Funding for this program was made possible by the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh.

With additional support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the Pittsburgh Foundation.

And the members of WQED.

Thank you.

58mi.

90 neighborhood and more than 300,000 residents.

Those are just some of the statistics that describe the city of Pittsburgh.

But it's also a city defined b its people and their progress.

I really believe that we need to change the way we do business in our city.

Business as usual for a long time.

And in a place like Pittsburgh, where you know, you find a lot of friendly people, there's a lot of friendly stuff going on, but there's a lot of friendly discrimination going on.

And by the strength of its communities, there's a lot of amazing people committed to this community.

And then, of course most importantly, the residents.

There's people who lived her 40 and 50 years who've really, literally devoted their live to making this a better place.

What do you need as a mom, as a student, as a community member, and what resources do we have access to that we can provide for you?

So it's more about working with the community instead of just providing things.

Join us as we talk to some of the people working to build a better present and future.

Join us for the state of Black Pittsburgh.

Hello and welcome to the 2019 edition of State of Black Pittsburgh, a community forum.

I'm Lisa Washington, and we're broadcasting live from the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED.

Our audience this evening includes attendees of this year's State of Black Pittsburgh Conference, which was held here at WQED.

On this program, we'll be talking about opportunities and some of the crucial challenges facin our African-American community.

I'll be your social media host, and we invite you to share your questions on Facebook at WQED Pittsburgh and on Twitter at WQED.

And please use the hashtag SBPGH You can also stream this program live through our website wqed.org/state of Black Pittsburgh.

Now let's head to the main set and our co-host, Chris Moore.

Hi, Chris.

Hi, Lisa.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm honored to be sitting here tonight with a woman known and appreciated by so man people in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Esther Bush is the president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh.

Welcome.

How are you?

I'm great.

All right, so what is the state of black Pittsburgh?

The state of black Pittsburgh is remains in a situation where it still needs a lot of advocacy from African-American individuals, as well as corporate America and government.

As we look across the board.

We can see that, yes, like the rest of the country, there are more African-Americans that have jobs.

But, Chris 8 to $11 an hour, $14 an hour.

You have a job, but what can you pay for?

Do you have a quality of life that you deserve?

When you look, I'm very pleased that the mayor has started this, Pittsburgh equity indicators report.

I am extremely pleased he's doing that.

Because anything you measur that means you're paying closer attention to it.

And you have an opportunity to make some adjustments.

And so I'm very pleased there' a little up click in education.

But we need so much more from so many people.

Pittsburgh is often rated as one of the best places to live and raise a family.

Do you think the black community is often left out of that equation?

The black community is definitely often left out of that.

Unfortunately, a girlfriend of mine sent me an article that said Pittsburgh was one of the worst places, for blacks to live.

And that's why I am really pushing right now individuals to advocat for themselves and for business.

And industry.

Don't point out this is what we're doin for blacks in our, corporation.

Point out, how are we going to help the entire city move from A to B?

We don't have enough employees.

We don't have enough workers to take our city to its fullest potential.

I want to be a part of the growth and development of Pittsburgh and African-Americans.

Indeed, is the population that can help push us.

But we need support.

We need education.

We need equal opportunity.

We need equity.

How much of the onus is on the black population itself, to do better economically and not just the corporations or local government?

Chris, I'll be the first on to say that we have to do more for ourselves.

If I'm trying to offer you a job and I send you to a corporation, but you can't pass the drug test, or you come to work late, or you tell me, oh I don't have any transportation.

Oh, they took my driver's license.

I'ma be honest with you.

Those things are just inexcusable.

In 2019, 2019, you need to be up and ready to go to work.

You need to be ready to give your all.

Test me because I will outdo every other employee that you have.

But you have to be ready.

You have to have a work ethic.

In our opening piece, we saw something, where a comment was mad about friendly discrimination.

Do you think that occurs here, too?

It's not, well, it's more subtle than than what occurred down south where I grew up.

If you are discriminating, and I think individuals that look at me and you and other people of color differently, they know they're discriminating.

Give me.

And like we're going from equal to equity.

Put me in the place.

But I'm saying to all my brothers and sisters, you have to be job ready every day across the board and then not only deliver, but out.

Deliver all of your other coworkers, all the educational opportunities out there.

The educational opportunities are out there.

We need to take more advantage of them.

We need to take them more seriously.

We need to do additional outreach.

People in construction are looking for individuals right now.

I have a member of my board of directors.

Would love to hire some truck drivers right now, bu you have to come ready to work and you have to be able to pass as you said, those drug tests.

And be prepared to work and show up on time.

There is some onus on us to do better to.

We have to be responsible.

I have never been an individual to provide excuses for my people.

I will be the first one to say I will help shape you up.

I will help send you back to school.

I will help you to get skills, but you have to be ready.

I will not hire you if you are not ready and prepared and interested and motivated.

All right, Esther, thank you very much.

We'll talk to you again later in the program, okay?

Thank you.

All right.

Our program continues now, and we're going over to Lisa Washington.

Lisa.

Chris, thanks so much.

You know you hear the word sustainability and you might think of recycling preservation and the environment.

But we also need to think about sustainability when it comes to people, especially when it relates to how we shape our future.

