World AIDS NOV. 30—Bonacile Enterprises and R.A.P.H.A. Programs, Rodman Street Missionary Baptist Church will host “Celebrate Life! Red Plate & East End World AIDS Day Kick-Off Event” from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Tana Ethiopian Cuisine, 5929 Baum Blvd., East Liberty. Attendees will be able to meet the Awardee for the Clifton Maxwell Consumer Advocacy Award. There will also be jazz at 9 p.m. For more information, call Rev. Dr. Marla Johnson at 412-204-7182 or email bonacileenterprises@gmail.com.
For most of the women at this year’s annual education conference, sponsored by the Hill District Education Council, raising their African-American male children can be a full time job filled with uncertainty. During a breakout session on this topic, the handful of mothers in the room shared stories of their struggle, revealing both the caring nature of their sons and their personal disillusionment with the education system. EMPOWERING PARENTS—Tamanika Howze facilitates a breakout session on raising an African-American male. (Photo by J.L. Martello) “You have to celebrate yourselves because you have to first believe in yourself,” said Tamanika Howze, the session’s facilitator and director of the Kingsley-Lincoln Freedom School. “Through education, I set the tone in my household. My children always saw me reading; I always took them to cultural events. We have to start very young. If you have more CDs than books, it says you don’t have much value in education and our children see it.”
Last year, an annual report produced by A+ Schools, discovered it would take 40 years for the racial achievement gap to be eliminated in the Pittsburgh Public School District. Their latest report, released Nov. 14, shows this number nearly cut in half, with a new estimated timeframe of 24 years, if the district continues to make the same amount of progress each year. “We found more progress last year than we’ve seen in any previous year since we began publishing this report,” said Carey Harris, executive director of A+ Schools. “We congratulate students, teachers, principals, families and the community in Pittsburgh for the hard work that has produced great results. But, much work remains to be done to make sure school works for every child in every school.”
After Training Coordinator Francis “Kip” Deleonibus announced Community College of Allegheny County’s first training program for Marcellus Shale roustabouts, he received 130 responses. With his second class slated to start in the spring, he expects a similar response. But this time he has a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to pay for the program. “We were just named as a training provider Sept. 1 and we’ll be under the direction of the hub at Westmoreland County Community College. This means the training curriculum will be uniform,” he said. “Plus, it’s free. This grant will pay for the entire class. CCAC ate the cost of the first one.”
With its numerous one-way streets, it is easy for those driving through Wilkinsburg to find themselves in the Hamnett Place neighborhood looking to turn around. Those who did, like Mayor John Thompson, would be struck by the massive and empty Crescent Apartments and adjacent Wilson House—once beautiful buildings seemingly forgotten. They are forgotten no longer. Three years ago, the city with the help of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, PNC Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank began an $8.6 million restoration of the properties. EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW— Representatives from Pittsburgh History and Landmarks, Allegheny County and the city of Wilkinsburg tour the rebuilt Wilson House, which is part of the $8.6 million housing development in the city’s historic Hamnett Place neighborhood. (Photo by J.L. Martello.) The partners, including Thompson, County Executive Dan Onorato, and PHLF President Arthur Ziegler, showed them off at a press conference Nov. 14 at Landmarks’ new Housing Resource Center.
Perceptions can often affect expectations and, consequently, how one responds to certain stimulus. This may read like a description of classical conditioning in a basic Introduction to Psychology course. But the impact of continuous exposure to the stimulus will have a long term implications on behavior, according to a daylong Pitt Summit on Black male stereotyping by the media. GEORGE CURRYModerator Closer examination of two media audits of Pittsburgh media reporting of Black men and boys reveals that coincidently or unintentionally, news reporting has been engaging in classical conditioning via pandering to stereotype. What is widely acknowledged within the Black community is now verified and quantified by independent research: the disparity in portrayal of Black men in media is not paranoia; it is fact was the conclusions drawn by the various panels at the summit. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Paula Poindexter termed the findings as “borderline journalism malpractice.”
Healthy living seminars NOV. 16—Passavant Hospital Foundation and UPMC Passavant will host its 2011 Healthy Living Seminars at 12:30 p.m. at the Senior Center, Cranberry Township Municipal Building, 2525 Rochester Rd., Suite 400, Cranberry. This is part of the Extending the Care ETC program series and the topic is “Healthy Living with Diabetes.” The guest speaker will be Patrick McCarthy, RN, director of the Healthy Lifestyles Center and diabetic educator for Passavant. The session is free and open to the community. For more information, call Jean Wagner at 412-367-6640.
Disparities in mainstream media depictions of Black males pile on to an already bleak scenario that impedes the potential of progress. A day-long invitation-only summit presented by the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Public Affairs reviewed results of a study commissioned by the Heinz Endowments to research the content of local news coverage of young Black males in the media. The findings underscored and gave credence to the perception and prevalence of stereotypical views of Black males. In many instances it serves to reinforce negative images. LARRY E. DAVIS Keynote speaker Mark Lamont Hill, PhD., an English professor at Columbia University, activist and media commentator, referenced a notion of remembrance based a historical context that fits a preferred narrative of stereotypical images that contribute to public policies.
According to the 2004 Census, African-American doctors make up only 2.3 percent of all doctors in the United States. Though the number had been steadily rising for three decades since the 1960s, it became stagnant in the 21st century. This year’s Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh State of Black Pittsburgh on Oct. 29 featured three African-American male doctors who use their success to motivate Black youth. Their organization, The Three Doctors Foundation aims to improve the quality of life among inner city youth and families by promoting the importance of education. DR. SAMPSON DAVIS, DR. GEORGE JENKINS and DR. RAMECK HUNT (Photos by J.L. Martello) “If you don’t get your education you will struggle for the rest of your life. It’s simple,” said Dr. Rameck Hunt, a board certified internist at University Medical Center at Princeton and assistant professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “We have to nurture our young people. We are in blighted communities; our houses are broken. We have to nurture these seeds because if you just let them lay on the ground, they’re going to die. We have to raise the bar.”
After more than four years of working as an aide to Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Doyle, K. Chase Patterson has resigned from his position to begin a new business venture that will offer services to assist corporations in their efforts to diversify their companies and bring new talent to the region. K. CHASE PATTERSON Patterson, Doyle’s former liaison to the Departments of Homeland Security, Immigration, State and Education, has left his position and partnered with Chuck Sanders, to become the CEO and president of Corporate Diversity Associates, LLC, a cost effective and innovative talent acquisition service that supports corporations and institutions in their diversity and inclusion efforts of recruiting, retaining and relocating top minority talent to the Pittsburgh area and surrounding region. Sanders will also serve as the chief advisor.
