If you would like to have your organization featured in this section, please send information to Robin@PittsburghUrbanMedia.com. 

Curiosity

“Mammy's in de kitchen, an' de do' is shet;
All de pickaninnies climb an' tug an' sweat,
Gittin' to de winder, stickin' dah lak flies,
Evah one ermong us des all nose an' eyes.
“Whut's she cookin', Isaac?”
“Whut's she cookin', Jake?”
“Is it sweet pertaters? Is hit pie er cake?”
But we couldn't mek out even whah we stood
Whut was mammy cookin' dat could smell so good...”

-Paul L. Dunbar-

On the way home from church one Sunday before Thanksgiving, Mamma asked Daddy, “Russell, anything you want special for Thanksgiving?”  Before Daddy answered, my oldest brother Russell Jr. exclaimed, “Mama, please make a chocolate cake” to which Mama said, “Shut up boy.  I asked your father.”  I “bit my tongue“ and said nothing for fear that she might not only scold me, but also decide not to make her Mac and Cheese which was my favorite Thanksgiving dish.  Daddy answered, “Grace please make enough sweet potato pies for us and any unexpected company.”  

Mamma made her sweet potato pies that others often imitated but never duplicated, and she also fixed Mac and Cheese, collard greens, rolls, smoked ham, beets, potato salad and lemonade  --all from “scratch,” i.e. “a pinch of this and a pinch of that” instead of depending on written recipes!  Unfortunately, the “pinch process” is a lost culinary art for all too many would be soul food cooks.  

On Thanksgiving Day, Daddy  prayed what amounted to a sermon as he praised God  for another year of life, having gotten through bills piling up, and the fact that our family was intact.  As we dined, Daddy told a story about the times he and his brothers hunted for turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, deer, or whatever wild game they could harvest for Thanksgiving, especially the time that one of his brothers got hit by buckshot when another brother fired at a rabbit.  Mama laughed and told how, some years, things were so bad that she and her sisters trapped birds for Thanksgiving.  During their swapping of down-home rural Virginia stories, we children thoroughly enjoyed our annual favorite feast.  

After dinner, Mama and Daddy fixed plates of food for us to take to Sis Johnson, Deacon Brown, and Ms. Blackmore who were “sick and shut in” senior citizens living a few doors down from our public housing unit.  Before the table was cleared, two of my cousins stopped by for some of “Aunt Grace’s cooking.”  

Given the fact that my parents’ struggle to pay rent, utilities and other bills was an ongoing concern, I could not ascertain how they managed to obtain food for our Thanksgiving feast.  I also knew how much they “scrimped and scraped” to get our family out of public housing. Thus, our annual Thanksgiving dinner was another instance of how they and other Black elders, back in the day, “made a way out of no way.”  

This Thanksgiving I will again be thankful for how, with a working-poor income, but armed with Faith, Vision, and Determination, Mama and Daddy raised five children –all of whom earned advanced degrees in higher education.  That said, I will also keep in mind  the following poem (Lineage) by Margaret Walker.

“My grandmothers were strong.

They followed plows and bent to toil.

They moved through fields sowing seed.

They touched earth and grain grew.

They were full of sturdiness and singing.

My grandmothers were strong.

My grandmothers are full of memories

Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay

With veins rolling roughly over quick hands

They have many clean words to say.

My grandmothers were strong.

Why am I not as they?”

Let us be thankful for our strong grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, older siblings, and significant others who brought us this far.  Let us also reflect on how we can reclaim the essences of their legacies and, in turn, appropriate them for our success in 2026 and beyond.

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder, Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

November 22, 2025

  Since 2004, PNC Grow Up Great® has helped children from birth to age 5 discover their love of learning. By supporting and delivering engaging programs, experiences and resources, the program is helping to create a world of opportunities for the next generation and beyond.

  Volunteerism has been a key to their success. Throughout the year, PNC employees are invited and encouraged to take an active role in supporting early childhood education through PNC Grow Up Great and receive up to 40 hours of paid time off for volunteerism each year to do so. Each April, the program also helps to facilitate supply drives, school visits and volunteer events during Great Month.
 PNC Grow Up Great, a $500 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative, helps prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. Built on the understanding that education is a powerful means for economic and social mobility, PNC Grow Up Great offers high-quality programs, resources, and experiences that plant the seeds for a lifetime of opportunities. 

