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Larry Pickett selected as Chairman of IATM See Page A6
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
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www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 115 No. 28 Two Sections
JULY 10-16, 2024
The push to get Black men more concerned about their mental health Actor, Pittsburgh native Lamman Rucker leading the charge by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
It's time for Black men to have the conversation. Even if they don't think it's the "manly" thing to do. Even if, historically in the Black community, it's been "frowned upon." That's what the "Just Heal, Bro" tour was all about. The tour stopped in more than 30 cities over the past two years, and for celebrity actor and performer Lamman Rucker, he couldn't finish the tour without coming back to his native town, Pittsburgh. Rucker teamed up with a number of African American men, including author, speaker and licensed therapist Jay Barnett and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, to provide an open forum for Black men in Pittsburgh
to know that it's OK to visit a licensed therapist and speak on current and past traumas. The forum was held, June 20, at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Downtown. The statistics are alarming; While 40 percent of Whites seek mental health care, just 25 percent of African Americans do. Data brought to the forum by the "Just Heal, Bro" tour producers also read that African American adults are 20 percent more likely to experience mental health issues than the rest of the population, and that suicide has doubled over the past few years for African American men. These days, Black men die from suicide at four times the rate of Black women. Rucker, 52, who attended Manchester Elementary School for a time before
his family left Pittsburgh, said that early in his youth, he discovered that his love for the arts and theater "and being in that space really helped me to express what was going on with me emotionally, spiritually, and mentally." As other men in the audience shared ways that they were feeling to Rucker and others on the panel, part of the "safe space" that Rucker and the panelists created meant that personal stories being shared wouldn't leave the room. But in public interviews to the media before and following the event, Rucker said overall, these safe spaces are needed throughout Pittsburgh and the country for Black men...and teens. "We believe that this SEE MENTAL HEALTH A8
ACTOR AND PITTSBURGH NATIVE LAMMAN RUCKER (FILE PHOTO)
A GARFIELD LEGEND
Joseph Charlton, better known as DJ Bo, dies at 52
DJ BO DIED ON JUNE 28 AT AGE 52.
by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
The New Pittsburgh Courier, in its numerous interviews throughout
the past week and a half, has come to learn that someone who is considered a Garfield legend has passed. Born and raised on
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Columbo Street, in the heyday of Garfield being much more African American than it is today, whom his older brother called "a gentle giant," Joseph Charlton, known as DJ Bo, died on June 28. He was 52. The exact cause of death hasn't been made public. DJ Bo's older brother, Clifford Charlton, is known to the City of Pittsburgh as Sly Jock of WAMO Radio fame. But Sly Jock told the Courier that his younger brother carved out his own niche to become one of the pioneers of rap music in Pittsburgh in the 1980s as a member of the "Vicious 3" rap group. A graduate of Peabody High School, he was wellknown to DJ parties, clubs and events throughout the city as Pittsburgh warmed up to the rap genre. "He's been Hip-Hop and rap all his life," voiced his good friend Tone Walls. "When rap was coming of age in Pittsburgh in the '80s, he was involved in that, of course." In 1985, a movie starring Mario Van Peebles named "Rappin" was released. It was filmed largely in Pittsburgh. DJ Bo was an extra in the movie. When the Garfield GaSEE DJ BO A6
HAPPY 100TH, MR. FISHER!
WILLIAM “BILL” FISHER, THE FIRST BLACK PRINCIPAL TO SERVE AT ALLDERDICE HIGH SCHOOL IN SQUIRREL HILL, WAS HONORED FOR HIS NUMEROUS ACHIEVEMENTS AND HIGH STANDARDS FOR YOUTH IN PITTSBURGH. OH, AND LET’S NOT LEAVE OUT THAT HE TURNED 100 YEARS OLD ON JUNE 22! SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE A4. (PHOTO BY GENE PUSKAR)