Yes, We Can

There's alot going on these days. And often times I'm too busy to blog.

But I find that most of what I care about at this time are the girls in my show, the students in my classes, continuing to share August Wilson with the world, reaffirming the dignity and humanity of the people in my neighborhood---the Historic Hill District, re-electing State Representative Jake Wheatley, Jr., and, oh yes, making Barack Obama the President of the United States of (North) America.

The slogan for my One Woman Show has been "Meet Dr. Goddess. Become a Believer" since the beginning (2004) because everybody has to believe in something, someone, someplace, some entity that gives our lives meaning.

Today, I believe in eight girls, in particular.
Today, I believe in my students.
Today, I believe in August Wilson's gift to the world.
Today, I believe in my neighborhood, the Historic Hill District.
Today, I believe in Jake Wheatley, Jr.
Today, I believe in Barack Obama.
Today, I believe in Michelle Obama.
Today, I believe in something, someone, someplace and some entity.

And today, I believe that I can make a difference.

And that you can too---if you believe.

Yes, we can.

We Lost the Battle, We'll Win the War

Yesterday, we had a very interesting City Planning Commission Hearing, at the end of which the Commission voted to approve the Pittsburgh Penguins' plan for the new arena in the front yard of our Historic Hill District neighborhood.

Just before the hearing began, at about 1:30pm, Mayor Ravenstahl, Councilwoman Tonya Payne, One Hill CBA Chair Carl Redwood and One Hill Lead negotiator Evan Frazier had press conference talking about how negotiations were going. It was hilarious, for so many reasons (hint: watch Tonya Payne). See for yourself.

Many persons came out to support our cause, all across the City of Pittsburgh and we appreciate that. The overwhelming majority of persons who came out wore red or put on red ribbons to signify Hill unity (full and shared representation), the right for us to speak out and be heard and the message that "We Won't Repeat the Defeat!"

We stood outside in the hallway and then a policeman came out and announced that the hearing on the Hill would begin shortly and that only the persons who signed up to speak at the last hearing would be able to speak this time because this was a continuance, not a hearing---and that the list contained only seven people. Lots of grumbling, I challenged that and the policeman told me to speak to the Chairwoman inside, which is where I immediately went when I got in the room. Unfortunately, a number of our supporters left before ever entering into the room to challenge that miscarriage of justice.

I told Chairwoman Wrenna Watson that many of us had not signed up and that I had not received my full time as the head of an organization last time. She insisted that I did receive my full time and I was not buzzed at 3 minutes. The timer lady (what would she be called, btw?) said that I was not buzzed at 3 minutes, either. Of course, I checked when I got home and I was buzzed at 3 minutes and 28 seconds. I'm going to follow up on that because . . . "Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"

More importantly (and seriously), our hero of the day was Momar Milliones, a member of the Hill Faith and Justice Alliance (the coalition of which I am a part) and one of the original persons who stood up on that bitterly cold day in January to make sure the Pens did not steamroll our entire community (including our elected officials). Momar patiently waited for his turn (as he was one of the original seven supposedly permitted to speak), immediately asked for his time not to begin and made a calm, rational but determined plea for the public, the PEOPLE to be able to speak.

The most profound moment of his speech is when he said there are rare opportunities for the average citizen to participate in a process such as this, the process was flawed from the initial sign up and that the Commissioners should do the right thing and allow the citizens to be heard.

The Commissioners voted and all Pittsburgh citizens were permitted to speak, including Sal Williams, who spoke in support of the Pens (and the 50 surface parking lots, vacant lots and abandoned buildings he owns, mostly on Fifth Avenue). Interestingly, I've learned that former Councilman, Sala Udin, tried to prevent the continued development of surface lots in Uptown and the Hill as early as the year 2000. Very interesting.

"Yo, Sal, how come you ain't got no brothers up on the wall?"

No, I never got my minutes back but I did sit there and patiently listen to everyone's comments and took pictures of all of them.

