He stood before the bulldozers that erased the lower Hill District with Byrd Brown and Jimmy Joe Robinson, saying, “no further.” He led the marches and protest that culminated in more than 1,500 Blacks gaining union jobs they had been denied for decades. And along the way he met and befriended people of all political stripes, from Yasser Arafat and Jimmy Carter to Dick Thornburgh and George H.W. Bush. And always his challenge was the same—help me help my people. NATE SMITH Though Nate Smith’s contributions to labor rights for African-Americans are well known in Pittsburgh, national awareness of his work has not been as broad. That is about to change.
As the Midget League football game at Willie Stargell Field drew to a close Aug. 15, 20 gunshots rang out within hearing range. The shots were so close in fact, they injured three bystanders as they made their way around the corner from the game. In response to the shootings, Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan Harper addressed the nearby residents of Homewood at the very same field the next day. He came with a show of force of close to 30 officers and a threat to shutdown the Allegheny County Midget Football League unless someone in the community came forward with information regarding the perpetrators. SWIFT JUSTICE—Chief Nate Harper addresses the community at Willie Stargell Field, Aug. 16. “As you see with kids playing here, we can’t tolerate this kind of violence,” said Harper, motioning to children swimming in the park’s public swimming pool. “We don’t have the names of the perpetrators. If we don’t have the names by the end of the day we expect to cancel the football league. We plan on making arrests immediately. We’re tired of always reacting to the same kind of events.”
After threats by Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper to shutdown the Allegheny County Midget Football League in response to a Homewood shooting Aug. 15, leaders of the league and team coaches banded together to find a solution. “I understand that justice has to be served, but the kids are not the problem. I understand the chief has to take a stand somewhere. I can see his viewpoint, but a lot of these people in these organizations volunteer 30 hours a week,” said Jose Regus, league president. “It’s not like this was the only incident. It’s just the only incident that was by the youth.” FATHER FIGURES—From left: Coaches Monte Robinson and Ayodeji Young respond to the shooting that occurred during their team’s game. By 8 p.m., following a meeting with the football league and anonymous information from members of the community, Harper decided to stand down.
Following multiple complaints surrounding its contracting procedures regarding construction of the $22 million K. Leroy Irvis Science Center, including a lawsuit filed by non-union contractors, the Community College of Allegheny County has cancelled its bid deadline. The Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Pa. filed a lawsuit charging the college with entering into a Project Labor Agreement that required 90 percent of the workforce to come from union shops. BILL ROBINSON Eileen Watt, former county councilwoman and president of the Associated Builders and Contractors Western Pennsylvania branch, said some of her members complained they would have to lay off their own employees to hire union members in order to work on the Irvis Center project. Watt said the ABC has scheduled a press conference on the contracting issues and the PLA for Aug. 18 at 4 p.m. in West Park across from the CCAC campus.
Pittsburgh recently unveiled its program to combat violent crime so we asked Pittsburghers what they thought. Here’s what you said. “It sounds great. If you can get folks to support it through education about the benefits, it can have a positive impact on the city. I am looking forward to the effects it has on the community. I am from the south and see similar issues at home.”Jamie GoingsValidation engineerRaleigh, N. C. Jamie Goings, Rashida McElrath, David Burton
Heritage weekend AUG. 20—The Pittsburgh Pirates will host their Heritage Weekend Celebration. The celebration will feature a tribute to the Negro Leagues and players from the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Festivities will run through Aug. 21 and include a sports luncheon and a street celebration. For more information, call Chaz Kellem at 412-325-4761 or e-mail chaz.kellem@pirates.com.
Allegheny County judges can hear as many as 300 juvenile cases in a year. With the high number of juveniles coming into the courtroom every year, many families are left wondering about the court system and how they should prepare their children. “I like the parents to be involved from the beginning. Sometimes we recommend things like family therapy because it’s obvious there are issues in the home as well as issues in their child’s behavior,” said Judge Kimberly Clark. “Sometimes parents are reluctant. Part of what I need to see parents do is demonstrate they have insight in their kids and they have the ability to properly supervise their child.” JUDGE KEVIN COOPER, JUDGE DWAYNE WOODRUFF, JUDGE KIMBERLY CLARK, JUDGE OSCAR PETITE
Bishop Eugene M. Thorpe passed away Aug. 7 after several years of health issues, his age was not given by the family. He was the founder of the North Side Institutional COGIC. “He passed of natural causes, quietly with his family at his side,” said James Vaughn, husband of Bishop Thorpe’s daughter, Lisa Thorpe-Vaughn. BISHOP EUGENE THORPE
A title and position may mean a lot to some, but to Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Peters, a prestigious appointment merely gives him the right to make challenging inroads on a larger scale; thereby impacting a world where God is always in control. The man who leaves an indelible mark on Pittsburgh’s theological community is moving his knowledge and expertise to the city of Atlanta as the eighth president of The Interdenominational Theological Center. Since 1958, the ITC has been training men and women for Christian leadership and service, both within the church and the surrounding global community. Located adjacent to the Atlanta University complex, the ecumenical consortium encompasses six various denominational seminaries, including the Baptist, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian USA and the Church of God in Christ. The ITC, providing theological education, also includes a Lutheran center and is the country’s largest joint cooperative of African-Americans in higher education. REV. RON PETERS
A graduation ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh’s pilot prison reentry program, which provides counseling and training for individuals with a criminal record in developing a business idea and turning it into a new venture. There was over seven months of classes, educational forums and one-on-one counseling sessions in which the participants developed the knowledge and essentials business skills needed to either run a successful business or succeed in today’s job market. THE GRADUATES—The graduates from the program are men standing behind the couch, from left: Kunta Bradford, Raheem Allen, Terry Neal, Dominic Soloman and Christopher Lyons. Sitting, from left: Toni Schley, Haneefah Abdullah, Natalie Tomasic and Shelley Hart. Not in photo is Gerald McKinney.
