ELIJAH ANDERSON, PH.D.

In the YouTube video “S... White Girls Say to Black Girls,” Black comedian Franchesca Ramsey parrots a series of unintentionally disrespectful statements directed at her by White friends over the years.

CYNTHIA FALLS

After 32-year veteran School Board Rep. Jean Fink announced she would not be running to retain her seat, only one candidate stepped forward to take her place. However, despite the one candidate race for District 7, Cynthia Falls of Overbrook has been out actively engaging with her future constituents. This week alone she will attend a Block Watch meeting, a Parent Teacher Association meeting and meet with her state representative.
But these activities aren’t just for campaign purposes. The retired Pittsburgh Public School District health and technology instructor with more than 20 years of experience as a registered nurse has a long history of advocacy in her community and education. Falls has served on the Carrick Community Board of Directors, as the education chair of the Overbook Community Council, a Block Watch member in Carrick and Overbrook, an A+ Schools volunteer, and more.
“I think the fact that I am a registered nurse and a retired educator are the primary reasons that I feel qualified for this position,” she said. “Both of these professions allow me to bring knowledge, experience and insight into the work that needs to be completed by the board. In addition, the list of community organizations has allowed me to interact with the staff, students, parents and community leaders for a period of time expanding over the past 15 plus years.”

Falls identified low high school graduation rates and post secondary education preparation as the greatest problems facing the district. She said one of her methods for addressing this issue would be to, “increase student achievement by recognizing the need for individual support and resources in each community, in each school and each student.”
When asked how she would address the achievement gap between White and Black students Falls said she would, “support and create policies that require a higher standard of academic achievement, insist on equity, eliminate racial disparities and promote pride in the Pittsburgh School District.”
Falls will have some big shoes to fill on the board in replacing Fink, who was harshly criticized by some for securing resources for schools in her district while other schools suffered. However, Falls said she would work to benefit all students in the district.
“Policies that will be created will have to be  developed so that it reflects the needs of all the students in the District, not just District 7,” Falls said. “I also plan on visiting some of the other Districts so I can get a better feel of the needs of other Districts.”
She’ll also have to tackle working with other members on the school board, a task departing representatives have identified as one of their greatest challenges over the years.
“(I would) listen to the opinions and thoughts of the other school board directors to acquire a better understanding of their positions, present my thoughts and ideas in a respectful manner, (and) display flexibility and compromise as needed on various issues,” Falls said.
Falls said her overall priorities would be to increase student achievement across the board, provide students with more individual support, and increase the flow of information between the district and the public.
District 7 is made up of Overbrook, Carrick, Bon Air, Knoxville, Mount Oliver, St. Clair, South Side Slopes, South Side Flats, Arlington Heights and Arlington.

HEIR APPARENTS—Pittsburgh mayoral candidates, from left: Jake Wheatley, Bill Peduto and Jack Wagner, wait to ask Hill District residents to vote them into the city’s top elected office. (Photo by J.L. Martello.)

The sound of Wesley Center AMEZ Church’s choir was lively enough to inspire dancing from some of the homeless center residents across the street and definitely enthused the audience inside as, for the second time in just three days, candidates for Mayor of Pittsburgh, city council and school board asked Hill District residents to support their bids for election.
The forum, sponsored by the Hill District Ministers Alliance, focused on addressing the economic and human development issues facing African-Americans in the Hill and throughout the city.
After a warm welcome by Wesley Center pastor Rev. Glenn Grayson, thanking the assembled clergy, guests and his choir, Pittsburgh School Board Director Tom Sumpter, who is running unopposed, made his opening statement before fielding the first of the alliance’s prepared questions, as well as those from two district students and from the audience.
Sumpter said he planned to continue working to craft policy that would close the achievement gap for Black students and deliver a quality education for all students while maintaining the district’s fiscal integrity.
Tonya Payne, who is running to regain the District 6 City Council seat R. Daniel Lavelle won from her four years ago, told the audience she wanted to address the unfinished business of gun violence and homelessness. But ensuring inclusion for Blacks in the district’s economic development dominated her and Lavelle’s time.