PUM One on One: Jeanine Fahnestock Vice President, Deputy Executive Director, PNC Grow Up Great at PNC

PUM:  Tell us more about your role and responsibility with this very successful program and celebrating the 20th anniversary what are you most proud of? 

Jeanine: My role is to manage PNC’s signature philanthropic initiative, PNC Grow Up Great™, which began in 2004 to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. All those years ago, we thought it would be amazing to see the difference that could be made if we put the power of this large company behind a single cause. That’s what we’ve done for more than two decades – through grantmaking, employee volunteerism, awareness efforts, and advocacy, we’ve been working to support high-quality early childhood education.

In each of PNC’s more than 50 markets, my colleagues and I support the individuals who bring PNC Grow Up Great to life locally, working with early education providers and community nonprofit organizations to help inspire a love of learning in young children. We are immensely grateful to our partners across the PNC footprint for their work to help prepare children for kindergarten, and it’s these extraordinary collaborations of which I’m most proud.

PUM: Recently the PNC Foundation announced $5.2 million in grants to support outdoor play and learning across PNC’s markets, to mark the 20th anniversary of PNC Grow Up Great, how will these grants help to enhance the overall educational experience of children? 

Jeanine: As we celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2024, we focused on the importance of outdoor learning for young children. One element was the distribution of more than $5.2 million in grants across our markets to implement new or enhanced nature-based play and learning environments. Recently, through research funded by PNC, our partners at the National Institute for Early Education Research found that young children across the country have been spending less time outside. Specifically, 49% of children ages 3 to 5 are playing outdoors less than once a day. The trend is concerning not just for children’s physical health and wellbeing, but because of the potentially negative consequences on the growth and development of their language, cognitive and social-emotional skills.

Through this effort, we’re thrilled that children at more than 60 early education providers across the country now benefit, or will soon, from these new or refreshed outdoor learning environments – spaces that spark curiosity through natural elements like fragrant flowers and shady trees, stepping stones and log benches, and mud kitchens made for the most imaginative young minds. It’s important to note that this effort was inspired by our longtime, local collaboration with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Over the last decade, PNC has supported their work in implementing a dozen beautiful outdoor classrooms at various Pittsburgh Public Schools Early Childhood Centers.  

PUM: How does the PNC Grow Up Great program help to make your philanthropy impact in various markets? 

Jeanine: PNC is a coast-to-coast franchise with more than 50 markets, each with employees who have taken the framework of PNC Grow Up Great and chosen the best community partners to drive the biggest impact. We have a small number of exceptional partners with a broad, nationwide focus – organizations like Sesame Workshop, Pittsburgh’s own Fred Rogers Productions, DonorsChoose and PBS LearningMedia. But there are literally hundreds of organizations across our markets – early childhood education centers, childcare providers, children’s museums, libraries and more – that have developed innovative and meaningful programs to advance the mission of PNC Grow Up Great and encourage children to discover, learn and grow. Relying on their knowledge has been essential to the program’s success and has helped to drive real impact across our footprint.

Also, PNC Grow Up Great wouldn’t be what it is without our employee volunteers. They’re the heart and soul of the initiative. Through reading to children in a classroom, participating in a team volunteer activity, like landscape maintenance at an early education center; contributing a unique skill set, like translating classroom materials for Spanish-speaking families; or donating an item to a back-to-school supply drive, our employees have dedicated more than 1.2 million volunteer hours since we started in 2004. They bring PNC’s values to life in neighborhoods across the country every day.

PUM: It is reported that investing in early childhood education can help to reduce gaps for especially children from low social and economic status backgrounds, with your programs are you encouraged by the various programs and community outreach to help reach more children through your various early childhood programs? What is the good news with what your team is learning about the various programs through the years. 

Jeanine: At the very heart of PNC Grow Up Great is the belief that all young children, particularly those in underserved communities, deserve to have access to high-quality early learning experiences that have a lifelong positive impact. Research continues to show that quality early childhood education reduces dropout rates, poverty and crime, while improving the skills of tomorrow’s workforce. We view investments in early childhood education as both an economic and workforce development tool and, more importantly, the right thing to do. 

