical with sound effects that match.”

A student pops into the supply room to notify Barry that the kid with the wrapped wrist has numb fingers. Barry returns to the classroom and recognizes the patient.

“Oh, so you’re Patrick’s brother,” he says. “You guys have a terrible history with hands.”

“We do,” the student agrees.

“You didn’t punch a wall, did ya?”

“No, I’m not him.”

After looking over the hand, Barry sends a student for an ice pack.

CONTINUES ON PG. 8

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A

RECENT AGREEMENT between Pittsburgh and the city’s firefighters’ union on residency requirements may improve their ability to attract firefighter applicants.

An arbitrator ruled in February 2022 that firefighters are no longer required to live within city limits, as had previously been the practice, according to WPXI. Firefighters and the city subsequently decided that firefighters can live within a 60-minute drive from Downtown’s City-County Building. pittsburghpa.gov/joinpghfire

This decision also means that anyone who lives within 60 minutes of Downtown is permitted to apply to be a firefighter for the city.

— Jordana Rosenfeld

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Connellsville Area Career & Technical Center student Makayla Lucas (left) in the Protective Services program patches up softball player, Jennifer Webbe, who sustained a cut playing.

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“Should we splint the fingers?” “It’s swollen.” “Yeah, look at the side of his hand.” Concerned students look on as the group reviews their observations after examining him.

“I told him to straighten his hand a little bit and he was fine and then, once his hand was straight, I put my two fingers on with Harleigh’s help, and he was able to put pressure back at me,” says Garrett, a 15-year-old volunteer firefighter with the Springfield Township Volunteer Hose Company, who’s planning to enlist in the military after high school.

When it comes to recruitment, Barry does more than his fair share to engage potential students.

“Being a fire chief, we need volunteer firefighters so badly,” he says. Recruitment efforts sometimes begin during the annual summer camp he runs for middle schoolers interested in the high school protective services program. The summer camp is a key recruitment tool, according to Shawna Little, the workforce development coordinator at CACTC. “I will tell you, the people that do middle school camps, their programs are full,” she says. “The ones that don’t are hurting for kids.”

In addition to focusing on recruitment, Little says they’re trying overall to

change the stigma of career and technical education, part of which is gender bias.

This year, 60% of Barry’s protective services students are girls, up a few percentage points from last year. Little calls these “nontraditional numbers” because most people working in protective services occupations are men.

Barry says that the girls he’s taught tend to be more interested in EMS than law enforcement, but “they like the forensics and CSI, too.”

Makayla, an 18-year-old senior planning to be an EMT, says that “a lot of people think that women can’t be EMTs or firefighters because we’re small. There’s a lot of lifting, but some women really get it done, and it’s awesome.”

“I like helping people and I like that it’s fast-paced,” she says, adding that she also likes knowing that the demand for EMTs is high.

Fayette EMS, one of the protective services program’s industry partners, has hired every EMT graduate he’s ever sent them, according to Barry, who says he’s proud that CACTC has produced “quite a few volunteer firefighters, quite a few EMTs.” “Every year,” Makayla says, “we get more and more girls, and it’s awesome to see how interested they are.” •

Follow news reporter Jordana Rosenfeld on Twitter @rosenfeldjb

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

9

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

Summer Lee addresses the crowd at her Election Night party on Tue., May 18.

VIEWS

THAT SUMMER FEELIN'

BY TERENEH IDIA // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

F SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME that within a span of one year, I’d be able to vote for the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh, the first Black congresswoman from Pennsylvania, and the first openly LGBTQ Black man for U.S. Senate, I would have said, “Get outta tahn!”

(Actually, I would have used more colorful language but suffice to say, I wouldn’t have believed you.)

Not in a state that fluctuates between red and purple with a couple of blue corners — Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and sometimes Erie.

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Not with a county Democratic committee so frequently hostile to women electeds that it led to the 2017 launch of WTF Pittsburgh (Women for the Future of Pittsburgh), with a goal to get more women elected to office by fundraising and endorsing where the Democratic establishment did not.

