It takes a Village

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In her 2018 book How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don’t, Leslie R. Crutchfield summarized some of social movements’ success factors as follows: “A movement’s grassroots are its everyday people, the ‘rank and file,’ in contrast to the leaders or the ‘elite’ (p.25). “Winning movements are fueled by energy that materializes from the bottom up” (p. 12). “As we examined a range of social and environmental movements surging since the 1980s, it became irrefutably clear that those with strong and robust grassroots—measured by both size and intensity of the base—win” (p. 23). There is support for the foregoing conclusions when one considers the Civil Rights Movement. 

Notwithstanding the litany of famous 1960s civil rights leaders, legal segregation fell when grassroots people [1] marched as if they were marching around the ancient city of Jericho; [2] risked their lives by “sitting in” at segregated facilities; [3] boycotted buses and businesses; [4] engaged in the late 1960s urban rebellions after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and, in turn, enabled civil rights leaders to negotiate with the “powers that be.” In addition, we should never forget the following examples of grassroots’ enablement:

• Films      such as “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks” highlighted the      leadership roles of Ms. Parks. However, it was a 13-month grassroots bus boycott that eventually      led to the Supreme Court ruling regarding segregation on public buses      being unconstitutional. 
• Martin      Luther King Jr. and former Congressman John Lewis are well known civil      rights icons, but significantly King was joined by 250,000 grassroots people      for the 1963 March on Washington. It was with the support of more than 600 grassroots folks that      Lewis marched across the Pettus Bridge in 1965. 
• During      the 1995 Million Man March, the leaders were buttressed by more than a      half million grassroots people. 
• Across      the nation, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many grassroots supported students      led successful insurrections at historically White institutions of higher      education.

A personal example will amplify the significance of grassroots/leader relationships. In 1969, I became the first Chair of the Black (now Africana) Studies Department at Pitt. Having been part of the Pitt grassroots Black student/community movement, I knew in no uncertain terms that my primary mission was to [1] get Pitt to hire faculty members who would advance scholarship, teaching and service related to the Black Diaspora; [2] academically advise Black students; and [3] do all I could 24/7 to advance the causes of Black grassroots folks through the use of Pitt resources. As a Department Chair, the grassroots empowered me to “speak truth to power,” to in no way “go along to get along.” 

My hiring, based on grassroots demands, was significantly different from a hypothetical person who might be hired in 2023 with a portfolio such as “Vice Chancellor for Food Services.”  The “Vice Chancellor for Food Services” could be hired by the “powers that be” to make the College’s food services cost effective and, at the same time, provide high quality food for the students housed in the College’s dormitories. 

Although the College CEO, like others during times of crises such as the murder of George Floyd, publicly pronounced support for diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice, the “Vice Chancellor for Food Services” might not have a grassroots’ mandate emanating from the descendants of Africans enslaved in America. As such, the Vice Chancellor would be doing her/his job, for example, if none of the contracted vendors turned out to be Black owned and operated, but it turned out that the major contracted firm was “diverse,” i.e., headed by two women, one White and the other Hispanic.  

During 2023 and beyond, the struggle related to descendants of Africans enslaved in America as well as other equity and social justice movements could become stifled by a few spectacular, “first” hires of “diverse” senior level people who are not anchored by grassroots but, rather, owe their allegiance strictly to the senior administrators who hired them. Moreover, even when a member of the Black race is hired as well as anyone else, what matters most comes down to their values, beliefs, commitments, character, experience, etc. emanating from as well as the extent to which they are empowered by the grassroots. Indeed, unless steps are taken to prevent grassroots disconnects as evidenced by the following story, a much larger danger looms for equity and social justice movements.  

For centuries, the Forest Village kept shrinking because of the Patriarchal Company’s (PC) wanton deforestation. However, the trees kept supporting the PC which gaslighted them into believing that it was “inclusive” as evidenced by the PC planting a token number of new trees. However, one day for mere campfire wood, several PC workers chopped down an almost 1000-year-old Bristlecone type of pine tree. This total disregard for the Forest Village’s elder prompted a few woke trees to begin a “trees lives matter” movement. 