Our region's progress is about more than business and real estate.

It's about hearing different voices, listening to new ideas, and sharing a vision for the future that ensures strength and longevity for all our communities.

I'm the executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh.

I think about sustainabilit as how we can build a society, make a society that's built to last, which goes back to the very definition of sustainability, something you can keep doing.

To do that, we really need to take into consideration how we treat each other, how we steward our natural resources, and how we create opportunities for economic success.

You need to incorporate a couple of different things.

You need to think about the people and making sure that everyone has a chance for prosperity.

You need to think about the economic drivers and making sure that those kinds of possibilities exist.

You need to think about environmental stewardship and in caring and and responsible use for natural resources.

Unless you're doing all of those things, you're not building something in a sustainable way.

I have a an undergraduate degree from MIT, in biology and I minored in anthropology.

My background in science really goes way back.

So my parents were both teachers.

My dad was a science teacher.

So my experience in science probably was sparked really through interactions with my dad.

I can remember walking out in the yard and humming and just plop like a worm in my hand and say, okay, here you go.

I think as a woman of color who's been in the sciences for a long tim and has been in an environment as well, and been in a lot of spaces where I wasn't necessarily expected.

I think the possibilities have always been there.

Often people will see a success and think, wow that's not something I could do.

But there's a whole lot of work and a whole lot of plannin and often many failed attempts that go into creating that succes beforehand that are invisible.

And I think we need to recognize that that journey is really in total.

It's the success.

My name is John Wallace.

I'm the senio pastor of Bible Center Church, and I'm a professo at the University of Pittsburgh.

So as a professor and as a Homewood native and as a person who's tied to this community through, my work in the faith community, I have the unique chance to connect the university to the community for the benefit of children and families who live here.

So as you look around you, you see people reading, greeting, breaking bread, just enjoying life.

And so communities need places like this where people can come and just hang out.

Bill.

So it's called social capital, right?

Building social capital.

And so other than bars and church basements, unfortunately Homewood lacks spaces like this for people to just be able to come and hang out.

And so we really saw this as meeting, a huge community need.

And then equally, maybe even more importantly, we hire young people.

So Pittsburgh has one of the largest proportions of African-American young people who are disconnected.

And what that typically means i not at work and not in school.

And because of the lack of opportunities for employment in this community, our aspiration was to create a space where young people get a first job, build a resume, and then our expectation is they'll go on and do other things and go to a place in space.

But often it's that first jo that's the most difficult one, because if you don't have a job, you can't get a job, you can get a job, you get a resume, you get experience to make and write you a letter, and then you can go and work somewhere else.

And why am I so driven?

So if you look at that through that window and you see those cars on that lot from the ages of 6 to 18, I live right there.

And if you go right around the corner next to you, I was born there.

So this is my community.

The first step to change is often through local government.

Joining me now is Lindsay Powell.

She is assistant chief of staff in the Office of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

Also, State Representative Austin Davis, who's with Pennsylvania's 35th district.

And Tina Doose president of Barrow Council.

And Braddock welcome, all of you.

All right, Mr.

Powell, let me start with you.

First of all what is the role of government, particularly in local government?

The mayor's office, and making sure that, the black community is included in contracts and all the work that comes out of that for paperclips.

Telephones, tires, anything else that we might be suppliers for and, and and need to do business with the city?

Certainly.

I think the role of local government has to be equity.

If you're not thinkin intentionally about your work, about not just the programs and policies you do internally, but also externally, how you think about paving, how you think about, lights to school if you're not thinking about, to your point, contracts with the government.

If you're not ensurin that there's an equitable lens, then you're not ensurin that the city's moving together to get as a whole.

The mayor has been pretty progressive in a lot of his outlooks.

Do you think he's achieving some of those goals?

You talking about?

Certainly.

You know, recently the mayor, along with this office, kind o moved to the Office of Equity.

And so for us, that was a very critical step in ensuring that we're looking at things that a racial gender, housing and opportunity.

That's what Esther was talking about, right?

Yeah.

And so this is a good thing.

It really is.

It's again taking that step towards calling things out as we see them, ensuring that we're looking at things through the equity lens and that it's our first lens that we go through.

Mr.

Davis, as a state representative, what's the role of state government, in improving our region and jobs for black people?

Well, we have a we have a vast role, Chris, and everything from, our education system ensuring that every child is, is achieving a high quality education system to, managing and funding our mas transit system to ensuring that, like Lindsay said, minority owned businesses are getting, their fair share of the piece of the pie and business on state contracts.

We have a broad rol in the legislature to oversee, state government.

Where the check to the governor's, to the governor's balance.

So can you do that without, quotas?

I think we can do it without quotas.

I think it requires a transformation in state government in the way that they do business, and particularly government for a long time just kind of seems to operate, because it just it's jus the way things have always done, I think, as Lindsay said, taking a look from an equity lens and, and making it easier for smalle companies to apply and bid on, on state contracts, that' how we can achieve those goals.

Tina Doose, Braddoc has had its economic challenges with the downfall of steel and much, much more.

But Braddock is on the move and coming back.

What is your rol as the head of, Barrow Council?

To make sure that everyone is included in whateve redevelopment is going on there?