Not in a city that, despite its “liberal” and “most livable” moniker, continues to lose its Black population. And not in a city that has been found to be the worst place to be a Black woman or femme.

Yet, in May 2021, a majority of the

voters in the city of Pittsburgh cast their ballot for Ed Gainey, who subsequently became the first African-American mayor of our city. Then, 364 days later, Summer Lee declared victory in her Democratic primary congressional election. (AP officially called her win three days later.) Winning this fall would make her the first Black woman congressperson from Pennsylvania. Additionally, about 135,000 people (10% of the electorate) voted for Malcolm Kenyatta, a Black gay man from Philadelphia, for the U.S. Senate.

One month away from Juneteenth, and this feels like a moment to pause, celebrate, and experience joy for anyone who believes that we all deserve a seat at the tables of power.

But a moment of joy is all the time we have to spare. Because alongside these victories and strides toward a more just and truly representative government is the anti-Black racism that makes Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. And what makes Pennsylvania, a state recently ranked as one of the top places in the United States for white supremacist propaganda,

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Pennsylvania. Not to mention our ranking of 31 out of 50 states for political participation by women, as reported by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

The best news is it seems that much of the voting public is ready, willing, and able to have our multicultural, multiracial reality represented in city, county, state, and federal capitols. The confusing news is that the Democratic establishment does not seem to get it.

This disconnect led to C.M. Lewis, editor of the newsletter for news nonprofit Strikewave, tweeting that the results of the May primary caused “… a devastating night for the old guard Democratic establishment in PA.” To which I, and many others, say: “#goals.”

No, this is not the dismantling of democracy. We want to actually give democracy and a truly representative government a try which will require changing an out-of-touch establishment that is not listening to the voice of the people.

The bad news, or more of the same old, same old, is the continuum of varying degrees of hostility towards women who run for office in the Keystone state — from a lack of endorsements to outright lies, including very expensive ones that eroded

Lee’s early double-digit leads in the polls.

Why on earth would a Democratic party undermine someone who represents their most consistent voting block, Black women? Are Black women only good for the labor of elections and not as a winner of elections?

Even more than that, wouldn’t the Dems want to send someone to Congress with such an amazing ground game and community support that she didn’t have to spend almost $100 per vote?

One would think. But that did not happen.

As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes stated, the PAC money campaign against Lee, declaring her as “not a real Democrat” was “an almost comically disingenuous” attack. All too often women who seek elected office are thwarted by largely white men who want to maintain power rather than truly represent the people.

But it seems after decades of horrible air and water quality, increased prices, stagnant wages, unfair labor practices, and an uncertain future, we want to see people like us — those who forged their own way through the forests of life with nary a stick to push back the thorny branches while watching people who had a gilded path manicured by someone else. •

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Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @TerenehIdia PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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FOOD

SWEET AND SPICY

BY DANI JANAE DANIJANAE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

P

ITTSBURGHERS FIRST got a taste of Ulric Joseph’s vegan Trinidadian food in local farmers markets. Now, after years of selling his plant-based menu at pop-up stands, there’s good news for anyone craving his unique of ferings more of ten .

Joseph’s new restaurant, ShadoBeni, is bringing delicious Carribean flavors to Pittsburgh any time and any season at his new brick-and-mortar location on the North Side.

I’ve seen their stand, but I’d never had a full meal, so I was excited to go and see what the new restaurant had to offer. The small, cozy spot has several tables for dine-in service, and also offers online ordering for folks who want to get their order to go. I arrived shortly after they opened around 11:30 a.m., and browsed the menu for a couple of minutes, trying to narrow down what sounded like a good, filling meal on a day where I hadn’t had breakfast.

I landed on the rice bowl, described as coming with coconut rice and a selection of different toppings. On this day, they had Curry Stewed Soya, Okra Choka, Spinach Choka, Channa and Potato, and Pumpkin. I went for the Channa and Potato and the Spinach Choka, figuring it’d be good to have some protein and greens along with my meal. For sides, I got the plantains and the spicy slaw, with a ginger beer to wash it all down.

