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America’s best weekly Three Rivers Youth celebrates 135 years

Firm receives patents for useful inventions

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U.S.-Senegalese singer Akon unveils new solar campaign for Africa

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For whom is ‘affordable housing’ affordable?

VOL. 106, NO. 23

Published Weekly

Three Sections

$1.00

JUNE 10-16, 2015

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

At the end of May, Pittsburgh officials celebrated the opening of two mixedincome housing developments, one in East Liberty and one in the Hill District. Mayor Bill Peduto said the East Liberty Place South development—comprised of 52 one-and twobedroom units and built by

the nonprofit Community Builders—would guard against gentrification. “This could be some of the most expensive housing in the city of Pittsburgh right now. You could have folks from Google moving in and paying a premium to live here,” he said. “But we wanted to make sure of one thing—that there was housing here for the people of East Liberty who struggled through the bad times

“Not me. It irks me. Poverty is moving to the first-ring suburbs—Ben Avon, Bellevue, Monroeville, Turtle Creek, Cheswick and Blawnox—and it’s moving because the rental housing is more affordable.” GEORGE MOSES Past chairman of the National Low Income Housing Coalition

so they could be part of the good times.” According to the Community Builders press release, the apartments are offered to residents earning 20-115 percent of the area median income, with rents ranging from $520 to $950 for a onebedroom and $610 to $1,300 for a two-bedroom. Similarly, when the city celebrated the opening of Skyline Terrace, built by KBK Enterprises for the

Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh to replace Addison Terrace, Housing Authority Executive Director Caster Binion called all 186 units in the first phase “affordable housing.” Though the AMI, which the housing authority is required to use for its income guidelines is $48,688—because it extends well beSEE AFFORDABLE A4

City settles police suit for $40K

PPS names Brown chief of school safety

by Ashley Johnson

by Merecedes J. Howze

Courier Staff Writer

A Pittsburgh man who filed a lawsuit last year claiming that Pittsburgh police officers violated his rights during an arrest in 2012 settled the suit with the City of Pittsburgh June 2 and will receive $40,000. In July 2012 Paul Parrish led officers on a car chase that began on North Charles Street and ended on Route 65, near the McKees Rocks Bridge. Upon surrendering, with his hands in the air and out the window, an officer, identified to the New Pittsburgh Courier in a previous reporting as Robert Ross, approached and began pistol whipping Parrish, pulling him out of the vehicle through the window and stomping him. The incident was captured on video by a police dash camera. Parrish’s attorney, Todd Hollis, said, “I’m extremely elated for Mr. Parrish. Although we can’t turn back the hands of time and make SEE CITY A5

For New Pittsburgh Courier

NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERS—Mayor Bill Peduto joins members of the Homewood Community Development Collaborative to announce “a new day” for Homewood revitalization. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

‘A new day’ Leaders celebrate Homewood Collaborative by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

Reverend Samuel Ware’s Building United has erected 20 affordable houses in Homewood; Rashad Byrdsong’s Community Empowerment Association has trained hundreds from the community to work as painters, drywallers and carpenters; and Jerome Jackson’s

Operation Better Block has gone door-to-door to create a resident-based development plan for Homewood. But despite their capacity and successes, none of these organizations could access the large corporate, foundation and government development funding required to realize the vision of a renewed, thriving Homewood—until last week.

On June 5, those three, were joined by the leaders of the Homewood Concerned Citizens Council, Homewood Renaissance, the Save Race Street Committee, and the Rosedale Block Cluster, as well as Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, city Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess and state Rep. Ed Gainey, DSEE LEADERS A4

Young entrepreneurs make their pitch

On May 27, the Pittsburgh Board of Education approved George Brown Jr. as the chief of School Safety. The appointment makes Brown only the second African American to hold the position since the retirement of Stanley Rideout in 1996. For more than 20 years, Brown has served the children of Pittsburgh through the Office of School Safety, which currently consists of 22 police officers and 54 GEORGE BROWN JR. security guards. “Chief Brown has distinguished himself these past few months in the ‘acting’ role leading our Department of School Safety. His more than two decades of experience SEE BROWN A4

APA teaches youth meaning of true activism by Ashley Johnson Courier Staff Writer

by Christian Morrow

business, asked her why it was sugar-free. She responded that sugar isn’t good for you. “Please don’t say that,” he joked. Joking aside, Rossi said she designed her Coco Cabeza ice cream in response to her father developing a metal toxicity that required drastic dietary changes. The

Brownsville High School senior, who plans to study chemistry in college and develop Courier Staff Writer more such products, was among the firstplace winners at the Entrepreneuring After Sarah Rossi presented her sugarYouth annual George W. Tippins Business free, lactose-free ice cream made from coPlan Competition. conut milk to a panel of judges that inAll the winners were participants in Encluded business-owners and venture capitrepreneuring Youth’s multi-year program tal partners, Bill Sarris, owner of the candy aimed at youth in economically challenged areas in and around Allegheny County and had previously participated in regional iPitch competition. All their products, drive and achievements were celebrated at the Ignite Possibilities event following the final judging at the Rivers Club in Pittsburgh June 4. Products ranged from one-of-a-kind decorative scented candles to custom decorated sunglasses. All conceived, developed and produced by middle school WINNING THE FUTURE—Participants in the 2015 George W. Tippins Business Plan Competition, including winners and high school students. announced June 4 at the Rivers Club, pose for a group photo. (Photo courtesy of Entrepreneuring Youth) SEE ENTREPRENEURS A4

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Over the past few months, when it comes to social issues and the fight for justice, there is one group that is making its voice heard and its presence known more now than in recent years past—it’s today’s young people. They are rallying, marching and letting the older generation know that they are paying attention to BRANDI FISHER what’s going on and that they are willing to be apart of the change. Through a recently launched leadership program, Activism is Love, the grassroots initiative, the Alliance for Police Accountability, is helping several youth with a passion to better their community and humanity, as a whole, to cultivate and use their skills to be effective leaders for not only tomorrow, but today as well.

Ulish Carter says

Zone 5 Open House a great move Opinion A6

SEE APA A5

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This Week In Black History

JUNE 10-16, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

US-Senegalese singer Akon unveils new solar campaign for Africa AKON

( N N PA ) — S e n e g a l e s e American R&B singer, Akon, has been lighting up Africa with solar energy even while the solar industry in the U.S. struggles to catch fire. The Missouriborn artist has become a rising star in the movement to bring electricity from the sun to rural communities. Launched in February 2014, “Akon Lighting Africa” describes its aims as “bringing electricity to African villages by a clean and affordable solar energy solution.” The company uses a microlending model to provide solar-powered micro-grids and street lighting systems. Akon unveiled his latest plan to launch a solar energy job-training program in Bamako, Mali, during a presentation this past week at the U.N.’s second Sustainable Energy for All forum. The venture joins a relatively crowded field of entrepreneurs and investors—and govern-

ments—looking to establish off-grid solar projects across the continent, but ALA is growing at warp speed. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Akon described how his company funds initial projects to demonstrate the technology and benefits to potential buyers. An average investment per village is $75,000, and the firm has invested almost $400 million so far, he said. “We invest our own money to get things started,” Akon says. “We go in, plead our case to the country, put up pilots with our own dollars using sophisticated equipment and we make sure we do the installation right. It shows people that we’re not coming in to pull money out of the country. We’re there to provide jobs for the locals and to enable them to feed their families.” In Guinea-Conakry, for example, Akon says the company is employing 5,000 people to install its sys-

tems. A $1 billion credit line with the Chinese provider of its solar systems helps ensure rapid growth. “It means anyone who installs our systems can make payments over [several] years,” says Samba Baithily, an ALA partner. “Most of these countries couldn’t allocate the money to pay for a big project up front, but they can afford if they pay by installments.” Since launching a year ago, Akon’s group has operations in 11 nations, including Guinea-Conakry, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin and Sierra Leone. “In any emerging market there will be a lot of difficulties,” Akon said in the WSJ interview. “The countries are not necessarily stable and infrastructure isn’t there, but if you understand that, it’s not difficult. The hardest part is getting people to believe.” (Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News)

South African voters ‘in a bad mood’ over unemployment and corruption (NNPA)—Unemployment in South Africa is higher than at any time in the past 11 years, reaching 26.4 percent and almost double that percentage for people younger than 25. Joblessness, combined with lurid reports of cor-

Elaine Effort

ruption, have left voters discouraged and dismayed, according to an internal ANC election-strategy document. The party will be facing elections next year, with the key cities Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay

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now in play. Voters “think we are performing badly” in combating crime and corruption and in creating jobs, the internal document said, adding, “Dysfunctional state services and corrupt leaders and lack of contact lose us hundreds of thousands of votes.” Voters are in a bad mood and are fed up with corruption and incompetence, the report announced. A copy of the report was obtained by the Mail & Guardian newspaper and shared with its readers. In addition to the failure to create jobs, government has failed to get a grip on crime, with its spike in murders, house robberies and hijackings. (Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News)

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Week of June 10-16 June 10 1760—Several sources list this at the birthday of Richard Allen—founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Other sources give his birth date as Feb. 14, 1760. Regardless, the AME church was the first African-American organized and incorporated church in America. Allen, Absalom Jones and a group of free Blacks in Philadelphia founded the church in 1794. Allen and his group were initially members of the city’s predominantly White St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. But when several Blacks were ejected from the church for attempting to pray alongside Whites, Allen led a walkout, which resulted in the forming of the AME church. 1898—Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar, is born on this day in Wichita, Kan. She HATTIE MCDANIEL won her Academy Award in 1940 for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Mammy in the classic film “Gone With The Wind.” Once criticized for playing stereotypical and sometimes demeaning “Black roles,” she responded, “I’d rather play a maid than be one.” McDaniel died in 1952. 1941—The “Black Moses,” Marcus Garvey dies in London, England. Starting around 1916, Garvey built his United Negro Improvement Association into the largest mass organization of Blacks in history, with the slogan “Up You Mighty Race.” The UNIA owned businesses ranging from bakeries to shipping companies. Garvey preached Black pride and self-reliance, while steering away from the more integrationist thrust of most prominent Black leaders of his day. He was eventually jailed on what are now viewed as trumped up mail fraud charges. Presidential intervention got Garvey freed. But in exchange for his early release from prison, the Jamaican native had to agree to leave the United States and not return. Separated from his U.S. base, Garvey was never able to rebuild the UNIA. June 11 1963—President John F. Kennedy declares during a nationwide radio and television address that segregation MARCUS GARVEY was “morally wrong” and told the U.S. Congress it was “time to act” (pass legislation) to end all segregation of the races. That statement and similar ones endeared Kennedy to millions of African-Americans. However, a few months after making the declaration, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But most of his legislative ideas would be implemented by his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson. 1963—Displaying the tenacity of the segregationist mentality dominant in the South in the 1960s, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, with the aid of state troopers, stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to block two Black students from integrating the school. But when the Deputy U.S. Attorney General returned later in the day with a force of National Guardsmen, Wallace stepped aside and Vivian Malone and James Hood were allowed to register. June 12 1840—The world’s first anti-slavery GOV. GEORGE WALLACE convention took place in London, England. The aim of the gathering was to unite abolitionists worldwide. However, the effectiveness of the convention was harmed by a decision to exclude female delegates. 1886—The Georgia Supreme Court upholds the will of former slave owner David Dickson who had left over $300,000 to a child he fathered by raping a 12-year-old Black girl. The ruling made Amanda America Eubanks the wealthiest Black person in America. She would later marry one of her White first cousins. 1963—Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, was assassinated in front of his home by White supremacist Byron de la Beckwith. All-White juries twice refused to find De la Beckwith guilty although the evidence was overwhelming. Finally, in 1995, Beckwith was convicted of killing the civil rights activist. Beckwith died in prison in 2001. 1967—The United States Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that Virginia’s law banning interracial marriages was unconstitutional. The decision was a death blow to similar laws throughout the South. However, Alabama did not officially remove its “anti-miscegenation” law from the books until 2000. June 13 1967—President Lyndon B. Johnson nominates former NAACP Chief Counsel Thurgood Marshall to be the first Black justice MEDGAR EVERS on the United States Supreme Court. He said of his decision, it “was the right thing to do, the right time to do it.” Marshall had been a towering figure in the legal battles against segregation including lead counsel in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. The Senate would confirm the nomination Aug. 30. An aside: Marshall’s original name was Thoroughgood but he shortened it to Thurgood. June 14 1811—White anti-slavery activist Harriet Beecher Stowe is born. Stowe was the author of one of the best selling books of 1852—“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The book addressed the brutality of slavery and featured the character of “Uncle Tom”—a slave who, perhaps unfairly, came to symbolize the accommodating Black person who showed complete deference to Whites. The book was such an indictment of slavery that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe he remarked, “You’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great [civil] war.” 1970—Cheryl Adrienne Brown wins the Miss Iowa pageant and becomes the first African-American to compete in the Miss America beauty pageant. June 15 1864—Gen. Ulysses S. Grant outfoxed Confederate Gen. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE Robert E. Lee by switching an attack strategy from Cold Harbor to Petersburg, Va. The assault, spearheaded by Gen. Charles Paine, knocked a mile-wide hole in Lee’s defenses and resulted in the capture of hundreds of rebel soldiers and helped speed up the end of the Civil War. Several Black regiments were involved in the assault and siege. Grant would later become the 18th president of the United States and use his office to deal a series of crushing blows to the rapidly growing forces of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s. 1877—Henry O. Flippea becomes the first Black graduate of the U.S. military academy at West Point. 1921—Bessie Coleman becomes the first woman of any race to obtain an international pilot’s license. But she had to leave the United States and study in France in order to accomplish her goal. She was barred from U.S. flight schools because of her race and her sex. Born in a small town called Atlanta, Texas, Coleman would move to Chicago where she was influenced by several prominent Blacks including Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender. When she returned to the U.S. from France, Hollywood wanted to do a movie about her amazing feat. She walked off the set because she felt the film actually degraded Blacks. Coleman died in a plane accident April 30, 1926. June 16 1822—This was the rumored start date of the Denmark BESSIE COLEMAN Vesey-led slave revolt in the Charleston, S.C., area. Vesey, a former slave who had bought his freedom, had organized what is still believed to be the largest and most comprehensive slave revolt in American history. Aware of how “house slaves” tended to be loyal to their slave masters, Vesey had given strict orders that none were to be included in the plot. But so many Blacks (both slave and free) were involved that word eventually leaked out and just as Vesey feared, a house slave told the authorities. Military forces were moved into the city and scores were arrested. Thirty-five Blacks, including Vesey, were hanged. [There is some historical debate as to whether June 16 was the actual start date for the rebellion. There is some authority that July 14 was to be the start date. But what is clear is that military forces moved into the city on June 16 to put down the planned revolt.] 1969—The United States Supreme Court rules that the suspension of Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. from the U.S. House of Representatives on alleged corruption charges was unconstitutional. Powell, who had first won election to Congress in 1945, was returned to the House but without his seniority. Powell had been one of the most powerful men in Congress. He had fought civil rights battles in New York and had followed his father as pastor of the city’s influential Abyssinian Baptist Church. He often told Blacks “Mass action is the most powerful force on earth.” He also frequently reminded his supporters to “Keep the faith, baby.”

Shakur, others on personal mission to address Black-on-Black violence NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

NATIONAL

by Jazelle Hunt

NNPA Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA)—As cities across the country have mobilized massive street protests over police violence and misconduct, a familiar question has been raised by their opponents: Why does violence within the Black community garner less concern than police violence? According to crowd-sourced database, Mapping Police Violence, 304 Black people died at the hands of police last year, 101 of them unarmed. But Black offenders were responsible for 90 percent of the nearly 2,500 Black homicide victims in 2013, according to data compiled by the FBI. Between 2002 and 2011, the homicide rate was 6.3 times higher for Blacks than Whites. Detroit-based community organizer, Yusef Shakur is on a personal mission to end the community violence he once perpetrated. By the age of 19, he had co-founded a gang and was given up to 15 years in prison, where he met his father for the first time. ON A MISSION—Yusef Shakur, center, counseling a young man [Courtesy Photo] Through positive guidance from his father and a personal decision to do better, Shakur left prison determined to repay his debt directly to his It was Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal that sparked community. the Black Lives Matter organization. “Urban environments are like a dried-up lake; so people “The local is the national. There’s no way that there turn on each other out of survival. They don’t know what would be a national conversation about state violence if they’re doing is out of hatred and anger, they take it out on local residents in Ferguson and St. Louis didn’t take to the the person that’s next to them, because they don’t know streets,” said Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the nationhow to take it out on the people downtown in the City wide Black Lives Matter activist network, which began in Council building,” he says. “They don’t know how to artic- 2012. “The other piece is, there’s lots of Black people, for ulate themselves…how to organize a boycott, so you take the last 40 years, who have been figuring [out] how do we it out on other folks. Throw in drugs, lack of education, deal with harm inside of our communities.” guns all those things are a recipe for genocide.” While the death toll of “Black-on-Black crime” is disShakur’s organization, Restoring the Neighbor Back to the Hood, seeks to rebuild a sense of community in the “Urban environments are like a dried-up “Zone 8” section of Detroit through back-to-school bag giveaways, block parties, survival kits for indigent residents lake; so people turn on each other out of and families, and one-on-one mentorship. Fourteen years survival. They don’t know what they’re after his release, he is an award-winning organizer and remains embedded in his neighborhood as a positive infludoing is out of hatred and anger, they take ence, particularly on those who commit the crimes that have made Detroit infamous. it out on the person that’s next to them, To him, the victims of these crimes are just as important because they don’t know how to take it as those slain at the hands of racist authority figures. “When any (deaths) happen, there’s outrage. We know out on the people downtown in the City tons of people who get killed but the media doesn’t talk Council building.” about it,” Shakur says. “There are folks who do candlelight vigils, folks crying on the floor and things, but there’s no YUSEF SHAKUR media coverage. But if it’s a high-profile situation, that brings Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, then we see the outrage.” tressing, it is worth noting that most crime happens Many of the stories that have become major headlines within communities and races. White offenders were reand have fueled national protests began as local efforts. sponsible for 83 percent of White victims in 2013, and Trayvon Martin’s murder, for example, only became a Latino offenders were responsible for 74 percent of Latino major media story after relentless social media campaign- victims. ing and Sanford, Florida’s “Justice for Trayvon” protests Cullors said that the tug-of-war between community viospread across the country—and it still took 44 days of ac- lence and state violence is among the most common critition to secure George Zimmerman’s arrest. cisms Black Lives Matter receives.

JUNE 10-16, 2015

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“The focal point is state violence, but that is not the end-all be-all. When myself, Alicia Garza, (and) Opal Tometi created Black Lives Matter, it was never just to talk about law enforcement or vigilantes. It was actually about a broader conversation about anti-Black racism and the impact in our communities,” she explained. “It’s about broadening what state violence means. If someone is homeless…if people in the community aren’t able to have jobs, that’s state violence.” Shakur lives and works in the crosshairs between state and community violence. Sometimes, he uses the respect he’s earned in his neighborhood by inserting himself to break up fights and conflicts. But he’s also seen a police officer roll up to a group of young boys and hop out of the car to say, “I can’t wait to put you in prison.” He believes that community violence and police/state violence are different issues that share a link as effects of White supremacy. “Folks are not using a historical context. When Trayvon Martin gets killed or Michael Brown, et cetera, it reminds you of Emmett Till. It reminds you of your grandfather getting lynched. It reminds you of the reality of being Black in America,” he said. “But the work has to be twofold. It has to be 30 percent police, 70 percent on us. We have to do the work internally to restore interpersonal relationships. If we clean up what we have to clean up, it makes it easier for us to organize against the police, because the police are going to do what they’re going to do.” Each of the Black Lives Matter co-founders is also a grassroots community organizer. Cullors is a founding board member of Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles-based grassroots group working to empower incarcerated people, their families, and their communities. Alicia Garza has been involved in several grassroots groups across the Bay Area, including People Organized to Win Employment Rights, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she has held leadership roles. Opal Tometi is executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, a New York-based Black advocacy group. Cullors believes that community violence is largely a reflection of state violence, both literal and in the form of oppression. For this reason, the two issues, though separate, are not at odds. “Much of the harm happening in our communities has a lot to do with the trauma of living in a racist, capitalist country. The trauma of not having a job, the trauma of not being able to feed your own children. The trauma of being abandoned at a young age because your family are drug users, the trauma of being in the foster system,” Cullors said. She added, “Let’s actually deal with the root causes of that trauma. The fight around intra-community violence is a fight about not only the state…but our conversation – it looks like an internal conversation—is about what do we do to take care of ourselves. Where are the spaces that we fight for our communities to have what they need so we don’t harm each other? ‘Black Lives Matter’ means a new way of fighting for freedom.”