Well one of the most important things we've done over the last 12 years is to make sure that the lay of the land is right.

When I came on board, we had zoning ordinances that were antiquate and spoke of horses and buggies.

So I had to put together a team to make sure that we had ordinances and, that that we're ready for development.

So now we can we can do that.

We can prepare our area for growth, for new housing opportunities, for new businesses to come.

And I think a crucial part is informing the residents, letting them know what is available, who they should talk to, where they should go for the opportunities that exist.

All right.

Let's go over to Lisa who has a social media question.

Lisa.

Okay, Chris, our first question i who is funding black candidates?

Mr.

Davis, how about you?

You handle that fastball?

Well, I hope I hope black people are funding black candidates.

You hope I hope I know I when I ran for office, I received significant, support fro the African-American community.

But I think it requires all of us to be involved in the political process and support black candidates.

I think when we look nationally at people like Stacey Abrams, who ran for governor in Georgia, or Andrew Gillum, who ran for governor in Florida, these people don't, don't rise to that level of political success to run for those office with offices without support in their local county.

But it's always a challeng in the instance that you bring up, the, man who was secretar of state was over the elections, and he ended up winning and being governor by.

Yeah, it's there are certainly structural barriers, to entry to politics but I've, I've fervently believe that the people's voice will ultimately be spoken if people want, a new government, leaders want people who are in office who look for, look like them, they will fight for it and they will ultimately get there.

Do you find that to be true a the borough council level too?

Absolutely I do, bu I will say this at local level and communities we're funding our own campaigns and we get very little, you know, support.

And it's not as expensive, but, I think that there are new opportunities there.

And I see a lot of new faces.

So.

Yeah.

And and just to piggyback, money is not everything.

In politics, we've seen on a number of candidates who have run with who, who are running against better financed candidates, wi because they are of the people.

They have a platform that speaks directly to them.

They're more relatable.

So while money is certainly important in the political process, it's not the only thing that that determines a winning campaign.

We'll be talking t some of those later in the show, but do you count yourself in that group as a, as a as someone who may not have had a lot of money but had something that was relatable in your platform to the community?

Yeah, I think I certainly had the resources I needed to win, but I think the fact that I was born and raised in my community, that I I worked my way through college.

I'm the son of a union bus driver and a hairdresser.

I think that resonated with the folks that I wanted to represent.

And they saw someone who shared their lived experiences, and they wanted to send that person to Harrisburg to represent them.

Miss Powell you're not an elected official, so you don't have to worry about that but you still have a strong role in making sure everyone is included, from a governmental perspective, don't you know?

Certainly.

And and to the representatives point, I think people are hungry for those stories.

People are excite to see candidates that represent their backgrounds their heritage, their stories, people who grew up in the same neighborhoods that they did and particularly in Allegheny County I think we're starved for that.

And as we see as we sa in the last election cycle and, and the one previous to it, the region is ready to see some new candidates.

And so it's an exciting time to be in Pittsburgh because you have, people who are, really speaking to the, the community and the experiences that folks have had.

Lisa Washington, my co-host, co-host, has another social media question.

Okay.

This question is what is th progress on the use of force law on the work use of force use of force law?

So representative Summer Lee, along with myself and Representative Ed Gainey and Jake Wheatley, introduced a use of force bill.

About a month ag in the Pennsylvania legislature.

I know we're still fine tuning some of those laws.

We'v circulated them for co-sponsors.

But I fully expect that they will be introduced into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives within the within the coming weeks.

But that's certainly the beginning of a longer process in which we're going to need the public to continue to be engaged and to advocate, not just to the local elected leaders, in their districts, but the ones who may not represent their district.

You know, we're going to talk about that later in the program, but I think that, makin those kinds of systemic changes is a very tough row to hoe, isn't it, are you think you all are going to have success in changing that use of force law or as a police officer?

All they have to say is, I feared for my life and they're going to, get acquitted.

Well, I'll say this.

Of course, change is never easy.

And I think we are certainly willing to take the fight on and do everything that we can in Harrisburg to ensure that that change happens.

But we can't do it alone.

We we need allies that, quite frankly, don't look like us sitting around this table that are not just members of the Democratic Party, but we need Republicans to stand up as well.

And to say that we need to change this law because it's wrong.

And so I think we will be successful.

I think we're going to continue to fight until we get it changed.

But it's going to take all of u being engaged in that process.

All right, let's go back over to Lisa.

Chris, thanks so much.

Empowermen can mean many different things, but in its most positive form, it can provide strengt for a community and its people.

Let's look at one organization that's helping to empower an entire Pittsburgh neighborhood.

As we seek to make progress in the continuing fight for social justice, we wondered how we empower the people who need it most.

My name is Tim Smith, and I'm the CEO of an organization called Center of Life, based in the Hazelwood community, the center of life.

We do family strengthening, we do education, we get academics for kids, and we also do athletics.

We do music and arts as well.

And we work with the student in the area of Stem and Steam, and we have programs pretty much every day of the week.

I'm Joy cannon, I am the director of programing here at Center of Life.

We try to empower families because she leads of households so that they can advocate for their families and for the students that they live with.

So whether that's through community conversations about redeveloping the community, building strong relationships with schools or local politicians, we try to engage parents and families in that way through all of those different mechanisms.

