by Fred Logan
The District 9 Pittsburgh City Council race is on. The primary election date is Tuesday, May 16. From February 14 to March 7, the prospective candidates will be busy circulating their nomination petitions to get on the ballot. Come March 8 and we should have some idea of who is qualified.
District 9 covers Lincoln-Larimer, East Hills, Homewood and parts of other adjacent neighborhoods in the far east end of the city.
Here are several very important questions: What are the specific boundary lines for District 9 as redrawn in 2022? How many polling districts are in the district? How many registered voters are in the district? Ask the Allegheny County Elections department for this information.
We must also demand from the county large hard copy detailed maps, similar in size to their pre-online local legislative maps, with the 32 city wards and street names in District 9.
The candidates are preparing themselves. The District 9 Black community must prepare itself.
District 9 is diverse by income, race, and other categories, each category has its own particular interests.
In the mix, the Black community must inform itself and organize itself to define, defend and promote its interests, and just as important to carry its share of the load in coalitions and struggles with its various allies who have similar interests.
In 2023, we are bombarded, around-the-clock, with news reports on the war in Ukraine, political conflicts in White America, gun violence in Black Pittsburgh, runaway inflation, and reports on other very important events. To varying degrees, they all affect District 9.
In the deluge, we have to inform ourselves on the history of District 9 politics. Look back to move forward. Four city council members, Bishop Duane Darkins (1990-1994), Valerie McDonald-Roberts (1994-2002), Twanda Carlisle (2002-2007), and the Reverend Ricky Burgess (2008-present) have represented District 9 since the first by-district city council elections in 1989.
One critical issue we must raise is the record of District 9 elected officials in keeping their constituents informed on the issues facing the City of Pittsburgh.
Information is essential. Access, that is accessibility, is essential for information. And “Accessibility” should be made a major issue in the current District 9 Pittsburgh city council contest.
Also, get the elections results for at least the 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 District 9 elections. They are online at the Allegheny County Election division.
In two years, the 1965 Voting Rights Act will be sixty years old. The Black community must review and critique this epic era in African American social struggle.
Here is a very important question to ask. “Has the Black Vote achieved all of what Black people expected during the long hard decades of struggle before the Voting Rights Act?” For example, see Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1957 speech, “Give us the Ballot’”
Here is a very important District 9 question for us, “Has District 9 politics came anywhere near close to delivering what was expected of a by-distinct city council during the decades of local struggles against the antiquated at-large Pittsburgh city council system?”
In 1950, Pittsburgh was the 12th largest US city. Today it is the 68th largest US city. We also must have the demographic data on Pittsburgh since 1945 to identify the long-term trends that have impacted the entire Pittsburgh region which encompasses the communities in District 9.
With this basic information, you can go to District 9 Meet the Candidates forums and critique the candidates, critique the forum sponsors, and most important critique community politics.
You can also use this information to organize a small or a large Black political think tank with family members, or at church or social clubs—what best suits you. This would substantially increase the power, sophistication and influence of Pittsburgh Black politics.
In Pittsburgh City Council District 9, “African Americans Vote.” But the “Black Vote” alone all by itself is not sufficient. The Black community must be informed and engaged, that is it must be politically mobilized, educated, organized and Vote.