After the PC’s CEO made diversity and inclusion speeches; appointed a new Deputy CEO for Tree Preservation; and planted a few saplings, for a year the PC did not cut any trees. Members of the Forest Village were lulled into complacency until one day several young Forest Village guards saw what would surely contribute to their community’s complete demise. A PC worker was approaching with an axe blade made from a substance similar to Wakanda’s Vibranium. As the young trees cried hysterically upon seeing the blade’s effectiveness, one of the Forest Village elders said with great sadness, “Look at that handle the PC worker is using. She/he used to be one of us! Let there be no new axe handles in 2023!”

Within weeks, “trees lives matter” became a powerful grassroots movement. During the last negotiation with the PC administration, it was agreed that the PC would implement a Comprehensive Green Policy to be implemented by the Tree Owned and Operated Sustainability Company. Two years later, guided by the philosophy of Ujamaa (collective economics), the PC was purchased by the Tree Owned and Operated Sustainability Company! 

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder, Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

December 23, 2022

The Northside Community Development Fund today announced that it is now supporting all of Allegheny County under the new moniker of “Neighborhood Community Development Fund.”  

Located in Pittsburgh’s Northside, the Neighborhood Community Development Fund serves as a conduit between local communities and the resources they seek – growing and revitalizing neighborhoods through small business support, residential housing and commercial building projects. Previously, this work was concentrated primarily in the Northside neighborhood.

 Under its new name, the Neighborhood Community Development Fund will continue to support existing clients, while also aiding those in neighborhoods beyond the Northside and throughout Allegheny County to develop their communities. The organization conducts its work by connecting local business owners and community development organizations with loan opportunities, grant applications, educational resources and strategic counsel.

“We’ve been proud to work as a trusted neighbor for so many in the Northside community for more than 20 years,” said Mark Masterson, executive director, Neighborhood Community Development Fund. “And now, we’re taking that same approach to communities all across Allegheny County to promote economic opportunity and revitalization.”

 Since the onset of the pandemic, the Neighborhood Community Development Fund has offered loan payment deferrals and loan forgiveness to most of its loan customers. The Neighborhood Community Development Fund also worked with the Pennsylvania CDFI Network to distribute more than $250 million in grants to small businesses, 50% of which went to historically disadvantaged businesses.

Additionally, the Neighborhood Community Development Fund connected local small businesses with Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loans – helping more than 400 small businesses to receive these SBA loans.

For more information on the Neighborhood Community Development Fund and its services, please visit: NCD-Fund.org.

 June 22, 2021… A new arts funding initiative created by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy will award 75 micro-grants of $1,000 to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artists to assist them in their work. Applications are open through July 23. Funding for the program is provided by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Mac Miller Fund.

Grants will be practice-based, so that recipients have the freedom to use the awards on whatever they choose. The program is open to artists who live in the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Mercer, Lawrence, Somerset, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland.

“This program is yet another wonderful example of how the fund is channeling Mac Miller’s spirit in the Pittsburgh region and the rest of the country,” Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Lisa Schroeder said in announcing the grants program. “As his fame skyrocketed, he shared his musical artistry generously – allowing people to internalize it however they would choose, and he reached out broadly.”

The BIPOC Micro-Grant Program does the same, Schroeder said, by giving artists maximum freedom in use of the grants and inviting applications from across southwestern Pennsylvania and its bordering counties. “While there is much more work to be done in supporting racial diversity in our region’s arts community, we are grateful to the family of Mac Miller and our Center for Philanthropy staff for collaborating to develop such a powerful program.”

A selection committee that will include BIPOC artists will be confirmed soon with member information posted on The Pittsburgh Foundation website. The brief application is available online and applicants will be informed of decisions by Sept. 1.

“The BIPOC Artist Micro-Grant program is a way for the Foundation to carry forward Mac Miller’s creative and artistic legacy and his family’s vision for helping artists, particularly younger artists, recognize their full potential,” said Kelly Uranker, vice president of the Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy.

The Mac Miller Fund was established at The Pittsburgh Foundation in 2018 by the family of the late Malcolm McCormick (Mac Miller) to honor the Pittsburgh native and nationally known rapper and producer. 

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy is one of only a few centers in the country offering expertise to donors to help them determine how to meet philanthropic goals through grantmaking and nonprofit management, personalized education sessions and guidance on multi-generational giving.  

Source: The Pittsburgh Foundation

The Community College of Allegheny County will celebrate the dynamic life of Dr. Ralph Proctor Jr., educator, author, civil rights activist and nationally recognized expert on African American history, culture and art. The event, open to the CCAC community and the public,  will be held on Friday, March 15, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Foerster Student Services Center auditorium on Allegheny Campus. Members of the CCAC community, including Dr. Proctor’s colleagues and friends, will join his family for the remembrance ceremony.

A beloved CCAC professor and academic advisor for 23 years, Ralph Proctor was born in the historic Hill District of Pittsburgh. An active participant in the Southern and Pittsburgh-based Civil Rights Movement, he pioneered the use of oral history, using it as the basis for his doctoral dissertation, “Racial Discrimination against Black Teachers and Professionals in the Pittsburgh Public School System.” A veteran of the United States Army, Proctor earned his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. He was among the first Black producers/hosts of one of several local Black-oriented television shows that aired during the turbulent 1960s. He later produced and hosted other local television and radio programs in the Pittsburgh area. His book “Song of the Hill,” a memoir and tribute to the special place and culture known in Pittsburgh as “The Hill,” is an account of his early life and an intimate portrait of a community that has long been the focus of authors and playwrights.

A former vice president and chief diversity officer of the Community College of Allegheny County, he was a popular professor of Ethnic and Diversity Studies at CCAC. Proctor was also a professor/lecturer at a number of local institutions of higher learning, including the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Carlow University, Chatham University, La Roche University and Carnegie Mellon University.

OBIT From The Courier

DR. RALPH PROCTOR PASSED AWAY ON FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. 2, ACCORDING TO HIS SON.

In the “Something Peo­ple Might Not Know About Me” section of the CCAC website that hous­es Ralph Proctor’s bio, he said that “despite a very public life…I really am quite introverted and rather shy.”

Well, that “introverted” and “rather shy” person met with Dr. Martin Lu­ther King Jr., participated in the civil rights move­ments of the ’50s and ’60s, wrote three books, host­ed radio and television programs like WQED’s “Black Horizons,” spent decades giving public speeches, created Diver­sity, Equity and Inclusion programs and traveled ex­tensively through Africa.

And still, that doesn’t seem like anywhere near enough to describe Ralph Proctor, Ph.D., and his ac­complishments.

Dr. Proctor died on Fri­day morning, Feb. 2, ac­cording to his son.

“Brother Proctor was the consummate fearless war­rior for justice,” said Ron­ald Saunders, President of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH (Associ­ation for the Study of Af­rican American Life and History), in a statement to the New Pittsburgh Cou­rier. “He would tackle Jim Crow and racism regard­less of where it reared its ugly head, whether it was at the University of Pittsburgh, the United States Military, WQED or any other venue. Brother Proctor had great love for Black people and traveled the African continent col­lecting art from various nations and tribes.”

Saunders told the Cou­rier he grew up with Dr. Proctor in the Hill Dis­trict, as they both attend­ed Robert L. Vann Elemen­tary School and Herron Hill Jr. High School. Dr. Proctor attended Schenley High School.

Dr. Proctor earned a B.S. in Psychology in 1965 and his doctorate in History in 1979, both from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Proctor was a teacher and later, assistant dean in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences from 1968 to 1973. Dr. Proctor was the host of WQED-TV’s “Black Horizons” community affairs show from 1968- 1971. He was the author of three books: “Racial Discrimination Against Black Teachers and Black Professionals in the Pitts­burgh Public School Sys­tem—1834-1973,” “Voices From the Firing Line; A Personal Account of the Pittsburgh Civil Rights Movement,” and “Song of The Hill; Life, Love, Lega­cy.” Dr. Proctor also was hired as executive director of the Kingsley Association in 1978 and served for nearly 20 years.

In 2001, Dr. Proctor be­came a professor in ethnic and diversity studies at CCAC (Community Col­lege of Allegheny County), later becoming chairman of the entire program at the school. But that wasn’t all. He created the Office of Institutional Diversi­ty & Inclusion at CCAC and served as its first vice president, under then- CCAC President Dr. Stew­art Sutin. Dr. Proctor also said in his CCAC bio that he proposed to the CCAC Board of Trustees that the school construct a new sci­ence building on its main campus named after an African American icon, K. Leroy Irvis, the former Pa. Speaker of the House. The K. Leroy Irvis Science Center now sits on Ridge Avenue.

Dr. Proctor also was a nationally-recognized col­lector of African art, of which he donated some of the collection to the Uni­versity of Pittsburgh’s Af­rican Heritage Classroom Committee in 2013.