Creflo Dollar’s megachurch to move forward with jet campaign

ATLANTA (AP)—An Atlanta megachurch’s board of directors said June 3 that it is moving forward in a campaign to buy a private jet. The board of directors for World Changers Church International and Creflo Dollar ministries said the Gulfstream G650 Dollar wants is necessary to continue international ministry and aid work. The jet is valued at more than $65 million. An initial recorded appeal for donations didn’t adequately explain that Dollar was looking for donations from like-minded people and not the public at large, board members said. The board says a revamped video will be released soon. Numerous online reports quoted the initial request on the ministry’s website as saying: “We are believing for 200,000 people to give contributions of 300 U.S. dollars or more to turn this dream into a reality.’’ Board members said they reject criticism

CREFLO DOLLAR (Getty Images/File)

that the appeal for donations was an attempt at taking advantage of worshippers and that all significant church projects must be presented before they’re implemented. “A proper system of checks and balances is in place to insure the ministry’s dealings are beyond reproach,’’ the statement said. Dollar is a prominent African American preacher based near Atlanta who has built successful ministries on the prosperity gospel. Ministers in this tradition often hold up their own wealth as evidence that the teaching works. A former spokesman for Dollar said the ministry’s current plane, acquired in 1999, was built in 1984, has traveled more than four-million miles and is no longer safe. Board members said the ministry’s pastors travel more than 300 times a year for speaking engagements around the world.

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JUNE 10-16, 2015

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

METRO

Leaders celebrate Homewood Collaborative CONTINUED FROM A1

East Liberty, to announce the dawning of “a new day,” with the formation of the Homewood Community Development Collaborative. “This is historic for two reasons,” said Gainey. “First, we’re tearing down the stereotype that we can’t work together. These people put the lie to that. Secondly, we have a commitment from the mayor to make sure this group is at the development table. And backed by the mayor, we will move Homewood forward.” Peduto thanked everyone for the work toward and persistence. “There’s no head chair because this is a round table, a different model. This comes from Homewood up, not top-down from Grant Street,” he said. “And when developers come with their agendas, the community will say no, we determine the agenda. And if you don’t want to do it, we’ll find a developer who will.” Reverend Burgess said the group is the culmination of months of negotiations and planning, and will begin development work immediately. “What you’ll see is a lot of activity on low-hanging, quick hit projects. At the same time we’ll be working to assemble the comprehensive Community Plan,” he said. A comprehensive Community Plan is one thing required to access large development grants. Another is a Community Development Corporation. Homewood doesn’t have one. So another partner will provide technical assistance and act as the collaborative fiduciary agent—East Liberty Development Inc. Maelene Myers said she was honored to take part in this effort and to bring with her the expertise gleaned from working through the 1990s with often opposing factions to rebuild East Liberty. Homewood has the advantage of all these organizations working together,” she said. “Community plans can’t happen in

silos. We need all our institutions on board. Working together, it can happen.” Reverend Burgess also pointed out that if Rev. Ware, Byrdsong and Jackson were officers of a newly created CDC for Homewood, they would be

legally prohibited from doing any of the work it might earn funding for. With ELDI as the collaborative’s CDC, they can continue to use their expertise to rebuild the community and its residents. “If ELDI has the staff and expertise, why should we reinvent the wheel,” said Ware. “Right now were in the process of creating a budget. We have pending projects with the (Urban Redevelopment Authority) and the (Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh). I anticipate we’ll have the comprehensive plan assembled within 90 days.” (Send comments to cmorrow@newpittburghcourier.com.)

NEW CHIEF—George Brown Jr., takes over as the new PPS chief of School Safety. He talks to one of his officers. (Photo from Pittsburgh Public Schools)

PPS names Brown chief of school safety CONTINUED FROM A1

MAELENE MYERS

REV. RICKY BURGESS

CHERYLIE FULLER

ED GAINEY

and his strong community ties will serve the students of PPS well. There is not a doubt that he puts the safety of our students first,” said Superintendent Linda Lane. Brown, who graduated from Pittsburgh Public Schools, spent four years of active duty in the United States Marine Corp with the hopes of becoming a firefighter. In 1990, Brown was on his way to reenlist into the Marines when he stopped at the District’s Administration building on Bellefield Avenue to fill out a general application. “I knew no one,” said Brown, 49. But, little did he know that his spontaneous inquiry would lead to a 25-year career in law enforcement and student safety. Brown’s longest stint was as a security guard at Pittsburgh Brashear from 19912004. From there, he graduated from the Allegheny County Police Academy and joined the ranks as a school police officer. In the Office of School Safety, Brown managed, trained and evaluated staff members. Chief Brown has served in multiple capacities within that office, including Assistant Chief of School Safety, 2013-14, and Police Commander, 2011-2013. Brown served as Acting Chief when incumbent Chief Lisetta Novicki went on leave last fall. During that term, Brown responded to some of the school district’s largest crises in recent years. “It’s very important to provide a safe learning environment for both students and staff,” said Brown. During his years of service, Chief Brown has earned multiple certifications and awards including a: Letter of Commendation for service to the City of Pittsburgh,

School District, White House and Nation Jan. 28, 2010; Letter of Commendation for Valor and Heroism Above the Call of the Duty Jan. 28, 2010; a Letter of Commendation for Service Above the and Beyond the Call of Duty Jan. 29,97) and City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Letter of Recognition Nov. 11,28,1996). Brown, who grew up on Aliquippa Street, is a lifelong resident of the Hill District and graduate of Schenley High School. Deeply invested in the community and its schools, he takes pride in coming “from a family of public servants.” His father, George Brown Sr., who retired as a steel mill worker, started a basketball league in the Hill. While, his mother, Rosa Jean, and older sister, Thomasina, are retired medical professionals. His other three sisters, Monica (ret. Navy), Carmella, and Demita, are all currently working in Pittsburgh’s thriving health field. Whereas, his oldest sister, Veronica, works as a correctional officer at the Allegheny County Jail. He hopes that in this new role “the inner city youth can look at me and see that with a little hard work and dedication, it is possible to achieve anything. All I want to do is have a positive impact on the community.” In response to the district’s upcoming pilot of restorative practices at 21 schools next year, Brown said, “I want to ensure that all security and police officers are trained.” Additionally, he plans to implement diversity training and instruction on how to deal with children with special needs. His staff will receive restorative practices training along with other District staff on June 11 and 12.

Young entrepreneurs make their pitch CONTINUED FROM A1

For whom is ‘affordable housing’ affordable REV. SAM WARE speaks as other supporters look on.

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yond the city boundaries, according to the city-maps website, the median incomes for East Liberty and the Hill District are $14,670 and $13,468, respectively and the corresponding median rental rates are $492 and $454. The rents at Skyline range from $1,500 for a two-bedroom to $1,900 for a threebedroom. Housing Authority spokesman Chuck Rohrer said these units are to be split 33/33/33 among low-income public housing clients, Housing Choice voucher clients and market rate-renters. The first two groups pay 30 percent of their income regardless of whether they make 20 percent of the AMI or 80 percent. But with only about 15 units available for “extremely-low income” (30 percent or lower of AMI), the question remains, for who is this affordable? For George Moses, past chairman of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the answer is easy. “Not me,” he said. “It irks me,” he said. “Poverty is moving to the first-ring suburbs—Ben Avon, Belle-

vue, Monroeville, Turtle Creek, Cheswick and Blawnox—and it’s moving because the rental housing is more affordable.” Moses said there are no easy answers especially when developers and political leaders want to erect new buildings rather than rehabilitate older ones. A report issued by the coalition in December notes it’s a national problem. Locally, Moses said it is also driven by the kind of replacement housing being built. “Twenty five years ago, people actually wanted to go to Whiteside Road in the Hill or to St. Clair Village or Arlington Heights because they had the four- and five-bedroom units families needed. They’re all gone now.” Robert Deemer, regional manager for KBK Enterprises property management, said that’s not entirely true. Though the bulk of units at Skyline are two- and threebedroom, there are five four-bedroom units. There are also eight single-bedroom units. All of them are subsidized. (Send comments row@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

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Greg Spencer, president and CEO of Randall Industries, has been a judge in the competition since its inception and said he is privileged to participate. David Motley, a partner in the Blue Tree Venture Fund, a first-time judge, said he was very impressed with the program and the students. “This is really delivering on its promise of creating youth entrepreneurs,” he said. Some of the other judges included Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Insurance agency owner Grace Robinson, fish market owner Jim Wholey and African American Chamber of Commerce Director of Program Development and Membership Shawn Hicks. Contestants vied for first, second and third place awards in the competition’s three divisions: Start-Up— students who’d been in the program for more than a year, and actually made and lost sales, Up-Start High School, and Up-Start Middle School, both with lesser levels of experience. Though the bulk of this year’s winners came from Brownsville School District, not all did. Amira Jackson and Kira Joseph, both from Manchester Academic Charter School on Pittsburgh’s North Side, won for AJ’s Paradise cookies and Savonette bath soaps, respectively. Cheyene RhoneHopes, who attends program sessions at the Entrepreneuring Youth’s Hilltop E-Center, also won for her Hopes For The Best custom bracelets.

TEAMING WITH TASTE—Caleb Kirkland and Maddie Angelone won a first place $1,500 award for their Holy Cannoli company, which already has product in two retail establishments. (Photo courtesy of Entrepreneuring Youth) The other winners were Caleb Kirkland and Maddie Angelioni, whose Holy Cannolis are already in two retail establishments—and who generated calls about possible catering at the Ignite Possibilities event; Kara Rolf for her Flavorful Fudge; Anastasia LaCotta for her Lucky Elephant candles; Erin Stump for her Spectaclez sunglasses, and Derek Orbash for Natures All Natural granbola bars. Byron Mayers and Christian Onesko received Honorable Mention for their, Let’s Tripp tie-dyed T-shirts Entrepreneuring Youth Executive Director Jerry Cozewith said he is continually impressed with all the

program participants—seeing them go from quiet and inarticulate to assured and able to say who they are, what they are about and why you should invest in them is priceless. “They don’t all master the skills, but being able to say, ‘I’m the president of a business’ and learning that people will pay for something they created helps them realize that they have value,” he said. “And when you talk about youth of color, the racism and discrimination that closes a lot of doors, they often have to create their own doors. This is the way to do it.” (Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

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JUNE 10-16, 2015

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APA teaches youth meaning of true activism CONTINUED FROM A1

For 12 weeks, the initiative, funded by the Heinz Endowments, will take 10 youth, ages 16-26, on an intensive, hands on journey through the world of activism—they will learn what it means and what it takes to be one. “I always tell young people, ‘you’re not our future leaders; you’re our leaders of today.’ Young people are looking to lead and once you put them in leadership position and empower them (they can blossom). We want to teach youth how to organize and mobilize in a strategic way that will be effective in getting them what they seek,” said Brandi Fisher, APA’s president. “This is the age group that we tend to see involved in crime and on the news. That’s why I’m very excited that these individuals find the program attractive and want to get involved.” Fisher said the idea for the program came from her experiences in activism. She said through her encounters in the field, she feels many people have lost what activism is truly about. She said it has become more about competition than the cause. “I wanted to remind youth that are coming up that activism is really driven by the love for ourselves, the love that we have for our communities, our environment and just humanity as a whole. As long as they keep that as the focal point, the driving force of their actions and their passions, then hopefully they won’t get caught up in the competition.” The objective of the program is to help youth positively develop their love for activism as well as other important skills, such as public speaking, critical thinking, collaborating and organizing, which can be used throughout life. During each three-month long session, youth meet biweekly at We Repair the World, in East Liberty, to learn the historical context of activism and research

doing what we need to do to achieve.” At the end of the year, youth from the summer, fall and spring sessions will come together and collaborate on one major issue. Upon completion of their session, participants will receive a stipend of an amount undisclosed to them. “It is a great mix of young people who are working together from all different sides of the city. We have all this separation in our city,” Fisher said. “They have to do work outside of the class, so they’re forced to work together and talk to one another during the week. So they’re building relationships across the city, which is awesome.” The next session is scheduled to begin in September and Fisher said she already has a waiting list. TRAIN UP A CHILD—Activism Is Love instructors and youth participants stand under their group-drawn sign. From left: Brandi Fisher, Malike Petite, 18; Monye Holiday, 19; Kaceem Barnett, 22; Clara Bell, 17; Makeda Drew, 18; Fred Johnson, 20; Natalee Wilmaer, 19; Matthew Holiday, 20; Malik Barber, 18; Janel Ganaway, 18; and Amber Owens. (Photo by J.L. Martello) other movements; collectively choose a social issue to address; and then create their own campaign and research it, market it, organize it and launch it. Program Director Amber Owens said, “It’s necessary and very important that we’re building up future leaders. This is a group of people who have already made the determination for themselves that they want to be social agents of change. “So to help mold them in a way that they’re able to take their ideas and make them tangible, it is an honor and privilege to be able to help them in that process.” Along with building various skill sets, participants will also hold a debate, learn how to develop a website, spend the day with Mayor Bill Peduto and several city council members, and go on field trips. Recently, two youth volunteered to travel with Fisher to Chicago at the end of the month to participate in a national youth organizers training through the School

Community Calendar PBMF Summer Mixer JUNE 11—The Pittsburgh Black Media Federation will host its Summer Mixer from 5:30-9 p.m. at Savoy Restaurant, 2623 Penn Ave., Strip District. Individuals are invited to join members of the PBMF as well as other professionals for an evening of fun. Reservations are required. For more information, visit www.pbmf.org.

Father Daughter Dance JUNE 12—Councilwoman Fawn Walker-Montgomery will host the 2nd Annual Father Daughter Dance from 6-9 p.m. at Bethel United Methodist Church, 1615 Grandview Ave., McKeesport. The theme is “Dance with my father again.” This event is for all ages and will celebrate the bond between young girls and their father figures. Fathers, uncles, brothers, male mentors, role models, etc. are invited. Formal attire is desired. Reservations are required. For more information, call 412440-8268.

Study Group Lecture Series JUNE 13—Seshemet Community Council will host its Enrichment Study Group Lecture Series 2015 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at CCAC Homewood Brushton Center, 701 North Homewood Ave., Homewood. The topic is “How We Can Build A Black Wall Street in Pittsburgh.” Small business consultant Gordon Manker will facilitate the session. This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. For more information, call 412-225-7654 or visit www.seshemet.com.

Sickle Cell Walk JUNE 14—The Children’s Sickle Cell Foundation Inc. will host its 6th Annual “Living Well with Sickle Cell” Walk at Kennywood Amusement Park, 4800 Kennywood Blvd., West Mifflin. This fundraiser is to support the essential programs that directly affect the lives of children and adults with sickle cell disease. Individuals are encouraged to create a team. There will be weekly prizes given away. Also, on June 18, there will be an Applebee’s Dining to Donate event

at the Edgewood location only. For more information, visit www.cscfkids.org.

Operation Home JUNE 20—The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh will host its Operation Home Program from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Urban League, 2nd floor, 610 Wood St., Downtown. This intense monthly seminar on homeownership is designed to educate prospective homebuyers and arm them with the basic knowledge to navigate the path to mortgage qualification and maintaining homeownership. The program includes one eighthour workshop and a follow-up one on one counseling session. Registration is requested. For more information, call Paulette Tarrant at 412-277-4164.

Community Festival JUNE 27—Schenley Heights will host the Schenley Heights Community Festival from 12-4 p.m. at the Robert E. Williams Memorial Park, corner of Milwaukee and Adelaide Streets, in the Hill District. The event will include dancing, drumming, AARP information, the Story Mobile, information and vendor tables, children, music, entertainment, prizes, food and more. For more information, call 412687-1819.

SummerFood Program ONGOING—The Allegheny County Department of Human Services will host its SummerFood Program at more than 80 sites located throughout Allegheny County. The program provides a free breakfast, lunch and recreation program for children through 18 years old, as well as eligible individuals with disabilities. A site supervisor and accompanying staff member will be present to ensure the well being of the children. For more information, call 1800-851-3838 or visit www.alleghenycounty.us/dhs/foo d.aspx. (To have items listed on Community Calendar, send information at least two weeks in advance to: 315 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219; Fax: 412-4811360 or email: newsroom@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

of Unity and Leadership: S.O.U.L., which works to develop a new generation of organizers for a strong social justice movement. The first session, which began in May and will run through July, has chosen to organize an antiviolence campaign and will host a “Stop the Violence” event on July 19 at Mellon Park. Each youth is responsible for planning and operating the event. Monye Holiday, a 19-yearold student at North Carolina A&T State University, said she got involved in the program because of her passion for activism. While she is gaining knowledge on the ins and outs of activism, she said she’s also gaining skills to help her in the future. “It’s helped me to learn things about myself that I didn’t know,” Holiday said. When asked how the program disproves negative stereotypes about Black youth, especially males, participant Malik Barber, 18, said, “There are a bunch of Black males in this program, so that right there just shows that we can get up and do something; we’re not just laying around waiting for something to come to us, we’re going to it and getting it ourselves. We’re

(For more information about the Alliance for Police Accountability and its programs, call 412-2568449 or email info@apapgh.org.)

City settles Parrish police suit for $40K CONTINUED FROM A1

what happened go away at least there is some reparation to which he’ll be able to move forward in his life, knowing that the City of Pittsburgh, to some degree, acknowledged guilt.” He added, “But the opposite of that is the sad reality that some of our City of Pittsburgh police officers cannot be trusted. …There is no justifiable reason why an experienced police officer would pistol whip an unarmed man who surrendered.” While the video, released in 2014, shows one account, in a November 2012 hearing, Ross testified to a different chain of events. There were also discrepancies in the stories officers gave to the Allegheny General doctor who treated Parrish for his injuries sustained the night of the incident, which were documented in the medical records previously provided to the Courier. While the case has been settled, Hollis said there are still questions that ring clearly in his mind. “How can a police officer pistol whip an unarmed man and not go to jail as any other private party would? How can this person pistol whip an unarmed man not be indicted? If (one) can answer those questions then ultimately we can get to the root of the problem,” he said. “I believe police officers should be held to the same standards that regular lay per-

sons are held to. You can’t beat up an unarmed man that has not threatened you. There are laws in place, that’s the bottom line.” Hollis said the only punishment that officer Ross received was a three-day suspension. He said he has been told that Ross has since retired from the bureau. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who was not in place at the time of this incident, said the city is currently dealing with several lawsuits from 2007-2014 that claim civil rights violations, first amendment violations and other violations against the police bureau. He also cited Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McClay’s new initiatives as a way to lessen the number of cases, like Parrish’s, from occurring. “The chief’s initiatives are to use training and professional standards to use a proactive approach of being positive by creating a leadership academy, and basically working all the way at the zone level to the individual officer to be able to get ahead of these,” said Peduto. “Our goal is to never see the amount of cases that we saw during the past seven years ever happen again.” It has been reported that the city of Pittsburgh has paid almost $5 million since 2010 to settle excessive-force lawsuits against Pittsburgh police.