SHADOBENI 1534 Brighton Road, North Side. shadobeni412.com

The food came out quickly and smelled delicious. I dove first into the sides, starting with the spicy slaw. The slaw comes with red cabbage and red and yellow peppers. The peppers give off that crisp sweetness upon first bite, then give you a back of the tongue tingle of spice.

Overall, the slaw a had great texture and a tart flavor from the dressing.

T h e p l a n t a i n s we re p e r f e c t l y browned with crispy, caramelized bits around the edges. For a side, the tender

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Roti from ShadoBeni, a Trinidadian vegan restaurant in the North Side

and sweet plantains really wowed me.

They had a hint of earthiness, along with the sharpness of the crispy bits.

Contrasted against the softer, more yellow parts, these plantains were made with a caring hand. A side cup of the plantains provided about seven hefty slices, so it made for a great opener for the rest of my meal.

When I got to the rice bowl, I decided to first try each element of the dish on its own. The Spinach Choka is traditionally

prepared with garlic, onions, and scotch bonnet, but I didn’t get any of the heat in this version. It still tasted well-seasoned behind the vegetal flavor of the spinach.

I moved on to the Channa and Potatoes, a combination of chickpeas and chunks of potato seasoned with what looked like turmeric, cumin, and other spices. It was packed with flavor and absolutely delicious. I tried a bite of the rice and while I didn’t get any coconut flavor upfront, it was also well seasoned.

Follow arts & culture writer Dani Janae on Twitter @figwidow

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Lastly, I ordered mango chutney as a sauce for my bowl. Adding it to the pile and mixing it all up made for the perfect bite: sweet, spicy, and tangy, it was just what the dish needed. Still, I regretted adding in my side of the restaurant’s hot pepper sauce, which I’m told is fire.

Once I got the perfect bite down, I was sold on ShadoBeni. I can’t wait to go back with a friend and try more of what they have to offer, including their smoothies and vegan cookies. •

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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PHOTOS: TOM LITTLE

Installation views of Gordon Parks in Pittsburgh, 1944/1946 at Carnegie Museum of Art

ART

GREASING THE WHEELS

BY JACOB BLUMENSTEIN // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

PHOTO ON DISPLAY at the Carnegie Museum of Art shows a dozen workmen looking out from a dingy freight elevator, their eyes trained directly at the camera. Their faces show resolve. The year is 1944 and these men work in the Pittsburgh Grease Works, a hulking operation that took up two whole blocks in the Strip District and was the largest lubrication manufacturing facility in the world.

Bear in mind that Pittsburgh was considered the “Arsenal of Democracy” at the time. Approximately 40% of the population worked in the mills, which pumped at full throttle to produce 90 million tons of steel for the Allied Powers during World War II. The city prioritized the war so much that it delayed implementing its inaugural smoke control legislation for five years. As they used to say, “Smoke means jobs.”

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Gordon Parks in Pittsburgh, 1944/1946, the latest exhibit to open up at the CMOA, is an exciting window into World War II-era Pittsburgh. The CMOA worked with the Gordon Parks Foundation to organize the show, which coincides with the release of a book published by Steidl. The photos are an insight into Parks’ development, as well as a corrective to how the homefront has been visualized.

GORDON PARKS IN PITTSBURGH, 1944/1946 Continues through Aug. 7.

Carnegie Museum of Art. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Included with museum admission. cmoa.org

Back to those men in the elevator.

Parks pictured them twice. He wanted to make clear that these workers produced the lubricants that the Allies relied on to

keep their tanks, locamotives, submarines, and bombers running smoothly.

In the second photo, the freight doors close in on the workers from above and below like a set of jaws, evoking the idea that industry consumes its workers.

Ever the expert chronicler, Parks photographed with great deliberateness and left little to chance. He clicked the shutter just before the doors closed fully, making visible the worker’s faces. The photos function as a portrait, and their sequencing gets at the numbing nature of manual labor, the notion that one is trapped in a daily cycle — work hard, get dirty, go home, repeat.