The City Planning Commission was disappointing not necessarily because they voted "yes" but because they seemed to violate or otherwise go against their own criteria---even outside of the CBA. Some of them had not seen the updated plans for the parking garage. Some of them did not understand the logistics of what they might be passing. Others felt burdened by all of the supposed amendments that would have to happen in the future---but passed the plan anyway despite their own criteria for approval (why, Commissioner Mistick?) Here is a classic example :

Commission member Barbara K. Mistick said she wasn't satisfied with the amount of parking that will be available.

The Penguins plan to build a 500-space garage that could be expanded later to 780 spaces, but the 2,400 spaces available at the 16,900-seat Mellon Arena eventually will disappear once the land is developed, she said.

"Do the math. Now you've got 18,000 seats and you're giving up 2,400 parking spaces," Mistick said.

Despite her misgivings, Mistick voted in favor of the plan along with E. Paul Dick, Monte Rabner, Todd E. Reidbord and Mary Lou Simon. Voting against were Chairwoman Wrenna L. Watson, Barbara Ernsberger and Lynne Garfinkel.

And still others, like Todd Reidbord, for example, left the hearing right in the middle of testimonies to go watch the Pittsburgh Panthers play basketball, skipped tons of important information that could have changed his vote and then return to pass the Pens' arena plan.

We also discovered that the City Planning Commission can sort of guess what the social impact of a particular development might be---even something as large as this---without a social impact study.

So, with all that said and done, we lost the battle but we will win this war.

Do not fear, friends. Nobody was really surprised by yesterday's vote.

In the meantime, an excellent review of Mindy Fullilove's "Root Shock" appears here at Null Space. This will be good for all of the people that don't understand the root causes of friction, division, crime, struggling infrastructure of organizations and problems with development in urban, African American communities like the Historic Hill District.

Get your read on.

Speak Out Today! Wear Red!

We need you today and wearing something red. Red means "We Won't REpeat the Defeat!" Meaning, the defeat of 50 years ago where broken promises were never kept and repeated displacement, lack of investment and benign neglect has been the order of the day in the Historic Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

City Planning Commission Hearing
200 Ross Street, Downtown Pgh
Come at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm.
After school.
After work.
As you are.

So, give us three minutes and we will change the course of history forever. Whether we stop the City Planning Commission vote or not today, you need to come and show your support. Show the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, the State of Pennsylvania and this entire nation that you care about one of the world's most famous neighborhoods and most importantly, that you care about poor and working-class people who are standing up to Big Businesses that get loads of corporate welfare but don't want to give much of anything back to the community. Show that you care about people who refuse to be "built upon" and gentrified, thereby making it displacement #3 and #4. We live here. We work here. We play here. All we ask is that by showing up, wearing red and speaking out, you support our cause of proper reinvestment, FULL representation of the Hill (including but not limited to One Hill) and self-determination.

If you need a ride from the Hill, there will be buses running from Grace Memorial Church (Upper Hill), Wesley Center AME Zion Church (Middle Hill) and the Hill House (Lower Hill). Call 412-621-9612. Spread the word.

"We Won't Repeat the Defeat!"

We Won't Repeat the Defeat!: Speaking Truth To and About Power

Greetings folks,

Three important announcements where we request your attendance/participation:

1. One Hill CBA Coalition meeting Monday, January 07, 2008, Hill House Kaufmann Auditorium, 1835 Centre Ave, 6:00pm

2. City Planning Commission Hearing, January 14, 2008, 200 Ross Street, Downtown Pittsburgh, 2:00pm – Come prepared to support and to speak on our behalf for three minutes!