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

OPINION

Zone 5 Open House a great move

Guest Editorial

Dangerous ideas on violence There has been a surge in fatal shootings in Baltimore. Here are the facts: Three fatal shootings in Baltimore on the last day of the month brought May’s homicide count to 43, making it the most violent month in more than 40 years. With 43 homicides, May is the deadliest month since the early 1970s, when 44 people were killed in December 1971 and 45 people in August 1972, according to the Baltimore Sun. There have been 116 homicides in Baltimore in 2015. By this time last year, homicides hadn’t hit triple digits. As homicides rose in May, the number of arrests plummeted. Some attribute the drop to increased scrutiny of police following the April death of Freddie Gray from injuries received in police custody. Commentators claim “criminals are feeling empowered” as police back off after months of protest and violent crime rises. Heather Mac Donald, author of “Are Cops Racist?,” wrote in The Wall Street Journal, that arrest slowdowns in major cities like Baltimore comes as police are more and more tentative about enforcing crime, in case they get indicted or publicly demonized. The problem with these assumptions is that there is no clear causal explanation for the pattern of violent crime. A number of factors could cause a spike in violence including the weather. Many law enforcement departments across the country report increases in crime during warm weather months as the number of social interactions increase. Laura Brinkman, associate director at the University of Chicago Crime Lab says there are other reasons why violence increases, especially street violence, muggings, assaults, battery during warmer months. “For example, it could be that it’s not the weather, but the academic summer break that leads to a spike in violent crime,” Brinkman says. “Juveniles are the most likely to commit crime, in general, so it seems almost obvious that crime may peak during summer months when students are off from school with idle hands.” What message is society sending if it attributes civil rights protests to police not making arrests? Are commentators saying the U.S. Constitution should not be upheld and there should not be reform of the criminal justice system because officers may feel discouraged and not uphold their sworn oath to serve and protect the public? The majority of protesters are not anti-police; they are anti-police abuse. Are commentators seeking to exploit the rise in violence in Baltimore and other cities to muzzle legitimate protest? Regardless of the reason behind the violence, law enforcement should provide extra resources in areas with the highest amounts of crime. Additional patrols in high-risk areas, shortening response time to calls for service during times when criminal activity is most pronounced may also help. Police departments and the communities need to come together to improve public safety and fight for justice. (Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)

Pittsburgh Courier NEW

Founded 1910

Rod Doss

Editor & Publisher Stephan A. Broadus Assistant to the Publisher

Allison Palm

Eric Gaines

Office Manager

Advertising Manager

Ulish Carter

Ashley Johnson Associate Editor

Managing Editor

Jeff Marion Circulation Consultant

John H. Sengstacke Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

“Citizens, officers, their families, lawmakers, and anyone else were able to attend. We just want to give the community a chance to come down, meet our officers, see our station, see our equipment, and help bring the community and the police closer together,” The above is a statement by Pittsburgh Police Zone 5 Commander Jason Lando about the recent Open House at Zone 5. The idea of bringing the community and the police together in one, if not the worst, Zones in the city was great. Once again the mayor, police chief and community leaders did a great job of first coming up with this idea, and second pulling it off. This gave the community an opportunity to meet the police officers, and the officers a chance to meet some of the people they are serving. It also gave some of the young males and females an opportunity to see the police in a positive light. For example one photo we ran had a group of youth talking to a S.W.A.T. officer, as well as other officers speaking to youth about what they do to protect their community. This allows youth to see the police in a different light as well as a possible career move. There’s nothing better to help get more Blacks interested in being police officers than exposing them at a young age to positive interactions with officers, because in far too many Black communities the police are seen as the enemy instead of someone there to protect the community. All the negatives between the police and community have to be turned around. The Zone 5 Open House in which youth and police, community and police interchanged views and ideals, as well as just having a good time was a gigantic move in the right direction. More of this should happen throughout the city. If we are to turn around the negative relations between police and the Black

Ulish Carter

Just Sayin’

nity to learn. Some responsibility falls on the student. So stay tuned, hopefully there are several alternatives offered. Blacks continue to kill Blacks, as the May homicides were 30 of 36 homicides were Blacks. Tragic. Governor Tom Wolf has gotten involved in the Highmark, UPMC fight and hopefully he will be able to bring peace and justice to patients throughout Pennsylvania. And it’s obvious he’s not picking sides, he has shown that he’s going to fight for the patients, not the big healthcare agencies. The Magee Women’s Hospital settlement was the latest in which it was ruled that a woman, regardless of her insurance, if she wanted to be treated at Magee, the healthcare provider couldn’t block her by saying it wouldn’t cover it. Hopefully he will be able to work out an overall compromise between the two giants for the benefit of all the citizens throughout western Pennsylvania. And I have been told that smaller Healthcare Providers’ clients are treated very poorly. For example, if you work for a company that doesn’t have either Highmark, or UPMC, it will be extremely hard for you to get a doctor that accepts it inside the city. Most are located out in the suburbs, which makes it hard on low-income city residents. There should be a law that if everyone must have insurance, then health care providers must not discriminate against patients, doctors or hospitals. And the same is true of doctors; if the insurance company is accepted by the state then doctors and health care providers should be required to accept it. They all should be covered. People shouldn’t have to change doctors and hospitals when they or their employer change providers.

community, if we are to have better communications between police and community to help solve all these Black on Black murders and Black on Black violence as a whole. If we are going to get more Blacks wanting to be police officers, we must reverse the negative interactions with more positive interactions such as the Zone 5 Open House. Pittsburgh just may be a model for the nation. “Rally urges Pittsburgh Public Schools to end school to prison pipeline” was another key story dealing with discipline in the schools. I agree that expelling a student from school is not helping the student or society as a whole or the parents. But what do you do with a student who refuses to obey the teacher, who is disruptive in the classroom preventing others from learning, yet you can’t whip him or her, you can’t send them out of the room, so what is the alternative? The groups protesting call suspending a student “Push Out.” The School District has looked at the proposals by the groups that staged the rally, but haven’t rendered a decision on what they are going to do, whether to accept the recommendations or not. The alternatives were not listed. I would like to see a listing of the alternatives. I know one is holding the students after school, but what else? Because surely students causing a disruption in the (Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the classroom can’t remain they’re not allowing the other students the opportu- New Pittsburgh Courier.)

White racism affects more than Blacks (NNPA)—In the context of the responses to the lynchings of African Americans by police and racist citizenry, greater and much needed attention has been focused on the question of race and racism in the U.S. Particular attention has been raised about the historic and current oppression and demonization of African Americans, i.e., anti-Black racism. While this awareness is critical, we must at the same time recognize that the racism which we have encountered since the origins of this country is integrally linked to the larger system of racial capitalism. “Race,” that is the artificial division of humanity based on manufactured inferiority and superiority, was imposed on North America and Latin America by European colonists/invaders, beginning in the 16th century. Such a division had not previously existed but became an essential means to guarantee that the settler-colonies could sustain themselves in two respects. First, there was a need for an oppressed workforce to perform all of the tasks necessary to make the colonies thrive, in the interests—of course—of the colonial elites. Second, given the numbers of laboring people in the colonies, compounded by the existence of Native Americans who were resisting the invasion of their lands, the colonial elite

Bill Fletcher Jr.

Commentary had to find a way to pit the laboring population, along with the Native Americans, against one another. In that moment, during the 1500s in Latin America and beginning in the 1600s in North America, race was born as an essential element of how capitalism came to work. Race and racism has created a social hierarchy that has successfully pitted groups against one another. In Latin America, this hierarchy is extremely complex: there are divisions of humanity into myriad of groups, depending on the amount and extent of European, Native American, African and mixed blood someone has. In North America, the British were not so much interested in the future of mixed blood people. They, and later the U.S., were interested in removing Native Americans (from their land and from the Earth); keeping people of African descent suppressed; annexing and ultimately suppressing the people of northern Mexico; and turning vast

numbers of Asians into quasi-indentured servants. Migrants from Europe, over time, became “White,” that is, they were admitted into the club that gave them advantages over anyone of color, advantages such as gun ownership, a different relationship with law enforcement, a better chance at housing, jobs, etc., though no guarantee of either success or wealth. None of this is to minimize what African Americans have experienced. Rather, we need to put this all into a larger context. Police violence against African Americans, for instance, has been mirrored by the police violence experienced by Chicanos and Native Americans since the 19th century. East Asians were, for years, locked into “Chinatowns,” “Japantowns,” and “Manilatowns,” where criminal activity was encouraged by White society and economic opportunities for advancement were limited, at best. As we build movements such as #BlackLivesMatter we need to recognize that we do not stand alone in the face of racism and White supremacy. The racial hierarchy ironically helps us to identify potential allies against injustice. (Bill Fletcher Jr. is the host of The Global African on Telesur-English. He is a racial justice, labor and global justice activist and writer. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.)

Is there poverty in America? Let me follow up on two previous questions. Is social science really science, and is there poverty in America? I previously defined poverty as a condition where people’s basic need for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met. This simple definition is called absolute poverty, but it’s too simple and misleading. Why? With this definition I can argue man lived in a state of poverty in the Garden of Eden because he lacked clothing and shelter, or I can argue slaves didn’t live in poverty because their masters provided clothing, shelter, and food. Absolute poverty does not factor in broader quality of life issues or levels of inequality in society; it fails to recognize the important social and cultural needs of the individual. This leads to the concept of relative poverty. The UNESO defines this as poverty in relation to the economic status of other members of the society: People are poor if they fall below standards of living in a given societal context. Critics of this definition claim it has a narrow focus on income and ignores the concept of social exclusion and other forms of material deprivation. The UNESO believes these other poverty indicators undermine human rights—Economic (The right to work and have an adequate income.) Social (Access to health care and education.) Political (Freedom of thought, expression, and association.) And cultural (The right to maintain ones cultural identity and be involved in a community’s cultural life.) Even with all this criteria there is no international consensus or guideline

J. Pharoah Doss

Commentary

Then in 2011, after sixteen years in the making, the Census Bureau used a new definition called the supplemental poverty measure. This didn’t replace the official measure which determined eligibility for government programs, but it’s expected to provide a better understanding of poverty in America by measuring both the needs of families and the effect of government help. The supplemental poverty measure estimates the cost of food, clothing, shelter and utilities, then adds a further 20 percent for other expenses, and this threshold is adjustable for the cost of living in different regions or for whether a family owns or rents its home. Again, over time, the supplemental poverty measure will be considered inadequate and there will be a brand new measurement with new indicators. Based on all of this the question no longer matters if social science is science the question that matters is does social science examine the human condition as it is or does it manufacture what it indicates through academic conditioning of the general public? Now is there poverty in America? I guess it depends on who is asked. A teenager produced by America’s culture of complaint might say yes because he lives in an apartment with cable without premium channels, but if you ask a person who lives in extreme poverty overseas why they want to come to America they might say, “I would love to live in a country where the president’s wife is concerned about the obesity of it’s poor children.”

for measuring poverty, except for what is called extreme poverty and the international standard is set to the possession of less than one dollar a day. Now does poverty in America undermine human rights and is it extreme? The answer to both questions is no. So how is relative poverty measured in The United States? The American poverty line or threshold was developed in the 1960’s and was determined as the basic cost of food for a household, multiplied by three, a family was considered poor if it’s pre-tax income was below that threshold. But according to critics this official measurement painted an incomplete picture because, over time, the price of food didn’t factor in the material developments that become needs in an advanced society and the measurement didn’t adjust for regional variation in the cost of living. Then in 1995 the National Academy of Science recommended changing the measurement. Why? Because it was determined the measurement used to determine poverty was poor. (So all that time poverty was misdi(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the New agnosed? Can social scientists commit Pittsburgh Courier. He blogs at jpharoahmalpractice?) doss.blogspot.com.)

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Hastert indictment Daddy, — — — the world’s best Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick spotlights Republican hypocrisy To Tell (NNPA)—The indictment of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the disclosure that he may have been sexually involved with at least two boys while serving as a high school football and wrestling coach in Illinois exposes the hypocrisy of the self-appointed morality police. It turns out that Hastert is the latest in a long line of “family values” spouting Republicans who led the charge to successfully impeach President Bill Clinton for lying about his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. However, while publicly vilifying Clinton, key Republican leaders had participated in or were continuing extramarital affairs with women or, like Hastert, boys. The impeachment of Clinton was presided over by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois. “Ironically, Hyde turned out to have been guilty of his own extramarital indiscretions. In a September 1998 article, Salon.com reported that Hyde had carried on an affair with a married woman named Cherie Snodgrass during the 1960s, a story the Congressman later acknowledged was true,” Time magazine reported. Hastert’s ascension to power in the House began with the resignation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.) As leader of the 1994 Republican Revolution that led to a GOP House majority for the first time in four decades, Gingrich resigned in 1998 as his party was preparing to dump him after the mid-term election reduced the number of GOP seats by five, giving the party a slim 223-211 edge over Democrats. In a story headlined, “Gingrich Admits to Affair During Clinton Impeachment,” ABC News’ Jake Tapper wrote, “Setting the stage for his entry into the presidential race, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., gave a radio interview … in which Gingrich for the first time publicly ac-

George E. Curry

Commentary knowledged cheating on his first and second wives.” Quoting Gingrich, the story continued, “‘I was married very young and had my first daughter when I was very young, in fact at the end of my freshman year in college,’” he said of his first marriage to Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher. “‘And after a period of time, about 18 years, things just didn’t work out.’” “Gingrich married his second wife, Marianne Ginther, months after he divorced Battley in 1981. According to Battley, Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery.” The story said, “Gingrich also acknowledged cheating on Ginther while leading the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton for allegations of perjury involving the Paula Jones sexual harassment civil case and the president’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.” Finally, the story noted, “Gingrich divorced Ginther in 2000 and soon married his third wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide who was in her 20s when she and Gingrich began their affair.” Rep. Robert L. Livingston (R-La.) had been elected to succeed Gingrich as House Speaker at the beginning of the January 1999 session, but he abruptly resigned before taking office. In October, Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine and a leading pornographer, placed a full-page ad in the Washington Post offering up to $1 million to anyone who could prove they had “an adulterous sexual encounter with a current member of the United States Congress or a highranking government official.” On Dec. 18, 1998, Flynt announced that he had evidence of four extramarital affairs by Livingston. The next day, Livingston resigned, saying that he had “strayed from my marriage.” When beleaguered Republicans were looking for someone with an unblemished record to coalesce around, they quickly turned to Dennis Hastert. He served as Speaker from 1999 to 2007. The New Yorker magazine observed, “Hastert lost the job when he mishandled the scandal that erupted when Rep. Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, was discovered to have sent sexual messages to teen-age male congressional pages.” Now, we may finally know why Hastert was reluctant to move against Foley. Hastert was indicted and charged with violating U.S. banking laws and making false statements to the FBI. According to the 7-page indictment, Hastert had agreed to pay $3.5 million in 2010 to “compensate and conceal” Hastert’s “prior misconduct.” CBS News reported that “the FBI became aware of as many as two, maybe three, potential victims alleging sexual misconduct by the House speaker.” It also reported, “Jolene Burdge told ABC that Hastert molested her brother, Stephen Reinboldt, all through high school. At the time, Hastert was the wrestling coach and Reinboldt was the student equipment manager at Yorkville High School in Illinois. “…Reinboldt is not ‘Individual A’ mentioned in Hastert’s indictment. According to Burdge, Reinboldt died in 1995 at the age of 42 from AIDS. When her brother came out as gay, Burdge said he told her a secret. “‘I asked him, ‘Steve, what was your first samesex experience?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert,’” Burdge said. “And, you know, I was stunned.” By now, it shouldn’t be stunning that the Republican morality police are rank hypocrites. (George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the NNPA and BlackPressUSA.com. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.)

JUNE 10-16, 2015

FORUM

It would have been relatively easy to have my father’s name in the caption, but I left the blank spaces so that as you read this column you may be inclined to insert your father’s name. Daddy had a limited formal education, 4th grade, but he could read, write and count. A devoted, God-fearing Christian and family man, he loved people of all races and was community driven. Our mother told us that Daddy came home one day from his WPA Depression created job and stated, “This was my last day, not going back anymore.” Mama’s response was, “How are we going to live, we have four children?” Daddy replied, “As long as God gives me my health and strength I will provide for my family.” The year was 1936, he owned a pickup truck and that was the beginning of his own business, and Daddy did well. He was a neighborhood father who always went the extra mile to help people financially and otherwise. Daddy was the embodiment of Socrates and King Solomon and instilled in our family and any interested persons the following: Being rich is a state of mind, not a state of being. Richness is not materialism, but family, friends, health and happiness. 2. Can’t is never acceptable in your life or vocabulary. Strength is important both physical and physiological. Daddy did not encourage us to fight, but did encourage us to defend ourselves, family members, and always challenge bullies and injustices. (We were not permitted to fight on Sunday.) He insisted that we get an education. I can hear him even to this day saying, “Bigotry and racism will always be a part of the system, but they can’t take an education away.” He instilled in all of us a sense of self-worth. “You are not better than anyone else, but you are as good as anyone else. He instilled in all of us a sense of compassion, caring and sharing. All of the above was superseded by our being introduced to church and God from birth. I was better than an average football player, in fact I was good enough to win two scholarship offers, but Daddy

The Truth

never encouraged me nor did he ever come to a game to see my play. He absolutely believed that sports were a waste of time. Daddy would say if you were a professional athlete and you broke your arm or leg, what would you do to provide for yourself or family, how would you live? If you get a good education they can’t take that away. On numerous occasions he would tell the family about two brothers living in Chicago, one was an attorney and the other was a construction worker and they rode to work together everyday. One day on the way to work the brothers were involved in a tragic accident, which left both of them confined to wheelchairs permanently. The attorney continued to practice law and the construction worker was compelled to live of a SSI check. (An example of the importance of education.) Daddy was known to be a super strong man, physically and religiously. He never had a headache, toothache or any ailment, but while in the Army I received a phone call from my mother that informed be that my father was critically ill, and home I went.This was the second time that my father’s health required me to go home. I drove straight to the hospital. Daddy recognized me, but then he began to ramble and unknowingly tears began to roll down my cheeks. He said, “Son, don’t cry. Everything is going to be alright.” My father was unaware how sick he was, because they had kept it a secret from him. However he caught me off guard by saying, “I really don’t want any visitors today so tell everybody.” Then he began to say, “I have lived a good life and I have only made one request of my God and that was to allow me live long enough to see my four children become men and women, and the Lord has answered me with the four of you. If he calls me in the next sixty seconds or sooner, I thank Him and I’m ready.” I left and went home and related to my mother about the conversation with Daddy. At 1 p.m. that afternoon the phone rang. Before we answered we knew Daddy had gone home. Yes, my Daddy was the best in the world, strong in living, strong in dying. Celebrate Father’s Day and don’t wait for a particular day to do so. (Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a weekly contributor to the Forum Page.)

Letter To The Editor

Response to letter from G. Toby Gaines Dear Editor: In response to criticisms being voiced, made after the fact, to a Pittsburgh School Board’s February Legislative Agenda item, I wish to present the exact language that was discussed first, in length, at the Agenda Review and then further discussed during the Legislative Meeting, one week later. I believe that we educate or “arm” young people with real knowledge and not be blind-sided by behind-thescenes-tainted information. The misinformation being shouted is that this proposed program is a Planned Parenthood Program—it is NOT. This nationally approved program will be presented in much the same way as the D.A.R.E. program is done in schools (if the grant is approved). Planned Parenthood is the agency which applied for the grant. I’m certain that if any other organization had applied for this grant, there would not be the fervor that some individuals are espousing. Below is the exact agenda item. I have underlined that which clearly answers some previously voiced concerns. 5.08 Memorandum of Understanding (Student Support Services) RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Public School District authorize its administrative officers to approve an MOU with Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania as it pursues a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant to provide sexuality education programming to middle school students. The grant would offer services to students in participating 6-8 and K-8 Pittsburgh Public Schools. The ‘It’s Your Game: Keep It Real!’

curriculum is a national program and is included on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ list of evidence-based Interventions shown to reduce risk behaviors that cause teen pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases. It also meets the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States guidelines for sexuality education as well as the District’s Board Policy. ‘It’s Your Game’ consists of twentyfour 50-minute lessons delivered to 7th and 8th grade students during Health class and through individually tailored computer-based activities. Lessons prepare students with the knowledge and confidence to make healthy decisions around risk behaviors threatening their future success. Students are also trained on communication and refusal skills that enable them to navigate interpersonal pressure around all risk behaviors, sexual and otherwise, to protect their decisions. If funded, an HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention grant will support programming for a five-year period at no cost to the District, and provide for reimbursement for classroom space at $300 per 12-lesson session to total between $900 and $1800 per participating school annually. It should not be objectionable to provide students with real information with safe, appropriate refusal skills regarding teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. “It’s Your Game” is quite parallel in regard to skills that are provided during D.A.R.E. classes. This agenda item was approved. Sylvia C. Wilson, M.Ed. School Director, District 1

Letters to the editor for publication The New Pittsburgh Courier welcomes all responsible viewpoints for publication. All letters should be typewritten and contain writer’s address and phone number for verification. All letters will be edited for clarity and length. Address all letters to: Letters to the Editor New Pittsburgh Courier, 315 East Carson Street Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219 You may fax your letter to 412-481-1360, or via e-mail to letters@newpittsburghcourier.com.

