The ‘State of Black Pittsburgh’ Urban League’s Annual Event

Pittsburgh’s Black community had its stars out on Tuesday night, Sept. 23.

From the 10th floor of 912 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown, the new headquarters of The Pittsburgh Foundation, with windows clearly showing the scenery of the North Shore, PNC Park and the Rachel Carson Bridge, about 200 people attended the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh’s (Pittsburgh, PA) annual event, the “State of Black Pittsburgh.”

As interim President and CEO of the Urban League, Esther Bush, told the New Pittsburgh Courier on this evening, the event “is important so we can exchange information and ideas out loud and not be afraid of it. All these powerful Black folks in the audience, and what they have to share.”

When one thinks about the “State of Black Pittsburgh,” there are many angles from which to choose. How is the job market for Blacks in the city? What about housing? Are Blacks being disproportionately affected in the health care realm here? Are there pertinent programs in place here that help to keep African Americans out of the criminal justice system?

For Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew, she cut straight to the chase. She said that Black infants in Pittsburgh die “two to three times more than our White counterparts.” The crowd stunned, Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew dropped another bomb: “Our moms are dying three to four times as often as our White counterparts. Those numbers you should remember, because they’re quoted everywhere we go.”

Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew continued: “Health is wealth. Health has to be the center of everything — our economics, our education. If we are not healthy, we cannot contribute to our families, we cannot grow. And so we all have to pay attention to ourselves and those around us, those we love and those we don’t love as well, because health is wealth.”

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