Hazelwood is a different kind of place.

When you come into a communit that has hardly any resources.

People who live in that community has to be very creative.

I've always felt like it was important to make sure that people understood what it meant to control their own economy.

And so one of the things that we do with our programs, whether it be music and arts or whether it be starting a lawn and yard business or a Hazelwood handyman business or any of those things, we try to teach kids how to have a work ethic, and we we try to help them to understand what it means to manage wealth versus money.

I have risen from the fall.

That's probably most evident in our music program.

So trying to show students that there are so many different role in the music industry and that everyone kind of has a story to tell, and you can use your innate talents and abilities to to provide for your family and to really build a career off of that.

You come to our programs and we have conversations just about what was your day like, what was school like for you, providing them with meals.

So that kind of alleviating that burden from the family.

Yeah.

I know that our programs really have an impact and that it is a trusted space, especially when I think about the work that we do directly with students.

There's no concern about is my child safe?

There is my child being educated, and we try to work with students and families really in a holistic way.

So it's not just about homework help.

Gladstone is a big part of wha we are trying to do to impact, you know the African-American community, but also the greate Hazelwood community as a whole.

And it's been closed now for 19 years.

So in 2015 we got together along with the with the community and we went before the district and put a proposal before them for a center like this.

So this is the Gladstone campus.

This is the original building that they first built, a Gladstone, and this is the area that I was talking about earlier.

That's going to be the mixed income housing.

And this is where the, the, full service health care facility the early childhood development, you know, the business incubator, all of those things will be in this building.

People, I think, assume tha in neighborhoods like Hazelwood, that we don't want new things and that, you know, we don't want new businesses or anything like that, and that's not the case.

So everybody wants new things and communities can be redeveloped.

And there's a way to do that.

I think there's an opportunity for redevelopment to happen differently.

In Hazelwood.

We've seen other communities where people really had the sense that they were just simply being completely gentrified, moved out of their community.

With this particular project, we're trying to empower people to be able to stay in the community.

So it's inspirin when a community has a vision.

But inspiration can turn to pain and anger.

When there's tragedy in a neighborhood, for example, the death of Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh and the acquittal of the officer who shot him.

Joining me now, our state representative, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania's 34th district.

Father Paul Abernathy, director of focus, a Christian organization focused on traum informed community development.

and Jalila Jefferson Bullock She is an associate professor from the Duquesne University School of Law.

Miss Bullock, Let me start with you.

Is it difficult to change use of force laws when it comes to, the legislature or the courts approving them?

I think it's difficult, but it's certainly, not impossible, and it's certainl something that has to be done.

Now.

So if we look at what's going on with the Pennsylvania laws, in many ways, at least in my estimation, the law can be can be viewed as unconstitutional.

And I think that that is one road, perhaps, that lawmakers can take when thinking about how to overturn these laws.

And here's what I mean by that.

So, for example, the Eighth Amendment prohibits, of course, cruel and unusual punishment.

And when you think about what that means, kind of even in terms of the government's right to take a person's life through execution, there is always a process in that process is a multifaceted one.

For example you've got to be a judge, right?

Determined guilty of First-Degree murder.

Have an entirely new, jury and panel that then makes the death determination with all types of evidence included.

Anythin probative would be included then and then finally the government then can take your life.

There is something when we think about how police are just abl now, especially under these use of force laws to take a person's life on the street, you have you can almost look at that as kind of a death penalty on the streets type of reaction, which is problematic and in my estimation, unconstitutional.

And that's the route that lawmakers really should take.

And Pennsylvania was graded as a law professor, you have that estimation of the law.

But I wonder how many other people who have influence and power over changing it share your opinion.

Well, education is the key, Chris.

Right.

And so when we think about ho we're going to change this law, it can't just be the lawmakers working all by themselves.

It has to be those of us from the academic community.

It's got to be policymakers, too.

It's got to be people from all walks of kind of professional life who may have some impact.

It's something influential to say about this, to come together and really take that kind of different view.

It's not enough to say the law is wrong.

We have to give real, concrete reasons, really concrete reasons, as to why it must change now.

Representative Summer Lee Representative Davis indicated that, you all are going to need if you're going to change this law, you're going to need some cooperation from other people in a Republican controlled legislature.

Is that possible?

You know I think, anything is possible.

We don't we don't deal on impossibilities.

But it's absolutely that you when you race.

Right?

Absolutely.

And people didn't think that that was possible.

But when we're talking about, you know, change in laws and we're talking abou difficult laws that challenge, deep seated cultures, that that challeng the way that, you know, people are treated in our society that we're kind of used to, there are a lot of people who really will cling to the status quo, cling, cling to how things are.

And they feel very uncomfortabl when you come and you start to to challenge tha and you start to question that.

So yeah, to to move to we need 102.

But you ready to upset the apple cart aren't you.

Listen we'r ready to pull out all the stops.

Whatever it is that we need to do to move this along.

And we understand that to get to 102, we know that we need people on the outside.

We had our rally in Harrisburg.

We right around 400, 450, people from Pittsburgh, students, family members, people from, the impacted communities who came to let their voices be heard, because that is an important part to when they know, when our lawmakers know that there are people on the outside who are paying attention, people on the outside who have power, who have an opinion and who know how to use that power.

