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From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Public Hearing - 10/16/19
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A
Hello
and
welcome
to
the
Pittsburgh
City
Council
cablecast
public
hearing
for
Wednesday
October
16
2019,
my
name
is
Michael
Wentz
and
with
us
today
is
Alex
Nagy
our
sign
language
interpreter.
The
public
hearing
will
be
on
the
following
legislation:
bill
2019,
2033
petition
from
the
residents
of
the
city
of
Pittsburgh,
requesting
a
public
hearing
before
city
council
relative
to
awarding
reparations
for
the
black
residents
of
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania,
because
the
legacy
of
slavery,
Jim
Crow
and
the
continued
systemic
and
structural
oppression
of
the
white
supremacy
and
economic
injustice.
A
B
C
2033
petition
from
the
residents
of
the
city
requesting
a
public
hearing
before
City
Council
relative
to
awarding
reparations
for
the
black
residents
of
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
because
of
the
legacy
of
slavery,
Jim
Crow.
In
the
continued
systemic
and
structural
oppression
of
white
supremacy
and
economic
injustice,
the
petition
is
valid
in
accordance
with
the
Home
Rule
Charter.
Okay,.
B
Thank
you,
madam
clerk,
so
my
name
is
councilman.
Krause
I
will
be
chairing
this
afternoon's
public
hearing
we
are
joined
by
councilmembers,
Burgess
and
gross
I
suspect.
Other
members
will
be
out
shortly
as
their
schedules
permit.
I
would
like
to
go
over
some
of
the
ground
rules
that
pertain
to
public
hearing.
We
will
go
through
the
list
of
registered
speakers
before
moving
on
to
those
that
came
that
did
not
register
to
speak
but
wished
to
register
comment.
B
We
ask
that
when
you
come
to
the
podium
that
you
would
please
begin
by
giving
your
name
and
the
neighborhood
in
which
you
reside
so
that
we
could
have
that
for
our
public
record.
The
green
light
will
indicate
the
start
of
your
three
minutes
when
the
yellow
light
comes
on.
You'll
have
one
minute
to
summarize
your
thoughts
and
when
the
red
light
comes
on,
your
time
will
have
expired
and
we're
going
to
ask
you
to
relinquish
the
podium
so
with
that.
B
D
One
of
the
things
that
I
have,
in
my
hand,
is
a
poster
which
gives
a
few
snapshots
of
some
brief
historical
periods.
Many
of
us
should
be
familiar
with.
We
talk
about
reparations
because
of
slavery.
We
talk
about
reparations
because
of
the
period
known
as
Jim
Crow,
and
we
talk
about
reparations
because
of
a
practice
known
as
convict
leasing,
whereas
groups
of
black
men,
women,
boys
and
girls
could
be
arrested
and
charged
with
any
crime
raging
from
vagrancy
to
loitering
and
could
be
subject
to
incarceration,
they
would
be
given
a
bond
oftentimes.
D
That
bond
would
be
paid
by
a
major
corporation,
such
as
you
are
still,
for
example,
and
they
would
be
relegated
to
work
in
the
coke
or
the
iron
Mills
factories
or
whatever.
This
is
known
as
the
practice
of
convict
leasing.
There
was
a
very
strong
relationship
between
US
Steel
and
places
like
Birmingham
Alabama
in
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania.
That
was
a
major
part
of
this
particular
type
of
practice
and
the
reason
our
cited
u.s.
D
stills
because
oftentimes,
we
don't
think
of
South
Western
Pennsylvania's
having
strong
ties
to
really
structural
organized
institutions
of
Jim,
Crow,
structural
institutions
that
promote
white
supremacy
and
economic
injustice
and
exploitation
of
black
people.
But
this
is
a
very
good
example.
So
this
is
just
a
very
quick
piece
of
why
we
think
that
reparations
are
due
for
the
black
residents
and
the
black
population
of
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania.
We
could
go
on
and
on.
D
We
could
talk
about
the
relationship
of
slavery
to
the
University
of
Pittsburgh,
there's
some
of
the
people
who
started
the
University
of
Pittsburgh,
for
example,
with
slave
holders.
We
could
talk
about
Robert,
Morris
University.
We
could
point
out
that
Robert
Morris
is
one
of
the
founding
fathers
of
the
country
was
also
the
money
man
and
one
of
the
main
financier
for
the
American
Revolution,
and
he
was
able
to
help
fund
the
American
Revolution
because
of
the
money
and
the
profit
that
he
made
off
to
the
backs
of
African
slaves.
