Aug 27 2009
Last night, in a multipurpose room at the Homewood-Brushton YWCA, Councilman Ricky V. Burgess told about 80 of his constituents that he plans to start getting in trouble.
But that did not come up until he reached the third item on the list of items titled "Update of progress made at Pittsburgh City Council" on the agenda.
The first item was the HOPE Fund, the fund administered by the POISE Foundation into which the Councilman has dumped his discretionary funds, in order to, according to another handout, "provide transparency in the grant making function of the Councilman's office." He didn't say much about it, beyond the fact that the first round of awardees would soon be announced.
The second item was the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which he "is now fully operational," with the appointment of Jay A. Gilmer
as the program coordinator. Despite the questions raised by some as to
its likely effectiveness, Councilman Burgess said, "I absolutely
guarantee it. It will reduce homicides."
"The question is, can we sustain it?" he said.
The
councilman linked the reduction of crime not just to public safety, but
to the economic development that is so often called for and undeniably
needed in Homewood, saying that both the closure of the KFC at Homewood
and Frankstown Avenues, and the decision by Family Dollar not to locate
in Homewood Plaza, the new retail building next to the former KFC site,
resulted from the incidence of homocide.
"Until you slow down the homicide rate....you will not get economic development."
The third item was the Urban East End Planning and Development Collaborative. Rather than going into great detail about the Collaborative (there was
a handout made available to attendees), he spoke more generally about
the approach he intends to take going forward.
Since the beginning of his term in January of last year, he said, he has spent most of his time Downtown, building relationships and writing legislation. Now, he said, he is going to start spending most of his time in the community, and when he is Downtown, he will advocate more strongly for the community.
Because Homewood is so beaten down, he said, its turnaround will require a more-than-fair share of City resources.
"We can't get what everybody else gets. We need more....we want an extra measure of resources."
Not only does our neighborhood need more than many other neighborhoods do, a history of neglect means that "We deserve more."
So, he said, he plans to start asking for more. And he expects that to cause trouble. He expects to receive pushback - from people in other neighborhoods, from colleagues on Council, from all sorts of folks.
When that happens, he said, "I need you, the people, to say, 'Rev.'s right.'
What do you think? Does Homewood both need and deserve a disproportionate share of City resources going forward? Why or why not?
More on last night's meeting later. Want to weigh in with the Councilman himself? Then join us for an online chat Wednesday, Sept. 2, at noon.
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Aug 26 2009
At 6:30 this evening, Councilman Ricky V. Burgess will host a neighborhood meeting at the Homewood-Brushton YWCA, 6907 Frankstown Avenue "to discuss happenings in the Homewood community and to disperse information regarding distict 9 as a whole." The meeting is slated to run til 8:30. If you can't stay for the entire time, try to at least make part of it - I have had a glimpse of some of the information that will be presented. It's important.
No company hires people and then ignores them. Rather, they watch their employees' job performance all the time. District 9 hired Councilman Burgess. Meetings like these are a way to check his job performance, and more than that, to improve his job performance.
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The Community Empowerment Association's Brother to Brother breakfast meeting happens Saturday; breakfast at 9:30 a.m., meeting at 10. This session will focus on opportunities in the construction trades, and will introduce Ma'at Construction Group, a Black-owned construction company. If you are jobless, this may an opportunity to get on the road to getting a job. If you are employed, then perhaps you have a jobless friend/brother/uncle/nephew/father who could benefit. In any case, check it out, and expect to receive valuable info, at 7143 Fleury Avenue.
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Aug 21 2009
1. A moment of silence, please, for PittGirl.
No, that would be too grim. Virginia Montanez, known to countless blog readers as PittGirl, isn't dead. She's just been fired from her job. She's plucky and smart and I think she'll find work. But only with an employer who's not afraid to hire somebody that smart.
I mention this because she was apparently fired for being PittGirl, for having a blog filled with unvarnished opinion. Or rather, for having had a blog. She killed it back in November because she was afraid that she was losing her anonymity, and that there might be consequences. And sure enough, when she revealed her identity, long after the blog was dead and gone, she was fired.
Fellow blogger and tech freelancer Justin Kownacki asks in "PittGirl: A Lesson in Anonymity, Paranoia and What's Wrong With America," "since when did America become a nation where holding a contrarian opinion is a fireable offense?"
2. The NetRoots Nation conference, a gathering of bloggers of a leftish/progressive slant, happened here last week. Apparently, Black people were under-represented, which bothered a lot of folks who were there, Black, white and other. The New Pittsburgh Courier quotes Netroots Nation board member Cheryl Contee: "Part of this is the African-American community here in Pittsburgh is severely economically disadvantaged. Had I understood that better, I would have insisted on greater outreach to that community."
Put another way, "Dang, I didn't realize Black folks in Pittsburgh were so bad off."
Some may view that as a topic for G-20 protest, but let's move on.
