A study by Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commission in 2019 deemed the city as one of the worst places for a Black woman. It found that the city’s Black women make only 54 cents to every dollar that its white men do and that Black women are five times more likely to live in poverty here than white men.

Additionally, the study said that “Black women and men in other cities have better health, income, employment, and educational outcomes than Pittsburgh’s Black residents.”

I read that study before moving to Pittsburgh in December to work at TribLive as a features reporter covering communities of color and arts and culture. My passion is writing about culture and the ways that people express joy. I previously have covered stories about the origins of soul food, food waste and the most iconic fashion moments in Black cinema.

When I came to Pittsburgh, I had no idea what to expect — but I was excited.

The fall foliage and nature enticed me, but it is the momentous excitement for what is to come that keeps me. Through my reporting and genuine curiosity, I dived into the history of Pittsburgh, the tapestry that makes this city so unique.

The more I studied local history and reported on the present, the more empowered I felt. At the nucleus of Pittsburgh’s history is Black history — Black stories account for the origin stories of Pittsburgh. Though Black people only make up a little more than 20% of the population in Pittsburgh, as an outsider, it’s hard to believe with such strong ties to Black culture that this city is not synonymous with places like Harlem, Atlanta and the Chocolate City of Washington, D.C.

I grew up in Essex County, N.J., and spent most of my childhood between Newark, Hillside, Elizabeth and Roselle. When I was in middle and high school, my family moved to a predominantly white town. Much of what I learned about Black culture was only during Black History Month, and the expanse of the information started with Harriet Tubman and enslavement.

In 1976, the month of February was officially designated as Black History Month. It was an extension of “Negro History Week” created by historian Carter G. Woodson.

During my early academic career and the teachings around Black History Month, there was also a section on the Underground Railroad, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The chapters in the textbooks seemed to conclude that racism and discrimination were becoming a thing of the past — but this was all in the mid-2000s. Certainly, this was the sentiment when President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, my freshman year in high school.

The killing of Trayvon Martin marked my senior year of high school. Throughout my lifetime, there has been a continuous cavalcade of harming and killing of Black people.

My parents and books such as “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor, “Tar Beach” by Faith Ringgold and African folktale anthology books filled in the blanks of textbooks about a country that so easily invested in and ensured the erasure of Black history and Black presence. Other excerpts later in my life like “School Days,” by Patrick Chamoiseau, “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson, “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and “The Best of Simple” by Langston Hughes had a large impact on me. My own journalism and writing career was inspired by people like Ida B. Wells, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Isabel Wilkerson and the many Black authors that have come before me.

To descend on a city where August Wilson was from, I knew this must be a place for me. There must be a space for me here. To see a Black mayor in Pittsburgh and diversity being championed is exhilarating.

What I have come to realize is that Black history is not really history but rather present moments. Black history is the documentation of Black stories, presence, culture and beauty. For the month of February, I will focus my writing on stories that align with the celebration of people and stories of the African Diaspora in Pittsburgh.

Throughout February, TribLive will publish a daily series dedicated to Black History Month, detailing Black health, love, beauty, life or business. The project will culminate with a story on the Hill District’s resurgence as a pillar of the community and destination place.

Please reach out to sbrown@triblive.com with story ideas. I welcome you all to come on this journey with me.

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