D
So,
there's
so
much
of
a
deep
history,
deep
rooted
history,
economic
history,
social
history,
political
history
that
ties
slavery,
Jim,
Crow,
convict,
leasing,
mass
incarceration,
police
brutality.
We
could
go
on
and
on
and
on
into
the
conditions
that
contemporary
black
people
have
to
deal
with.
We've
had
numerous
studies,
the
most
recent
study
being
the
gender
equity
study.
We
can
go
back
further
and
talk
about
the
studies
that
came
from
the
University
of
Pittsburgh,
profound
poverty,
profound
oppression
and
exploitation.
D
B
B
Jatin
Walker
are
you
here,
okay
and
our
last
register
speaker
is
Jackie.
Smith.
Are
you
here,
okay,
that
exhausts
the
list
of
registered
speakers
which
which
to
register
comment
at
this
public
hearing?
Is
there
anyone
else
that
wishes
to
speak
before
City
Council
today,
you
would
sir
come
on
up.
Would
you
please
begin
by
giving
us
your
name,
the
neighborhood
in
which
you
reside
and
I'll
waive
my
discretion
as
chair
and
offer
you
three
minutes.
Thank.
E
E
You
know
that
are
directly
connected
to
the
economic
disparity
that
exists
between
those
communities.
I
know,
for
example,
that
the
medium
income
in
Larmour,
for
example,
is
around
$25,000.
If
you
look
at
other
communities,
you
know
there
is
about
a
fifteen
thousand
dollar
difference.
If
you
look
in
this
city,
there's
about
a
thirty
thousand
dollar
difference,
you
know
so
that
the
only
way
that
the
this
disparity
can
be
dealt
with
is
by
giving
some
serious
consideration
to
the
policies
that
have
caused
economic
insufficiency
in
those
communities
and
to
address
them
in
a
concerted
way.
E
B
B
If
you
would
then
please
come
on
come
on
up
and
just
ma'am
I
think
you
might
have
come
in
a
little
late,
just
in
case
we're
gonna
ask
for
your
name
neighborhood
in
which
you
reside
for
our
record
and
then
you'll
begin.
Your
comment
for
your
three
minutes.
Welcome.
Thanks
for
coming
down.
Sorry
Justin.
F
Laying
Brookline
I
wanted
to
just
add
on
to
what
has
been
talked
about
in
reparations
and
talk
about
the
variety
of
kinds
of
reparations.
That
city
can
consider
that
the
you
know
the
UN
has
five
elements
of
it:
a
reparations.
The
first
is
restitution.
That's
the
idea
of
thinking
about
like
a
way
of
restoring
someone
to
the
original
condition
that
could
look
like
payments.
That
could
look
like
a
number
of
things.
That
was
a
policy
designed
to
a
restore
order.
F
It
could
be
done
in
specific
locations
like,
for
example,
you
could
name
some
of
the
policies
that
have
been
done
in
the
Hill
District
or
others
in
particular
kind
of
restorative
ways
that
we
part
of
building
a
movement
and
supporting
reparations.
It's
not
having
one
big
grand
like
you
know,
epic
man
check
another
element.
F
Satisfaction,
that's
that's
one
of
the
weaker
ones
where
you're
like
doing
monuments
or
but
something
that's
acknowledging.
You
cause
the
problem
or
you
participated
in
it
and
the
last
one
would
be
guarantees
of
non-repetition,
and
that
would
be
some
kind
of
commitment
that
you
wouldn't
let
that
happen
again
and
again.
This
is
the
UN's
version
of
reparations.
I
mean
I,
think
one
of
the
places
that
the
city
could
look
to
I'm
gonna
go
back
to
the
example
of
u.s.
steel.
U.S.
F
steel
also
was
involved
in
funding
the
Ku
Klux
Klan's
development
in
an
Alabama
there's
a
Pulitzer
prize-winning
author
from
Pittsburgh
who
actually
has
written
about
this,
and
so
you
could
look
to
the
capital
class
of
Pittsburgh
to
actually
help
pay
for
that.
To
look
at
that,
because
the
city
often
did
the
bidding
of
folks
like
who
ran
US,
Steel,
the
other
industrial
families,
Malins,
etc
and
actually
stand
with
the
citizens
and
say
we
know
that
it
was
the
capital
class
that
did
a
lot
of
this
work
on
racism
to
separate
working
white
class.