Parks was a great chronicler of Black life and, by age 29, built a name for himself as a trailblazing photojournalist when he won a fellowship with the Farm Security Administration. As Life magazine’s first Black staff photographer, Parks sought

to draw the nation’s attention toward segregation and the Civil Rights movement.

According to the Gordon Parks Foundation website, Parks viewed the camera as a “weapon” against racism, poverty, and all forms of inequality.

Later, Parks developed into a Renaissance man, writing novels and memoirs, composing music, and directing numerous films, including so-called Blaxploitation classics like Shaft and Superfly, as well as The Learning Tree, a 1969 work regarded as the first major Hollywood film directed by an African American.

Parks wasn’t working for Life when he visited Pittsburgh, however. He was contracted to produce promotional material for Standard Oil, which sought to repair its public image after Congress started investigating its business ties with Germany. In response, they launched a sprawling ad campaign that included

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PARKS VIEWED THE CAMERA AS A “WEAPON” AGAINST RACISM, POVERTY, AND ALL FORMS OF INEQUALITY. chemistry demos in department store lobbies and a star-studded photography team directed by the FSA’s Roy Striker.

He assigned Parks to photograph the Pittsburgh Grease Works in 1944, and again in 1946, to produce material for leaflets and photo exhibits that Standard Oil mounted in galleries nationwide.

Though the context of Parks’ job may complicate these pictures, it also explains them. They are the product of a balancing act; Parks clearly endeavored to both fulfill the assignment and subvert it. Certain boxes had to be checked and certain compromises had to be made. The injuries, altercations, and despair that likely prospered in such harsh working conditions are absent from Park’s photos.

However, it’s worth noting that photojournalists of the era were not focused on the rights of workers, either. America was at war and muckraking was not in vogue. In fact, a lot of Life’s wartime coverage — such as Margaret Bourke White’s feature on working women — strikes a more Romantic and Propagandistic tone than Parks’ photos do.

Many of the photos Parks took were staged, but not to their detriment, and while a few photos do come off as contrived, the majority testify to the worker’s true humanity.

Viewed as a whole, Parks’ photos ultimately honor the plant’s Black workforce

by making visible their predicament and gesturing to what he could not directly depict. The hierarchy and segregation of the Grease Works become clear in a staged candid of the plant’s management. In it, five white men in fitted suits hover around an ornate desk while they pretend to discuss important things.

Their shirts are as clean as bleach. The scene serves as a jarring contrast to the photos of Black workmen handling lye and red-hot grease with little to no protective gear.

“Most of the personnel within the manufacturing units were Negroes,” Parks wrote in a letter to Striker. “An attempt was made to minimize my coverage of [them] so that all nationalities might be integrated into the story.”

At the core of this exhibit is the notion that visibility is power. “Had it been left up to politicians, military officers, and businessmen, this vital Black workforce that contributed to the production of five million pounds of ‘Eisenhower grease’ during World War II would’ve gone unnoticed and unrecognized,” writes photographer Latoya Ruby Frazier in an essay for the exhibition’s accompanying book.

Parks was well aware of how people can be rendered invisible, and he worked to ensure these men were not. We’re fortunate that he photographed them, regardless of who was paying his bills. • PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

15

LIT

FACING DEMONS

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HESE ARE NOT AESOP’S FABLES. There are creatures to be found in Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before (2022, Six Gallery Press), Brandon Getz’s debut collection of 12 short stories, and Pittsburgh City Paper’s May Book Club section, but they aren’t the cute and cuddly kind. Contained within are taxidermied rodents, ghosts with tree trunks instead of legs, and evil little witches. From the gorgeous demon on the book’s colorful front cover — illustrated

by Pittsburgh artist Lizzee Solomon — to the homunculus crawling out of a bloody head wound on the opening page, readers are immediately introduced to a world where anything can happen. And it does.