Through the last 20 years, people often scratch their heads when we tell them that PNC is such a big supporter of early childhood education. To us, it makes so much sense. Investments in high-quality early childhood education are shown to generate up to a 13% return on investment, so this initiative is a very smart use of our community investment dollars. It also generates the community benefits I already mentioned. Since 2004, we’ve helped to bring high-quality early learning opportunities to more than 10 million children, and we can’t wait to reach even more. PNC continues to leverage its resources to support the issue because we have the ability—and the obligation—to help the youngest among us have every opportunity to learn, thrive and Grow Up Great.

Learn More About PNC ’s Impact

Edda Fields-Black is a Carnegie Mellon University historian, author, librettist and — now — a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Fields-Black’s book “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid and Black Freedom during the Civil War,” was selected as a 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner in history. The prize, shared this year with “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America” by Kathleen DuVal, is annually awarded to a “distinguished and appropriately documented book on the history of the United States.”

“COMBEE,” is the culmination of years’ worth of research conducted by the historian, who’s a professor in Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Department of History and director of The Humanities Center at CMU.

“I am truly grateful to the Pulitzer board for recognizing the Combahee River Raid and Harriet Tubman, the Second South Carolina Volunteers and the Combahee freedom seekers' quest for freedom as a significant chapter in our nation's history,” said Fields-Black. “I am humbled to bring the untold stories and unheard voices of formerly enslaved people to life. Thank you to the museums, research centers, archives, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, descendants of Harriet Tubman, the Combahee freedom seekers and planters, current Combahee River landowners, and the entire team at OUP for partnering with me in making ‘COMBEE’ possible.”

Tubman was instrumental in the success of the Combahee River Raid, the largest rebellion of enslaved people in U.S. history, which was based on intelligence she gathered as a Civil War spy for the U.S. Army Department of the South. Published in 2024, the book recounts the story from the perspectives of Tubman and the previously enslaved people who liberated themselves in the raid. Fields-Black herself is a descendant of one of the participants of the raid.

This spring, Fields-Black also received the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, which is awarded annually for exceptional scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier or the American Civil War era.

“Edda Fields-Black has intellectual ambition, artistic creativity, the courage to be truly interdisciplinary, and she is an extremely nice person! I am thrilled that her groundbreaking work on Harriet Tubman's role in the Lowcountry has been recognized for the seminal work it is,” said Richard Scheines, Bess Family Dean of Dietrich College.

Sony Ton-Aime, executive director of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures serves as an advisory board member for The Humanities Center at CMU.

“The moment that I read ‘COMBEE,’ I knew it would go on to win all the prestigious awards, but I also knew that the standard of history writing had been raised,” said Ton-Aime. “Every future history book will need to borrow something from ‘COMBEE’ to be considered as worthwhile, and that is a deeper care for the voices of those whose history it tells.”

Fields-Black: As I was pondering whether or not I could write a book about the Combahee River Raid, I happened upon the U.S. Civil War Pension files while conducting genealogical research about my father’s family. In them, I found a treasure trove of information about my own family members and the community with whom they were held in bondage during the antebellum period a few miles from where the raid took place. The voices (i.e. testimony) of formerly enslaved people resided in this little-tapped source. So, searching for my ancestors’ pension files, I identified the two Second South Carolina companies formed of Combahee men who liberated themselves in the raid. And, I began to think I could identify the people who escaped in the raid, reconstruct their lives in bondage and freedom, and tell the story of the raid from the freedom seekers’ perspectives. 

Fields-Black: Most Americans know of Tubman as the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad who liberated herself from bondage, then went back 13 times to bring approximately 70 enslaved people to freedom, gave detailed instructions to another 70 bonds people who liberated themselves, then became a suffragist after the Civil War.

In 2025, it is hard for Americans to fathom Harriet Tubman’s courage and selflessness, going back into what I call the “Prison House of Bondage” so many times to rescue family, friends and members of her community on the Maryland Eastern shore when she could have led a relatively comfortable life as a free woman in Philadelphia, St. Catherines, Canada or Auburn, New York. Then, during the Civil War, she risked her freedom and her life to go down to Beaufort, South Carolina, and rescue enslaved people she did not know, and (as she told to her biographers) whose dialect and culture she could not understand. Risking her freedom and her life so that other enslaved people could be free was a supreme act of bravery.

And, prior to the release of “COMBEE,” Tubman’s Civil War service — as a spy for the U.S. Army — was the least-known chapter of her extraordinary life. I set out to change this by documenting the Combahee River Raid and Tubman’s Civil War service and telling the story of the raid from the perspectives of the people who liberated themselves in, fought in and were impacted by it. It’s wonderful that more people are learning about Tubman’s leadership and selfless courage during the Combahee River Raid in which 756 enslaved were liberated on June 2, 1863 by Tubman, her ring of spies, scouts and pilots, Col. James Montgomery, the Second South Carolina Volunteers (300 Black soldiers) and the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (one battery of white soldiers).

Since I happened upon Harriet Tubman in my rice fields along Lowcountry South Carolina’s Combahee River, I have joined with Harriet Tubman’s descendants and the many biographers, historians and artists working proudly to preserve Tubman’s legacy. I hope “COMBEE” winning the Pulitzer Prize will help secure the legacy of Tubman’s valorous Civil War service in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Fields-Black: The fight for freedom and equality continues today with no end in sight, unfortunately. We can learn from Harriet Tubman not to leave anyone behind in the fight, even if it means sacrificing our comfort and risking our lives.

Teaching Associate Professor | Director of Outreach, Department of Biological Sciences at the  University of Pittsburgh to learn more about the GENE TEAM program.

The GENE TEAM  Aims to engage students in current research in Biological Sciences and provide college preparatory mentoring. The goal of the program is to increase participation in biological research from groups that are historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math. 

WHAT IS THE DAY LIKE FOR A GENE TEAM PARTICIPANT? 

Gene Team students are immersed in the world of science in a very authentic way. This means that each day brings its own activities, successes, and challenges. Nearly every day, they are engaged in hands-on experiences to set up experiments and/or collect their data. They also meticulously record the work they do in lab notebooks. As in research labs in the department, they spend a lot of time communicating their findings to their peers to help analyze their data. Gene Team also provides college prep to our students so on any given day they could be participating in a workshop to help teach them skills like creating online STEM portfolios and resumes/CVs or to help them navigate the Common App. No day is the same and I think students appreciate that aspect of the program.

TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT THE 2024 SUMMER GENE TEAM IS WORKING ON AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE THE STUDENTS GET OUT OF THIS EXPERIENCE?

The Summer 2024 Gene Team students are partnering with the Rebeiz Lab at the University of Pittsburgh to explore the regulation of gene expression. Gene Expression is the process by which genes are “turned on and turned off” which makes organisms look and function the way that they do. What they learn can provide insights into the evolution of morphology or in other words how organisms look and function changes over time. They are doing this by looking into small proteins in the cell called transcription factors which act like switches to control when genes are expressed. They were able to use lab techniques like RNAi and CRISPR to shut down the genes for these transcription factors (or in other words shut down the switches) to see how the fly’s appearance, in this case the pigmentation, changes. 

Beyond the students gaining a strong understanding of genetics, we hope that the students gain confidence in their own abilities to participate in science. Often, they have experiences in school that shape how they view themselves based on metrics like test performance. We want students to understand that there are places for everyone in science. They all have unique strengths and the team they work with is stronger because of it. Additionally, we hope they feel ready for the college application process once they’ve completed the program. 

HOW IS THE GENE TEAM PROGRAM MAKING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF STUDENT PARTICIPANTS?

Our hope is that Gene Team impacts our students in many ways beyond just learning biology. Of course, we want our students to gain a deep understanding of the biological world and to think critically about how interconnected concepts they may have learned in school are. Moreso, we aim to improve students’ critical thinking skills, data analysis skills, ability to design experiments, and work as independent scientists as well as collaborate within their groups. These transferrable skills will allow our students to be successful in any future endeavors. We also see firsthand how building these skills and being part of a research team increases students’ sense of belonging in STEM. After completing the program, students really see themselves as scientists and believe they can be successful in STEM careers (we see this anecdotally backed up by assessment data). We see tremendous growth in so many different areas of each member of our team which they carry with them throughout the rest of high school and beyond.