F
G
So
that's
a
part
of
retribution,
that's
a
part
of
creating
equity
within
a
that
is
continually
deprioritized
the
black
community,
be
it
with
like
UPMC,
for
instance,
every
every
single
time
there's
an
opportunity
to
actually
penalize
UPMC
for
the
atrocities
it
is
committed
against
us,
be
that
through
medical
testing
or
how
they
mistreat
black
women
are
how
they
mistreat
their
workers.
The
list
goes
on
this
City
Council
in
the
entire
city
refused
to
ever
defend
black
people
against
UPMC.
G
So
it's
like
we're
hearing
I'm,
not
going
to
say
everyone
knows
Darlene
Ayers,
but
but
there
have
been
so
many
opportunities
for
this
city
to
recognize
the
way
that
it
is
continually
oppressing
and
removing
black
people
from
like
the
place
that
we
originally
had.
G
And
you
all
have
these
opportunities
continually
like
there's
platforms
that
you
all
can
follow
and
make
as
elected
officials
there's
like
universal
basic
income
that
you
can
collect,
you
can
actually
tax
UPMC,
there's
like
stipends
that
we
can
give
out
and
vote
on
for
city
council
to
actually
provide
money
for
the
lowest
resource
people
in
the
county
or
in
this
city.
There's
a
lot
of
steps
that
can
be
taken.
G
However,
it's
going
to
really
depend
on
you
all
following
the
Commission
and
following
the
things
that
folks
are
recommending,
and
some
kind
of
back
and
forth
for
there
to
be
any
sort
of
equity
in
county
council
and
city
council,
because
repeatedly
you
all
are
showing
us
that
this
is
what
you
want.
So
we're
gonna
have
to
see
something
different
and
you
all
are
have
to
you'll
have
to
come
up
with
some
kind
of
ideas
to
present
to
us,
be
that
with
one
Pittsburgh
or,
however,
you
want
to
do
it.
G
B
B
Okay,
you
sure
I'm,
sorry
are
you
who
are
you
I'm?
Sorry,
yep
I
got
you
here
Jay!
Thank
you.
If
you
would
I
just
need
to
go
through
the
ground
rules.
I
need
your
name
where
you
live
for
the
public
record.
You'll
get
three
minutes.
Yellow
light
comes
on
you'll
get
one
minute
red
light
comes
on.
You
relinquish
the
podium
thanks.
H
Jay
all
right,
my
name
is
Jay
Walker
I
live
in
Shadyside
and
I'm.
The
chair
of
the
Green
Party
of
Allegheny
County
today,
I'll
be
speaking
on
behalf
of
the
Green
Party
of
Allegheny
County
and
then
on
my
own
behalf.
The
Green
Party
is
the
only
top
four
national
political
party
that
fully
supports
reparations.
H
Our
national
platform
reads:
we
commit
to
full
and
complete
reparations
of
the
african-american
community
of
this
nation
for
the
past
400
plus
years
of
genocide,
slavery,
land
loss,
destruction
of
original
identity
and
the
stark
disparities
which
haunt
the
present
evanston
evidence
in
unemployment,
statistics,
substandard
and
inadequate
education,
higher
levels
of
mortality,
including
infant
and
maternal
maternal
mortality
and
the
practice
of
mass
incarceration.
We
recognize
that
reparations
are
a
debt,
not
charity,
that
is
owed
by
our
own
in
our
other
nations
and
by
the
corporate
institutions
chartered
under
our
laws,
a
collective
of
people.
H
We
believe
that
the
leadership
on
the
question
of
what
our
nation
owes
to
this
process
of
right
of
right
ought
to
come
from
the
african-american
community,
whose
right
to
self-determination
and
autonomy
to
chart
the
path
to
healing.
We
fully
recognize
this
from
our
national
platform.
The
Green
Party
of
Allegheny
County
fully
supports
the
push
for
reparations
from
the
city
of
Pittsburgh
for
the
generational
impact
of
directly
racist
city
policies
and
decisions.
H
Here,
my
own
comments
there
about
the
need
for
reparations
as
a
white
skinned
man,
I'm
shielded
from
some
of
the
direct
impacts
of
white
supremacy.
My
outward
appearance
does
not
shield
me
from
the
indirect
impact
of
generations
of
systemic
systemic,
govern
and
forced
institutional
racism.
As
a
black
man
from
Alabama,
my
father
experienced
the
full
brunt
of
America's
racist
legacy.
