Without inner change there can be no outer change. Without collective change no change matters.—Reverend angel Kyodo williams
The murders of unarmed black men by police in the United States and Pittsburgh are nothing new. White Pittsburghers became knowledge
able about police brutality and police killings in 1995 as the result of the not guilty verdict and homicide of Jonny Gammage by five suburban police officers. His murder drew media attention because this 31-year-old black businessman was the cousin of a Pittsburgh Steeler. Like Eric Garner in New York, in 2014, Gammage’s death was the result of asphyxiation. Black Pittsburghers had long been aware of the fact that black males in Pittsburgh were in danger of being killed by police.
Tim Stevens, then President of the NAACP, Pittsburgh Chapter conceived and implemented the Black and White Reunion (BWR) in 1996. In the wake of Gammage’s death, it was a way to bring light, not heat, to the racial divide in the city. The primary mission of the group is to bring together organizations and individuals to do the collective work to dismantle the systems of oppression that impact the basic needs of black and brown people worldwide, and at the same time harms everyone regardless of social identity or socioeconomic status. A number of whites were inspired by the Gammage murder to join with the black community in addressing its struggles in this “most livable city.”
Thus, the work of the BWR involves bringing diverse communities together to work to develop alliances for justice and to eliminate human oppression, by promoting cooperation and collaboration on projects that impact nine areas of human activity——economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, gender, and war. To achieve progress in these areas, the BWR works with individuals, groups, organizations, neighborhoods, communities, local, and state governments, as well as corporations, local and regional unions, coalitions, churches, temples, and mosques.
The BWR’s existing programs are models of diversity and shared power. They include The Jonny Gammage Memorial Scholarship Fund, a voter registration project at The Community College of Allegheny County, and the Annual Summit. The Summit hosts an annual summer barbecue in an effort to bring diverse communities together.
More recently we have broadened our focus to include land and environmental justice, LGBTQA+ issues, and also actively work to include Muslim, Latino and Asian communities.
The YWCA is the fiscal sponsor of the Black and White Reunion.
We believe…
If you don’t like the world you’re living in change it. Starting from you. Allow what you want to radiate out from you. To not do this, is to forfeit your capacity for love. We have an amazing ability to create a new world that radiates from each of us.
We, the Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit, believe that racism is a tool of white supremacy that operates on individual, interpersonal, institutional, and
structural levels.
Ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination are all aspects of racism.
Racism was used as a means to commit genocide against indigenous populations and to enslave Africans for economic gain.
Whiteness was created and is maintained, through laws and policies that advantage white people and negatively affect non-white people.
The ideology of white supremacy has shaped cultural behaviors and beliefs which produce cumulative and chronic adverse harm for non-white people.
Because it is passed on through our culture, racism shows up in personal interactions, even among those who are well-intentioned, often without awareness.
Racism damages relationships and causes psychological harm to both the oppressors and the oppressed.
The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit organizes from a western-oriented position and acknowledges the shifting nature of white supremacy worldwide.