Some stories are fantastical and reminiscent of folklore, like the old man who collects severed hands that mysteriously

appear on his doorstep, or the chess game between God and the Devil; others, closer to home, like the newspaper editor so desperate for readers, she baits a superhero by kidnapping a bus full of blind nuns for him to rescue.

AN INSTAGRAM LIVE CONVERSATION WITH BRANDON GETZ

making a “jack-off motion” as he mocks a man for masturbating to a sexy picture.

Getz’s writing, however, is also whimsical and conversational, making it an inoffensive and easy read, capturing a range of emotions from fear to sadness to rage.

Readers, for example, might find themselves getting mad at the self-made man who shits in a “gold-plated toilet in the shape of a bald eagle with its wings

wrapped around the bowl.” Or “The White People,” who are literally white-colored people, with their perfectly symmetrical faces and their immaculate white lives. But Getz’s characters and caricatures winkingly make the reader aware that he’s in on the joke, as though he’s written terrible characters with the intent of exposure.

While the collection may not directly address the flaws of humankind, perhaps there are some morals to be found in these delightfully twisted fables after all.

•

12 p.m. Fri., May 27. instagram.com/pghcitypaper

The entries walk a fine line between fairy tales and horror stories, with many diving into the complexities of interpersonal relationships, both human and not.

Within the foolishness is often tenderness, where you finish a tale wishing you could save a depressed robot or make love next to a dead rhino. (Don’t worry, that sentence won’t be quite as weird after you’ve read the book.)

It should be noted that this isn’t a short story collection for children. Getz doesn’t shy from sex, and crude references can be found throughout, from women with “tits like water balloons” to a house spirit

LIT

JUNE #CPBOOKCLUB SELECTION

BY LISA CUNNINGHAM // LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

June Pittsburgh City Paper Book Club selection — She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derric

J

UST IN TIME FOR PRIDE MONTH, New York Times best-selling author Rachael Lippincott has teamed up with her wife, Alyson Derrick, to pen a romantic comedy set in Pittsburgh. The YA book focuses on two LGBTQ leads who help each other search for love. Alex Blackwood is described as headstrong, “with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt.” Molly Parker, on the other hand,

is incredibly awkward. Together, the two college students embark on a plan to get the girls of their dreams to fall in love with them in a story Kirkus Reviews calls “sweet, honest, and filled with personality.”

SHE GETS THE GIRL

by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick rachaellippincott.com

Be sure to grab a copy of She Gets the Girl at #CPBookClub’s sponsor, Riverstone Books, at shopriverstonebookstore.com, and join the conversation during the June Pittsburgh City Paper Book Club.

Follow editor-in-chief Lisa Cunningham on Twitter @trashyleesuh

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL ATTRACTIONS AGENCY

MUSIC

Slick Rick

SEEING STARS

BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

D

R. ANDRE SAMUEL, founder, president, and CEO of Pittsburgh’s first community life sciences laboratory, The Citizen Science Lab, was watching reruns of The Jeffersons, What’s Happening!!, and Sanford and Son when he noticed a theme emerge. When someone in their community needed financial help, the characters in the show came together to put on a benefit concert.

“I grew up in the days of Farm Aid and Live Aid, where benefit concerts were thrown to address world issues,” says Samuel. “I think we can do the same to address issues at home in our communities, and that’s the kind of trim that

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I was hoping to start with this type of fundraising event.”

Enter The Citizen Science Lab’s forthcoming Flying Beyond Intergalactic Boundaries Through STEM concert.

Featuring some of the best hip-hop artists and rappers from the ’90s — Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rakim, Das EFX, and Positive K — the concert, set for Sun., May 29 at Stage AE, will help the lab continue its mission of increasing the number of underrepresented groups in the sciences.

“Music is what keeps us going, and a lot of times, it guides us,” says Samuel.

“Making sure that we connect through

music, and connect music to science, is a great way to keep us connected to the younger generations.”

