Celebrating Black History Month in Pittsburgh
Submitted by: Madelyn Glymour
This year’s Black History Month theme is “African Americans and Labor.” In industry, science, or the arts, paid or unpaid, free or unfree, Black labor has profoundly shaped Pittsburgh, and labor has profoundly shaped the Black experience here. This is a small sample of the programming that institutions around Pittsburgh have organized to recognize, remember, and celebrate the history of Black labor, arts, activism, struggle, and triumph in the area.
University of Pittsburgh
Authors Liann Tsoukas and Rob Ruck will discuss their new book Mal Goode Reporting: The Life and Work of a Black Broadcast Trailblazer, about the Homestead native community organizer and reporter who championed integration and social equality, and exposed police brutality and corruption. Join them on February 13th, 4-6 pm at the O’Hara Student Center in Oakland.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
All over the city, different CLP branches are hosting book clubs, crafting events, movie screenings, and other educational programs for varying age groups inspired by Black authors, artists, and trailblazers. Check out the full calendar for all events and details this month!
Carnegie Science Center
The Science Center’s Storytime Under the Stars program, hosted in the Buhl Planetarium, will feature stories of Black STEM professionals this month.
Pittsburgh also has many year-round exhibits and activities related to Black history. While you’re here, consider visiting the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, dedicated to championing Black cultural experiences; visiting the From Slavery to Freedom Garden at the Frick Environmental Center, which provides a hands-on education of the plants that provided food and medicine to formerly enslaved people on their escapes from slavery and in their new free homes; or visiting the Carnegie Museum of Art’s gallery of photography by Hill District native Charles “Teenie” Harris.