3. Watch our speeches from the last Planning Commission Meeting on Dec. 11, 2007:

“We Won’t Repeat the Defeat!: Historic Hill vs. Big Business”

Part I: Don Carter, Planning Consultant, Pittsburgh Penguins

Part II: Carmen Pace, George Moses, Tim Stevens

Part III: Evan Frazier, Sheila Petite, Carl Redwood

Part IV: Terri Baltimore, Rev. Foster, Bomani Howze

Part V: Marimba Milliones and Kimberly Ellis

Part VI: Rev. Glenn Grayson, Rev. Thomas Smith, Eugene Taylor

Part VII: Brenda Tate and Minister Jasiri X

A Bit of History

As many of you may know, the Historic Hill District community is in the middle of a revolution for the 21^st Century. The two major issues that have swung our neighborhood into action centered around the gaming applications for the State of Pennsylvania and the three gaming applicants for the City of Pittsburgh’s sole slots license---one of whom sought to place their casino right at our front door (and the only applicant seeking to place their casino in our neighborhood). This would not have occurred without the local nods that collaborated in thinking this would be a good idea. Due to the success of State Representative Jake Wheatley and the Hill District Gaming Task Force in informing the community and the Raise Your Hand! No Casino on the Hill Campaign (including the activist Hill ministers) in mobilizing the community to take a stand against the Isle of Capri Casino Company and the “Pittsburgh First” (Hill District Last) organization, we successfully defeated their plans on December 20, 2006, when the Category II slots license was granted to another competitor---Don Barden’s Majestic Star Casino, to be placed on the North Shore.

Today, our major point of contention is with some of the same group of persons who sought to place this casino at our front door but were granted huge public subsidy and public lands to build their new arena, also at our front door. A new arena, of course, is a totally different development from a casino, which could be much easily supported, however, the responsibility of a large, multimillion dollar corporation such as the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team (with a billion dollar owner-Ron Burkle), coupled with gargantuan public subsidy demands that we insist on proper reinvestment to the low income, working-class community that must host this arena---the Historic Hill.

Thus, in 2006, the Hill District Gaming Task Force insisted on a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in its Ten Point Key-Reinvestment Proposal given to each gaming applicant. In January 2007, a small group of individuals representing Hill residents, organizations and clergy stood in icy cold weather at the present Civic Arena to demand a seat at the table and prevent the Pittsburgh Pens from signing a lease with the City and County with little or no regard for Hill residents whose neighborhood hosts the arena. In April 2007, many of these same persons issued a term sheet with a list of demands for reinvestment (based on the points of the 2006 Hill District Gaming Task Force), followed by the creation of the One Hill CBA Coalition (with the support of City Councilor Tonya Payne), which started a community process to develop planks, asks and a “Blueprint for a Livable Hill” document that shaped negotiations for the CBA.

Unfortunately, because neither the City, County nor Pittsburgh Penguins had produced or signed a CBA or a plan of reinvestment with the Hill District community, we all had to come together at the City Planning Commission Hearing on December 11, 2007 to request that the Commission vote “No” on passing the Pens’ plan for the arena until they responded to further community concerns around planning and signed a legally binding contract for proper reinvestment.

The videos listed above capture that hearing and Part I of our testimony. We have yet to sign a CBA or gain proper reinvestment for our community, so we ask that you support our cause by writing letters, making phone calls, hitting the streets and coming to the January 14^th meeting, in particular.

City, County and Pens Propose No C, No B, and No A for Historic Hill District

So, here's the PG article. And here's the Trib. Update: Here's the latest from the PG. I will go through every statement here to show the problems with this proposal.

Officials unveil plans for Hill District
Thursday, January 03, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl offered representatives of Hill District groups a seven-part community benefits agreement today that included new services, plans and facilities, but not a direct transfer of dollars from a new arena to neighborhood development efforts.

Once again, any discussion of shared revenue, shared prosperity, reinvestment and funding to indigenous Hill District organizations is described as "a direct transfer of dollars", one step above "cash payments".

Reaction from Hill groups was mixed, with the One Hill CBA Coalition issuing a statement that it was "pleased" that neighborhood concerns including a grocery store and job training center would be met, but adding that "vital planks have been expressly ignored."