And will that power, they'll start to move a little faster, farther.

Abernathy, your organization focuses on traum informed community development.

Just what does that mean?

Chris, we really have to understand that in our community, especially, in the African-American community here in Pittsburgh and across the nation, we have been inundated with trauma.

We can start with the, institution of slavery which was, wrought with trauma.

And we could talk about what happened under Jim Crow.

We can talk about now what we're facing with with gun violence and and evictions and hunger and poverty and all of these are forms of trauma.

It's not that everyone's lost a child to gun violence, but everybody knows somebody who has.

It's not that everybody's been a victim, but everybody knows somebody who has.

It's not that, everybody has a relative incarcerated, but everybody knows somebody who has.

I don't need to tell you this, but you know what you're up against.

I talk to a lot of people in various places where I work to say, why don't you black people just stop crying about slavery and trauma and Jim Crow laws and every thing that you, have been unde and just knuckled down and work hard and go to work, what would you say to them?

I would say that if we loo at veterans coming home from war and we say, and I'm a veteran who came home from war, and we say, if somebody has PTSD, we don't we don't blame that veteran for being homeless on the street.

We ask, how can we help that veteran?

That's after spending one year at war like I spent for my nation.

We have children who are suddenly spending their entire lives at war.

I have talked to people who have seen the same things that I saw as a soldier on a battlefield in Iraq who have not yet graduated from high school.

And the question is, is that why do we have a different standar for some Americans than others?

How do our children get through their.

How do our children get through that?

Chris the only way is i we help them get through that.

I will tell you, I am heavily inspired by the Civil Rights movement.

When we were uneducated, we were disenfranchized, we were heavily oppressed.

But we organized ourselves.

We educated ourselves, we trained ourselves.

But haven't we lost that motivation somewhere?

We have.

But I believe that there is a new spark that is growing, and I believe that it is time that we call for a new movement.

We had our civil rights movement.

It is tim that we need a healing movement.

Miss Bullock and Lee.

Are you all agree.

You're nodding your heads.

I mean, I don't I don't know if I'm agreeing or not.

I don't believe that we've lost that spark.

I think that for a long time perhaps we had entered a period within our histor where maybe some of that desire.

Something that you agree with Father Abernathy?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Some of that urgency, maybe we've maybe slipped some of that urgency.

But right now we're talking about youth movements.

When we're talking about what we're doing around this use of force.

But this is youth let there are young people who are taking the streets, young people who are who are running into schools, who are leaving them if they need to, who are protesting, who are speaking up, who are voicing their concerns.

We're fighting.

So, yeah, there's an urgency.

And I think that they're going to be hurt.

It's going to be changed from it.

That's exactly right.

The children at this point are leading, they are leading the movement and we should be excited about that.

So I don't think it's always the way though.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Doctor King was only 26 when h led the Montgomery Bus boycott.

That's exactly right.

Those of us, though now who have gotten comfortable in our professional jobs, maybe don't have some of these issues reach us as, individually.

We have to remain committed, involved as well, because these kids cannot do it by themselves.

They need our guidance.

They need our support, no doubt.

Lisa.

Okay, Chris, our next question comes from Twitter.

And what ways can the community participate in the movement for justice, equality and change in the wake of Antoine Rose?

I think of organize and I can't say how often that we need to talk about being organized when we're talking about right now, justice kind of on the legislative side, we need people from the outside.

We need people to to acquaint themselves who are who are your who are your legislators?

Who are the people who pull strings?

Find them, contact them.

Organize your community.

What We're talking about education.

When we're talking about making sure that we're looking out for each other, we are not going to expect the state to always come in with the resources when we need them.

But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be moving.

In the meantime, Miss Bullock, when we organize, it's not just the youth.

It has to be some people who mentor people who are law professors, for instance, who can advise young people what the law is and what tactics they should take.

Right?

That's exactly right.

There are also cultural shifts that need to happen that we're not talking about enough.

So, for example, we think about police brutality just as one example, right.

That's really steeped in the history of oppression.

And it's as we're going to work on those issues this kind of a longer time line.

But there are things we can d now if we start thinking about how we think of police a little bit differently.

For example, we idolize police in this country.

And what is the reason that we do that?

We assume that we give a person a badge that they should.

They have the character to then carry a gun.

And that is not always the case.

But we have to stop this idolization of police and think about, for example perhaps when police approached certain instances, certain types of alleged crimes, you don't always have to have a gun for that.

Sometimes a person needs to be talked down in that gun, but you bring that gun in and it completely escalates the whole situation.

You feel as though perhaps you ought to use it.

So we have to shift how we think about this whole thing in order to make some real change.

While we have an anthem, we've got about 30s.

We'll give it to you to round out this segment.

Well, I think we need to educate ourselves.

I think we need to train with the equip ourselves with the right, skill set.

I think we need to organize.

I think we need to plan.

I think we need to equip, and then we need to deploy.

And a lot of times we start just with deploy, and that's why we're not successful.

I believe that we have in our history and heritage the key to unlock justice.

And I believ we need to reach back and grab that and move forward, create a better future.

All right.

Thank you all for participating.

