Pittsburgh’s Racial Justice Summit held Saturday focused on mobilizing the community and urging attendees to “lean in” and do something.
The theme of this year’s Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit was People, Power and Progress: Community Engagement for Justice and Accountability.
The daylong summit brought out organizers, community advocates and community members to the Community College of Allegheny County’s Allegheny Campus for an energizing experience centered around sharing knowledge and doing the work.
“This summit honors individuals that have a huge commitment to Black people and to this nation,” said Tim Stevens, founder of the Black & White Reunion and chairman & CEO of The Black Political Empowerment Project.
Stevens spoke of the necessity of the summit to help find new and effective ways to counter the political wins of the Republican Party at the national level and a Trump administration that is working against equality, justice, and empowerment.
“We need to passionately fight for the rights of the LGBTQ community, which will truly be challenged with this administration, as well as expand voting rights for Black and brown people. … and hold those in power accountable,” Stevens said.
Jasiri X, co-founder and CEO of 1HOOD Media, gave the keynote address, urging attendees to “lean in and not punk out.” X has been an activist for more than 20 years and founded 1HOOD in 2005 after moving to Pittsburgh from the South Side of Chicago.
X challenged the audience when he asked, “What is our responsibility now?” More of a rhetorical question, he responded with an anecdote recalling how, in 2006, there were shootings of six people in Homewood within a 21-hour period.
The next day, X and about 60 other men walked the streets of Homewood.
“People were happy to see us, and they welcomed us because we showed up,” he said.
“I think it is critical that we come together to figure out how to respond to the resurgent racism and blatant totalitarianism that is emerging in this country,” said the Rev. Charles Gilmer of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Gilmer was looking forward to the workshops on housing justice, responding to the current administration and anti-DEI mandates.
“I am looking to find more meaningful strategies and identify people with whom I can operate in solidarity,” Gilmer said.
X said that it is everyone’s responsibility to show up and lean in.
“As Black people, we are always under attack. But whatever community is under attack, we need to show up in solidarity with them, even if the impacts of that attack do not directly affect us,” he said.
X spoke of the attacks currently on the migrant and trans communities, “particularly Black trans leaders that have been killed.”
X recognized that leaning in and showing up can be risky.
“Not everyone can put their livelihoods and their reputations on the line, but for those who can, do it with your full chest,” he said. “And for others, get in however they can … even if that means giving $25 every month. However you can, lean in.”
Other workshops included “Knowing Your Rights When Interacting With ICE,” presented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Casa San Jose, as well as other sessions on health equity, food justice and climate justice.
The summit also included resources from a number of organizations, among them the Allegheny County Health Department, Fair Districts PA, Public Allies Pittsburgh and YWCA Greater Pittsburgh.
Dr. Kyaien “Kya” Conner led a presentation for the Corporate Equity & Inclusion Roundtable (CEIR) Working Group.
“Particularly with the Black Pittsburgh Satisfaction and Retention Survey, we have noticed that although the city is growing, the Black community is dwindling,” Conner said.
“That is creating real challenges around the diversification of our communities. We want to celebrate diversity,” she said.
They are collecting rigorous data from multiple groups of Black Pittsburghers, folks born in the city, transplants to the city, those who left and came back, and those who left and don’t want to come back. They have about 2,000 responses to the survey.
Many of the struggles that have been reported as causing folks to leave reflect the workshops represented at the Racial Justice Summit: experiences with racism and discrimination, career advancement, access to healthy food and environmental concerns.
“We want to look at the barriers and the strengths and the nuanced experiences and priorities to develop action steps and encourage growth,” Conner said.
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Natalie Davidson, 24, came to her first summit two years ago. She learned a lot about the work being done in Pittsburgh. “I think being in Pittsburgh is kind of weird for me. It seems very segregated. There are a lot of racial issues undertones here,” Davidson said.
“It is nice to see work being done toward racial justice,” she said. She was looking forward to the workshops “Connecting Across Differences for Collaboration and Impact” as well as “Authoritarian Actions by President Trump 2.0.”
But the most pressing issue now for Davidson is the climate crisis.
“Everything else is attached to that … housing justice, violence against people,” she said. She has been doing work around social and racial justice.
Another packed session was “Food Justice: The Pittsburgh Experience.” Presenters like Ebony Lunsford-Evans (or “Farmer Girl EB”), Lisa Freeman, and Denele Hughson all had a call to action for attendees to speak out to local politicians, county council members, and other elected officials to help get more funding for urban farming.
Much of the farming is done on land owned by the city. Though these farms produce thousands of pounds of food and feed large numbers of people — specifically more than 6,000 people at the Braddock Farms with Grow Pittsburgh — they have gotten responses stating they aren’t able to buy the land because it is not considered “the highest and best use,” according to Hughson.
Lunsford-Evans said her Manchester garden is in jeopardy because of developers threatening to come in and take over the land.
“We ask you to get loud and engage in some civil disobedience,” Hughson said. “Everyone has a right to grow food, and it is interconnected to other aspects like mental health, public health, and economic development.”
Davidson works for three non-profits.
“A lot of our work is centered around environmental justice,” she said. “Hopefully, there are tools from the Racial Justice Summit that we can implement in our work.”