HOW IS THIS PROGRAM HELPING ESPECIALLY MINORITY STUDENTS GET ENGAGED INTO BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND RESEARCH? 

Studies have shown that a critical factor in success in STEM is a student’s STEM identity. Role models, a sense of belonging, and authentic STEM experiences all build that STEM identity. Students who are ultimately successful in STEM tend to have a broad STEM community, which include both in-school and out-of-school supports who nurture learning. STEM identity and sense of belonging has been cited as a major component of STEM retention, and that women and underrepresented minority students often lack a sense of belonging. Through Gene Team, students are building relationships and fostering a STEM community, and we believe that students are more likely to pursue and persist in STEM as a result.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE THE STUDENTS CONSIDER AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE?

After they’ve been completely immersed in an authentic biology research experience, they now know what it is like to be in that career path. While of course we’d be thrilled if they all decided they were so inspired by the experience that they all want to pursue a career in biology, we know that won’t be the case. Some of them will learn that this career path is not for them. Either way, we hope they feel more empowered that they’ve learned something about themselves and their interests. In addition to this knowledge about their own interests, we equip them with many tools for success in the college process. We also hope that they consider utilizing these tools in ways that work for them as they continue carving out their own futures.

THE Gene Team has been accredited by Middles States Association for broadening participation in STEM. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HELP PUSH FOR EQUITABLE FUTURES IN STEM?

The MSA-CESS accreditation is a ground-breaking step towards elevating the critical learning and skills development provided by Gene Team through increased visibility and value in the higher education admissions process, promoting greater equity in college admissions. Out-of-school educational programs experiences are disproportionately important for students who systematically have reduced access to advanced STEM experiences in their high schools, and accreditation validates these underrecognized opportunities. This creates a mechanism for admissions officers to understand and recognize our students’ experiences in Gene Team. We are thrilled to be accredited, which can lead to more holistic admissions reviews for our students.

WHAT SORT OF PLANS FOR THE FUTURE TO EXPAND THE PROGRAM OR SUSTAIN IT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS OF GENE TEAM PARTICIPANTS?

Gene Team is part of the STEM PUSH Network, a nationwide initiative to develop a new admissions model for evaluating students who have participated in pre-college STEM programs. The network developed the accreditation process that allowed Gene Team to be one of the first precollege STEM programs (PCSPs) in the country to be accredited for broadening participation of traditionally excluded populations in STEM. STEM PUSH partner programs are committed to continuous improvement on evidence-based quality standards for broadening participation in STEM across six areas (Program Goals, Student Recruitment, Program Design & Implementation, Student Services, Assessment & Evidence of Performance, and College Going Pathways).Partner programs to strengthen their programming for racially/ethnically minoritized students along the quality standards, and to generate effective practices which contribute to the broader field of equitable design and implementation in pre-college programming. We examine STEM education practice and systems through an equity lens, reflect on our strengths and areas for growth, apply improvement science tools and routines to facilitate program and systems change, and build program capacity for continuous improvement and evaluation. Therefore, we are constantly looking at ways to strengthen our programming and make sure we are serving our students well. 

AT THE END OF THE EXPERIENCE, WHAT MAKES YOU PROUD WATCHING THE STUDENTS ENGAGE IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES?

Historically, there has been a lot of gatekeeping in fields like biology which means the barriers needed to overcome the inequities of the past are immense. As we walk around the room and watch the students, who are from a variety of backgrounds and schools, do biology research, little cracks start to form in the mountain of the problem. Watching the students pick up on complex concepts like CRISPR and RNAi in just a few days is awe-inspiring. These kids, our future, are ready. All they need is to be given that chance and when given the chance, they rise to the occasion. We are proud to run Gene Team that puts the spotlight on the students and gives them the opportunity to shine. We are proud to be part of the STEM PUSH network which unites dozens of programs like Gene Team all over the country with the common goal of letting the student’s shine. Most of all, we’re proud of the students continuing to show us there is hope if we all keep working to give the students these opportunities to shine.