Founded in 2015 through a partnership with Duquesne University and the former nonprofit Urban Innovation 21, The Citizen Science Lab is essentially a playground for science and STEM. Their team creates science pipelines for diverse communities, ensuring students across the Pittsburgh region get access to handson experiments and relevant, real-life experimentation — using the same equipment and items found in research labs at the industry or university level.

This year is the second fundraising

concert the lab is hosting, and it is the first time the event will be held in person; the inagural show was planned right before the pandemic and ended up going virtual. The 2022 space theme, Flying Beyond Intergalactic Boundaries Through STEM, was chosen to remind minority communities that, like the recent influx of millionaires and entrepreneurs flying into space, they too can be a part of the exploration of the cosmos.

But why the retro hip-hop and rap lineup? Well, it’s partly because Samuel wanted to choose acts that people haven’t seen in a while, but he felt they would love to see “before it’s too late.”

PHOTO: COURTESY ANDRE SAMUEL

The Citizen Science Lab

“THESE WERE SOME OF THE GREATEST MCS AND PIONEERS OF HIP HOP, AND I GREW UP LISTENING TO THEM.”

331661_4.75_x_4.75.indd 1

“These were some of the greatest MCs and pioneers of hip hop, and I grew up listening to them,” he says. “I wanted to keep us connected to the ’90s and the roots of the ’90s.” But the decision also stemmed from one of Samuel’s continuous goals: dispelling myths about Black people in the sciences.

Flying Beyond Intergalactic Boundaries Through STEM with SLICK RICK, BIG DADDY KANE, DJ JAZZY JEFF, RAKIM, DAS EFX, AND POSITIVE K 3 p.m. Sun., May 29. Stage AE. 400 N. Shore Drive, North Side. $78.75$128.75. thecitizensciencelab.org

“One of those myths is that if you’re Black and into science, you’re nerdy and geeky and not into all of the things we [as Black people] tend to be into culturally; that make us the unique wonderful people that we are,” says Samuel. “So why

5/23/22 11:38

not have some of the greatest MCs in the universe come and get people together to celebrate STEM?” The Citizen Science Lab’s programming generally serves around 400 kids throughout the year, and, since 2015, they have reached over 4,250 students. The forthcoming benefit concert is the lab’s one, big fundraiser of the year, where, along with music, they will highlight the accomplishments of their students. In addition, one program alumni currently enrolled in a science discipline in college will receive the Madura Award, consisting of a scholarship and blown glass trophy handmade by Black glass artist Percy Echols II. “It’s really important to get people to come out and support the event because all of that funding goes directly to supporting one of those 4,250,” says Samuel.

“That’s really what this is all about. We are an organization that is very much about making sure that doors of opportunity to STEM and STEM career pathways are opened up for our community.” •

Follow featured contributor Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH THU., MAY 26 Pittsburgh fantasy fans will hear from one of the genre’s most successful and celebrated authors when Neil Gaiman presents a talk at Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland. For decades, Gaiman has entranced readers with his imaginative, award-winning tales, many of which have been adapted into film and television shows, including Good Omens, American Gods, and Coraline. Presented by Penguin Bookshop. 7:30 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $48-58. penguinbookshop.com

OUTDOORS • IRL Bike, walk, scoot, or skate your way through the South Side and Downtown when OpenStreetsPGH once again takes over Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Organized

by Bike Pittsburgh, the event reimagines streets as “places for people,” temporarily closing roads to car traffic and inviting the public to enjoy music, games, dancing, and other activities hosted by various local organizations. There will also be food, prize giveaways, and more. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Various locations, Downtown and South Side. Free. openstreetspgh.org

FILM • IRL The Party for Socialism and Liberation in Pittsburgh will present Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steel Workers as part of its Liberation Film Nights. Co-directed by Ray Henderson and Tony Buba, the film takes viewers to Pittsburgh-area steel towns, notably Braddock and Aliquippa, to “document the history of the contributions made by African Americans not only to the Steel Industry, but to the labor movement itself.” The event will take place at the Pittsburgh Liberation Center and includes a Q&A with Buba. 6 p.m. 733 N. Highland Ave., Highland Park. Free. Donations accepted. facebook.com/pghpsl/events

