Theatre Holy


Lifestyles B1


Black Ground


CORE raises voices of praise for donor awareness


Religion B2 Pittsburgh Courier www.newpittsburghcourier.com NEW VOL. 102, NO. 21 Three Sections Published Weekly AUGUST 10-16, 2011 INSIDE


straight on youth mayhem Target says no fight inside store


by Ashley Johnson Courier Staff Writer


Women of


Excellence 2011 Special Section


Langley, Oliver to


It was an afternoon that began


full of fun, fellowship and praise, but later ended with mayhem and foolishness. On July 31, Mt. Ararat Baptist


Church, in East Liberty, held their 14th Community Day picnic at Mellon Park, an annual event of- fering fellowship and fun to mem- bers of the congregation, aswell as members of the community. According to reports, while the


realignments by Rebecca Nuttall Courier Staff Writer


Two more high schools


could be eliminated fromthe PittsburghPublicSchoolDis- trict if the board approves a proposal released by the dis- trict Aug. 4. Under the new realignment plan for the 2012-2013 school year,Oliver High School and Langley High Schoolwould be among seven schools eliminated through consolidation. “We are committed to


using taxpayer dollars effi- ciently. This proposed reduc-


SEE LANGLEY A4


ONYX Woman celebrates 20 years


by Rebecca Nuttall Courier Staff Writer


On Aug. 18, OWN: The


Onyx Woman Network will honor 20 distinguished business owners and busi- ness advocates in Pitts- burgh’s African-American community. “It’s important because I don’t think we’ve really shown our appreciation to so many people, not just those that are in business, but thosewho are advocates of minority business,” said Ola Jackson,OWN founder. The event at the Hill


House Kaufmann Center’s Elsie H. Hillman Audito- rium will celebrate leaders in the business community and those who have sup- ported minority business ownership over the years. The celebration will also


commemorate the 20th an- niversary of OWN. The communications group en-


SEE ONYX A4


be closed More school


picnic that entertained 3,000 indi- viduals was wrapping up, a large group of young people visited the nearby McDonald’s, Trader Joe’s and even the new Target Store causing a raucous and what some are describing as a “riot.” Many are blamingMt.Ararat,ac-


cusing the youth of their church and those that attended the picnic of causing or being involved in the incident, but Rev. Dr. William H. Curtis, pastor ofMt.Ararat would like to set the record straight.


According to Rev. Curtis, the


youth involved in the hideous ac- tions were not members of the church or from their picnic. He said that blaming their youth is unfair to the youth and the min- isters that work with them. Reverend Curtis said the inci-


dent began on the park’s basket- ball court when several young people from the community and other areas got into a disagree- ment and began fighting. “Once we knew of the incident


we called the police,” said Rev. Curtis. “We did not want it (the fight) to affect the picnic. Any- thing that happened at Target and McDonald’s, after, was not a result of our picnic.” After police arrived and dis-


bursed the crowd, the youth then went on to cause havoc at other nearby establishments. An associate from Trader Joe’s


refused to comment and gave the number for their corporate head-


REV. DR. WILLIAM CURTIS SEE CURTIS A4 Oldtimers celebrate youth Rev. Curtis sets record $1.00


Hill House selects new CEO


CHERYL HALL-RUSSELL


by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer


After a corporate career that took her as


far away as London, Cheryl Hall-Russell returned to her native Indiana and to her nonprofit roots. Now she is bringing her extensive expertise to Pittsburgh as the new president and chief operating officer for the Hill House Association.


SEE HILL HOUSE A5


YOUNG & OLD TOGETHER—City Council President Darlene Harris, School Board Director Mark Brentley and Pittsburgh Project outreach Director Will Thompkins were among those joining the 5th Annual Northside Oldtimers Children’s March. (Photo by J.L. Martello)


by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer


Pittsburgh School Board Direc-


torMark Brentley and his former colleague City Council President Darlene Harris rarely agree. But that is not the casewhen it comes


to supporting the Northside Old- timers and their efforts to save their youth and community from violence. Shouting, “Stop the violence,


save our streets,” and “Hey, ho, vi- olence has to go,” Harris and Brentley marched together with


neighborhood children and resi- dents of all ages from the Propel School to West Park, kicking off the day-long Oldtimers commu- nity celebration. “Last year I was in the hospital.


SEE OLDTIMERS A4 PBMF Workshop goes on without Moore


by Malik Vincent For New Pittsburgh Courier


The students arrived to Point


ParkUniversity July 30—the site of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation’s Frank BoldenUrban Journalism Workshop and didn’t see one of its most recognizable faces. Program co-director and


founder Chris Moore was urged by doctors to have surgery on a leg that he’d injured while on va- cation a week prior. It kept him out of the weeklong residential program for the first time in 28 years. “It was disappointing tome that Iwasn’t there to give the students


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both life and journalistic skills,” Moore said. “I found out the day before theworkshop. Itwasn’tmy choosing. The doctors told me if I went through with attending the Workshop, I’d be playing with my health.” There are four different concen-


trations within the workshop: print, radio, television and web/multimedia/photography. Every year, when selected for their sections, the students are expected to produce high-quality works, using the exact interfaces that their professional counter- parts use. Many program alumni, such as


LisaKayDavis—who coordinates the web section, come in during


the week and guide the youth through their respective curricu- lums. “This year, we felt it was impor-


tant to create more of an online community where alums and stu- dents could share and learnmore about each other,” saidDavis,who currently lives and works in New York City. “For examplewe placed more broadcast tapes on our YouTube channel, linked our Facebook fan page to our Twitter feed and featured all four work- shop components on the site. Using all of these channels helps


students establish relationships that reach far beyond the work-


SEE PBMF A4 Hop Kendrick says


What has gone wrong with us? Forum A7


B-PEP summit seeks youth empowerment


by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer


Though most of the day was, like most


educational forums, devoted to work- shops, and spreading information, the Youth Empowerment Summit showed it was unlike typical forums by kicking off with a rally of music, dance and cama- raderie that saw even weary motorists smiling and bopping their heads as they passed Freedom Corner in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. That’s because the July 5 event really


was a youth summit. “This is their event. It’s about themhav-


ing a say in their empowerment because grown-up ‘solutions’ didn’t solve any- thing,” said advisor Paradise Gray. “Ev- eryone always tells them, ‘say no to this, say no to that.’ We wanted to help them have something to say ‘yes’ to.” Sowhen teens fromSouth Side Families


began dancing and rapping to their “Lis- ten to the facts” jam, all were wearing shirts emblazoned with Y.E.S.—Youth Empowerment Summit. Dancer AJ said for her, the summit was


about getting to a place where she and her contemporaries didn’t have to worry about having a future or not. “People need the right person telling


SEE B-PEP A5


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Prime Time comes to Canton


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