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Julianne Malveaux

Commentary

Time for young people to stop the violence (NNPA)—I only recently embraced my status as an “elder.” Actually, I describe myself as an “episodic elder,” eager enough to take one of those lovely “senior” discounts when it serves my purpose, yet reluctant to turn in my party card. Elder status hit me upside the head, though, when a young woman told me she was “tired” of my generation preaching to hers. I’m willing to stop preaching when young leaders step up. I applaud the Black Lives Matter movement, and am excited when those who are of not African descent join this movement. Still, I am waiting for the same young leaders to demand that their peers stop killing one another. I’m not embracing the right-wing hype about Black-on-Black crime, because they don’t address White-onWhite crime. I’m not suggesting that the movement for police reform take a back seat to anything else (after all, we can have more than one movement at a time). I am suggesting, however, that young African Americans confront their peers and say “enough.” When “elders” say it, we are accused of preaching, but someone needs to say it. What if the young people who abhor the killing of their friends and neighbors took shooters and their associates to task? What if they got up in their faces (in safe spaces, of course) and demanded to know why some of the young people who could contribute much to our community have now been massacred in the streets? Some of those who lost their life were victims of mistaken identity, or trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time — some were little girls playing on their porches or sitting on Grandma’s lap. Some of them were simply walking home from school. Some of them were in the middle of simple misunderstandings and lost their lives because of an errant glare, a careless word. Some, like Charnice Milton, survived childhood on to go to her grave at 27. Charnice was a talented, ambitious young reporter determined to tell the story of Southeast Washington, the part of the nation’s capital with the highest concentration of African Americans, the highest poverty rate and, more recently, the primary target of gentrification that pushes poor Black residents out of the homes in favor of young, affluent, White “urban pioneers.” Her death was more than a faceless statistic — it was personal. Charnice was in my office fact-checking my most recent book for a few weeks, and she literally shimmered when she spoke of the stories she hoped to tell. She didn’t want to be the story, she wanted to tell the story of the least and the left out and of the people and organizations making a difference. Charnice’s dreams of telling untold stories, along with her body, were tragically shattered when a depraved young man used her body as a human shield to protect him from a drive-by gunman. Tears have been shed, hands have been wrung, and teddy bears and flowers have been left at the place where Charnice was slaughtered. A few days from now, someone else will be shot and the crying and handwringing will begin again. So far this year, 18 people have been killed in Ward 8 — almost one each week. The tears shed for Charnice are special tears for this amazing young woman, and yet they are the all-tooregular tears for lost life, for names that don’t quite make the news. Some young leaders are quick to blame heartless police or and the right-wing obsession with crime — even while it is declining in some cities — but how many in Washington, D.C., in Baltimore (where 43 people were killed so far this year), in Harlem, in Third Ward or Fifth Ward Houston, in St. Louis, were killed not by cops, but people who look like us? At some point, we ought also be able to say, simply: Stop the killings! According to the Pew Research Center, “While Blacks are significantly more likely than Whites to be gun homicide victims, Blacks are only about half as likely as Whites to have a firearm in their home (41 percent vs. 19 percent).” Thanks to the National Rifle Association, there has been a proliferation of guns in our nation. According to federal figures, there were 310 million nonmilitary firearms in the United States as of 2009. That’s an average of nearly a gun per person in our nation of 318.9 million people, making us the most heavily armed country in the world. There are more gun sellers in the U.S. than McDonald’s or grocery stores. Even so, the NRA opposes any legislation to reduce easy access to guns, and offer clichés such as “guns don’t kill, people do.” But guns don’t fire themselves. Meanwhile, young African Americans are mowed down like bowling pins, and except for the occasional reporting of an exceptional life, those who are killed are also ignored. It is time for young leaders to take their peers on, to step up and demand that the violence stop. It is time for these leaders to demand that media outlets cover the cumulative loss of life and the individuals who have been killed, without tediously parroting the mindless and non-contextual conversation about Black-on-Black crime. I write this not as an episodic elder preaching, but as a seasoned warrior asking her esteemed young leaders to take this baton and run with it. (Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based author and economist. She can be reached at www.juliannemalveaux.com)

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JUNE 10-16, 2015

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

New Pittsburgh Courier

Victorious Academy

performs classic tale B5

LIFESTYLES JUNE 10-16, 2015

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Celebration at Grace Memorial B2

Annual May

B

Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report

Morris ‘Doc’ Turner 5K More than a month ago I received a postcard promoting the first Morris “Doc” Turner 5K Run/Walk & Health Expo set for May 31 in Highland Park. I have never completed a 5K. I’ve done a one-mile fun walk but never a 5K so I made a choice as soon as I read that it was in honor of Dr. Morris Turner Sr., I knew I had to be there. Dr. Turner was my gynecologist for more than 35 years. Sunday, May 31, was a nice morning and the rain was to start later in the day. It was a wonderful day for a race or a walk. More than 250 people showed up and showed out for what I hope is going to be an annual event. The Highland Park Tennis Club produced it; Dr. Turner was a member of the club and spent a lot of time on the Highland Park courts before his death on June 30, 2014. At the end of the run/walk, there was a program on the tennis courts on Stanton Avenue, the end point of the race. Lynne Hayes Freeland served as the mistress of ceremonies alongside Vickie Bey, president of the Highland Park Tennis Club, and medals and certificates were presented to the participants. Charles “Buddy” Allie, a Masters Class sprinter, gold medal winner and world-class athlete was a very appropriate guest speaker. Tributes were made to Dr. Turner by the Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny Reproductive Health Center Inc., Cultural Awareness & Inclusion at UPMC and the Gateway Medical Society (GMS). Doctor William Simmons president of the Gateway Medical Society spoke and took the opportunity to inject a few messages to the youth in the audience, “the more you learn the more you earn and the more you read the more you succeed” is what he told them. The goal of the GMS youth program of is: To mentor and build a strong sense of confidence in our pre-adolescent participants. To stress the early importance of achievement in mathematics and science. To introduce a broader view of all disciplines of medicine, and allied health professions, including but not limited to: nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, Physician Assistant, pharmacy, dentistry and podiatry. On the day of the race, a check was presented to GMS for $1,000; it has been reported that the Highland Park Tennis Club was able to increase that donation to $5,000. They also unveiled a center court banner and a memorial park bench all in honor of Morris “Doc” Turner. It was a moving morning attended by patients, former classmates, friends and family. Turner family members in attendance were Verena Turner, Morris Turner Jr., Jonathan Turner, Derrick Turner, Keilah Turner and a host of grandchildren. The Morris “Doc” Turner 5K Run/Walk & Health Expo Committee included Carmen Filloy, LaWade Garris, Gloria Hill, Joyce Scott, Jacquie Sledge, Ernie Bey with Bey as the chairperson. Just for the record I finished the 5K walk and came in last. (Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com)

TRY VIPS—Carmen Anderson, Evan Frazier and Sheila McCollum

TRY VIPS—George Miles, left, with Ingrid and Laurence Glasco

Three Rivers Youth celebrates 135 years by Debbie Norrell Courier Staff Writer

All Aboard! On May 15, at the luxurious Renaissance Hotel, more than 200 peo-

ple picked up their boarding pass for a night on the S.S. Normandie for an evening celebrating 135 years of Three Rivers Youth (TRY). The Renaissance

ALL ABOARD—Celebrity Captain Chris Moore

FATHER AND SON—Reverend Dr. Jimmy Joe Robinson and son, Jimmy Joe Robinson Jr.

Hotel was the perfect backdrop for the cruise theme. The ship’s captain, who could have doubled for WQED’s Chris Moore, greeted guests. Each guest was invited to take a souvenir photograph by premier photographer Ahmad Sandidge and before they ascended the marble staircase to the captain’s dinner they enjoyed Carmen Miller as Josephine Baker on the EQT Hall of Fame Grand Staircase. Once guests made it to the second deck, they experienced the Johnson Jazz Trio, the TRY 135 signature drink and the Three Rivers Youth Legacy Displays in the UPMC Heritage Room. Honorees gathered in the PNC Hospitality Lounge for pho- SETTING SAIL—Peggy Harris, TRY president and CEO, left, with tos taken by Saihou Njie. Roseanne Ruggiero Wholey, host committee co-chair. One of the highlights of the dinner was hearing from former TRY clients. This year’s speakers were Francine Sims-Gates and Kahlil Thomas. Their stories were powerful and expressed the impact that TRY has had on their lives. On this very special evening, TRY President and CEO Peggy Harris presented the TRY Hall of Fame Inductees, a distinguished group of those who have made a difference in the lives of the tens of thousands of homeless and hurting youth and the struggling families that TRY has served since its inception. The inductees were George L. Miles Jr.—Public Broadcasting Education; The Thornburg Community Club—Community Service; Massaro Corporation—Corporate Responsibility; Robert Hill—Education and Civic Engagement; Cecile and Eric Springer Esq.—Civic Engagement; Pricewaterhouse Coopers—Corporate Responsibility; FedEx—Volunteerism; Esther Bush—Education; Dr. Karen Wolk Feinstein—Healthcare; BNY Mellon— Community Engagement; Mt. Lebanon High School—Advocacy; Heinz Endowments—Advocacy; Pittsburgh Pirates—Community Engagement; Duquesne Light—Corporate Responsibility; the Black Association of South Hills—Volunteerism; Rev. Dr. Harold Lewis—Humanitarianism; Gregory Peaslee—Corporate Chair, 2011-2012; Dr. Chenits Pettigrew Jr. and Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew—Honorary Co-Chairs, 2013; Randall Crawford— Corporate Chair, 2014; and Roseanne Ruggiero Wholey and Dr. Mark Wholey—Honorary Co-Chairs, 2015. This year’s event corporate chairs were Evan Frazier and Matthew J. CHANELING JOSEPHINE BAKER—Carmen Miller Rhenish.

TRY HALL OF FAMERS—From left: Dr. Chenits Pettigrew Jr., Claudette Lewis, Dr. Margaret LarkinsPettigrew, Harold Lewis and Esther Bush

TRY ALUMNI—Kahlil Thomas and Francine Sims-Gates

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JUNE 10-16, 2015

Praise & Worship

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

RELIGION

Annual May Celebration at Grace Memorial Church

Vacation Bible School

HILLCREST SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

JUNE 10—First Baptist Church of West Mifflin, 3427 Cypress St., West Mifflin, will host its Vacation Bible School from 6-9 p.m. The theme is “The Jesus Connection…What A Friend.” Through June 12, ages 3 to adult will enjoy an educational journey about Jesus. Registration is required. For more information, call 412-4617861 or email fbcwm3427@yahoo.com.

2340 Wylie Ave., Pgh., PA 15219 412-391-4334 412-566-8757

“Be Encouraged”

Elder Christopher C. Thompson Power Hour Sabbath..............8:15 A.M. Sabbath School.......................9:00 A.M. Divine Worship.....................11:00 A.M. AYS One Hour Before Sunset Prayer Meeting Wednesday....7:30 P.M.

ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH

Strawberry Festival

Crawford & Centre Ave. Pgh., PA 15219 412-281-3141 Mass Sunday 9:00 A.M. & 12 P.M. Sunday (Gospel Choir Mass) 12:00 P.M. www.stbtmchurch.org

METROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH 22 Sampsonia Street, Northside Pittsburgh., PA 15212 412-231-2554 FAX 412-231-6395 Rev. Lacy F. Richardson, Ph.D., Pastor Church School.....................................9:30 A.M. Worship Service.....................8:00 & 10:45 A.M. Bible Study/ Prayer Wednesday.......................6:30/7:30 P.M. www.metropolitanbaptistchurchpgh.com metropolitanbaptist2224@gmail.com

Church Circuit

ALICIA D. GEORGE Keynote speaker

CAROLYN CURRY Introduction of speaker

DEACON STEPHANIE SIMMONS Moderator

REV. DR. RONALD PETERS Pastor

Of the 1,500 hundred names mentioned in the Bible, not many are women. However, when the few are mighty, the way is good. At Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, located at 1000 Bryn Mawr Rd, in he Hill District, the humbled women of Grace, accepted their due at their annual May Celebration. The theme

was “We are all baptized in the Holy Spirit.” Moderated by Deacon Stephanie Simmons, the filled service was a heart felt testimony to the Holy Spirit. Grace’s pastor, Rev. Dr. Ronald Peters, gave a passionate reminder to the flock and visitors from North Carolina, Chicago and as far as Jamaica.

“We must be diligent to what is prevailing in our communities,” said Rev. Peters. The harmonics of the melodic and gifted RC Specials Chorus resonated in the sacred house during the ceremony. Several of the Chairwomen were given honors. The real message, that brought it home, came from, native journalist of

WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, Alicia D. George. Her speech left no stone unturned as she addressed domestic violence, drug overdoses, youth offenders. Although, during moments in her delivery, she sprinkled points of contention, with jokes, they were not ignored. (Written by Rossano Stewart.)

SIXTH MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH 6556 Shetland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 441-7839 Church School 9:00 a.m. Worship Service 10:15 a.m. Wednesday Night Bible Study 6:00 p.m.

JUNE 12—Shadyside Presbyterian Church, 5121 Westminster Place, Shadyside, will host its 22nd Strawberry Festival from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The festival will celebrate the impending arrival of summer and proceeds will support the nonprofit organization, Sojourner House MOMS program. The event will include a menu of items that will include fresh strawberries, baked goods, children’s crafts, other activities and more. For more information, call 412-682-4300 or visit www.shadysidepres.org.

Youth Weekends JUNE 12—The Youth Choir of Park Place AME Church, 215 E. Tenth Ave., Homestead, will host its 4th Annual Youth Weekend 2015. The theme is “I’ve Still Got Purpose.” The two-day event will include a Youth Revival on June 12 at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker Mychal Royal and a Youth Luncheon on June 13 at 1 p.m. at the Rankin Christian Center. For more information, call 412461-5238.

Pastoral Anniversary East Liberty PresbyterianChurch Rev. Dr. Randy Bush, Senior Pastor 412-441-3800 116 S. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 www.cathedralofhope.org

Journey Worship.........8:45 a.m. Sanctuary Worship.........11 a.m.

McAuley Ministries awards $394,137 in outreach grants GIFTED VOICES—RC Special Chorus (Photos by Rossano P. Stewart)

Join our growing Praise and Worship Church Community For rate information, call 412481-8302, ext 40. We are looking to

feature our positive youth in the church communities. You can e-mail, fax or mail their bios and photo to:

New Pittsburgh Courier 315 E. Carson St. Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Fax: 412-481-1360 e-mail:

egaines@newpittsburghcourier.com

PITTSBURGH—McAuley Ministries, Pittsburgh Mercy Health System’s grant-making foundation, has awarded 14 outreach grants totaling $594,137 to 13 Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations to expand outreach initiatives to vulnerable populations. The grants will support workforce development and summer youth employment, health and wellness, community and economic development, education, and capacity-building initiatives in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Uptown and West Oakland communities, as well as ministries that serve in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh. Since 2008, McAuley Ministries has awarded 395 totaling more than $15.9 million to local nonprofit organizations. The grant-making foundation awards approximately $3 million in grants annually. Grouped by category, the recipients of the outreach grant awards are: Workforce Development/ Summer Youth Employment Initiatives •Wireless Neighborhoods/Neighborhood Learning Alliance will receive $29,400 to hire and train 15 students over six weeks as Reading and Technology Warriors. The Warrior Movement provides an opportunity for African American high school students to explore careers while supporting academically struggling elementary children in out-of-school- time programs. Reading Warriors will develop their leadership skills while exploring possible careers in education. Technology Warriors will connect children to Pittsburgh’s emerging Maker Movement and facilitate student exploration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. •Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh will receive $25,000 to hire seven youth and one young adult over six weeks and provide 100

hours of work experience in the construction field. Youth will learn basic construction skills (i.e., painting, landscaping, and flooring) while assisting with homeowner renovations. Youth will have the opportunity to receive online OSHA 10 certification and participate in field trips to learn about the pathways to careers in the construction trades. Interested youth will develop a career plan for meeting entrance requirements for apprenticeships. •Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board will receive $50,000 to hire 25 youth through the City of Pittsburgh’s Learn and Earn Summer Youth Employment initiative. The City will contract with agencies to host youth for seven weeks, providing paid work activities in 14 career tracks. Contracted agencies will focus on six core competencies: customer service, computer literacy, job readiness, interpersonal communications, financial literacy and problem solving. Health and Wellness Initiatives •Duquesne University will receive $46,300 to continue the Duquesne University Pharmacy’s community-based health screenings and referrals for clients with adverse results. The Pharmacy will add telephonic outreach and follow-up for patients to assess the outcome of the referral, changes in lifestyle, and their interest in pharmacy disease management to improve health outcomes. •Pittsburgh Community Services Inc. will receive $22,775 to engage 50 senior residents of K. Leroy Irvis Towers in the Hill District to provide health education regarding nutrition, meal planning and physical activity. •Pittsburgh Mercy Health System: Dental Services will receive $125,000 to expand access to dental services through the Pitts-

burgh Mercy Health System (PMHS) mobile medical unit. PMHS will provide oral health screenings, dental risk assessments, cleanings, sealant programs, and linkages to dental care for individuals who require extensive treatment. •Pittsburgh Mercy Health System: Women’s Health Services will receive $125,000 to expand and enhance women’s services at the Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center. Pittsburgh Mercy Health System (PMHS) will employ an obstetrician/gynecologist who will provide direct patient services and learning opportunities for the Center’s primary care providers to enhance their understanding and medical skills for treating women. •Three Rivers Mothers’ Milk Bank will receive $25,000 to support a community-wide effort to launch a mothers’ milk bank and provide neonatal intensive care units in Pennsylvania and West Virginia with pasteurized human milk from screened donors to decrease morbidity and mortality for medically fragile infants. Community and Economic Development Initiatives •Hill District Consensus Group will receive $25,000 to provide assistance to projects that are initiated by residents in the Hill District and Uptown. In partnership with McAuley Ministries, this “Good Neighbor Grants” pilot program will support 15 neighbor-led projects that address neighborhood beautification, neighbor engagement, or neighborhood safety. Educational Initiatives •ACH Clear Pathways will receive $20,000 to offer an arts-based summer camp experience for 50 youth. Campers will participate in music, digital photography, visual arts, martial arts, field trips and

community service projects. •Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC) will receive $20,000 to conduct an environmental scan of early childhood education in the Hill District. The project will provide baseline information about where young children are spending their day and convene key stakeholders and residents to gather information about the early childhood landscape. The analysis will help to define McAuley Ministries’ strategy for future investments in early childhood education. Capacity-Building Initiatives •Hill House Association will receive $20,000 to study the feasibility of forming a youth gospel choir in the Hill District to engage 100 young people in a productive and positive activity. The study will benchmark other successful programs and outline a business plan for the initiative. •Mercy Volunteer Corps. will receive $48,162 to recruit and place three volunteers in year-long ministry with McAuley Ministries’ community partners, providing organizations that have few resources with additional capacity to meet the needs of their clients. •Robert Morris University will receive $12,500 to the Bayer Center for the BoardsWork! Program. BoardsWork! provides tools and information to improve governance in nonprofit organizations and the quality of decisions made at the board level. Through this grant, McAuley Ministries will sponsor 10 organizations to receive an individualized governance assessment, training on best governance practices, and the opportunity to match with potential board members who have been trained by the Bayer Center. (To view these and other McAuley grants awarded by year, visit www.mcauleyministries.org.)

JUNE 13—Bethlehem Baptist Church, 716 Walnut St., McKeesport, will host the 12th Pastoral Anniversary Celebration of Rev. Earlene Coleman. The two-day event will include a Community “War”ship service on June 13 at 5 p.m. and a Sunday Service at 10:30 a.m. The guest preacher will be Evangelist Marette Simpson of Zion Apostolic Assembly. For more information, call 412-6647272.

Pastoral Anniversary JUNE 14—Second Baptist Church of Penn Hills, 49 Banfield St., Penn Hills, will host its 19th Pastoral Anniversary Celebration at 11 a.m. The celebration is in honor of Rev. McMahan L. Gray, the senior pastor. The guest preacher will be Rev. Dr. Stephen R. Russell Jr. of Baltimore, Md. A repass will take place immediately following the morning service. For more information, email Rev. Validia Giddens at damselv@aol.com.

Pastoral Installation JUNE 14—Emmanuel Baptist Church, 245 Third Ave., Rankin, will host its Pastoral Installation Celebration of Rev. Dr. Christopher T. Conti, MD, at 11 a.m. The daylong celebration will include a Sunday Morning Worship Experience at 11 a.m. with guest preacher Bishop Linwood Lewis of Solid Rock Ministries and an Installation Service at 4 p.m. with guest preacher Rev. Anthony Murray of Hopewell Baptist Church. All are invited to attend. For more information, call 412-271-2428.

Car Show/Dinner JUNE 14—St. James Church, 306 St. James Lane, New Alexandria, Pa., will host its 3rd Annual Car Show and Spaghetti Dinner from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The first 150 cars will receive dash plaques and trophies will be awarded. The event will also include a basket raffle, instant bingo, a 50/50 drawing and a DJ. This event will take place rain or shine and the public is invited. For more information, call 7247-539-1951.

Family/Friends Day JUNE 14—Triedstone Baptist Church, 18 Harriet St., Rankin, will host its Deacon George Reese Family and Friends Day at 11 a.m. The theme is “He shows mercy to everyone from one generation to the next.” The guest preacher will be Rev. Linda Oliver of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church. For more information, call 412-271-3000. (To have items listed on the Church Circuit, send information at least two weeks in advance to: 315 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219; Fax: 412-481-1360 or email: newsroom@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

PEOPLE

JUNE 10-16, 2015

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Achieving Greatness Inc. honors city, county’s finest

HONOREE AND CO-SPONSOR—Attorney William Caye, right, receives award from Achieving Greatness Inc.’s Administrative Director Lashon Jackson, left, and Marketing Director Elizabeth King. Not only the finest place to be, but by far the safest place to be was at Achieving Greatness Inc.’s 14th Annual Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Service Awards honoring local heroes. Every major public service department in both the city and the county was recognized and selected representatives were honored for outstanding achievement

and service that goes above and beyond the call of duty. The event has been held each year since 9-11 to call attention to and honor those who protect and serve. It is strongly endorsed and supported by both County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Mayor Bill Peduto, and co-sponsored by Highmark, Cosmos Technologies, attorneys William Caye, and William and Jack Goodrich.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER—Duquesne University basketball legend Barron B.B. Flenory salutes the honorees. (Photos provided by Achieving Greatness Inc.)

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST—Longtime community activist and talk show host Lois Toni McClendon gives her acceptance speech.

TIME TO REMEMBER—A moment was given to pause, reflect and remember the people who died, or were injured, while serving.