We appreciate it, Lisa.

Thanks, Chris.

To build a strong future, we have to rely on diverse ways of thinking, not only the tried and true, but also embracing the new ne voices, new ideas, and new ways of supporting our communities and helping them thrive.

As we progress, we recognize our community is made up of many voices and many needs.

And though there's no one size fits all prescription for helping Pittsburgh become a more livable city for all.

We asked our guests about their hopes for the future.

Dimitri of Ocala.

I am a producer and creative director of Fashion Africana.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to be involved in fashion.

Started off wanting to be a model, bu I had a really low self-esteem.

So I decided to produce.

Fashion events, and I create a modeling agency called Utopia with the mission of broadening the standard of beauty.

And in my later years decided to create an event as a platform to promote our talent.

The agency was created to promote models of color, men and women of color.

I thought Fashion Africana would be a great platform to celebrate our cultur through design, dance and music.

Everyone with whom I work.

They see the lack of diversity that exists in the beauty and fashion industries and we are just coming together and doing our small part in celebrating the diversity and then also providin a greater representation of men and women of color who work in the fields.

You do see some progress, and we need symbols of hope within our community, and we have tha with the August Wilson Center.

To me, that's a symbol of hope.

It has new leadership and and it looks like it has a very bright future.

And we need to see that for us, you know, for black people in our community.

And then there are other black leaders of various nonprofits in the communit and within the corporate sector who, you know, they're doing, like amazing work.

And so it's really importan for us as a community as a whole to support that leadership for sustainability.

When I think of my 12 yea old daughter, it's so important to her father and I that she sees reflections of herself in every environmen and her educational environment.

I want her to se black leadership at her schools, black leadership everywhere in the community.

I want her to see successfu black people who look like her.

And if there are issues that we're concerned about, we have to make our voices heard.

So the political environment is absolutely a space in which we have to be engaged.

Both running for office but equally and more importantly, voting.

So if you're not pleased with what people are doing, take advantage of the opportunity for which our four parents died and used that vote to change things.

Actually investing in blac communities and in black artists and not just Black History Month.

We want to showcase some of the black artists that are local to Pittsburgh actually supporting them.

I think a lot of times, especially in the arts communities there's not that support here.

And so then we lose really talented black artists because they go to places like New York or LA where there's more support for people like them.

I think Pittsburg can be a livable city for all.

Let's put it that way.

You know, Homewood might not know what Northside is doing, and vice versa.

We are a city that doesn't like to cross bridges, but I really am encouraging folks through social media and different interactions to know that, hey, we have some great stuff going on for us, by us, and we need to make sure that we're sharing that.

Our next three guests are challenging perceptions, changing expectations, and moving us forward.

Bryan Cook is the president of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation.

Victoria Watford is a dancer with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, and Will Tolliver Junior is the manager of early childhood learning at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.

Welcome to all of you.

Miss Watford, let me start with you.

In the days of Jackie Robinson, we talked about breaking barriers and the first black to play baseball.

Are we still talking about breaking barriers in art with you as a dancer with the Ballet Theater?

I think that we have to keep talking about it.

I think it's important to remember our past and remember that there have been black professional dancers, principals at all companies, but you still we're still lacking, and we still need to work to ge more people of color in dance.

How do young black girls react when they see you on stage?

They get very excited.

I got the opportunity to perform Marie in The Nutcracker, and I got all of these letters from little girls that were just really happy to see someone who looked like them up there.

I think that that's great when it comes to media brand.

How do we change the perceptio that we see on the nightly news of, folks that look like you and me, especially young men of just being, gangsters out there in the community?

Absolutely.

Well, you know, when the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, we pride ourselves on making sure that we advocate for diversity in newsrooms.

So it's not just the people who are on the air, but it's the people making the real decisions.

Many times people think it's the people on air making decisions, but it's the executive directors.

The executive producer and the news directors that say, hey, this is how we should cover this story.

So the more diverse of, upper management, if you will, the more, fai the coverage will be on the air.

Mr.

Tolliver you work with a lot of children.

What about their perceptions and and and and their possibilities?

What do you inspire them and tell them that they can be all that they can be?

Absolutely.

For our youngest learners I think representation is key.

Seeing somebody that looks like them and inspires them to be self-confident and show them that they can b anything that they want to be, is absolutely crucial to to that development, especially when you thin about social emotional learning.

We need to have people that model that are positive role models for us in everything that we do.

So when it when it comes to youth, I think that we have, the utmost responsibility to show them that the possibilities are endless, especially for black and brown boys.

Is there a time when you see the light go off about what the possibilities are?

Yeah, I think there are.

I've experienced so many moments where I see young learners.

Their eyes just just light up.

And that that really, for me, is what inspires me to keep pushing for our youngest learners.

Because without that, you know, we can't really say what else is going on.

All right, let's go over to Lisa Washington.

You have a question from social media?

I do.

Chris, this question comes from Facebook.

What are some measures being taken to keep young black professionals in Pittsburgh?

Oh, that's a question we have often ask in this studio.

Miss, what would you from Cleveland have?

How did we steal you from there?

Well, just, coming and seeing th ballet and knowing that that's what I wanted to do, and I just kind of stayed here and loved it.