The
wealth
created
by
our
ancestors
was
pilfered
for
generations,
massively
building
the
wealth
of
the
United
States.
My
father's
family
moved
from
the
Jim
Crow
South
and
grew
up
in
a
heavily
redlined
Harlem.
H
He
liked
the
privilege
to
dodge
the
draft
and
was
pulled
into
the
Vietnam
War
where
he
was
permanently
traumatized.
The
war
eventually
killed
him
thanks
to
the
Agent
Orange
sprayed
by
our
own
military.
This
collective
trauma
has
had
major
ripple
effects
of
my
entire
family.
I
share
this
story
to
debunk
the
myth
that
reparations
are
only
concerned
with
something
that
happened.
Hundreds
of
years
ago,
Pittsburgh
has
its
own
racist
legacy,
which
I'm
only
beginning
to
learn
about.
H
We
can
still
see
the
deep
effects
of
redlining
in
the
segregation
or
neighborhoods
and
schools
experience
to
this
day.
Just
this
past
weekend,
I
learned
how
our
labor
unions
excluded
black
workers,
which
u.s.
steel
was
unable
to
take
advantage
of
to
break
the
great
1919
steel
strike.
I
know
that
fed
generations
black
workers
at
u.s.
steel
facilities
got
the
lowest
paying
highest
danger
jobs.
Any
potential
reparations
need
to
take
into
account
the
Kim
de
lavit
or
achill
trauma
and
theft,
much
of
which
was
actively
enforced
by
our
own
government.
Thank
you.
Thank.
B
I
Name
is
Jackie
Smith
and
I'm,
a
professor
of
sociology
at
the
University
of
Pittsburgh
and
with
the
human
right
City
Alliance
and
I'm
here,
I'm,
bringing
two
copies
of
a
report
that
a
number
of
groups
in
our
region
participated
in
compiling
for
the
United
Nations
Universal
Periodic
Review
of
the
United
States
we're
providing
input
to
the
United
Nations.
As
it
looks
at
the
US
human
rights
record,
which
has
been
outstanding
in
the
world
for
its
consistent
and
extreme
violations
of
Rights
in
regard
to
racial
disparities.
And
we
want
to.
I
We
provide
a
picture
of
Pittsburgh
and
we
drop
from
a
number
of
studies
that
I'm
sure
folks
have
already
been
citing,
including
the
gender
equity
analysis
that
just
came
out
in
our
report
from
Pittsburgh
centers.
The
problem
of
racial
inequity-
and
we
see
this
as
at
the
core
of
key
human
rights
challenges
in
our
city.
And
these
reflect
challenges
in
the
country
as
a
whole.
And
these
are
challenges
that
the
United
States
is
being
called
to
account
for
in
the
international
community.
I
We
need
to
promote
a
culture
of
human
rights
and
do
much
more
to
put
resources
and
leadership
behind
that
commitment.
We
can
prioritize
work
to
eliminate
racial
discriminate,
racial
discrimination,
discrimination
and
inequities
in
all
areas
of
government
operations
and
encourage
other
institutions
in
our
region,
including
the
major
employers
and
and
educational
institutions,
to
remedy
all
areas
of
racial
discrimination
and
disparity.
We
also
need
to
implement
the
international
treaties
to
which
the
United
States
is
party,
including
the
Convention,
on
the
elimination
of
all
forms
of
racial
discrimination.
F
F
B
K
You
I
just
want
to
thank
everyone
for
coming
down.
I
definitely
recognize
a
few
members
if
the
public,
who
have
been
in
a
number
of
meetings
around
the
gender
equity
Commission
that
were
the
women
on
council
here,
were
co-sponsors
on
creating
it's
been
four
years
now
and
so
I
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
a
chance
to
talk
offline
about
the
results
of
the
report.
K
When
we've
had
reports
from
10
years
ago
from
20
years
ago
from
30
years
ago,
and
things
aren't
getting
better
and
so
I
think
the
burden
and
the
responsibility
here
is
to
say:
okay,
let's
try
to
actually
do
better
and
not
just
acknowledge
the
report,
but
to
take
action
on
it.
So
I
want
to
thank
everyone
for
coming
down
and
reiterating
that
and
having
continuing
conversations.
B
L
Just
thank
everyone
for
coming
down
as
well
and
I.