2015 AWARDEES—In no particular order: Darla Carvotta; John Walsh, 9-1-1 Communications Division; Detective Brandon Rourke; Corporal Byron Dixon; Gerald Jones; Billy Joe Jordan; Charles A. Saunders; Corporal Sean Eckle; Christine Luffey; Chuck Powell; Detective Christopher Minton; Meghan Black; Sgt. Phillip White; Rodney Brown; William Caye; and Lois Toni McClendon, with Achieving Greatness Inc. CEO Bill Neal. (Not all honorees pictured.)

New Pittsburgh Courier

B4

ENTERTAINER JUNE 10-16, 2015

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Cover To Cover

New Horizon Theater’s

‘Miss Jessie’s’

‘Dance on Widow’s Row’ delights audiences…again

by Terri Schlichenmeyer For New Pittsburgh Courier

Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. It takes brains and guts enough to step out of a comfort zone. It requires going against the grain, letting go of pride, and a dash of innocence. Starting a business is the worst, most difficult, wonderful, magnificent thing you’ll ever do—but as in the new book “Miss Jessie’s” by Miko Branch, sometimes it’s also quite hair-raising. Jessie Mae Pittman was born in 1919 to a sharecropper family in North Carolina, and grew up hating fieldwork. To avoid picking cotton, she taught herself to cook and later became renowned for her skills. That independent self-sufficiency impressed her granddaughters; Miko Branch and her sister, Titi, were raised knowing that they’d someday be businesswomen. Throughout their childhood, the Branch sisters learned and dreamed. They also toiled long hours with their father at various fam-

ily businesses, which was work they did for free. That eventually taught Branch the value of her labor and gave her a sense of what owning her own business might entail. When it was time to enroll in college, Branch decided on a career in fashion but her schooling taught her what she didn’t want. Upon graduating from Fashion Institute of Technology, she’d realized that she needed to work with hair; specifically, she wanted to work in a high-end salon that catered to a certain kind of clientele. “There is a long, rich… complex history surrounding African-American women’s hair that ties to… selfimage,” Branch says. As a woman with curls, she knew she could make a better product than what was available. She experimented with gels, crèmes, and technique before she and her sister opened a salon that ultimately grew into a fullfledged, hip and trendy miniempire with products named after their grandmother. But, like many fledgling entrepreneurs, the sisters made mistakes—one of which led to a split, lawyers, and a months-long parting that hurt Branch in more ways than one. It took two years, two moves, and too much money to fix what broke. Business book or memoir? Though it may appear more the latter, the answer is that “Miss Jessie’s” is both. Sometimes, of course, the story of a business is the story of its creators, and author Miko Branch takes her readers back nearly 100 years to see where the very roots of her company began. That’s a very interesting tale but if it’s not what you read a business book for, well, Branch has that part covered, too. She subtly includes business advice for entrepreneurs in nearly each chapter, and a nicely succinct epilogue as a final takeaway. That serves to entertain and inform readers on one hand, while steadily encouraging entrepreneurship on the other. (“Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch– Naturally” by Miko Branch, c.2015, Atria, $24.99/$31 Canada, 256 pages.)

by Genea L. Webb For New Pittsburgh Courier

New Horizon Theater, Inc. ends its 23rd season with the hilarious romantic comedy, “The Dance on Widow’s Row.” Written by Tony and Emmy nominated playwright, Samm-Art Williams, “The Dance on Widow’s Row” is set in Port Town, N.C. where four widow’s live on the same street. The ladies have buried nine husbands between them and while they still have some middleaged charms—and a whole lot of desire-finding dates is problematic because the town’s male population are understandably skittish about the risk of association to their reputations and their lives. Magnolia Ellis decides to host a gathering to help remedy the women’s loneliness by inviting three of the town’s eligible gentlemen. The men cautiously show up and the evening becomes a laughter-filled affair. The show runs until June 14 at the Carnegie Library of Homewood located at 7101 Hamilton Avenue. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.newhorizontheater.or g, calling 412-431-0773 or visiting Dorsey’s Records on Frankstown Avenue. The production is funded in part by grants from Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Program partnership of The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowment, Allegheny Regional Asset District, Chris Moore Communications, Inc. and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. “We first did this play in 2003,” explained New Horizon Chairperson, Joyce Meggerson-Moore. “We love Samm-Art Williams and we love this play. The playwright is easy to work with and we love this brand of comedy.” The element of funny and being able to work with a great cast are some of the reasons that Linda Haston (Magnolia Ellis), Camille Lowman (Annie Talbot), Brenda Marks (Lois Miller) wanted to be a part of the cast again this time around. In addition to the returning cast, “The Dance on Widows Row” also stars Leslie Howard as the doomed Randolph Spears and Karla Payne as the not-so-famous actress Simone “Simi” Jackson and Art Terry as wingman Newly Benson. “When I found out that New Horizon was doing the play again, I told Eileeen Morris (the play’s director) that I had to be in it again,” said Camille Lowman who reprised her role as the Bible toting turned sex kitten Annie Talbot. “In 2003, I played Annie more reserved but this time she is a little more wild. She really wants to be true to herself. My message through this character is that I want people to be true to who they are and not be apologetic about that.” Haston an actress, singer, dancer, director and teaching artist from Pittsburgh who portrays Magnolia Ellis, agreed with Lowman. “It is such a good play and the roles fit all of us,” Haston said. “I can be bossy in real life and I like to plan things. I love live theater because anything can happen and everyone in the cast has your back.” Charles Timbers, Jr., who plays Deacon Hudson, Magnolia’s love interest, said he drew on his close relationship with his own church, Full Life Deliver-

ance Ministries in Beltzhoover, to help him bring the deacon to life. “I’m on the pastor’s

board and on the praise and worship team at the church,” said Timbers who has performed in more

than 40 theatrical productions in Pittsburgh over more than 30 years. “It was natural for me to play

SCENE FROM PLAY—MEN

this role and it was lots of fun and the cast is very cohesive.” “This is the most fun we’ve had in a show because we’re having a ball during the whole rehearsal process and sometimes we can’t get through rehearsal without laughing,” said Howard who began his acting career for the prestigious D.C. Black Repertory Company, founded by famous actor Robert Hooks. “It’s such a joy to see the audience leave with smiles on their faces. There’s a lot going on in the world right now and it’s good to help people let go of that for a while.” Former artistic director for Kuntu Repertory Theater, Eileen J, Morris was happy to step back as director for “The Dance on Widows Row.” “In 2003 I directed New Horizon Theater’s production and 12 years later I am blessed to be directing it again,” Morris said. “So as you watch this play, please observe that these widows all took a chance to make their lives a bit better by incorporating someone else into it. They drank, laughed, felt sexual energy and weren’t afraid to show it.”

SCENE FROM PLAY—WOMEN

CAST – Standing from left, Leslie Howard as Randolph Spears; Charles Timbers Jr. as Deacon Hudson and Art Terry as Newly Benson. Seated from left: Karla Payne as "Simi" Jackson; Brenda Marks as Lois Miller; Camille Lowman as Annie Talbot, and Linda Haston as Magnolia Ellis. (Photos by Valerie Nijie)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

ARTS & CULTURE

VIRTUOUS ACADEMY CAST—Top photo left: Gathered around father: from left: Naomi Greene, Nathaniel Jenkins, NaTaiya Pace, Malik Greene, Alexis Spencer, and Deanteshalei Boyd. Top photo right: Beauty and her beast Devan Crenshaw and NaTaiya Pace. Bottom photo: taking a bow...Virtuous Academy students. (Photos by Nikki Coffee)

Virtuous Academy performs classic tale with a twist by Nikki Coffee For New Pittsburgh Courier

The tale as old as time was told with a twist as students from Virtuous Academy presented a beloved Disney favorite on the stage of the Kelly Strayhorn. Entertwined with a faithbased adaptation, the children of Virtuous Academy put on a theatrical production of the Disney classic, “Beauty and the Beast,” May 23. Iyana Tennon, the academy’s founder, said the production is a way of showcasing the student’s talent while fundraising. Virtuous Academy, a faithbased Christian school, opened in September of 2008 as a vision of Tennon to give back to the Duquesne community where she grew up and had been educated. She said she saw that the educational opportunities in the area were lacking. “I wanted to provide quality education to area students here, so that they wouldn’t have to move.” With its mission to “motivate students to achieve academic excellence and positive citizenship through

a rigorous curriculum, a concentration in virtuous values and a concentration in S.T.E.A.M education,” the school focuses on the child’s ability versus the state standards. “Not all kids learn at the same pace,” said Tennon. “We make sure each student masters their current level before moving on to the next.” She said the academy gives each student the individualized attention needed to succeed. Something public schools cannot do. “They are challenged here to go above and beyond.” Karen Denton echoes that sentiment. Her son, Rayvonn, is in grade 4, yet doing grade 5 math. “He is challenged beyond his full potential at the school. They work with each child at their own level individually,” Denton said. Rayonn gives Virtuous Academy a thumbs up saying he recommends “every child attend if possible.” Rayvonn, who hopes to become a musician when he grows up, got a taste of his aspired vocation as he played the keyboard during the production. Lack of funding forced the school to close in 2011, but

with a grant from the Heinz Endowments, it reopened in 2013 with a renewed vigor. Tennon was even more determined to provide quality education in a cultured and save environment to children in the area. Virtuous Academy, which started with a handful of students, now serves children in grades 2 through 8. Tennon said she hopes to expand in the near future. Jennifer McCoy has two children in Virtuous Academy. She said she chose the school because of the Christian-based curriculum and smaller class size. She said they are excelling academically at the school in ways they didn’t at their former school. “They get more attention here, and that’s important,” McCoy said. McCoy’s daughter Natalia Jenkins likes the school because “all the children and teachers are nice,” while her brother, Nathaniel, also enjoys the class sizes. The evening included a silent auction featuring Steelers tickets, Disney World passes, an American Girl doll, and many others. Sponsored by Dollar Bank and Gateway Medical, clothing for the perfor-

June Thursday 11 Pittsburgh Improv Jam The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents its Pittsburgh Improv Jam at 10 p.m. at Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave., Cultural District. Every Thursday patrons can enjoy a night of spontaneous, comedic scenes inspired by audience suggestions and performed by experienced improvisers. This is a 21 and older event. For more information, call 412-456-6666 or visit www.trustarts.org.

Friday 12 Three Rivers Arts Festival The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the 56th annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Festival at Point State Park, Downtown. The theme for the annual multidisciplinary festival, which runs through June 14, is “UNSEEN/UNHEARD.” There will be art galleries, activities, installations and exhibitions to explore, and vocalize narratives that are not typically heard or are marginalized. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.TrustArts.org/TRAF.

Saturday 13 Riverview Jazz Citiparks presents the Riverview Jazz Series from 78:30 p.m. at Riverview Park, North Side. Each Saturday, guests can beat the summer heat with the cool sounds of some of Pittsburgh’s best jazz

musicians. The featured musician will be Max Leake. The concerts are free. For more information, call 412-255-2493 or visit www.citiparks.net.

Sunday 14 The Dance on Widow’s Row New Horizon Theater Inc. presents “The Dance on Widow’s Row” at 3 p.m. at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Homewood Branch, 7101 Hamilton Ave., Homewood. The romantic comedy written by Samm-Art Williams follows four widows who live on the same street in fictional Port Town, N.C. The ladies have buried nine husbands altogether and find dating in their town a chore due to the local men’s reluctance to get involved with these ladies. To help find a companion, widow Magnolia Ellis throws a party where three men haltingly show up, making it an evening of laughs. This is the last day for the production; there will also be a 7:30 p.m. performance. For more information, call 412-431-0773 or email newhorizontheater@yahoo.com.

Monday 15 Savoy Jazz Savoy Restaurant presents Savoy Jazz Mondays from 5-9 p.m. at 2623 Penn Ave., Strip District. Every Monday guests can enjoy live jazz in a sophisticated atmosphere. The evening will feature Spanky Wilson with the Roger Humphries Trio. The attire is business casual. For

more information, call 412-2810660 or visit www.savoypgh.com.

Tuesday 16 Pittsburgh Jazz Celebration The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents The Pittsburgh Jazz Celebration at 8 p.m. at Heinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave., Cultural District. As a kickoff to the Pittsburgh Jazz Live International, jazz greats Sean Jones, David Budway, Roger Humphries, and others will perform, followed by a special presentation by Ramsey Lewis, Kurt Elling and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra that will explore the music of Billy Strayhorn, George Benson and Henry Mancini. The evening will be hosted by actress and singer Gloria Reuben and will include a pre-concert gala at 6 p.m. For more information, call 412-3924900 or visit ww.trustarts.org.

Wednesday 17 Wednesday Night Live Jazz The Rivers Club presents Wednesday Night Live Jazz from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Rivers Club, One Oxford Centre, 301 Grant St., Downtown. Every Wednesday night local artists, many from the Pittsburgh Jazz Society’s Hall of Fame, will perform. There will be a Jimmy G’s jazz buffet and more. This event is free and open to the public. Upscale casual attire, no jeans, is required. For more information, call 412-391-5227.

mance was provided by Macy’s of Century III Mall and The Gown Company of West Mifflin. Proceeds benefit the school’s scholarship fund. (To find out more about Virtuous Academy, visit the website http://virtuousacademy.org/home/. )

JUNE 10-16, 2015

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JUNE 10-16, 2015

PEOPLE

STAFF–From left: Staff and life coaches James Lesesne, Jack Shannon and Darelle Porter. (Photos by Rossano P. Stewart)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

WORKOUT TIME—Players get a thorough workout before the scrimmage.

Ozanam kicks off year with successful basketball camp by Smokin’ Jim Frazier For New Pittsburgh Courier

The Ozanam Basketball Camp and the 4th Annual Ozanam Youth Leadership Conference was a huge success. The Ozanam Basketball Camp experience is headed by Executive Director Darelle Porter; Assistant Executive Director Karen Hall and Academic Support Director Alvis Rogers. All three are well known for their basketball development work. Coach Porter is a former Duquesne University head basketball coach, a University of Pittsburgh graduate and the recipient of the University’s Panther Outstanding Achievement Award. Coach Rogers was a fouryear starter and graduate of Wake Forest University and an NCAA Division I women’s and men’s assistant basketball coach and academic advisor. Coach Hall is a former NCAA women’s basketball head coach and a University of Nevada-Las Vegas full scholarship player, graduate and three time Academic Athletic Achievement Award Winner. Hall has more than 30 years of basketball experience as a player, coach and player development instructor. Hall still holds the record at UNLV for most career steals and in 1996 she was inducted into the Western PA High School Hall of Fame. Currently, Hall is the ambassador of the NFL PLAY 60 program and one of 11member Equal Opportunity Review Commission appointed by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Hall and Porter bring incredible enthusiasm, experience and knowledge. The camp was tailored towards individual skill improvement and competition in a fun and encouraging environment. “We had over 45 student athletes turn out for the camp,” said Hall. “The camp was for 8th grade to 12th grade and we gave them direction and taught health and wellness and a lot of basketball.” Young players looking to learn more, have fun, develop a passion, meet new

friends in a big-time atmosphere with great coaching were in the right place. They received that and much more, plus a discussion of nutritional goals and off-court activities to benefit on-court game. “It is very important to keep your plate colorful,” said Hall. “We encourage all kids to get at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. During this camp we had several out of state speakers come into to speak to the kids. Some who grew up without a father or had to overcome other hurdles or had problems academically and they stress that anybody can bounce back.” The purpose of the Ozanam program is to help boys and girls of western Pennsylvania develop into responsible young adults through positive development training including educational programming, athletic competition, social and cultural activities and exchanges, and additional support services. Ozanam is committed to making a difference in the lives of the youth and to enhance and enrich the quality of their lives, Hall said. Ozanam hosts clinics, camps, and overall development for younger players and the growing player. There are fall and spring leagues. “Our summer league starts on Saturday June 13 with the 18-under girls,” said coach Hall. “The 12under and 16-under boys begin June 15. All games are played Ammon recreation center.” The Ammon Recreation Center, on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District, has become Ozanam’s home court. The Ozanam Basketball program was established in 1970 and successfully ran until 1997. Ozanam’s basketball program grew from the historically well-known sponsored by the Ozanam Cultural Center under the direction of the late Carl Kohlman. Players from all over the city, WPIAL and surrounding areas participated in Ozanam’s Basketball League. Over the years Ozanam has done a great deal to help develop basketball talent.

WORLD CHAMPION—Karen Hall uses a trivia game to test the kids’ knowledge of sports and health.

LIFE LESSONS—Tim Freeman, director of Aspire Schools, gives young athletes the ins and outs of making it to college and planning for the future. In 2007, Hall, Porter and others started a new basketball league and afterschool programs under the Ozanam banner. The legacy of the success of the Ozanam League carries on today.

PROPER HEALTH AND NUTRITION—Rae’ Ann Green, director of Health Services at Pittsburgh Public Schools, speaks with the young athletes.

New Pittsburgh Courier

BUSINESS

Find what you need from jobs to cars to housing C4-C5

Classifieds

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Debt collection report captures horror stories C3

Overtime

JUNE 10-16, 2015

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

by Nisa I. Muhammad

instances of illegal activity. The report comes as several state legislatures are considering legislation to put in place new rules-ofthe-road for debt collectors to protect consumers. “People should not be sued and they should not have their wages garnished for debts they do not owe or for stale debts,” said Lisa Stifler, a policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending and one of the authors of the analysis. “Unfortunately, our analysis shows that consumers are often unfairly hurt by debt collectors making improper use of the court system to collect questionable

For New Pittsburgh Courier

(NNPA)—A new report by the Center for Responsible Lending has revealed what many consumers have known for years. Debt collectors often cross the line with abusive behaviors. From coercive language to outright lies about debt to forged documents, federal and state regulator investigations into debt buyers and debt collectors revealed a pattern of abuses prevalent within the industry. Recent investigations have forced debt collectors to pay tens of millions of dollars in fines for multiple

debts. The burden of proof should be on debt collectors to document that a consumer owes a debt upfront before they initiate a lawsuit.” Debt buyers and collectors purchase debt from consumer creditors and then attempt to collect. Unscrupulous collectors often engage in illegal and predatory behavior to pressure or force consumers to pay up. The abusive debt collector’s business model often relies on pursuing quick court judgments against consumers. In many cases, consumers do not appear and the resulting default judgments result in wage

garnishment. Consumers with similar names, John Smith, for example, have been sued and seen their wages garnished because of incorrect, inadequate or deliberately mistaken documentation. The full report by the Center for Responsible Lending provides information on recent state cases brought by attorney generals and regulators in New York, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado, Maryland and Texas. The cases showed debt collectors sued over debt SEE DEBT C2

Patent Success

James Clingman

Blackonomics

Firm receives patents for useful inventions ‘I’ versus ‘We’ (NNPA)—“In the Northern states, we are not slaves to individuals, not personal slaves, yet in many ways we are slaves of the community…It is more than a figure of speech to say that we are a people chained together. We are one people—one in general complexion type, one in degradation, one in popular estimation. As one rises, all must rise, and as one falls all must fall. Having now, our feet on the rock of freedom, we must drag our brethren from the slimy depths of slavery, ignorance, and ruin. Every one of us should be ashamed to consider himself free, while his brother is a slave.”—Frederick Douglass One conclusion I have drawn from working in the collective economic empowerment vineyard for years is that “We” fail because “I” gets in the way. Black folks adore the statement, “I am because we are, and because we are, therefore, I am.” Oh, if we would live by that statement rather than merely recite it. Frederick Douglass and other ancestors knew they were all in this thing together, and that no Black man or woman would rise without the rest of us rising. Have we come so far since his time that we no longer believe in the collective? Have we achieved so much and risen so high as individuals that we have lost sight of our brothers and sisters? Considering how we are so into words these days, I thought it appropriate to offer a change in how we perceive and use the word “We.” Each of us should adopt the thought that there is an “I” in “We” and realize, as our forefathers and mothers did, no matter the level of anyone’s individual success, he or she is still included in the “We.” That way we can eliminate much of the ego that tends to separate us from one another. The “I,” when it stands alone, is dangerous. It is rife with self-aggrandizement, selfdelusion, vulnerability, and sometimes selfdestruction due to its tendency to make an individual think his or her success was obtained without the help of anyone else. But add the “I” to the word “We” and watch what happens. The “I” is still successful, and it uplifts the “We” by its individual success. The “We” is strong. It overflows with selfreliance, self-determination, love, trust, reSEE “I” C2

by Diane I. Daniels For New Pittsburgh Courier

In 2008 Frederick Douglas Sr. the founder and president of Cosmos Technologies, Inc., considered his firm as innovative and predicted that within 10 years it would expand into the development, implementation and commercialization of environmental friendly green technologies to treat waste and improve wastewater treatment efficiency. Six years later Cosmos Technologies received fully executed United States and South African patents for developing an innovative, cost competitive, wastewater treatment process capable of removing toxic and other heavy metals from industrial wastewaters. Patents are also pending in Australia, Canada and Chile. Excited about the patents that were received in 2014 and 2015, Douglas said his company has the rights to the technology for 20 years. “No other companies can use the wastewater treatment process without paying or partnering with Cosmos Technologies,” he said. To move the patents forward Douglas said the next steps are to position Cosmos to form commercialized partnerships with large firms. “It would be a win, win situation for both entities.” His goal is to get in front of larger wastewater treatment company officials, but he said an ideal situation would be for politicians to introduce Cosmos to companies under the assumption that the technology helps save money, is good for the environment and business. Explaining the method, Douglas said the Cosmos process uses a catalytic oxidation step, followed by a single precipitation step to achieve greater than 90 percent heavy metals removal and oils and organics removal via the mechanism of oxidation. “A significant advantage of the Cosmos process is that it needs fewer operational steps to achieve required treated water quality compared to classical precipitation technologies. In comparison to a widely used competitive technology—electrocoagulation, the Cosmos process requires a lower capital and operating cost and is more robust in accepting wide variation in incoming wastewater quality,” Douglas explained. Founded in 1998, Douglas describes Cosmos as a civil engineering, construction management and inspection, environmental, energy management and surveying company. “Our expertise encompasses

