“They refused to let her in the pool. Dorothy being Dorothy—even at 12—asked to see the executive director. She explained about the Reserves feature, but the director was adamant,” said Jensen. “We’ve only been working to redeem ourselves from that kind of behavior for 50 years. And like people in recovery, we must work on our redemption one day at a time.”
Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald praised the Y’s efforts and the work of this year’s nominees.
“These recipients don’t often get the recognition they deserve for their tireless work. So I am please to do so,” he said.
Pittsburgh’s peripatetic Mayor Bill Peduto arrived just in time for his scheduled remarks. He said he’d attended many of the previous Racial Justice Award dinners, but he was especially proud to attend this year’s event because one of his staffers, Nonprofit and Faith-based Manager Betty Cruz, was an honoree.
“This room looks like Pittsburgh; young, old, Black, White. But we need to think about it looking like the labor hall, the corporate board room and city hall,” he said. “For 30 percent of us, there is no ladder of opportunity. We need to fix that.”
As master of ceremonies, Pittsburgh Pirates Manager of Diversity Initiative Chaz Kellum kept things moving smoothly, and following lunch, brought Jensen and YWCA Senior Equity and Advocacy Director Dina Clark to the stage to present the awards.
This year’s recipients were honored for their work in the arts, government, law, education, community engagement, health care and public safety.
Beginning with the arts, Curator Cecile Shellman accepted the award for the Carnegie Museum of Art, honored for its exhibit “Race: Are We So Different?”
Artist and musician J.B. Boccella was honored for work such as his Diversity Flag series and the Divided states of America Album, dedicated to bringing people together through music, art and ideas.
In the legal category, the YWCA honored the Abolitionist Law Center for its work seeking to end mass, race-based incarceration in the U.S. It also honored U.S. Public Defender Lisa Freeland for her tireless representation of indigent clients through all stages of the federal criminal court process.
In education, Edward Scott was honored for his work leading Point Park University’s Urban Accounting Initiative aimed at encouraging and developing careers in finance particularly among Black youth. The Black Male Leadership Development Institute, a joint creation of Robert Morris University and the Urban League of Pittsburgh was honored for its year-long program aimed at strengthening educational and leadership opportunities for young Black males in grades 9-12.
Anna Hollis, executive director of Amachi Pittsburgh, received this year’s award for community engagement for growing the collaborative of faith-based and secular partners working to support the children of incarcerated parents.
The ACTS research team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing was honored for its collaborative effort with the African American Women’s Speakers Bureau aimed at eliminating disparate diagnoses, treatment, and care among Black breast cancer patients.
Betty Cruz, from Peduto’s office received the government award for her work giving marginalized communities, particularly new immigrants, a voice.
Point Park University Police Chief and Vice President of Public Safety Jeff Besong for his work mandating diversity and police bias training and fostering an inclusive atmosphere in the department and on campus.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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