Many of the vital planks are ignored and it's very disrespectful to the community. And there is no mention of a "job training center" in this proposal. CareerLinks referrals do not a "job training center" make.

The package is a result of "many meetings and discussions" and represents "significant benefit to the community," according to the cover letter accompanying the proposal.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree that there is any level of significance here. I see very little that is concrete in this process, very little guarantee of anything substantive for the community and much of it is also not what the community believes to be what it needs for self-determination. Newsflash: we do know what we need but have so often had little resources to do the types of things that would be holistically impactful. True, there have been "many meetings and discussions". And I think that's why this proposal is so sad---because it looks like the first step of something real and it's considered the last.

The package includes a master plan for Hill development, funded by the city and county.

This is necessary for all parties involved, anyway. In addition, the Pens are not adding one dime to the Masterplan for the rest of the Hill. The city, county and the Pens would be absolute fools not to do a Masterplan for the best location in the city, especially with Downtown's burgeoning development. Yes, this was a demand of ours but let's just keep perspective. We also specifically asked that the Pens pay for the Masterplan. And why not?

Officials will go to the neighborhood to detail social services and recreational and training opportunities available to residents, and to identify any gaps in the available services.

So, they want to give us a presentation to tell us what we already have in our community. And, they want to take two years to make an assessment of it all. First, there is already a list of the services in our community and, second, we can tell you how well they're all going because they're not all going well---hence, the need for proper reinvestment and a Community Benefits Agreement. I think the fullness of the insult has set in now.

The city and county will set up and operate a "resource center" to connect people to services and jobs, including those related to the arena project.

Ah, the "Hill District Resource Center". It sounds big!, exciting!, effective!, yes? The proposal states that this Center will be "in a central, easily accessible and visible location". Oh, yes!

What Rich Lord did not mention (and pardon me for laughing but you have to read the proposal to really believe it) is that there is to be ONE (1) staff person to refer the entire Hill District community to "appropriate existing human services, employment training, assessment and preparation programs, job opportunities and economic development funding programs. This center will be maintained for two years and then its effectiveness will be reassessed and reviewed".

Well, I can tell you now that this will not be effective in any real or substantial manner. Way too much work for one person in a very needy community, way too much stress, way too many phone calls, way too much paper work. This person will eventually break down and become ineffective. Then, when they ask for more help and resources to make the program (a Hill District organization) more effective, they will be told they're asking for "handouts" and "cash payments' and that the city and county will conduct a two year assessment to look at its effectiveness and gaps in the process.

In other words---this is insane.

Both governments and the Penguins would "support the establishment of a viable grocery store in the Hill District and . . . use good faith efforts to cause that to occur," in the words of the proposal.

Right. The "in good faith" effort is quite similar to the "concept" of a grocery store, which ultimately means "much later". And, folks, it's not that the community will not eventually get a grocery store. It's just that when it comes, it will be to make sure that it serves the people who live on the new developments on the 28-acre site and then Hill residents will be considered as part of a total population to make it extraordinarily profitable. In the meantime, we can continue to subsidize other communities and big business that don't give anything back.

Similarly, they pledge their support for a new YMCA in the 2100 block of Centre Avenue, and offer to help win state money toward its development.

Yes, that's right. The YMCA that is not even a member of One Hill, the one organization that is nationwide, already in the middle of a capital campaign and, you guessed it---not what the community asked for. The community asked for a recreation center that would be for the elderly and youth---like the Kingsley Center in East Liberty. Maybe, just maybe, the YMCA could come close to that but it still means that the community cannot control the kinds of programs, services and recreation, not necessarily shaped or defined by an overarching, national organization with its own agenda and priorities.

And, again, we must note the Mayor's revelation that he will be asking for a "handout" (he calls it funding) from the state.

There is no reference to direct funding for development groups in the Hill District or sharing of arena revenues, which some neighborhood leaders have sought. It isn't clear whether the mayor and executive believe they need community leaders to sign off on the proposal to make it official.