HARD WORK PAYS OFF—The founder and president of Cosmos Technologies, Inc., Frederick Douglas Sr. proudly displays the patent certificate from the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (Photo by Diane I. Daniels) site infrastructure design, grading design and storm water management with a heavy emphasis on Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure Design, building systems engineering including building automation, wastewater treatment engineering, environmental management, and innovative wastewater treatment research and process development.” Douglas said Cosmos philosophy is that they are committed to providing top quality services to the total satisfaction of its clients. Throughout its 17 years he proclaims that he and the staff has strived to provide a clear definition of the project objectives, a clear outline and explanation of the project and processing steps to achieve the objectives and on time delivery of ser-

vices of high technical quality. He said that in order for small businesses to grow and gain confidence in their field that strong measures have to be put in place to encourage larger companies to do business with or to form partnerships. “I have worked hard to build and maintain relationships which developed into respect,” he said. As a result his clients are located in the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Louisville, KY, Akron and Cleveland, Ohio, Baltimore and Huntington, WV. Clients have included Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, HDR Engineering Inc., the Pittsburgh Sports and Exhibition Authority, the SEE PATENT C2

Feds and states successfully team up to prosecute housing bias (NNPA)—Three recent and separate enforcement actions involving federal and state agencies together prove how coordinated efforts against housing and credit discrimination can lead to equitable settlements for those whose rights have been denied. Further, the actions illustrate how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works in cooperation with other federal and state agencies to ensure that everyone harmed is protected by federal or state laws—or both. On May 26, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development resolved the largest disparate treatment in redlining in the agency’s history. The settlement is also one of the largest redlining complaints brought by the federal government against a mortgage lender. Associated Bank, based in Wisconsin and operating in multiple states, denied Black and Latino mortgage applicants loans from 2008-2010, particularly in large minority neighborhoods. As a result, Associated must now make more than $200 million in new mortgage lending available in majority-minority census tracts in Chicago and adjoining Lake County; Milwaukee and nearby Kenosha and in MinneapolisSt. Paul. Beyond the $200 million in new mort-

gage lending, Assoing Black and ciated Bank’s settle- Charlene Crowell Latino consumers ment also guaranwho either purtees the opening of chased a home or four loan offices in were striving to four of the majorityavoid foreclosure. minority census About 16,000 aftracts—three in fected consumers of Chicago and a color will share a fourth in the Miltotal of $36.7 million waukee area. for the harms inWithin six months, fair housing training curred by these illegal actions. must be offered to all of its employees and On May 28, CFPB and the Department agents with substantial residential lendof Justice filed a joint complaint against ing and a second level review on all denied Provident Funding Associates. The firm residential loans will also go into effect. charged higher fees that were unrelated to An additional $5.75 million from the an applicant’s creditworthiness, and albank will be used to support homeowner lowed broker discretion to charge higher improvements/repairs ($3 million), affirinterest rates to Black and Latino conmative marking of loans ($1.4 million), sumers seeking a mortgage. At the same community reinvestment and fair lending time, similar White consumers were never and education training ($1.35 million). charged the higher costs. Provident en“Discriminatory lending practices have couraged its brokers to follow these distoo often cut off many credit-worthy fami- criminatory practices by sharing a portion lies from the opportunities they need to of the higher costs, also known as yieldthrive,” said HUD Secretary Julian Castro. spread premiums, with their brokers. “This agreement will ensure that more DOJ and CFPB filed charges based on Americans can fulfill their hopes and aspi- the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that rations.” bans creditors from discriminating against Days later, CFPB took two, back-to-back applicants in credit transactions on the enforcement actions—again largely affect- basis of characteristics such as race and

Commentary

national origin. While charging these consumers of color higher rates than those of White borrowers, DOJ further alleged that Provident violated the Fair Housing Act, which also bans discrimination in mortgage lending. Consequently, approximately 14,000 Black and Latino who were sold Provident mortgages from 2006 to 2011 will share $9 million in damages for the harms incurred. Based in California, Provident mortgage brokers made loans across the country. For Paul Leonard, a senior vice-president with the Center for Responsible Lending, the Provident case was like a bad habit that would not go away. “We’ve seen this before. A lender provides broad discretion to mortgage brokers,” commented Leonard, “and results in African-American and Latino borrowers being systematically targeted for higher broker fees.…It was a bad practice before the crisis and it is a bad practice today.” On May 29, CFPB and the Florida Attorney General’s Office together obtained a final $27.7 million judgment against a foreclosure relief scam that targeted troubled homeowners facing foreclosure. HoffSEE FEDS C2

C2 JUNE 10-16, 2015

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

BUSINESS

Blacks need to join discussion on the economy (NNPA)—One’s worldview or social perspective is mainly informed by a matrix of different socioeconomic and political circumstances. A polling of Black America about the current “recovery” of the economy of the United States would produce a dramatically different set of responses from the polling results of White America That is because the vast economic inequality between Blacks and Whites in the U.S. today appears to be escalating. According the latest reports from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the steady overall pace of the recovery of the economy continues grow and expand. Yet while there was a .7 percent decline in the economy for the first quarter of 2015, the forecast for the remainder of 2015 looks very favorable and profitable, especially for those who are already wealthy. I have always believed that Black Americans should become much more aware of the economic trends that are affecting the U.S. economy as a whole. Too often we get left

out of the national discussion concern- Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. ing the economy because we do not consistently articulate the overall daily national economic interests of 45 million Black Americans. While it is important to continue to cite the fact that the current annual $7,113 for the median Black American spending Black household. Four in the U.S. economy totals years later, that gap has more than $1.2 trillion, how widened to the point that it do we really leverage that is now being called the fact to help empower Black “racial wealth gap.” American families and comThe state of Black Amermunities to get out of ica’s economy has to be a poverty? Economic produc- priority issue that is adtivity is not just about how dressed in every municipalmuch a person or a group ity and in every state where spends. Economic produc- Black Americans are contivity is also about how centrated. This also needs much a person or a group to be addressed as well at produces, invests, and the federal level not once a leverages to achieve sus- year but every day of every tainable financial develop- month in each of the four ment and empowerment. quarters that the Gross DoThe wealth gap between mestic Product (GDP) is deBlack and White Americans termined and debated. The continues grow wider. The GDP, as defined by the U.S. U.S. Census Bureau re- Department of Commerce ported in 2011 that the me- Bureau of Economic Analydian White household had sis, is the value of the ag$111,146 in wealth hold- gregate production of goods ings, compared to only and services in the United

Patent Success CONTINUED FROM C1

Pittsburgh Penguins, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, the Department of Energy, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers. To handle contracts Cosmos recently received in the neighboring state of Ohio, Douglas says he now operates satellite offices in Cleveland and Akron. In Cleveland the project consist of working on a tunnel construction project and on a waterline extension project in Akron. Locally, one of their major jobs is the 28-acre Lower Hill Redevelopment Project, the former Civic Arena site. Cosmos performed the design of the storm sewer separation along Centre Avenue between Crawford Street and Washington Place. The work is considered an important segment of a new separate storm sewer system that will be ultimately constructed to extend upstream and downstream of the site to mitigate flows within currently existing combination sewers. The segment along Centre Avenue is designed to accommodate future planned flows as modeled in the City’s balanced water model as provided by the PWSA. With the company motto, Innovation for the Future, Douglas said he is always looking ahead. He and his staff are working to develop a technique to treat wastewater and portable water using nano-technology. “It’s a new and evolving science for manufacturing new materials and heating wastewater,” he explained. “At Cosmos we want to grow the business to develop new technologies.” Currently at a staff of 10 full time people and five on-call employees, Douglas said he is looking to hire civil, mechanical and chemical engineers, field inspection workers, a marketing and business development person as well as an office administrator. Douglas, a Caribbean native received his Bachelor degree from the University of Virgin Islands and his Master’s degree from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. He relocated to Pittsburgh to work for US Steel. Before starting Cosmos Technologies in 1998 he worked in various capacities of the engineering field gaining experience in all areas of the industry. Cosmos, an award winning African American engineering firm, providing services in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Construction Management, Construction Inspection and Energy Management is certified in the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Pennsylvania certifications include the Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program, the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council, the PennDOT Engineering and Construction Management System, the Department of General Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Ohio certifications include the Disadvantage Business Enterprise, the Chemical Safety Board, the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and the Ohio Department of Transportation. Throughout Cosmos history the business and Douglas has been recognized for their high performance and business savvy by numerous organizations. Some recognition include the Pittsburgh Circle of Courage Award for entrepreneurism and business leadership, the Men of Excellence Award from the New Pittsburgh Courier, the entrepreneur of the year award from the National Black Minority Business Association and the Impact Award from Bridgeway Capital for business leadership. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National and Pittsburgh Chapter of the Water Environmental Federation, Corporate Membership; Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, Corporate Membership; Society of American Military Engineers and the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania. With the core belief that the real true value of any business is to make a positive impact on the rest of society, he is a strong believer in education and demonstrates his conviction by promoting a greater quality of education for area youth. He and his staff have served as tutors and mentors to students at Westinghouse High School, Imani Christian Academy and North Side Urban Pathways. He currently is a Board member of the Homewood-Brushton YMCA and the Board of Chairman of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Sub Committee for the City of Pittsburgh.

Commentary

States and that is adjusted for price changes. Black American economists and professionals in the financial services arena should formally issue on a quarterly basis a report on the Black American GDP. Do not misunderstand what I am calling for and the reason for doing such a report routinely each quarter. This is not just about statistics. This is about the need to make the national economic debate more inclusive of the economic interests of the Black American community. We are grateful to the National Urban League for its annual report on the State of Black America that is published each year. Its 2015 report, State of Black America® — “Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs + Justice,” that documented the facts that economic inequality between Black and White Americans was rapidly increasing across the nation. Marc Morial, president and CEO of the

National Urban League, emphasized, “Black America is in crisis – a jobs crisis, an education crisis and a justice crisis.” I agree with Morial and I would add that Black America’s crisis today is also an economic crisis. We should remain vigilant and not let the disparities or the increasing economic inequalities break our spirit. We have been through hard time before today and we will face hard socioeconomic times in the future. Our ancestors did not let racism, injustice and inequity break their collective and individual determination to make progress even in the face of brutal and institutionalized oppression. Our struggle and labor for economic equality will continue in America and throughout the world. Let’s keep pushing forward to advance the social and economic progress of Black America. (Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is the president and CEO of the NNPA and can be reached for national advertisement sales and partnership proposals at: dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.)

Tips to save on gas this summer

NEW YORK (AP)—Gas prices are expected to be the lowest they’ve been in about six years this summer. But that doesn’t mean you need to be wasteful when headed to the beach. The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that it expects the average cost of gas to be $2.45 a gallon from April to September. Here are some tips to get more mileage out of the gas you buy. •STAY COOL: The air conditioner wastes gas, but so can keeping the windows down. In hot weather, the Energy Department recommends keeping windows open when driving at lower speeds and the air conditioner on low when driving faster. •PRICE CHECK: Smartphone apps such as Waze, Gas Guru and GasBuddy can find the gas stations near you with the lowest prices. •DON’T SPEED: Every 5 mph that you drive over 50 is equivalent to paying an addi-

tional 17 cents per gallon for gas, according to the Energy Department. •KEEP YOUR TIRES INFLATED: When tires don’t have enough air, it forces the vehicle to use more energy to move. Tires that are properly inflated also last longer. •KEEP IT LIGHT: Don’t leave heavy items you don’t need in the trunk. Additional weight is a gas sucker, especially for smaller cars. And keep cargo or containers you don’t need off the roof. Carrying stuff up there makes a car use more energy to overcome the air drag. •TURN IT OFF: When you’re parked and sitting in the car, turn the engine off. Gas prices are displayed on a pump at a gas station in New Orleans on Monday, April 6, 2015. Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to an Energy Department report released Tuesday.

CONTINUED FROM C1

debt collector for engaging in abusive behavior and fined several others. The center urged lawmakers to combat these abuses. Lawmakers have the power to require debt collectors to verify that a consumer owes a debt before initiating a collection attempt, or a court case. They also could bar collectors from suing over debts beyond the statute of limitations, could stop collectors from selling debts they know have been paid off, or debts that lack adequate documentation to verify the debt.

Debt collection report horror stories

that was too old, engaged in harassing behavior, used illegal collection tactics, charged exorbitant interest and falsified or presented fake documents in court. The abuses of debt collectors found in federal cases include what the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called a collector with a team of only eight lawyers a “lawsuit factory” after it used “robo-signed” documents (documents mass signed with little to no review) to file 350,000 suits against consumers since 2009. The Federal Trade Commission shuttered one

(Special to the NNPA from The Final Call)

Feds and states successfully team up CONTINUED FROM C1

man Law Group (formerly known as Residential Litigation Group), its affiliates and operators were charged with using deceptive marketing practices and scams to take $11,730,579 in illegal fees from approximately 2,000 Florida consumers. Their actions violated both federal and Florida laws by charging troubled homeowners upfront fees of $6,000 to presumably keep their homes, and an additional $495 in monthly fees. Additionally, consumers were told to stop communicating with both their lenders and servicers. In exchange for the fees paid, consumers were to be added to frivolous lawsuits that the firm claimed would pressure lenders to modify loans or provide foreclosure relief.

In addition to the $11 million restitution paid to consumers, the final court judgment also ordered the corporate defendants to pay two different civil penalties. The first is $10 million for the violation of Regulation O, formerly known as the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) rule that bans advance fees for mortgage loan modification services and misrepresentations about loan modifications. The second civil fine, another $6 million is charged for violation of Florida state law. With state and federal laws providing legal sanctions, at least some compensation will be shared with victims of discrimination. More importantly, the journey towards justice continues. (Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.)

‘I’ versus ‘We’ CONTINUED FROM C1

spect, and cooperation. The collective aspects of success, whether one person attains it or everyone in the group attains it, fills the “We” with pride and the “I” with strength to do even more. Thus, I would assert to you that there is an “I” in the word, “We;” it’s a small “i” and it’s silent. The “I” is silent, not in the sense that it never speaks out or never does anything for itself as an individual, but rather it appreciates and respects the “We” so much that it is willing to make individual sacrifices to uplift the “We.” Just as Frederick Douglass said, “As one rises, all must rise…” He understood his obligation to his people and acted upon it, irrespective of the fact that he had attained tremendous success and was “accepted” in social and political circles in which his brothers and sisters were rejected. Jackie Robinson said, “We might make it as individuals, but I think we have to be concerned about the masses of [Black] people.” Both men understood the inside-outside game quite well. While Douglass was unwilling to do what Harriet Tubman and John Brown did, he knew Black people needed a spokesperson, a protest organ, and he was not afraid to tell it like it was and speak truth to power, as he did in his newspaper, The North Star and his famous July 4th

speech: “What is it to me?” he asked. Although Douglass was an “inside” man, he heaped praise on “outsider,” Harriet Tubman, in a written tribute to her: “I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction of being approved by the multitude, while the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, foot-sore bondmen and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage.” The inside-outside strategy worked well for those two stalwarts and with many other historical figures. What about us today? Are those on the inside so comfortable that they think they are not vulnerable to the same treatment the outsiders are receiving? Are the outsiders so envious of the “success” of the insiders that they spend their waking hours trying to bring the insiders down? If we adopt the notion that there is, indeed, an “i” in “We,” the battles Black people are fighting in this country will be won. Group ego beats individual ego any day. To remind us, let’s change the spelling of “We” to “Wie.” (Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He can be reached through his website, blackonomics.com.)

BUSINESS CALENDAR

The Second Step

JUNE 11——The University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research, Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence and Small Business Development Center will host “The Second Step: Creating a Business Plan” from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Homestead Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 510 E. 10th Ave., Homestead. This seminar will help individuals develop a business plan; the tools that successful business owners use to guide their business’ growth. Light refreshments will be offered. Registration is required and this is a free event. For more information, call 412-624-3095 or visit www.http://monvalleyentreprene ur.pitt.edu.

Women’s Breakfast Series JUNE 12—Chatham University’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship will host its Women Business Leaders Breakfast Series from 8-9:30 a.m. at Chatham University, James Laughlin Music Hall, Woodland Rd., Shadyside. The topic is “Effective Branding, Podcasting, and Promotion Without Giving Away the Ship.” Hustle & Heart TV’s Darieth Chisolm will talk about how bloggers, authors, speakers, innovators, entrepreneurs and those looking for ways to leverage all of their current marketing efforts can utilize the next big phenomenon: video podcasting. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. Registration is required. For more information, visit www.chatham.edu/cwe/events/ wblbseries/

Crucial Business Trends JUNE 17—The Business Institute of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania will host “Crucial Business Trends for 2015” from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Ave., Downtown. Marty McGough, vice president of Market Insights for Campos Research Strategy, will give a summary of the “Top 10 2015 Consumer Behavior Trends” and the impact it can have on one’s business. Registration is required. For more information, call 412-392-0610 or email information@aaccwp.com.

Engaging Corporate Sponsors JUNE 18—The Association of Fundraising Professionals will host “New Rules for Engaging Corporate Sponsors” with Barbara Harrington from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Shannopin Country Club, 1 Windmere Rd., Pittsburgh. The workshop, facilitated by Barbara Harrington, founder of Sponsorship Plus, will highlight sponsorship trends & ethics; case studies; valuing benefits and pricing packages; and event sponsorships and identifying other opportunities. Registration is required. For more information, visit www.afpwpa.org.

PowerBreakfast Meeting JUNE 19—The African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania will host its PowerBreakfast Meeting at 7:30 a.m. at One Oxford Centre. 301 Grant St., Downtown. The guest speaker will be JoEllen Parker, the president and CEO of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. She will give an update on her plans for the organization. Reservations are required by June 17. For more information, call 412-392-0610 or email information@aaccwp.com.