MARKET • IRL Refresh your wardrobe, grab a gift ahead of Father’s Day, or buy a little something for a friend during the Made & Found Summer Market at Spirit. Check out items by 30 vintage dealers, makers, and artists from throughout the region during an outdoor event (weather permitting) in Spirit’s garden and parking lot. Choose from handmade leather goods, jewelry, quality second-hand clothing, and more. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. Free. spiritpgh.com/events

SAT., MAY 28

FEST • IRL

MUSIC • IRL

Return to the days of unsupervised, afterschool fun when Arcade Comedy Theater

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HYBRID / MIX OF IN REAL LIFE AND ONLINE EVENT

SUN., MAY 29

FRI., MAY 27

COMEDY • IRL

VIRTUAL / STREAMING OR ONLINE-ONLY EVENT

celebration of Ginger, Scary, Baby, Sporty, and Posh. Enjoy the Spice Girls as portrayed by Alora Chateaux, Leia Way Lestat, Dixie Surewood, Cindy Crotchford, and Tootsie Snyder. And remember to bring plenty of bills to tip the performers.

11 p.m. 5115 Butler St., Lawrenceville.

Free. 21 and over. bluemoononbutler.com

LIT • IRL

Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras, an organization that provides opportunities to young musicians throughout the Pittsburgh region, will present its spring concert, Brand New Way, at Heinz Hall.

The program includes performances by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra member Irene Cheng, vocalist Dr. Zuly Inirio, Concerto Competition winner Becky Mack, and Hannah Ishizaki, who will conduct the premiere of the string ensemble piece “Miniatures.” The evening concludes with an ensemble performance of Ottorino Respighi’s “Pines of the Appian Way.” 5 p.m. Doors at 4 p.m.

600 Penn Ave., Downtown. Free, or suggested donation. trypo.org

IRL / IN REAL LIFE EVENT

PHOTO: KIMBERLY BUTLER

^ Neil Gaiman

presents The Latchkey Kids Go To The Movies. Featuring local comedy group The Latchkey Kids, the event is described as a variety show full of “improv, live music, stand-up comedy, and vintage videos” from the 1980s up through 2002. Laughs will be provided by The Latchkey Kids as well as guest improvisers Jennifer Holz, Amy Ream, and Max Rubinstein. Proof of

COVID-19 vaccination and face mask are required upon entry. 8 p.m. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $10-15. 16 and up. arcadecomedytheater.com

DRAG • IRL So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. You wanna go to Spice Night at Blue Moon, a drag

The Strip District will come alive when KayaFest brings live music, dancing, and street food to Smallman Street. The annual event promises a lineup with acts playing “funky reggae, folky Americana, and fresh alt-rock.” The all-day party will also feature steelpan drums and Samba dancers, as well as food and drink served

by Kaya, a popular eatery specializing in dishes inspired by the Caribbean Islands, South America, and the Pacific. 3-10 p.m.

2000 Smallman St., Strip District. Free. kaya.menu/events/kayafest

MON., MAY 30 EVENT • IRL See marching bands, dogs, classic cars, local sports mascots, and more during the annual Memorial Day Parade in Lawrenceville. Touted as one of the

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longest-running parades in the country, the event includes 65 groups gathering together to honor war veterans. The parade kicks off at 36th Street and Butler Street and ends at the Allegheny Cemetery, where more than 15,000 veterans are laid to rest. There will also be a memorial tribute service at the Cemetery’s Soldiers Memorial. 10 a.m. 36th and Butler St., Lawrenceville. Free. alleghenycemetery.com

ZOO • IRL Summer is finally here, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is celebrating with its Opening Season Parade. Crowds can expect costume characters and other surprises during what is being described as an “all-new, bigger parade.” Guests should post up along the parade route, which runs from the Forest Passage and travels along the Zoo path, ending on the Kids Kingdom patio, so they won’t miss any of the action. 11 a.m. 7370 Baker St., Highland Park. Included with regular admission. pittsburghzoo.org

TUE., MAY 31 LIT • HYBRID Get ready for another round of local lit when White Whale presents the Hemingway’s Summer Poetry Series. Hear selections from Diana Khoi Nguyen, Halsey Hyer, Adam Matcho, Ellen McGrath Smith, and Arlene Weiner during an event taking place in person and over livestream. The series will continue at White Whale every Tuesday for eight weeks from May through

August. 7:30-8:30 p.m. 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. Registration required. whitewhalebookstore.com

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FILM • IRL Spend an evening with a cult classic when Smiling Moose hosts Bad Movie Bingo: Serial Mom. Written and directed by John Waters, the 1994 film stars Kathleen Turner as an average suburban woman who loves her family, community, and killing anyone who gets on her nerves.

Presented by Neo Trash Video, the event includes a screening of the film along with giveaways and a grand prize at the end.

8 p.m. 1306 E. Carson St., South Side. Free. facebook.com/NeoTrashVideo

WED., JUNE 1 THEATER • IRL Pittsburgh Public Theater pays tribute to late playwright August Wilson with a production of his 1990 work Two Trains Running. The sixth entry in his 10-part Pittsburgh Cycle series takes place in 1969 at the height of the Civil Rights movement as lead character Memphis “faces a battle of his own in Pittsburgh where the city wants to raze his Hill District restaurant for an urban renewal project,” according to a release. PPT describes Two Trains Running as a “wise, funny, and achingly beautiful play that’s brimming with local history and legendary language.” Staging at the O’Reilly Theater. 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., June 19. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $32-80. ppt.org PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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ACROSS 1. It once did Windows 6. Yukon and Acadia maker 9. Script consultant?

14. Skier’s transports 15. “That’s the best you got?”

16. Spoiled brat’s cry 17. Quick view of a thing that needs oiling?

20. WYSIWYG 21. Broadcasting 22. “I ___ to tell you something” 23. ID with two dashes 25. Programleaving key 27. Go “whee!” while parachuting?

35. Kansas governor ___ Kelly 36. Batty 37. Luka Dončić, for short 38. Comic strip character with an anatomically incorrect tongue 39. Semper Fidelis composer 40. Holy See head honcho 41. Spot on a card 42. Kirsten of The Power of the Dog 43. Some riding mowers 44. Winces in someone’s face?

47. Wordle owner,

for short 48. Catch 21 channel, for short 49. Its day lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds 52. Uncle Tom’s Cabin escapee 56. “That’s how you do it!”

60. Stashed away energy?

63. ___-Japanese War 64. Half of a candy duo 65. Mythic glows 66. See 2-Down 67. Mooncalf 68. Grace and sophistication

DOWN 1. With 58-Down, “Agreed!”

2. Events to serve up 66-Across 3. Hawaiian island 4. Game 7 feeling 5. Farm-to-table food prog.

6. Fed 7. Puzzle within a puzzle 8. Tea with a kick 9. Punching device 10. “So you’re saying there’s a ___” 11. Point at the dinner table 12. Never happening again 13. Stick in the mud?

18. Coffee blend 19. ___ Green (Scottish eloping spot) 24. With with Irish, China, and Java 26. What to call her 27. Mayor of London ___ Khan 28. Knotty Incan calculator 29. Only NFC team to never have played a Super Bowl 30. Occupied 31. Really unpleasant 32. Messy campfire treat 33. Punching sound 34. Man’s name that sounds like a part of a roof 35. Cuts (off) 39. Civil War Fort 40. Identify

42. In need of rain 43. Sports bar decor 45. Won’t take no for an answer 46. “Fetch the smelling salts!”

49. No. in a car ad 50. Blue hue 51. Sign of oxidation 53. Character who was #1 on Entertainment Weekly’s Star Wars Top 100 Characters 54. Varieties 55. Central components of a puzzle?

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 25 - JUNE 1, 2022

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