Laughable. I don't know if this is Lord's assessment or the officials' but in order to have a deal all parties must sign off. Any indication otherwise is just more paternalism, more racism, more of the same.

Just so everyone is clear, the Hill District community has explored what we need and want for at *least* the last two years---all of 2006 and all of 2007. The planks from the One Hill CBA Coalition from 2007 and the other group of clergy, residents and organizations is based on the terms from 2006 (outlined in the ten point key reinvestment plan of the Hill District Gaming Task Force). The cost of implementing or maintaining those programs and organizations is what makes up the community fund. As Mr. Eugene Taylor, a Hill community member, says in his statement to the City Planning Commission, "we are not asking for a handout. We just want our fair share".

One Hill's statement said that the city, county and Penguins have "drawn a line in the sand calling the [development] fund a 'hand out' and misrepresenting the concept of community control. One Hill is willing to negotiate on this plank, but it is a crucial part of the blueprint. . . .

Well, there is no doubt that any continued references to "handouts" and "cash payments" is just downright ignorant and a purposeful shaping of racist, classist perceptions designed to harm the Hill District community (further). It's also a subtle warning for anyone else in poor, working-class and/or communities of color who are thinking of CBAs and/or gaining proper reinvestment from development projects with public subsidy.

"Without some agreement on a Community Improvement Fund with some form of Hill District community control, there will be no agreement," One Hill's statement says.

Good for One Hill because the folks in my coalition didn't plan on settling, either. The motto is supposed to be "no one settles until we all settle", so it's good to see One Hill following its stated platform without capitulating to the weaker elements among the group that probably think this proposal is an honor instead of an insult.

The letter is addressed to Hill House Association Executive Director Evan Frazier, who was not immediately available, and Monumental Baptist Church Rev. Thomas Smith, who had not seen it yet.

Yes. And that is for "joint sign-off" folks, for the One Hill CBA Coalition and the Hill clergy, residents and organizations of which I am a part (including State Rep. Jake Wheatley). I support One Hill too, it's just that the political corruption and capitulation to the ridiculousness of Tonya Payne and her people drove us out of the process and the organization. C'est La Vie. We still live here and we are the ones who launched this cause on January 28, 2007 when we stopped the city, county and Pens from steamrolling us, so we weren't going anywhere and weren't going to stop fighting for what's right, anyway.

Maybe now we can all be on the same page. Because the fact that it was shared with the media even before the actual community representatives is just more of what I will call mayoral games. I don't know how much Onorato's office was in on that one.

In any event, stay tuned and also show up at City Planning on January 14, 2008, 200 Ross Street, 2:00pm to stand up and speak the truth about power (cuz speaking to them doesn't work the way one might desire).

Next up: my special focus on what the Pens have to offer.

Countdown to a CBA and Proper Reinvestment

This was an old post that I did not get back to but here it is now, still relevant and clarifying.

The questions are:

Will the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team (as a corporate entity, we are not talking about the players and/or fans), which has been siphoning off of the Black Hill District community for decades and benefited from the government's benign neglect of the Hill, ever give anything substantial back to the community, especially now that the corporation has received millions of dollars of public subsidy (we pay taxes, too!)?

There are two groups of representatives bodies at the table seeking proper reinvestment and/or a Community Benefits Agreement:

1. The Hill District ministers, residents and stakeholder's group - a representative body of persons who stood in the freezing cold, in front of the arena on January 28, 2007, to demand Hill representation at the table, as news media and others reported the Pens were slated to sign their lease agreement with the Sports and Exhibition Authority (SEA) and the County in order to stay in the city. And, the group of persons who presented a "term sheet" of their own in April 2007, which included a demand for a CBA as well as other forms of reinvestment, such as 30% minority employment, first source hiring, a community development fund, appointment to boards, control of our land, etc.