Inclusion Best Practices Series JUNE 23—Vibrant Pittsburgh will host its Inclusion Best Practices Series from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at Point Park University, Lawrence Hall, 201 Wood St., Downtown. The theme for the session is “Inclusive Recruiting: Strategies and Lessons Learned.” The morning will feature a conversation with Ken Bouyer, Ernst & Young Americas’ director of Inclusiveness Recruiting. This series features high profile companies who will share their stories and best practices on a range of diversity and inclusion topics. Registration is required. For more information, call Silvia Boselli at 412-281-8600 ext. 206 or email silviab@vibrantpittsburgh.org. (To have information on Business Calendar, send information at least two weeks in advance to: 315 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219; Fax: 412-481-1360 or e-mail: newsroom@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

New Pittsburgh Courier

SPORTS

C3

JUNE 10-16, 2015

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

by Bill Neal For New Pittsburgh Courier

:10—Of course I am starting with the Golden State win over the Cavs. I don’t like the Cavs. I don’t like LeBron. I don’t like spinach. I don’t like Dr. Pepper…yada…yada…yada! Which really means I don’t have a good reason for any of it. I just don’t. Anyway, G.S. takes game one in overtime 108-102 and I am happy about it. Love is not playing due to injury and Kyree Erving is only about 70 percent. Be careful Golden State…be very careful. :09—Here’s the rest of the truth. “LeBron James” aka “LBJ” aka “King James” is a bad mother - - - “watch your mouth” “well, I am talking about Shaft!” . . .We can dig it. (44 points and scoring at will…but not the one they needed!!!) :08—The third of the three legs of the horse rac-

ing world is upon us…whatever it’s called? And the horse that won the first two legs of the three races…whatever they’re called! Well, he’s about to win the third one. First time in forever! There you have it. How’s that for sports reporting? And it’s the truth! :07—In case you missed it, the…your Pittsburgh Steelers went into OTA’s aka volunteer training camp…(yeah right!)…with a lot of weapons and new pieces that should fit just nicely. This might be an early call, but in listening to the player interviews, there seems to be a buzz in the air. A quiet buzz if you will. I think these Steelers think they’re ready. A very veteran Big Ben, an unbelievably conditioned James Harrison, the league’s best Antonio Brown, Brett Keisel on the edge if needed, Cortez Allen back in form (so they say),

Overtime new plugs on dehis Pitt football fense, new speed team. Four hours on offense and of truth, training probably the best and testimony was running back in presented to our the game, Le’Veon future stars along Bell. Even life with lunch, twithout Troy Polashirts and a showmalu . . .this could case of class prebe the Super Bowl sented by the season. Pittsburgh United :06—Achieving Rays Corvette Greatness Inc. Club. How good hosted the Westwas it? The stuern Pa. High dents said… “Let’s BILL NEAL School Life Skills do this every Seminar to 50 week. We need plus student athletes and this!” :05—Lock this in whatever some of the area’s top coaches and motivators, in- tech unit you operate with. cluding Master Jacquet Monday, June 15 - “Summer Bazemore, Warren Wilson, Madness Monday” at the Coach Wilford Dennis, Blue Line Grille Uptown. Coach Karen Hall, Master VIP upper level with outside Yusef, Coach Dusty Long, deck overlooking the city, Brother Isaha, Atty. Timo- valet parking, street & thy Vales and Dennis garage parking, free hors Briggs and members from d’oeuvres, 6-8 p.m. or until

gone. Doors open at 6 p.m. Come right after work. Casual dress to dress to impress, cash bar, cash kitchen, the R&B legend “Sly Jock”, vendors, 50/50, Par-Tay goes till 11 p.m., $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit AGI Safe Summer Youth Events. For more information call 412-628-4856 or 412-2559190. See ya at the Par-Tay - - lock in Thursday, June 25. We do it all again at the fabulous Savoy 7 - 11 p.m., celebrating our teachers, all Connie Hawkins Summer League players and the Pittsburgh City League Hall of Fame…dancin…eatin and drinkin…the way it used to be! :04—This just in…the horse in the race won! (Man, I crack me up sometimes.) :03—With all due respect to “Sir Eddie Jefferies”, the founding father and the “President for Life” of “The Know It All Club,” I

humbly submit and with some fear of reprisal that the numbers are in. The people have spoken. Seventy-three people text in that Michael “Your Airness” Jordan would take LeBron’s heart out his body while it’s still beating. While 64 deaf and apparently blind people somehow think “King James” wins the one on one battle of the greats. Here’s to you Mr. President!!! :02—“A-Rod” is coming… “A-Rod” is coming…“A-Rod” is coming…and he’s got a big bat with him. Watch out Barry Bonds. Your records is in reach. :01—Marcus Robinson and the Pittsburgh Bullets ABA professional basketball team will host tryouts for the 2015-2016 season on Saturday, June 13 at the Homewood YMCA. Registration for the tryout is $75. Call 412-537-3793 for information. ~ GAME OVER ~

James, Curry take NBA title quest to Cleveland OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)— The final buzzer sounded, and LeBron James wasn’t done. As fans filed out of the quieting arena, James grabbed the ball and spiked it with all his might. He flexed his arms and pounded his chest, letting out a roar that echoed from California to Cleveland. This set up the third game in Cleveland Tuesday and fourth Thursday night. Missing starters Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao, the Cavs was suppose to go quietly to deeply talented Warriors but LeBron will not let the Cavs die without a fight. James turned in a tripledouble to remember, Matthew Dellavedova made the go-ahead free throws in overtime, and the Cavaliers overcame a fourth-quarter collapse to outlast the Golden State Warriors 95-93 on Sunday night to even the NBA Finals at a game apiece. James finished with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in 50 minutes, carrying Cleveland’s depleted roster to victory on the NBA’s toughest home floor. The

A HAPPY MAN—LeBron James shows his emotions after big win. (AP photos)

OFF GAME—Stephen Curry had a rare off game but will be ready for the Cavs in Cleveland.

Warriors had been 47-3 at ear-piercing Oracle Arena. “I tried to give it all to my teammates. And they do a great job of giving it back to me. Total team effort,” said James, who shot 11 of 35 from the floor and seemed to wear down as the game dragged on. “To be back in the same position we were

regulation. The MVP also put Golden State in front 9392 on free throws with 29.5 seconds left in overtime. Then, Draymond Green met James at the rim to block his left-handed layup, but the Cavs retained possession. After James Jones missed a 3-pointer, Dellavedova grabbed the rebound

in three days ago and to come back and even the series is big time.” It was the second straight overtime game, and one the Cavs never should’ve let happen. Stephen Curry had a horrific shooting performance but converted the tying layup for the Warriors late in

and was fouled. “That’s the classic thing you practice as a kid growing up,” Dellavedova said. “I felt like I’ve been in that situation a million times before.” Dellavedova made both to put Cleveland up with 10.1 seconds to play. Curry airballed a jumper contested by

Dellavedova, James got the rebound and hit one of two free throws with 4.4 seconds left. After James made his free throw, Curry, without a timeout, raced up court and tried to pass ahead to Klay Thompson. But Iman Shumpert batted the ball away to seal the Cavs’ win. Game 3 is Tuesday night in Cleveland. It was a pivotal point for the Cavs, who won their first finals game in franchise history. They were swept by the Spurs in their only other appearance in 2007, when James was just growing into the planet’s best player. Cleveland was staring at a major deficit again. Teams with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win 28 of 31 series. Now that’s one thing the Cavs won’t have to overcome. James is still left trying to carry Cleveland to its first championship in 51 years after Kyrie Irving fractured his left kneecap in Game 1. Irving had surgery in Cleveland on Saturday to join sidelined starters Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao, both of whom had already been lost for the season with injuries.

Inside Conditions—May the work I’ve done speak for me by Aubrey Bruce For New Pittsburgh Courier

On Saturday June 6, many throughout the sports world, gathered at the Wyndham Pittsburgh ballroom to celebrate the time honored tradition of Western Pennsylvania quarterbacks. Not just any signal callers but four living NFL Hall-of-famers and two other Hall of fame dwellers that have passed on. The late George Blanda, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath and last but certainly not least, John Unitas. I initially felt that writing this piece without direct quotes might be a bit challenging but I realized that since there were two of the honorees that were no longer here to represent themselves, I would write a significant percentage of this column simply allowing their careers and their names to be at the center of this piece of work. There are several dictionaries that suggest that the surname Blanda is a derivative from the word “bland.” However, I beg to differ with any definition of the athletic career of George Blanda being described other than, exciting, record breaking and even historical. Blanda played 26 years and competed in the most violent game on earth and not only survived but thrived. Nowadays with the money that quarterbacks and placekickers earn, think of the economic boost that a George Blanda would be to any franchise in the oftentimes cash strapped, salary capped environment of the NFL. Having a player that on your squad that can score points with his arm and his leg. The late Al Davis, the legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders once said this about his quarterback/kicker George Blanda. “He’s the greatest competitor the game has ever seen. Some may have been his equal, but none greater. Pride and Poise, Commitment go hand in hand with George Blanda.” Recently, East Brady, Pa., NFL quarterback Jim Kelly has faced many third and long situations regarding his health. However, for all intents and purposes, Kelly continues to “move the chains” to extend the quality of life. Kelly played 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills and at one point led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls.Although he was never able to hoist a Lombardi Trophy above his head to

THE BEST OF THE BEST—From left: Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, Joe Montana, and Dan Marino. (AP Photo) celebrate a victory, many quarterbacks never reach the “big game” once and many that do never reach it again. Even though he never won a Super Bowl Jim Kelly once said: “the best decision of my life proved to be the day I signed with the Buffalo Bills.” Even in the defeat, the dignity and grace of Jim Kelly has always shined through. It is truly fitting that the celebration to honor Dan Marino, former standout from the University of Pittsburgh and Central Catholic High School. According to the “Gridiron Gold” program guide; “The Miami Dolphins, much to their surprise at the time, found University of Pittsburgh quarterback Dan Marino to make their first pick in the 1983 National Football League draft.” 1983 can also be the year known as “the double whammy” because the Pittsburgh Steelers chose Gabriel Rivera a defensive tackle from Texas Tech in the first round. As the 1983 season progressed, Rivera slowly began to come on, getting 2 sacks in his first 6 games played. But on Oct. 20, 1983, Rivera was paralyzed in a drunk driving car wreck. Pittsburgh failed to draft Marino, a hometown favorite but instead drafted Rivera which represented a double loss for the Steelers and the Steel City. Marino, went on to win the NFL’s 1983 “Rookie of the Year award. The following season he led

the Dolphins to the Super Bowl but Miami fell to fellow Western Pa. native Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers 38-16 in Super XIX. The Dolphins legendary hall of fame coach Don Shula one said: “Dan was the best pure passer that ever played the game.” Strong words from the man that coached both Unitas and Marino. According to surnames.meaning-ofnames.com, the name Montana means: “dweller at or near a mountain.”That seems to aptly describe the San Francisco 49ers 1979 third round pick who had a great career with the 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, because during the majority of his career he was generally near to or perched upon the NFL mountaintop. Joe Montana won four Super Bowls and was the MVP in three of those games. The kid from Monongahela, Pa. had “it” even before he decided to take his talent to the land of “touchdown Jesus” and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame where he won a national title in as a junior in 1977. No lead was safe with Joe Montana under center because he led his teams to 31 fourth quarter comebacks. Montana once said: “I’m convinced that the only thing that separates champions is the individual’s competitive drive.” One of the first thing that a coach asks about an athlete is: “is the kid coachable?” University of Alabama coach Paul “Bear”

Bryant said this about Beaver Falls, Pa. native Joe Willie Namath, “was the greatest athlete I ever coached.” Getting back to the question of “coach-ability” Joe Namath said this about “Bear” Bryant, “he [Bryant], put the fear of God in me—I was terrified of him.” Well, Coach Bryant was probably one of the few things that scared Joe Namath on the field because many people will bear witness that not many things caused him to become fearful off the field. Known as a free spirit, I grew up idolizing Joe Namath sporting fur coats, beautiful women always on his arm and “hangover” hiding sunglasses. I simply looked at Namath as the original “king of swag.” O.J. Simpson once proclaimed: “the sun never sets on the cool” and no one was ever cooler than Joe Namath. Namath punched his ticket into Canton when as a heavy underdog in Super Bowl III he guaranteed a victory of his upstart AFL New York Jets over the mighty Johnny Unitas and the NFL powerhouse Baltimore Colts. Some say in all probability the victory came after a night of some serious partying by Namath. As far as the life and career of NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas, this old gospel song by the Consolers may say it all. “May the works I’ve done speak for me. May the works I’ve done speak for me. When I’m resting in my grave, there’s nothing more to be said; May the works I’ve done speak for me. In 1955 John Unitas was a a ninth round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That draft position almost certainly guaranteed that the only ticket that would feature his name would be his time card entering and exiting the steel mills, where the smoke was clearly visible from his Mt. Washington home. He played semi-pro football before being discovered by Baltimore Colts coach Weeb Ewbank. There are not many adjectives to describe the crew cut wearing, trend setting Unitas. Gritty, competitive and courageous will fit, just for starters. In a career spanning 18 years, there were few players if any that could equal the kid nicknamed, “Johnny U.” The works that Unitas and all of the aforementioned athletes will truly continue to speak for them throughout history. (Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741.)

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Robert Morris University seeks applicants for several employment opportunities. Visit RMU.EDU/JOBS for details. Email resume to jobs@rmu.edu or mail to: Robert Morris University, Human Resources 6001 University Blvd., Moon Twp., PA 15108 or fax to 412-397-2555. RMU believes institutional equity reflects our continued commitment to a community where everyone is both valued and respected. We are dedicated to developing a diverse population and strive to be an inclusive community that celebrates and embraces differences. EOE

PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT/ MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (Multiple Openings)

Thorley Industries Inc. d/b/a 4moms (Pittsburgh, PA) is seeking Product Improvement/Mechanical Engineers to work at Co.ʼs headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA & be resp. for providing ongoing prdct production support for robotics tech. to the Juvenile Ind. w/the co.ʼs suite of high-tech baby gear. Specific job duties incl: introducing prdct qlty improvements; providing timely prdct qlty issue mitigation; identifying & implementing cost improvement/containment strategies; evaluating & approving alternative materials; supporting prdct line expansion; creatng new prdct configurations, mnging component obsolescence, use to depletion, & running changes; & performing life cycle, reliability & change validation testing protocols. Must hold Bachelorʼs dgree in Mech., Mfg or Biomedical Engrg, Mechatronics, Robotics or directly rltd discipline. Must know (thru academic training or work exp.) Bill of Materials, Device Master & History Records, revision control & history, component specifications, 3D CAD (Solidworks), med-to-high volume production means; devising new locking mechanisms & battery placement area; fabricating different parts using acrylic & ABS sheets; building, testing & prototyping; & preparing assembly manuals w/ Solidworks CAD. Send resume via U.S. mail to Thorley Industries LLC, Attn: Mechanical Engineers, 912 Ft Duquesne Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15222. JOB OPPORTUNITIES Health Care

ONCOLOGIST

Hematology Oncology Association seeks an Oncologist in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA.Diagnose and treat inpatients and outpatients with an oncologic or hematologic diagnosis. Must have Medical degree or foreign equivalent; completion of a residency in Internal Medicine; completion of a fellowship in Hematology/Medical Oncology; Board certified in Internal Medicine; Board Certified or Board eligible for certification in Hematology and/or Medical Oncology; must have a valid PA medical license or eligibility for licensure. Apply at www.upmc.com by following these steps; click Careers at UPMC, Start My Job Search, and follow the link to continue to search and apply for openings. Select Advanced Search and enter 2075761 in the job opening ID field. EOE

PEDIATRIC NEURORADIOLOGIST

University of Pittsburgh Physicians seeks a Pediatric Neuroradiologist in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA. Interpret diagnostic neuroradiology imaging and diagnose conditions of the spine, neck, head, and central nervous system in infants, children, and adolescents by using computed tomography (CT), magnetic resource imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance angiography and spectroscopy, functional MRI and MEG, and ultrasound; involved in the fetal and neonatal neuroimaging service line, which will require diagnostic imaging interpretations of fetal brain MR; responsible for providing a weekly conference to the neonatologists on fetal and neonatal brain imaging. Must have a Medical degree or foreign equivalent; must have completed a minimum of two years of post-graduate training in Radiology; must have completed a fellowship in Neuroradiology (1yr); must have completed a fellowship in Pediatric Radiology (1yr); must have completed a fellowship in Pediatric Neuroradiology (1yr); must be board certified or board eligible for certification in Radiology; must have a valid PA medical license or be eligible for licensure. Apply at www.upmc.com by following these steps; click Careers at UPMC, Start My Job Search, and follow the link to continue to search and apply for openings. Select Advanced Search and enter 2075235 in the job opening ID field. EOE

IMMEDIATE OPENINGS EVA P. MITCHELL RESIDENCE NOW LEASING Efficiency & One Bedroom Apts.: Includes: appliances, heat, A/C, wall to wall carpet, Social Services Coordinator, on site laundry facility, near public transportation Must be 62 years old or mobility impaired Income restrictions apply Contact Donna Rivers: 412-363-4169 OR evapmitchell@ahrco.com For app. appointment LEGAL ADVERTISING

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Letters have been granted on the estate of each of the following decedents to the personal representative named who request all persons having claims against the estate of the decedent to make known the same in writing to him or his attorney, and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment to him without delay:

Estate of HILL, ROBERT V., deceased of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 02-15-02637. Carol Brackett, Adm., 2805 Webster Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 or to Sheila M. Ford, 6419 Stanton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.

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CITY OF PITTSBURGH, PA CDBG, HOME, HESG, AND HOPWA PROGRAMS FY 2014 CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT (C.A.P.E.R.)

Notice is hereby given that the City of Pittsburgh intends to submit the FY 2014 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (C.A.P.E.R.) to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on or before June 30, 2015. In accordance with Title I of the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, as amended, the City of Pittsburgh has prepared its Fiscal Year 2014 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (C.A.P.E.R.) for its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), the Emergency Solutions Grant (HESG), and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Programs. This report describes the level of housing assistance and other community development activities through grants from various Federal funding programs during Fiscal Year 2014 (April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015). Copies of the FY 2014 C.A.P.E.R. for the City of Pittsburgh are available for public inspection at the City of Pittsburgh website at (http://pitts burghpa.gov/dcp/communitydevelopment/cdbg) and at the following locations beginning Thursday, June 11, 2015 through Thursday, June 25, 2015: Department of City Planning 200 Ross Street, 2nd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Urban Redevelopment Authority 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 All interested persons are encouraged to review the FY 2014 C.A.P.E.R. Written comments should be addressed to Mr. Michael Petrucci, Assistant Planning Director for Community Development, Department of City Planning, 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Written comments on the C.A.P.E.R. will be considered until June 25, 2015. Mr. Michael Petrucci, Assistant Planning Director for Community Development LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

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The Sports & Exhibition Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County (SEA) will receive sealed bids for NSRFP 2015 Railing Painting (trade package) as identified below for the North Shore River Front Park. The contract for this work will be with the Sports & Exhibition Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Inquiries regarding the bidding should be made to the Stadium Authority 171 10th Street, 2nd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, Attention: Mr. Taylor Blice E-mail: tblice@pgh-sea.com. Bid Packages may be obtained after the date identified below through AccuCopy at (724) 642-2042. This Advertisement applies to the following Bid Package: Project: North Shore River Front Park Bid Package Name: NSRFP 2015 Railing Painting Bid Package Available: June 5, 2015 Time/Date/Location for Bid: 2:00 PM, June 24, 2015, Sports & Exhibition Authority, 171 10th Street, 2nd Floor COURIER CLASSIFIEDS…COURIER CLASSIFIEDS…

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INVITATION TO BIDDERS ECMS Designated Contract CITY OF PITTSBURGH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS ADVERTISEMENT Project: Greenfield Avenue Bridge #39 ECMS No. 28258 BTE Project No. 08203

The City of Pittsburgh, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, will be accepting bids, through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportationʼs Engineering and Construction Management System (ECMS), for the total replacement of the Greenfield Avenue Bridge. The work will include the implosion of the existing concrete arch bridge and the construction of a steel arch bridge over Interstate 376 (Parkway East). The construction plans and specifications can only be viewed on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportationʼs ECMS website http://www.dot14.state.pa.us/ECMS/. The bid documents should be available on, or shortly after, Thursday June 11, 2015. Only electronic bids from ECMS business partners will be accepted. To register as a business partner go to http://www.dotdom2.state.pa.us/ ECMS/ECMSHome.nsf/frmECMSframeset?open&eurdECMS_Business_Partner.nsf/frmBPPublicHome?OpenForm). All bidders (and subcontractors) on this project must be prequalified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the type of work to be performed. An optional Pre-Bid meeting will be held on June 23, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. EDT in Room 646 of the City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. The bid opening (Let Date) is scheduled for Thursday July 16, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. EDT. Bidders may view the bid opening online. Michael Gable, CPRP, Director Public Works Sam Ashbaugh, Director Office of Management and Budget

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY LEGAL NOTICE CONTRACT NO. 1636

The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority is soliciting Bids for CONTRACT NO. 1636, FURNISHING AND DELIVERING POLYMER FOR CENTRIFUGE DEWATERING SYSTEM. Bids will be received until 2:00 P.M., Prevailing Time, Thursday, June 18, 2015 at the office of the Authority, 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. The Bids will then be publicly opened and read. ALCOSAN encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities and women to submit bids on Authority Proposals or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to the successful bidders. Successful Bidders are to use minority or womenʼs businesses to the fullest extent possible. To be considered eligible to Bid on this Contract, the Bidder must be the manufacturer of one of the emulsion polymer products recently pre-qualified by the Authority following trials held in response to the Legal Notice of April 8, 2015. Documents pertaining to the submission of Bids are available at the Engineering office of the Authority, 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. Bid Security shall be furnished by providing with the Bid a Certified Check or Bid Bond in the amount of $50,000.00. The Successful Bidder shall be required to furnish a Performance Bond in the amount of $500,000.00. Any questions regarding the Contract Documents should be directed to Elizabeth A. Joyce, Process Engineer at (412) 734-8719, or e-mailed to elizabeth.joyce@alcosan.org. The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all Bids, to waive any informality in any Bid and to accept any Bid should it be deemed in the interest of the Authority to do so. ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY David W. Borneman, P.E. Director, Engineering and Construction

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Sealed bid proposals are hereby solicited for the Community College of Allegheny County, 800 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15233 (412.237.3020) on the following items: Bid Proposal No. 944 - Palo Alto Maintenance Renewal Bid Proposal No. 945 F5 Maintenance Renewal Proposals will be received at the Purchasing Department until 2:00 P.M. Prevailing Time on Friday, June 19, 2015 at which time they will be publicly opened. Any proposals received after this deadline will be considered as a “late bid” and will be returned unopened to the offerer. The CCAC Purchasing Department is now publishing all bids via the CCAC website at h t t p s : / / w w w. c c a c . e d u / B i d RFP_Opportunities.aspx It will be each vendorʼs responsibility to monitor the bid activity within the given website (“Bid and RFP Opportunities”) and ensure compliance with all applicable bid documents inclusive of any issued addenda. Failure to incorporate any applicable addenda in the final submittal may result in the rejection of your bid. Proposals may require Bid Bonds, Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds, and Surety as dictated by the specifications. No bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids. The Board of Trustees reserves the right to reject any and all bids. The Community College of Allegheny County is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and encourages bids from Minority/Disadvantaged owned businesses.