But I know at the ballet, we're a part of an equity project, which is with a bunch of companies all over the countr and dance USA to make sure that we are really represented, like the community is really represented in our company.

So and when it comes to hiring people, like you said, not just dancers, but people in the staff that look like us.

Mr.

Tolliver You must be heavily involved in this.

How do we keep them down on the farm after they've seen Perry?

Yeah, absolutely.

I'd say be diligent.

And listen, there are cities, and there's people in those other cities that are willing to listen.

And I feel like, in my experience, that's not often the case within our in our leadership, really what we see here in Pittsburgh.

So I'd say, to my word of advice is to listen to to the young African American people that are at the table because we're willing we're willing to work with you, willing to respect you, an we're willing to push forward.

But you have to meet us where we are.

Earlier, our panelists made the point that, in the Antwon Rose case of that is a youth led movement.

We need to listen to these young people because they have dreams and aspirations, too.

Absolutely.

I think I think that's important.

It's echoed throughout our media.

It's echoed throughout throughout our community.

And I don't know what what it's going to take to get people to listen.

But I think we're there.

I think we're at a pivotal point, but it's going to take that work from from the other side to really, really bolster the black workforce here.

Brian, what is the role in the media, of the media in, in helping achieve those kinds of goals for our young people?

You know, one of the main things is, honestly, people think that when we're in the media and they see us on television, they hear us on the radio.

They read our our stories in print.

Many times people think that we're untouchable.

So, you know, many times think of, you know, a little larger than life.

They're on television.

You know, it's okay for us to go out into the community and make sur that we make our presence felt, to make sur that we're telling people, hey, we are a collective group.

We want to tell your stories and tell them not necessarily in a positive way, but tell them in a fair way.

In fact, I learned a long time ago, that you have to be involved with the community.

You just can't sit in your office here, WQED, and make phone calls and get people to come.

You have to go out.

You have to see what?

The ballet theater.

You have to see wha the children's museum is doing.

You have to be in the community to do this kind of work.

You have to be among your, your, your subject matter, if you will.

And then also, the media is a position of trust.

You want the community to be able to trust you when you go out into the community, because that's how they're going to talk to you.

Well, there's some work that needs to be done.

Absolutely right.

All right.

Let's go over to the trusted Lisa Washington, who has a question for us.

Thank you Chris.

This question comes from Twitter.

What efforts are needed in order to create new opportunities for future generations?

All right, Mr.

Tulliver, I'll let you handle that one.

You know, I think there's ton of avenues that can be explored.

Pittsburgh is a very rich city when it comes to philanthropic needs.

We have large funders that are willing to give and really and really willing to invest in the work that's done.

I think what we need to d is catalyze young black people to create and mak and do in their own communities, and I think that's often missed sometimes when when you loo at the philanthropic community, it's often money is given to the same institutions, the sam organizations, the same efforts.

And those philanthropic communities drive what's innovative.

But in fact, the people that are on the ground are the ones that do that work and drive what's innovative.

We make anything in progress in breaking through those kinds of ceilings.

Absolutely.

I think we're seeing a lot of diversity, a lot of, inclusion, a lot of people at the table that are helping those people make decisions.

But I think when we look at other cities of our stature, I also and higher stature, I think that there's a lot more progress as Watford.

When will you form your own ballet company?

And we'll have our own, ballet theater to go to.

So all those young people that you inspire will have an opportunity.

I imagine it's often that hard to break into what you do.

It is.

It's very hard.

I think, for the ballet, it's important that when you have fiv white girls that you also take five black girls, that you giv equal opportunity to everyone.

And there are plenty of wonderful companie out there for people of color, but it's really har to break into classical ballet when you feel like you don't have a way in.

And I think seeing people like me, like Misty Copeland, who can do it, really inspires them.

And it just takes time, I think.

So we're going to have our dance Theater of Harlem, Dance Theater in Pittsburgh, and some years from free.

We will support you.

Okay.

Ill try.

All right.

Try and sit down.

Even do it.

You don't have to tell me all the time.

Brian, back to the media and their role in all of this.

We see so many negative images on particularly television news and dramas, too.

How do we combat that?

Through the media.

You know, it's it's the way you turn phrases.

You know, one of the people I always watched growing up was Ed Bradley.

You know, from 60 minutes, he could turn of phrase like no other.

But it's really the way, yo know, I'll give you an example.

So we saw a piece earlier of Doctor John Wallace in Homewood.

You know, it's the way the stories were told and through whose eyes.

Right.

So you could say Homewood.

A mostly, dilapidated part of Pittsburgh riddled with violence and drugs and go off.

And that is the narrative.

Exactly.

That is a narrative.

But you can flip it and say, you know, Homewood, an area filled with, great culture, music and sports.

So it really depends on who's telling that story.

And that's why diversity is key.

No kidding.

Well, we want to thank you all for adding to the conversation tonight.

And we go back over to Lisa.

Chris, thanks so much.

Every year we measure our progress, our setbacks, and our hopes.

Here's a thoughtful look at the state of black Pittsburgh in 2019.

As we take stock of the present.

We continue to work toward a future of equality and inclusion and ask, what is the state of black Pittsburgh?

What is the state of black Pittsburgh?