Think
Councilwoman
grosse
for
serving
on
the
Commission
on
behalf
of
counsel,
she's
done
a
really
great
job
in
making
sure
she's
keeping
us
included
and
updated,
but
also
very
aware
of
the
folks
that
were
not
included
that
need
to
be
included
in
any
further
discussions,
especially
action
items.
So
I
want
to
thank
thank
her
for
that
for
her
role
in
that
and
and
hope
that
they
would
get
to
a
place
where
we
realize
we
are
all
in
this
together.
Thank
you
and.
M
E
M
Administration
has
taken
that
away
and
I
really
believe
that
we
should
have
that
lawsuit
go
through
and,
yes,
I
think
it
is
totally
unfair.
I
see
it
happened
by
other
hospitals
that
people
are
treated
fairly
but
other
side
down.
So
thank
you
very
much
and
I
think
we
should
all
work
together
did
not
just
talk
about
it,
actually
do
it.
Thank
you.
J
Things
first
of
all,
Kozma
lavell
is
also
like
myself
very,
very
interested
in
this.
He
could
not
be
here
because
of
a
previous
scheduled
meeting,
so
I'm,
just
echoing,
do
not
mistake
his
lack
of
physically
being
here
from
his
concern,
second
of
all,
as
I
say
earlier,
for
those
really
not
hopefully
in
the
in
the
room,
but
others
who
are
serious
about
this
issue,
I
highly
recommend
them
reading.
You
know
the
debt
by
way
Randall
Robinson,
which
is
sort
of
the
beginning
of
having
this
conversation.
This
is
the
best.
J
This
is
the
right
conversation
to
have
in
our
nation.
As
you
know,
there's
HR
bill
40
that
some
of
the
which
is
a
House
bill
in
the
federal
house,
US
House
of
Representatives,
that
many
of
our
Democratic
presidential
candidates
have
have
supported
what
two
things
I'll
say.
First
of
all,
my
interest
is:
is
playspace.
I
have
been
very,
very
influenced
by
sociologist
dr.
J
Wilson's
work
in
terms
of
concentrated
poverty
and
I
really
believe
that
whatever
we
do,
we
should
tie
this
consult
this
conversation
about
reparations
to
play
space
strategies,
because
the
bulk
of
African
Americans
still
live
in
African,
American
communities
right
and
so
when
we
start
to
rebuild
Homewood
and
Lincoln
Lymington
and
lormer,
and
you
know
on
the
north
side
and
the
west
and
and
the
south
side,
nor
in
the
Hill
District
when
we
start
to
rebuild
those
neighborhoods
I
believe
that's
part
of
making
them
a
priority.
They
have
been
disome
invested
in
for
56
years.
J
Invest
in
them,
that's
the
number
one!
That's
really
my
interest
is
to
talk
about
pouring
resources,
disproportional
resources
into
these
places
that
have
been
traditional
homes
for
african-americans
and
steel,
a
place
where
the
majority
of
them
lived
and
the
second
thing
and
I'm
gonna
make
this
promise
to
you.
This
is
not
the
end
of
this
conversation.
I
have
been
very
moved
by
by
by
what
you've
said.
J
Brother
Brahim
you
and
I
have
been.
You
know.
We
know
each
other
very
long
time
right
back
from
your
advocacy
for
gangs.
I've
been
a
fan
of
yours
from
back
in
those
days,
and
I
am
going
to
help
pick
up.
I,
don't
know
if
I
can
do
it
by
myself,
but
I
I
will
certainly
support
this
and
help
pick
up
this
mantle.
It's
time
to
have
this
conversation
in
this
city.
J
It
is
way
overdue
and
the
other
part
I
think
we
need
to
talk
about
is
because
everyone
is
focused
on
on
the
on
the
resource
part.
But
the
other
part
which
is
just
important
is
the
acknowledgement
that
there
has
been
a
historical
systemic
structural
oppression
of
people
in
this
country,
and
others
have
profited
from
there
from
there
from
the
redlining
from
discrimination
from
systemic
disinvestment.
It
wasn't
just
that
people
were
hurt.
J
It
wasn't
just
that
they
want
resources,
but
there
is
understanding
that
this
this
culture
was
an
accidental
there's
been
there's
been
a
systematic
intentional
from
the
war
on
drugs
right
to
just
over.
You
know
the
mass
incarceration
to
just
a
variety
of
policies
that
have
systematically
been
targeted
to
oppress,
African,
Americans
and
so
I
intend
to
have
this
conversation.
This
is
coming.
This
is
the
right
conversation
to
have.
This
is
the
right
time
to
have
it.