INVITATION TO BID

THE RIDC REGIONAL GROWTH FUND is soliciting proposals from qualified companies to perform Reroofing Construction at the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport, McKeesport, Allegheny County, PA Bids will be received at the office of Mazza Design Solutions, LLC, 232 Center Grange Road, Aliquippa, PA 15001-1421 no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 19, 2015. Bids are to be in sealed envelopes, the outside to clearly indicate that it is a sealed bid, the name of the bidder, the due date and time, and the project title: “SEALED BID – RIDC McKeesport Manor I Roof Project”. Bid specs & plans may be obtained at cost from MAZZA DESIGN SOLUTIONS, LLC, 232 Center Grange Road, Aliquippa, PA 15001-1421, Phone 724-728-8111. Each proposal shall be made upon forms provided and shall be accompanied by a bid bond, certified check, or cashierʼs check in the amount of 10% of all the base and alternate bids. No bidder may withdraw his bid within ninety (90) days after bid opening. MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING will be held on site at 9:00 a.m., Thursday, June 11, 2015. The Project is funded by the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). Pennsylvania Steel Products Procurement Act, Trade Practices Act and Americans with Disabilities Act apply to the project. Public Works Contractorsʼ Bond Law: Payment and Performance Bonds (100% of Contract Value) and a two (2) year Maintenance Bond are required on this project. The Prevailing Wage Determination Act is applicable for this project and notarized certified payrolls shall be properly executed and submitted for review and approval. Fidelity Bonds apply to the project. Insurance: Workerʼs Compensation Insurance, Comprehensive General Liability Insurance, Property Damage Insurance, Identify Commonwealth as Additionally Insured. These Conditions to be incorporated into all construction contracts between RIDC and contractor, contractor and subcontractor(s), and subcontractor(s) and lower tiered subcontractor(s).

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR CALIGUIRI PLAZA WINDOWS AND FAÇADE REPLACEMENT PA-1-41 HACP CONTRACT NO. 600-19-15

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for Caliguiri Plaza Windows and Façade Replacement (PA1-41). The construction work is estimated to begin in September 2015. The estimated values of the project per are in the following ranges: General Construction Contract No. 600-19-15 G Estimate of costs is in the following range: $3,431,000.00 - $4,941,000.00 Electrical Construction Contract No. 600-19-15 E Estimate of costs is in the following range: $12,500.00 -$18,200.00 Bid Documents will be available on or about Monday, June 1, 2015 for a non-refundable fee of $25.00 in the form of a CERTIFIED CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ONLY. Bid Documents, including bid forms, project manual, and drawings can be picked up in person, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.: Caliguiri Plaza 803 E. Warrington Avenue Pittsburgh, PA, 15210 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. Bidders shall come prepared to review all aspects of the construction site necessary to prepare a bid. Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement until 2:00 p.m. Thursday, July 1, 2015 at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or reject any and all bids. No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH. The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction Contracts. The Contractor must ensure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sexual preference, handicap or national origin. HACP has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation. THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement at (412) 4565116 Opt 1. Caster D. Binion, Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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Sharon Goldsmith receives PLAN Excellence Award

LEADERS—From left: Robert V. Racunas, executive director, Neighborhood Legal Services Association; William Turner, president, NLSA Board Central Clients’ Council; Sharon Goldsmith; and Ronald Wilson, treasurer, Central Clients’ Council. (Photo courtesy of Neighborhood Legal Services)

2015

by Paige Mitchell

For New Pittsburgh Courier

Sharon A. Goldsmith, a woman of hard work, devotion and passion for the client community, recently received the 2015 Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network Excellence Award at the Harrisburg Hilton, for her commitment to equal justice and work in supporting the client community. “Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying. If all difficulties were known at the onset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all,“ Goldsmith said. She attended the Community College of Allegheny County and Harty Bible School. A Pittsburgh native from Manchester, where Sharon still resides, she’s also an active member of New Zion Baptist Church in Manchester. Goldsmith began her career as a receptionist in 1977 in the North Side office of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association; she was greeting clients both on the telephone and in person, and six months later was promoted to secretary. In 1987 Goldsmith was promoted to executive secretary, handling a variety of secretarial and administrative office duties with great care, confidentially and professionalism. She is the sole support for NLSA’s administration and Board of Directors. She also works with NLSA’s Development Department to ensure that donations are properly recorded and acknowledged. Goldsmith assists NLSA’s volunteers and clients in attending training events. She is the point person for all Continuing Legal Education trainings for pro bono attorneys—expertly handling registration, organizing training materials and submitting accurate reports to the CLE Board. Goldsmith works closely with and serves as an advisor to the Central Clients’ Council, facilitating training events and arranging for client travel and participation. The Central Clients’ Council is an orga-

FAMILY SUPPORT—From: Lynwood Goldsmith, son; Betty Goldsmith-Stewart, sister; and Gary Goldsmith, brother. nization of low-income clients of southwestern Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest and most continuous client groups supporting civil legal aid in the country and many of its members credit Goldsmith’s assistance is key to the vitality of this important client group. Recognizing the significance of the client voice in expanding access to justice, Goldsmith also works very closely with project directors, attorneys and client leadership from the southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services Client Consortium to plan, schedule and coordinate the logistics of client participation in regional and statewide training events. She was asked to assist the Consortium client group when the regional council was formed nearly 20 years ago by assisting in the development of bylaws, organizing meetings and arranging speakers. To this day, she continues to provide this assistance. In 2008, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services Client Consortium honored Goldsmith with an award in recognition of her many years of work on behalf of clients. Goldsmith’s interest in public service also shows in

her work outside of NLSA. She also served on several boards and groups devoted to coming to the aid of neighbors experiencing family emergencies or economic hardships. Goldsmith truly is a credit to her client community. “Whatever you can do or dream, you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” Goldsmith said. Abraham Lincoln once stated that: “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” George Washington Carver stated that: “How far you go in life depends on your being with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong; because someday in life you will have been all of these.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58. These quotes describe how Goldsmith has devoted her life to be truly a credit to her community.

Nomination deadline, noon June 30, 2015 NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER FAB 40 NOMINATION FORM NOMINATOR: NAME: ________________________________________________________________ CONTACT INFO: ______________________________________________________ NOMINEE_____________________________________________AGE ___________ _______________________________________________________________________ TITLE/POSITION COMPANY/AFFILIATION ADDRESS______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ CITY STATE ZIP PHONE_________________________E-MAIL_______________________________ Describe the specific accomplishments that demonstrate the nominee’s professional excellence:

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Describe the nominee’s community service activity or organizational involvement, if known:

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ New Pittsburgh Courier 315 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Fax: 412-481-1360 THE BOARD—Neighborhood Legal Services Association Board and Central Clients’ Council members.

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SALE OF SURPLUS EQUIPMENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY

The following surplus equipment will be offered for sale to the highest bidder(s): REQUEST FOR QUOTATION 150618 - SALE OF SURPLUS: Playground Equipment Stationary Fitness Bikes Store Shelving Bids are due in to the CCAC Purchasing Department no later than 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 18, 2015. For more information, call Mike Cvetic at 412-237-3146 or email mcvetic@ccac.edu to request bid forms. Community College of Allegheny County Purchasing Department 800 Allegheny Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15233

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Sealed bid proposals are hereby solicited for the Community College of Allegheny County, 800 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15233 (412.237.3020) on the following items: Bid Proposal No. 943 Cut Sheet Paper Proposals will be received at the Purchasing Department until 2:00 P.M. Prevailing Time on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at which time they will be publicly opened. Any proposals received after this deadline will be considered as a “late bid” and will be returned unopened to the offerer. The CCAC Purchasing Department is now publishing all bids via the CCAC website at h t t p s : / / w w w. c c a c . e d u / B i d RFP_Opportunities.aspx It will be each vendorʼs responsibility to monitor the bid activity within the given website (“Bid and RFP Opportunities”) and ensure compliance with all applicable bid documents inclusive of any issued addenda. Failure to incorporate any applicable addenda in the final submittal may result in the rejection of your bid. Proposals may require Bid Bonds, Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds, and Surety as dictated by the specifications. No bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids. The Board of Trustees reserves the right to reject any and all bids. The Community College of Allegheny County is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and encourages bids from Minority/Disadvantaged owned businesses.

PORT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY

Electronic Proposals will be received online at the Port Authority of Allegheny Countyʼs Ebusiness website (http://ebusiness.portauthority.org). Submission date for all of the proposals will be until 11:00 AM on June 29, 2015 and read at 11:15 AM., the same day, in Port Authorityʼs Public Meeting Room, 345 Sixth Avenue, Fifth Floor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-2527, for the following: Electronic Proposal - Ebusiness website (http://ebusiness.portauthority.org) Bid Number Bid Name 1 B141085R CBD Actuator and Bypass Damper Repair Services 2 B150102 Supervisory Vehicles 3 B150105 Street Sweeper 4 B150111 Route Foreman Trucks 5 B150112 Bucket Trucks 6 B150420A Equipment Cleaner 7 B150422 Special Trackwork Tread Bearing #4 & #6 Frogs 8 B150430 Dellner Coupler Overhaul—LRV 9 B150533A Compellent Support Services 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 9:00am on June 16, 2015 in the Port Authorityʼs Board Room at 345 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA. Attendance at this meeting is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged. Questions regarding any of the above bids will not be entertained by the Port Authority within 48 hours of the scheduled bid opening. These contracts may be subject to a financial assistance contract between Port Authority of Allegheny County 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 bidderʼs proposal pricing. Port Authority of Allegheny County 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 Port Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

NEWPITTSBURGHCOURIERCLASSIFIEDSTHEONLYWAYTOGO

LEGAL AD REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Request for Proposals

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a software-based tool, and related support, that will allow for centralized and efficient management, scheduling and assignment of responsibility for the transport of children and youth in the care of the DHS Office of Children, Youth and Families. Proposals are due by July 10, 2015 For more details and submission information, visit http://www.alleghenycounty.us /dhs/active-solicitations.aspx. Marc Cherna, Director Allegheny County Department of Human Services

SONNY BOY

ARMDC conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA May 21, 2015

The Office of the County Controller of Allegheny County, Room 104, Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, will receive separate and sealed Bids until 11:00 A.M. prevailing local time, WEDNESDAY, June 17, 2015, and a representative of the Department of Public Works will open and read the Bids in the Gold Room, Room 410, Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, onehalf hour later, 11:30 oʼclock A.M., for the following: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Reconstruction of Bower Hill Road, Phase 2, Scott Township COUNTY PROJECT

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ALLIES & ROSS MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR NORTHVIEW HEIGHTS MIDRISE MASTER PLANNING SERVICES RFP#2015-04

Allies & Ross Management and Development Corporation (ARMDC) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): MASTER PLANNING SERVICES RFP#2015-04 The documents will be available no later than June 4, 2015 and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until 2:00 P.M., June 30, 2015 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Parties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the Solicitation from the Business Opportunities page of www.HACP.org. Questions or inquiries should be directed to: Kim Detrick Allies & Ross Management and Development Corporation c/o Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116 Opt 1 A Pre-Submission Conference will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept. 100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wednesday, June 17, 2015 2:00 P.M. ARMDC strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond to this solicitation. HACP has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation. Caster D. Binion, President and CEO Allies & Ross Management and Development Corporation

JUNE 10-16, 2015

WESTERN AREA: GIANT EAGLE #02 1800 MCKEES ROCKS RD GIANT EAGLE #694 GREEN GARDEN PLAZA PLAZA NEWS 2142 SHEFFIELD ROAD STEVIES DAIRY MART 1230 SHEFFIELD ST NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET 1329 TYLER STREET GIANT EAGLE #37 QUAKER VALLEY SHOPPING CENTER CRAFTON BEVERAGE CRAFTON/INGRAM SHOPPING CENTER GIANT EAGLE CRAFTON/INGRAM SHOPPING CENTER SHEETZ #353 5400 CAMPBELL’S RUN RD SHOP N’ SAVE #1686 2103 NOBLESTOWN RD SAFRANS SUPER MKT 429 WALNUT ST GIANT EAGLE #47 100 SETTLERS RIDGE CTR. DR. GIANT EAGLE #74 PARKWAY CENTER MALL

Look for our red box WHOLE FOODS MARKET 5880 CENTRE AVE AMTRACK STATION LIBERTY AVE & GRANT ST CITY COUNTY BUILDING 420 GRANT ST CCAC—HOMEWOOD BRANCH HOMEWOOD & BRUSHTON AVE YMCA 11817 FRANKSTOWN RD EAST LIBERTY EBA EAST BUSWAY KINGSLEY ASSOCIATION 6435 FRANKSTOWN AVE. WILKINSBURG EBA EAST BUSWAY

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SOUTHERN AREA: KEN’S 216 BELTZHOOVER AVE NELSON’S 92 SYLVANIA AVE GIANT EAGLE #61 2021 WHARTON AVE COGO’S 2400 EAST CARSON ST COGO’S 925 EAST CARSON ST DAILY MART 1125 ARLINGTON AVE SHOP N SAVE CARRICK SOUTH EASTERN AREA: SUPER STOP 403 KENMAWR AVE CARL’S CAFE 337 FIFTH AVE COMET NEWS 540 BRADDOCK AVE PUFFS DISCOUNT TOBACCO 1722 GREENSBUR AVE A-PLUS SUNOCO 7403 WASHINGTON ST COGO’S 1050 BRINTON RD COGO’S 2003 S BRADDOCK AVE EDGEWOOD EXPRESS 253 EDGEWOOD AVE BRAD EXPRESS 1101 S BRADDOCK AVE GIANT EAGLE #619 1705 S. BRADDOCK AVE CVS 7406 CHURCH ST SHUMAN’S MARKET 1105 SWISSVALE AVE DUKE’S SUNOCO 825 DUQUESNE BLVD 7-11 KENNYWOOD BLVD GIANT EAGLE #6379 420 EAST WATERFRONT DR GIANT EAGLE—MCKEESPORT 3812 O’NEILL BLVD THE TORN PAGE 474 DONNER ROAD J & S FOOD MART 625 W GRANT AVE RITE AID PHARMACY 100 WILLIAM MARKS DR GIANT EAGLE 1356 HOFFMAN BLVD BP GAS STATION LYSLE & WALNUT DS FOODMART 929 UNION ST RITE AID PHARMACY 725 LYSLE BLVD EASTERN AREA: WATERWORKS GIANT EAGLE #72 1005 FREEPORT RD— PENN HILLS: DIVINE HAIR STUDIO 10 DUFF RD GIANT EAGLE 9001 FRANKSTOWN RD GIANT EAGLE #78 230 RODI RD SHELL GAS STATION

11835 FRANKSTOWN RD THE SPOT 11675 FRANKSTOWN RD MASH MINI MART 4341 OLD WM. PENN HWY GIANT EAGLE #60 4004 MONROEVILLE BLVD GIANT EAGLE #76 AMES PLAZA, ROUTE 22 GET IT QUICK 500 GARDEN CITY JT RIB SHACK 1 RAQUET LANE DESTINY’S HAIR SALON 408 RODI RD PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 10991 FRANKSTOWN RD MIKE’S SPOT 815 UNIVERSAL RD CREAMY CREATIONS 144B JEFFERSON RD SHOP N SAVE 3335 WILLIAM PENN HWY SHEETZ 3457 WILLIAM PENN HWY GETGO 10525 FRANKSTOWN RD CVS PHARMACY 10600 FRANKSTOWN RD SHELL OIL 7619 BAUM BLVD KIWI SUNOCO FRANKSTOWN AVE WILLIAM PENN SMOKE SHOP II 132 NORTH HIGHLAND AVE MARATHON GAS 6680 FRANKSTOWN AVE PENN AIKEN DAIRY 5401 PENN AVE GIANT EAGLE #17 6320 SHAKESPEARE ST HOMEWOOD MARKET 7201 FRANKSTOWN AVE SALIK HARDWARE 607 NORTH HOMEWOOD AVE NEGLEY A PLUS 123 NORTH NEGLEY AVE BAKER’S 7203 HAMILTON & STERRETT AVES DORSEY’S RECORDS 7614 FRANKSTOWN AVE HOSPITAL CORNER 4201 PENN AVE PEOPLES GROCERY 5136 PENN AVE A&M MARKET 5224 PENN AVE A-PLUS MINI MART 7701 PENN AVE WOOD & PENN 902 WOOD ST AL’S FISH & CHICKEN 1000 PENN AVE SAVE A LOT 725 ROSS AVE CVS PHARMACY 520 PENN AVE GETGO 408 PENN AVE QUICK STOP LIBERTY 3349 LIBERTY AVE K-2 CONVENIENT STORE 4900 PENN AVE SHUR SAVE 4120 MAIN ST SHELL GAS 6701 FRANKSTOWN RD UNIMART 5724 ELLSWORTH AVE GIANT EAGLE #77 254 YOST BLVD PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 234 YOST BLVD SPEEDY MART 2131 ARDMORE BLVD SQUIRREL HILL NEWS 5804 FORBES AVE MURRAY AVE. NEWS 2024 MURRAY AVE GIANT EAGLE MURRAY AVE & LORETTA ST DISCOUNT TOBACCO & NEWS 1929 MURRAY AVE OAK HILL MARKET 504 OAK HILL DR SULTAN BEY 4601 CENTRE AVE UNIVERSITY OF PGH BOOKSTORE 4000 5TH AVE CVS #4369 4610 CENTRE AVE CENTRAL AREA:

RITE AID PHARMACY 100 WILLIAM MARKS DR FORBES TOBACCO 3801 FORBES AVE GET GO #64 4924 BAUM BLVD SCHWARTZ MARKET 1901 5TH AVE SMOKER FRIENDLY 906 5TH AVE HILL DISTRICT: WONG’S MARKET 2170 CENTRE AVE ANN’S MARKET 2316 WEBSTER AVE A-PLUS MINI MART 2350 CENTRE AVE UJAMMA BOUTIQUE 1901 CENTRE AVE K LEROY IRVIS TOWERS 715 MERCER ST SHOP & SAVE SUPERMARKET 1850 CENTRE AVE DOWNTOWN: KWIK-E-MART 204-10TH ST CHICKALOS SNACK BAR 300 LIBERTY AVE—STATE OFFICE BLDG 1ST FL LOBBY 7-11 #167 643 LIBERTY AVE 7-11 #165 SIXTH & PENN AVE 7-11 #170 429 WOOD ST LIBERTY NEWS 604 LIBERTY AVE FABER COE & GREGG HILTON HOTEL—COMMONWEALTH AVE ESTER’S SNAX FEDERAL BUILDING, 2ND FL SMITHFIELD NEWS 115 SMITHFIELD ST CITY NEWS & ARCADE 422 WOOD ST FABER COE & GREGG 500 GRANT ST FABER COE & GREGG FIFTH AVE. PLACE FABER COE & GREGG 600 GRANT ST NIELSEN’S STORES #09 301 GRANT ST— ONE OXFORD CENTER NIELSEN’S STORES #13 437 SEVENTH AVE— KOPPERS BUILDING 9TH & PENN NEWS-NUMBERS 136 NINTH AVE EXTRA EXTRA NEWS 413 SEVENTH AVE NEAL NEWS 400 CHERRY WAY CVS PHARMACY #4120 610-612 WOOD ST NORTHERN AREA: W. N. GROCERY 1018 NORTH AVE. GIANT EAGLE #25 WEST VIEW PLAZA GIANT EAGLE #45— PINECREEK 9805 MCKNIGHT RD— PINECREEK CENTER GIANT EAGLE #52 132 BEN AVON HEIGHTS RD GIANT EAGLE #67 8050 MCKNIGHT RD NORTH SIDE BEER & BEVERAGE 1304 FEDERAL ST ALLEGHENY GIFT SHOP—AGH HOSPITAL 320 EAST NORTH AVE GIANT EAGLE #652 318 CEDAR AVE 7-11 #158 1001 WESTERN AVE RICHEY’S BARBER SHOP 1207 N. FRANKLIN ST QUIK-IT 820 PENNSYLVANIA AVE RITE AID #3459 802 PENNSYLVANIA AVE MARSHALL SHELL 1500 SPRING GARDEN AVE SWINKO’S MARKET 2535 PERYSVILLE AVE MERCY STREET EXPRESS 6 MERCY ST