3. The relative lack of Black participation in the NetRoots conference led to lamenting about "the digital divide," the racial gap in the use of technology. Dr. Jason Johnson, in a New Pittsburgh Courier column, says, Not so fast. There is a digital divide, but with the increasing power of cell phones and mobile devices, Black people are swarming online. They're just using digital technology differently...
"African-Americans are using the web in greater numbers than ever to get a date, listen to music, follow sports and whole host of other activities. But when it comes to the dissemination and pursuit of information, all too many Black activists and citizens are still living in the 20th century. Barack Obama had plenty of friends on Facebook during the presidential election but when he wanted to speak to Black voters over the age of 35 he got on talk radio with Tom Joyner, talked with Oprah and went to churches.
...maybe we're thinking about the digital divide all wrong. Perhaps the reason for the digital divide isn't because the divide is so great, but because African-American political leaders and commentators aren't willing to make the leap over it."
I would add that political leaders and commentators are not the only ones.
There are 26 churches in Homewood, and numerous nonprofit agencies. Operation Better Block has a Facebook page, and the Homewood-Brushton branches of the YWCA and the YMCA are included in their organization's websites. Otherwise, the online presence of Homewood entities is scarce. As Dr. Johnson points out, establishing an online presence is easier and cheaper than ever, so what's up?
4. "Severely economically disadvantaged" is only part of Black Pittsburgh's reality. A friend of mine once said that for Black folk, Pittsburgh is like a plantation. A plantation, of course, does not just have field hands. It also has household help. My friend observed that most of Pittsburgh's Black middle class works for nonprofits rather than for corporations. This benefits the corporations as much as it does the nonprofits. Why? Because every Black person who gets a good job with a nonprofit is one less that the corporations have to worry about hiring. At the same time, it's one less person who is likely to challenge the corporations because, um, they fund the nonprofits.
I would have to check the data about Black employment in Pittsburgh to verify or refute that view, but I found it interesting, and it has at least a certain saddening (maddening?) plausibility. It could help to explain why, way back in 1990, WTAE's Marilyn Brooks said,
"This is the quietest black community I've ever
lived in...It's almost like living in the South, and I don't say
that unkindly. People don't protest here, they don't raise hell, they're just
sort of not there."
Not long after my friend offered his plantation theory, a different person, in a different conversation, also used the "P" word to describe Pittsburgh. Which makes me wonder how many people share that view.
In any case, to whatever degree the analogy is valid, it suggests an answer for Justin:
Q: Since when did America become a nation where holding a contrarian opinion is a fireable offense?
A: For some of us, perhaps, too long ago to remember.
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Aug 20 2009
It will give the children of Homewood two days off from school.
Yep - Pittsburgh's school board decided to close the city's schools during G-20, citing safety concerns and transportation issues.
If I were a parent, I would be hopping mad. First, because I would consider it the board's job to figure out how to optimize the educational opportunity presented for my kids by the summit, and that closing the schools will absolutely not do that. Second, because now I have to figure out what to do with my kids for those two days.
As a mere resident of Homewood, my feeling is that Homewood's children do not need two new days off from school in September. But I'm not a parent. Those of you who are, what do you think?
When the selection of Pittsburgh for next month's summit was announced, politicians and businesspeople alike, not to mention the media, fell over themselves to proclaim how great G-20 would be for the city. I expected that from that point on, there would be a steady stream of news stories about people who have made two questions their primary concerns:
1) How do we make our visitors feel welcome?
2) (to put it bluntly) How do we take their money?
Instead, we as a city seem to be preoccupied with the dangers, real and imaginary, of hosting a gathering of world leaders - so much so that we will deny those leaders the opportunity to hear a world-class orchestra (they were going to perform Beethoven's 9th, for crying out loud - my inner marketer drools). Restaurants and other businesses that one might expect to make a killing during the summit (not just from the delegates, but from their entourages and from the throng of media types who will swarm around them) are instead choosing to shut down until the scary people go away.
It's like Pittsburgh is an adolescent who desperately wants to treated like an adult, but isn't ready for the reponsibility. Hey, 'Burgh, this is what world-class cities do: they host world leaders, without stopping everything else they're doing to do it.
Who's afraid of the big bad summit? We are.
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Aug 20 2009
...and come back after Saturday...
The cauldron that is Homewood continues to seethe with enterprise, creativity and just plain fun.
I've mentioned this before, but in case you've forgotten, Saturday, the 22d, will bring the third annual Homewood-Brushton Community Day Festival. The theme is "Celebrating the Arts and Culture In Our Community."
Time: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Location: Homewood Avenue and Kelly Street
It's a family-friendly event. The first 100 kids will receive back-to-school backpacks, so bring them early, and let them wear themselves out with the Moonwalk (the giant inflatable where they get to bounce around), a petting zoo, arts and crafts and games.
While they're doing that you can check out the art exhibit at the Community College of Allegheny County, or listen to the music being offered on the mainstage, which will range from from hip-hop, with DJ Akil Asoon (11 a.m.), to gospel (2:30 p.m.), to jazz by the Afro-American Music Institute with guest Sean Jones (3:00), wrapping with the Smooth Groove Band at 6:30.
As usual, there will be a variety of vendors offering food, art, clothing and gift items. And like last year, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood by taking a tour - the Homewood Asset-Based Community Tour, given in conjunction with Molly's Trolley. The 45-minute tour, highlighting Homewood's assets, will begin and end at the PNCBank parking lot, 618 N. Homewood Ave.
The arts committee of the Homewood-Brushton Community Coalition Organization works pretty much all year to put this event together, with a string of sponsors too long to name individually. Come on out and join the fun.
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Aug 19 2009
Saturday, I traveled with a group of Homewood residents to Youngstown, Ohio, for a training seminar for community organizers. I had never thought of myself as a community organizer before, nor have I ever aspired to be one. But I suppose that my role as block rep for the Save Race Street Committee makes me one.
The meeting was held a church in Youngstown. The presenter, Greg Galuzzo, is executive director of the Gamaliel Foundation, an organization whose current claim to fame is that they trained Barack Obama. So, by attending Saturday's event, one could say that I have begun to follow in Mr. Obama's footsteps. Not interested in following all the way to the White House, thank you.
The day was divided into three parts. First Mr. Galuzzo spoke for - a couple of hours, I think - then we divided into two groups, one led by Mr. Galuzzo and the other by Evans Moore, the new assistant director of Operation Better Block, Inc. (I was in his group), then we reconvened for a final hour or so led by Mr. Galuzzo.
Between the two of them Mr. Galuzzo and Mr. Moore tossed out a lot of nuggets worth chewing on. Among them:
Power is the ability to act.
"The first thing we have to understand is that we have to be powerful...to the degree that we are weak, we will take whatever we get." (GG)
"The real reason we are confused about power, laides and gentlemen, is because we are lazy and cowards." (GG)
"Power people are ready to work with anybody." (GG)
"If you don't know what you want out of the deal, I am condemned to using you." (GG)
"It is a sin for us to live next door to people for 20 years and not know anything about them." (EM)
"Our communities are falling apart because we don't have a network of relationships." (EM)
"It is dangerous to have a life without spending time in the public arena." (EM)
"To become powerful, you must recognize that there's some crap inside of you." (GG)
As you might imagine, it was a challenging and thought-provoking day. I'm still processing what I heard there and working out my responses.
What are your thoughts about the above declarations?
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Aug 14 2009
Federal regulators have closed Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, which will reopen Monday morning under the ownership of PNC Financial Services Group. Tim Grant, who broke the Dwelling House story, is working on details for tomorrow's PG. The current version of the story is here.
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Aug 06 2009
Love at first bite
A Homewood restaurant has received a big thumbs-up from the Post-Gazette. I hope Ms. Simone of The Dream Bar-B-Q is ready to handle any increase in business that may result.
OBB on FB
Operation Better Block, Inc., the agency best known for helping Homewood residents to form and maintain block associations - and big helpers to the Save Race Street Committee - has revamped their presence on Facebook. All of you FB'ers out there, check out their new homepage. Hm, oops, trying to grab their URL for the link and it's not loading. Maybe that denial-of-service attack is still in progress.
SRSC on FB
Speaking of Facebook, the Save Race Street Committee's cleanup day last Saturday was documented for Facebook by Race Street resident and digital photographer Veronica Yeniceri. I'll share the URL for the photos when Facebook's normal again.
CORRECTION: The theme for this year's Homewood-Brushton Community Day
Festival is "Celebrating the Arts and Culture in Our Community."
Real Estate Watch
7615 Baxter Street, $10,000
7307 Bennett Street, $15,112
Fargo Street (no image), $1,503
Fargo Street (no image), $1,500
246 Rolfe Street (no image), $200
7508 Susquehanna Street (no image), $128,000
NOTE: According to the county's website, all of the last four are vacant lots. But I'm pretty that the last either has a new house on it, or will have soon, as part of Building United of Southwestern Pennsylvania's Bradehanna development (I have a call out on that).
The Fargo Street properties were both sold by an Austin, Texas-based outfit, Econohomes LLC. According their website,
"Econohomes returns distressed residential REO properties to
productive use. We do this by purchasing residential REO
properties in large volumes and then reselling them to qualified
purchasers."
How that relates to vacant lots is beyond me. Anyway, both of these properties were sold to another company, a company whose name is a website address, Global Acai Supply.com LLC. The website, as the name suggests, is all about a beverage based on acai, the berry that seems to be the latest rage in health-food circles. Nothing there about real estate. The area code of the phone # given is for Beverly Hills. Yeah, THAT Beverly Hills.
Think I'll give them a call.
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Aug 05 2009
Just want to make sure that this news does not get lost behind the news of the LA Fitness shooting: Trailblazing supermodel Naomi SIms passed away yesterday at the age of 61. I mention that here because she was a Westinghouse High School grad (class of '66).
Ms. Sims returned to Westinghouse several times over the years to encourage students to pursue their dreams. If anyone here heard her speak at Westinghouse - or for that matter, if you went to school with her - please share a memory with us.
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