“Ralph Proctor repre­sented an era in Black Pittsburgh that was emerging from the ashes of America’s racial oppres­sion to the realization of its promise,” expressed Samuel Black, Director of African American Pro­gram at the Heinz Histo­ry Center, exclusively to the Courier, Feb. 6. “Ralph had a fire of determination and belief in equality that carried him into different areas of community and work. Typical of the Black leadership shown by Pitts­burgh legends Martin Delany, Mal Goode, and Cum Posey, Ralph Proctor excelled in several profes­sions, all seemingly for the benefit of himself and the community. He was a Hill District vanguard, proud and honored with the badge of being from and living in the Hill.”

Born in 1938 and raised on Wylie Avenue, Dr. Proc­tor has said that so many publications or books have inaccurately portrayed the history of the Hill Dis­trict. In an interview with the online publication Next Pittsburgh in 2023, Dr. Proctor said that the City of Pittsburgh “stig­matized” the entire Hill District to “justify urban renewal” such as build­ing the Civic Arena in the Lower Hill and displacing thousands of residents.

“There was a time when the Lower Hill, of course, had drunks. Had drug addicts. Had crime,” Dr. Proctor said in the Next Pittsburgh article. “But they didn’t talk about what else was going on in the Lower Hill, that it was essentially a United Na­tions where people of all colors, creeds, nationali­ties, got along beautifully.”

He discussed his view­point of the Hill in his book, “Song of The Hill.”

Black conducted a series of oral histories with Dr. Proctor in the summer of 2022. “The two were in­separable—Ralph and the Hill,” Black told the Couri­er. “He had a chance to not hold back, talk about the community and the Black struggle in Pittsburgh. We laughed at times but most times it was serious con­versation. Through it all I learned so much about Pittsburgh, The Hill, and Ralph Proctor.”

Dr. Stephen Wells, CCAC’s Interim Chief Ac­ademic Officer, called Dr. Proctor an “incredible as­set to the institution.” Dr. Wells also told the Couri­er on Feb. 5 that Dr. Proc­tor was “my role model as a passionate voice for change at the institution. He was always willing to speak his mind, but at the same time, I think what stood out to me most was his humility. He never shied away from speak­ing his mind with passion, with conviction, and I al­ways admired that about him. And in the classroom, he always pushed his stu­dents to challenge their pre-conceived notions about the world, but none of it was ever about him; it was all about making his students better people, making the world a better place, making it a more accepting place to live.”

Dr. Wells told the Courier that while he was a mem­ber of the English depart­ment as a professor, he sat in on one of Dr. Proctor’s classes. He said he noticed how Dr. Proctor was “pas­sionate” about having his students “think critically and carefully about what they saw around them in the world, and not to sim­ply accept the status quo as the way things needed to be.” (Source: Courier)

Just two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the Florida Big Bend region, Hurricane Milton made landfall in the area late Wed. Oct. 9, 2024, as a Category 3 hurricane. The devastation from the additional rainfall, winds and flooding compound the already complex recovery efforts for Florida communities. Added on to Helene, Milton may break records for property and environmental damage. Below are several organizations accepting donations and providing services to help communities impacted by Milton.

While the storm has affected many of the same Florida communities as Helene, it did not reach as far inland. If you’re interested in contributing to organizations helping additional communities recover from Helene, like those in North Carolina, visit our  Hurricane Helene disaster relief page. 

Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area

• American Red Cross
  Make a monetary donation for those impacted by Milton or donate blood for disaster victims.
  • Contact 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) for additional resources, services and ways to receive help.
  • Find an open shelter through the Red Cross shelter data base. 
  • Find loved ones and friends with Red Cross resources, including its reunification programs. 
• OneBlood
  OneBlood says there is an urgent call for additional blood donations due to Hurricane Milton. While all blood types are needed, there is an increased need for O Negative and O Positive blood as well as Platelet donations.
• Community Foundation of Tampa Bay
  Responding locally and across the state to address the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. 
• Gulf Coast Community Foundation
• Florida Disaster Fund
  The Florida Disaster Fund assists Florida’s communities as they recover during times of emergency or disaster. The funds are distributed to service organizations that will serve individuals within their communities with disaster response and recovery. For Hurricane Milton, all administrative and credit card fees have been waived so that 100% of every donation is used to help Floridians recover.
• United Way of Florida
  The UWOF fund will assist the communities in Florida impacted by Hurricane Milton. A rapid response fund to assist those that lost their primary source of income and in some cases their homes. 

Source:

The Pittsburgh Found