Learn More about the GENE TEAM program click here 

On March 26, 2024, a megaton cargo ship struck the 1972-77 built Francis Scott Key Bridge, leaving in its wake horrible deaths and unfathomable world-wide negative economic impact.  For more than two decades, from the deck of our waterfront home, the sky’s landscape featured the Francis Scott Key Bridge.  Daily, we could see vehicles pass over and under the Bridge.  As this article is being written, it has not been possible for me to adequately describe the eerie feeling experienced when I look into the empty sky where the Bridge was once featured or I stare across the water where the cargo ship sits loaded with hazard waste and supporting huge steel fragments of the former Bridge  --a gloomy sight that now serves as a call for action by the national collective.  

Speaking shortly after the collapse of the  Francis Scott Key Bridge, President Biden declared "It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort.”  If indeed the “federal government” pays for the Bridge’s reconstruction, perhaps the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, like the mythical Phoenix, should serve as a catalyst to help bridge the pathway for America’s unfinished democratic dream.  

If Congress supports President Biden’s determination to use “we the people’s dollars” to build a new bridge, then we should not build a new bridge bearing the name of Francis Scott Key given that “In 1814, Key was a slaveholding lawyer from an old Maryland plantation family, who thanks to a system of human bondage had grown rich and powerful.  When he wrote the poem that would, in 1931, become the national anthem and proclaim our nation “the land of the free,” like Jefferson, Key not only profited from slaves, he harbored racist conceptions of American citizenship and human potential. Africans in America, he said, were: ‘a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.’” (see https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wheres-debate-francis-scott-keys-slave-holding-legacy-180959550/).  

Given his direct involvement in slavery, how could Francis Scott Key possibly have included Blacks when he wrote, “O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave” as these words were  written in 1814 and it was not until 1863 that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued?  Instead of rebuilding in the name of a long-time practicing racist, would it not be better to name the new bridge the Harriet Tubman Freedom Bridge?

“Born around 1822 in Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Tubman is one of the most lauded, recognized, and revered figures in American history.  …The middle child of nine enslaved siblings, Harriet Tubman was raised by parents who struggled against great odds to keep their family together.  …Tubman successfully escaped to Philadelphia in 1849. Once free, she became an operator of the Underground Railroad — a secret network of people, places and routes that provided shelter and assistance to escaping slaves. She courageously returned to Maryland at least 13 times over the course of a decade to rescue her parents, brothers, family members, and friends, guiding them safely to freedom.”  (see Harriet Tubman - Harriet Tubman Byway).

Imagine, when passengers cross over and under the Harriett Tubman Freedom Bridge, they are reminded of America’s promise to truly be the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”  As the multi-billion-dollar construction project unfolds, imagine in the name of freedom, Blacks, women and others currently adversely socio-economically impacted receiving equitable proportions of the construction contracts.  Consider the implications of a booming Baltimore-based economy that contributes to the elimination of widespread poverty in Baltimore and elsewhere.  Think about how much healing might take place if the new Bridge became a frame of reference for what truly can transpire in terms of America making good on its most sacred promises!  

Let’s not rebuild a bridge in the name of a person with a very unsavory past  -a person who committed crimes against humanity by profiting from chattel slave ownership and used his legal education to defend the institution of slavery in general as well as to help slave owners regain their “property,” i.e., runaway slaves.  Let’s build a new bridge in the name of a true American heroine, i.e., the Harriet Tubman Freedom Bridge.  

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

April 2, 2024

 Following Denzel Washington’s weekend visit to the Hill District to assist with the grand opening of the August Wilson House, the University of Pittsburgh Library System announced today a $1 million grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to support the opening of and the public’s engagement with its August Wilson Archive.

This grant, the largest in the history of the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS), follows two years of support and other charitable donations toward in-depth public engagement with the archive, which is scheduled to open to the public in January.

In 2020, the ULS acquired the archive of the acclaimed Pittsburgh native, considered one of the greatest American playwrights. All 10 plays in his American Century Cycle were produced on Broadway — two earning Wilson the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 

“Pittsburgh was such a formative influence on August Wilson’s work and shaping his worldview,” said David K. Roger, president of Henry L. Hillman Foundation. “The ability to preserve the archive here in Pittsburgh where it will be accessible to audiences who grew up in the neighborhoods featured in Wilson’s storytelling is gratifying. This opportunity would not have been possible without Constanza Romero’s generous collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, helping to create an unprecedented view into the creative process of a singular American playwright.”

The ULS is partnering with other local cultural organizations to provide a week-long celebration of the legacy of August Wilson in March 2023. 

Funding from the Hillman Foundation will support the final stages of processing the archive — comprising more than 450 boxes of materials such as draft scripts, artwork, plaques, correspondence and a guitar — and focus on partnering with groups and organizations both locally and nationally to see the Wilson archive come to life.

“The Henry L. Hillman Foundation grant will enable us to integrate the August Wilson Archive in the very fabric of the local cultural and civic life,” said Kornelia Tancheva, the Hillman University Librarian and ULS Director who also is the grant’s principal investigator. "Wilson's work was deeply informed by his experiences growing up in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh, which makes the opportunity to share this collection with those communities, local schools, and cultural and arts organizations incredibly satisfying. With the generous support of the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, we embark on what is, in some ways, a second homecoming for the archive.”

Source: Pitt

UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital is honoring the late Dr. Morris Turner, OB-GYN, by hanging his portrait on the second floor outside the Birth Center beside his plaque. Dr. Turner made exemplary contributions to women’s health care in the city of Pittsburgh and was dedicated to bringing equitable care to women in underserved communities, focused on delivering healthy babies and making family planning safer.  

During his career, Turner served as president of the UPMC Magee-Womens medical staff and opened one of the first Black specialty OB/GYN practices in East Liberty— a densely populated Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Turner was also the medical director for the Magee-Womens outreach sites at Wilkinsburg and Monroeville. It’s coincidental but also befitting that Dr. Turner is being honored during Black History Month.  

Maternal mortality disproportionately impacts Black women in Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Black women are twice as likely to die from complications during birth than White women.  

Today, the legacy of Dr. Turner’s work lives on in other women’s health equity advocates at UPMC Magee.

Turner family and painter Douglas Webster unveil Dr. Morris’ portrait during a dedication event at Magee

Jeaonna Hodges, CD-DONA, C.L.C, is one of the lead doulas of the Birth Circle at UPMC Magee. She has attended hundreds of births and believes that it’s important to listen to her patients.  

At UPMC Magee, community-based doulas provide free services and support to women at the same level of care as private doulas. The doula services range from assistance during birth to post-partum support.  

Jeaonna believes that diversity within health care systems can help lower women’s complications and anxiety during birth. “What would happen if the person that came to take care of me looked like me? That person would understand what I am going through,” she shared. 

Dr. Amaris Yandel is a clinical assistant professor and specializes in obstetrics and gynecology at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Dr. Yandel is a member of UPMC’s Health Equity Now committee and sits on the UPMC Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She believes that some of the outcomes and mortality impacting local women are due to racism.  

“People feel unheard,” said Dr.  Yandel.  “Health equity means that it shouldn’t matter how someone comes to us, but we should work to make sure that the outcomes are good and equal.” 

“Finding a doctor who you can trust and have a good relationship with is important,” Yandel shared. 

UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital has launched UPMC Health Equity Now— a group led by UPMC employees— to serve as a voice for Black and Brown women.  

Source: UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital  

Them that's got shall get, them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

-Billie Holiday-

A few years ago, some Blacks were lulled into the deceptive prospects of “integration,” a “post-racial” society, an America that was truly welcoming of the “tired, hungry” and others “yearning to be free.”  Afterall, [1] a Voting Rights Act existed; [2] Barack Obama had been elected President;  [3] “first” Black senior hires took place throughout institutions of higher education as well as corporate America; [4]  a new cottage industry consisted of “anti-racist” workshops; and [5] several States had initiated reparation studies.  Then came the “DEI Wrecking Ball!” 

Led by some very high-level politicians, judges, and senior corporate executives, there have been major institutional reneges on promised changes in America’s afflictions related to its [1] systemic, racist, caste-like; [2] xenophobic; [3] White male-dominated patriarchal; and [4] homophobic nature.  However, as students of civil rights history know, now is not the first time Black and other oppressed people have faced efforts to retard progress related to freedom, justice, and equality.  Moreover, if we go back and recapture some of our old landmarks related to having survived chattel slavery, legal segregation, and continued systemic racism, then Blacks will not only fail to wilt, but also thrive in the face of Project 2025!  We will, in the spirit of Invictus, be the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls.