2019 there's been some heartbreaking moments this yea when we all know those details, but there's also bee a lot of hope in that as well.

We have great folks that are running for public office and sharing their experiences and bringing those to leadership.

We have a lot of opportunitie in education that we can be more active and proactive and sharing wha we want to see for our children and also the community.

As far as building roots and building wealth.

I can say that we're still a minority in Pittsburgh.

We still don't own masses of land.

The majority of African-Americans in this cit do not have generational wealth.

And of course, the income disparity is still very prevalent.

And so I think we're still in the struggle.

So this state is we're still in the struggle for equality and fairness, you know, and justice and equity, you know, and that's what I feel we are.

Well, in talking about the state of black Pittsburgh, I wouldn't presume to speak for everyone's experience.

I think the beauty of this moment is that we are having more and more voices to add to the tapestry of what that experience looks like.

But from where I sit, I thin there are numerous challenges, but also an increasing amount of visibility and empowerment.

I think there's sort of a growing understanding that the only way we can move forward is together.

And that's across all people, that's across all sectors.

That's really capitalizing on all of our potential to make this whole region a better place.

And so it's really important to me that we provide students and their families with everything that they might need that they can do, you know anything that they might want.

As far as careers and things like that?

I'm passionate in particular about about black students.

I want for every black child to feel safe that they can be 100% themselves and that they can learn in a space that they're comfortable and safe in.

I feel at one point, black Pittsburgh, we have progress.

And then it just for some reason, it jus feels like we've gone backwards.

It makes me sad because and you know, I know that gentrification has a lot to do with it.

The economy, our our presidency, you know, I mean, there are just so many different components of it that's impacting us here in this region.

But I still have hope.

I have hope that this is not the end of the state of black Pittsburgh.

This whole thing, despite what we've been through despite all of our challenges, despite the issues of race an class and all of those issues, I feel like that Pittsburgh is small enough.

The resources are great enough, and we have enough grit about us as a city that if we were serious about addressing our issues of race, class and other inequities, we could actually tackle and defeat its problems and actually becom the most livable city in America for all of us.

Esther Bush joins me again.

She is president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, where after an hour of examining this issue, are you upbeat?

I have to be up because in the work that I d and I say that very seriously.

When I look at the young talent that was here is I look at how positive they are and how realistic they are about providing leadership to make chang and about just stepping forward.

Yes, it excites me and it should excite everybody black, white, young and old.

We can do a heck of a lot bette if we just put our mind to it.

And I'm not saying easy, but I am saying doable.

I wonder how quaint some old fashioned notions like voting are.

We think of Summer Lee and her dramatic victory over an entrenched candidate, Mr.

Davis, and his victory.

We're very proud of all these young people who are getting involved in politics.

But how important is voting to our younger generation?

Chris, thank you so much.

Because voting is what the National Urban League Legislative Policy Conference was about, a couple months ago.

And it focuses on the power of voting.

It focuses on the fact that what happened in 2016, they talk about the Russians and Trump.

The Russians were also after votes of color.

This is documented.

This is proven.

I invite everybody to go to the National Urban League website and look at this year's state of black America, because we have to get out the vote.

We have to understand how powerful the vote is and accept no excuses from anybody in our life for not voting.

And how important is the 2020 census going to be?

I can't tell you how many programs Minette Seate and I have done in this very studio.

Every time, the census rolls around, where blacks say I'm a little afraid of answering all those questions from the government people you have to answer the questions.

The census is a baseline for an opportunity to count everybod that lives here, not citizens.

Everybod that lives in the United States.

Often we find that people of color are undercounted.

Would you believe that?

Children.

Black, white, Hispanic Puerto Rican are undercounted?

When we look at the census, we need to understand that there are over 500,000 jobs.

At $15 an hour and higher that are available.

But you're talking about two critical issues, and we only have a minute left.

There's a question on the census about citizenship now, and there are all sorts of voter ID questions designed to suppress black and minority votes.

Right.

That's why I'm mentioning that is because there is an effort to suppress us in terms of how we respond to the census and voting people.

I'm asking you to use common sense and ask the question.

You must be active in both, and that's very important.

Critical?

No, it's critical.

It's $800 million.

I believe it is in services that come from the count of the census, the urban League of Greater Pittsburgh nee some of that money to help folk.

And that's your mission.

That is my mission.

All right.

Esther Bush of the Urban League, thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

All right.

Let's go over and get some fina thoughts from Lisa Washington.

Chris, thank you so much.

I think that's what when we've had some rich conversation tonight.

I think that we should all be inspired, and we should be empowered to recognize the power that we have to act now and to not wait for others.

We all deserve to live in the most livable city.

And I think that we should understand our power to recognize our collective power, to be able to leverage that and to use it.

We've had some important parts as far as voting, recognizing that we when we think of police officers, we all have a duty.

And so I really enjoy this conversation.

It's always a pleasure to be with you.

Lisa Washington, always a pleasure to work with you.

Thank you very much.

Remember, you can learn more about the state of black Pittsburgh, and you can even watch this program all on our website at WQED.

Dot org slash slate of black state of black Pittsburgh for my co-host Lisa Washington and everyon who made this program possible.

I'm Chris Moore.

Thanks for watching.