2. The One Hill CBA Coalition, formed in June 2007, with relative ease, particularly after this first group secured an agreement to allow for six months to engage in a CBA process. This is a worthy cause, as CBAs are popping up all across the country. However, since this would be the first time such an agreement would occur within the state of Pennsylvania, let alone the city of Pittsburgh, it was imperative that the Hill District community issue its own agenda to ensure proper reinvestment. The One Hill CBA was empowered and funded by Pittsburgh UNITED (Unions and Neighborhoods Investing in Transforming Economic Development), which was funded by a number of foundations but mostly the Falk Fund and the Heinz Endowments.

In short, Pittsburgh UNITED was slated to be a new era of a Civil Rights Movement (or maybe even a Poor People's Campaign) that would provide institutional change and ensure that a CBA would be the standard for any large development with public subsidy.

Well, let's just say that the dream still eludes us; and for many reasons that I won't get into at this point in time. However, the strengths and weaknesses of all of these groups within the importance of this entire cause will be explored as I continue to outline the happenings in the final lapses of this here hockey ring.

As of this moment, the Pens have refused to provide any funds whatsoever for the Community Development fund and have not signed off on any other plank or concern. Neither has the City. Neither has the County.

Yet, the Pens must go before City Planning on December 11th and the general trajectory of a CBA campaign is that if there is no signed agreement, the community will ask that City Planning NOT approve the plan of the developer. If there is a signed agreement, the community agrees to support the developer.

Our City Council Representative, Tonya Payne, is in the unique position of also being a URA Board member and has a 'special' relationship with the Pens. And, yet, Payne stopped coming to One Hill meetings over a month ago and there is no agreement signed with One Hill, the group she used to try to isolate and eradicate those whom she believes are aligned with her rival and former incumbent challenger, Sala Udin. She won the election but one cannot tell based on her continued paranoia and negative, divisive behavior.

Now, Mayor Ravenstahl, who just won re-election with a 10-1 margin in Black communities over his competitor, Mark DeSantis (R), definitely owes. And it goes without saying that he has a 'special relationship' with the Pens, as he flew off into the sunset on Ron Burkle's jet months ago and more recently, was treated to a charity golf game to the tune of thousands of dollars. Fine. But Pens' fans were not your swing vote and you did not have a 10-1 margin over your competitor anywhere else.

Perhaps that's why he was still campaigning in the Historic Hill District on election day. I heard he came by the Madison elementary school (now closed, btw) twice.

(thanks, Agent Ska, great work!)

So, all that to say it'll be interesting when the Dec. 11th City Planning hearing arrives; and even more interesting during the January vote.

Brother, Brother, Brother

Oh Yes!
Bishop Tutu is visiting the Burgh this week. I really love him. He spent a year on my college campus and we got used to seeing him so much, we used to yell and wave at him across the yard. Imagine seeing this archbishop emeritus in a black starter jacket. He's a wonderful man with a wonderful spirit. He'll be visiting Mumia Abu Jamal in prison, lecturing at Pitt, doing service at Calvary Church in Shadyside. Peep the article for details.


Ain't Right!
"Man Jailed for Yelling at Dog"
KDKA-TV covered this story that happened last week and it's ridiculous. After being startled by a police dog and then yelling at the dog, he was arrested. The judge was wise and this man was released but he was kept from his job and had to have this experience.What does a brother have to do to get some rights and be treated like a real citizen around here----be a dog?


You'll Learn!
"East Liberty Home Invader Shot, Killed"
See? This is why you can't go busting up in peoples' houses, violating privacy and whatnot. The story from the other side seems shady too but, still . . .

Detectives said Mr. Davis and Mr. Gibson barged into the apartment, and that Mr. Davis pointed his gun at the occupants, ordering them to lie on the floor.

He and Mr. Gibson walked one victim to the rear of the apartment at gunpoint, then returned to the living room and approached the others who were hiding in the kitchen.

When Mr. Davis pointed a gun at one of them, police said, the man shot him in the head with a shotgun.

Mr. Davis could not be identified for many hours after the killing, but the medical examiner's office eventually determined his identity from fingerprints.