With the foregoing in mind and in the spirit of Sankofa, I asked Dr. Linda Wharton Boyd, what equity and social justice strategies Blacks might effectively “go back and fetch” to  facilitate thriving in 2025 and beyond?  She responded as follows. “Now is the time for Black people to migrate Back to Black—to recall and reclaim the ‘old landmarks’ that once helped us ‘make a way out of no way’ during the darkest times of our American journey.  Back to Black is a call to action, reminding us [1] to make ‘fail -proof,’ ‘time tested,’ ‘self-help strategies’ a top priority, and [2] to resist dependence on the promise that an unfair and oppressive system will correct itself at a meaningful or appreciative pace.

At every pivotal moment in Black history, progress has come when we turned inward—when we drew upon our collective strength, creativity, and faith to build what the world denied us. From the creation of independent schools and churches to the rise of Black-owned businesses, social and professional entities, cultural organizations, and financial institutions, our ancestors demonstrated that true empowerment begins with self-determination. Yet, in an age of ongoing inequality and distraction, many of those foundational principles have blurred and faded from focus.  Back to Black reminds us that the power to shape our future has always been and significantly remains in our hands.”  

Based on the foregoing meaning of Back to Black, Dr. Wharton Boyd and I generated the following three illustrations.

1.  Black Economic Power.  Historically, when Black people owned and supported their own institutions, they built strong, self-sustaining communities. Today, it is vital that we return to that principle—supporting and rebuilding our own financial institutions and businesses. In the past, Black churches established their own credit unions; families  started and operated their own banks (some of which still exist today); and communities maintained their own lending organizations. Black entrepreneurs owned bakeries, grocery stores, gas stations, cleaners, laundromats, dressmaking shops, and other enterprises that generated wealth and opportunity. Reinvigorating this spirit of ownership and mutual support is essential to restoring economic independence and prosperity within the Black community.  “Black Wall Street” cannot be a matter of historical relics, but rather proof of Marcus Garvey’s following statement being applicable then and today, i.e., “up you might race, you can accomplish what you will.”  

2.  Embracing Black Images.  During the 1960s, the Black is Beautiful movement ignited a powerful wave of pride and self-acceptance and, in turn, self-determination across the Black community. It encouraged Blacks to [a] embrace their natural features, from textured hair to deep skin tones, as symbols of strength, beauty, and identity; [b] recognize their historical, artistic, socio-cultural, and scientific, contributions to America as well as the world; and {c] going forward, to approach life from an Afrocentric and opposed to a Eurocentric point of view.  As such, Black artists, educators, poets, political leaders,  religious leaders, and others contributed to the celebration and renewed manifestations of Black culture and related life.  Today, in an age where mass and social media have incredible impact, it is essential to continue promoting authentic Black images. For example, our children deserve to see themselves represented in ways that uplift and affirm their identity. As Imamu Amear Baraka (LeRoi Jones) wisely stated, “If the beautiful see themselves, they will know and love themselves.”

3.  Black Education.  From “Freedom Schools” during chattel slavery when the formal education of Blacks was illegal through the illustrious history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, many Blacks have heeded Carter G. Woodson advocacy for Blacks to control the education of themselves.  Today, we must continue to develop Black access to high quality public education and, at the same time, we must have additional initiatives such as Lebron James’ I Promise School.  Foundationally, we must forever hold on to Malcolm X’s decree, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”  As such, the primary responsibility for the education of Black children must remain in the hands of Black primary caregivers and the extended Black community, albeit that we must force the public education system to provide equal opportunities for all children.

Going forward, in terms of Back to Black, we should be inspired by the following poetic expression from Maya Angelou.

You may write me down in history

with your bitter, twisted lies,

you may trod me in the very dirt

but still, like dust, I’ll rise

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

pumping in my living room…

…You may shoot me with your words,

you may cut me with your eyes,

you may kill me with your hatefulness,

but still, like air, I’ll rise.

…Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise!

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise!

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise!

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise!

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise,

I rise,

I rise.

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder, Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

Linda Wharton Boyd, Ph.D.

University of Pittsburgh, Alumna

October 30, 2025