“When I was on Council I created a one-stop shop for employment and made sure we were talking to the developers at Consol before any work started,” she said. “I did the same thing at the Casino. We have to do that every time development comes to our neighborhood.”
Lavelle said he was responsible for ensuring that 20 percent of the jobs at the Consol Center went to Hill residents and that a union represents them. And he said he was committed to working with churches and community groups to make sure more Blacks are prepared to benefit from new job and business creation.
“We can’t just leave it to the schools, we all have to be involved,” he said. “We can help folks like Kris Kirk and Reggie Good who are taking brothers  off the streets and getting them Marcellus Shale jobs.”
That dovetailed into the mayoral candidates’ segment of the forum with all agreeing that, while they don’t control the school district, it should do more to prepare students, especially Black students, for the energy industry jobs that don’t require a college or advanced degree.
Councilman Bill Peduto told of his grandparents working in the steel mills their whole lives.
“That city is gone. The city that’s coming is the one I’ve worked to rebuild since I met with business owners in East Liberty in 1996,” he said. “We’ve had $2 billion in growth in my district, but that needs to happen everywhere, and it can.”
State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill, said he’s passed legislation requiring minority participation in state contracting, and that his record on Black inclusion is much better than Peduto’s or former Auditor Gen. Jack Wagner.
“And that Marcellus program of Kris Kirk’s, that was started with funding from Jake Wheatley,” he said. “I’m going off the script here, but here’s the thing; if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll get the same results. I’m here to make a difference.”
When the applause subsided, Wagner, who touted his management experience as a US Marine, in the private sector, in city council and in state government as the key for getting the city to work for its residents, got off the best laugh line of the evening saying he appreciated Wheatley’s work.
“I like Jake. He is a tremendous asset in Harrisburg. And I hope he stays there,” he said.
Wagner added his administration, and authority and board appointments would reflect the city’s Black population. He said the police bureau should actively recruit from the military to find experienced Black candidates.
All three candidates again said they would move to remove guns from the streets; Peduto touting his “Lost and Stolen” gun law and Wagner reminding the audience that he passed an assault-weapons ban while on council in 1993.
The mayoral candidates are scheduled to meet again addressing Black community issues with the Black Agenda forum April 19 at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, the African American Chamber of Commerce May 2, and with the Community Empowerment Association May 15.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburgh­courier.com.)

LEGACY—Derrick Bell's wife Janet Dewart Bell in the area of the Barco Law library dedicated to his memory. (Photo by Gail Manker)

In the 1950s, Derrick Bell attended the University of Pittsburgh in pursuit of his law degree. He would later go on to become the first tenured African-American Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and now, after a life of accomplishment, the Hill District native, who passed away in 2011 has been memorialized by his alma mater.
On March 20 the University of Pittsburgh’s Black Law Students Association announced the renaming of their annual community law clinic in Bell’s memory at a ceremony in the Barco Law Building. The newly named Derrick Bell Community Legal Clinic provides legal assistance to local low-income residents.
“I believe it honors Mr. Bell’s legacy as a member of the law community and the University of Pittsburgh,” said William Carter, dean of the school of law.  “And it will remind us to redouble our efforts to social justice and access to justice.”
In 1957 when Bell graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he was the only African-American in his class and one of only three African-Americans in the school. He went on to work in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department and as assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he fought alongside Thurgood Marshall against school segregation.
“Derrick Bell means a lot to the law school and the University of Pittsburgh for what he did in the civil rights movement,” said Christopher Carter, vice president of the Black Law Students Association.
At the ceremony, the University of Pittsburgh also unveiled a section of the Barco Law Building library dedicated to Derrick Bell’s memory, the Derrick A. Bell Constitutional Law Commons.
“I think the struggle for justice continues and there are many challenges,” said Bell’s wife Janet Dewart Bell. “His legacy is one of continuing the work that needs to be done.”
Bell’s wife was among many family members and friends who attended the ceremony to honor Bell. Each had a story about how he shaped their views on civil rights and race relations.
“In spite of the void he left, this is a reminder that he’s with us yet,” said Derrick Bell’s sister Janet A. Bell. “This is such a blessing. At a very early age, he taught me that if someone treated me different, it wasn’t my fault.”
This year, the legal clinic will be held April 13 from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA. Individuals will have the opportunity to meet with a licensed attorney free of charge to discuss their legal problems. To schedule an appointment, call 412-345-1792 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
This Community Legal Clinic is a project of The University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law Black Law Students Association in partnership with the Duquesne University School of Law Black Law Students Association, the Homer S. Brown Law Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association, and the Pro Bono Center of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation.