Black Horizons; 3423; Hoops

You Welcome to Black Horizons. I'm your host, Chris Moore. I've got American musicians have a proud tradition here in Pittsburgh. And tonight, you'll see a special segment. You may have a great time. You may have missed on cue. And be ball fans. Get ready to get your game on because it's almost time for the annual Pittsburgh groups classic. We'll find out

when and where later in the show. And don't forget to check out our community calendar on the horizon. But before we get to any of that, a spate of controversial shootings involving state and local police has left many in the community angry and concerned. Tonight we're joined by people against police violence, a local group that's looking for an answer. Joining us is Pete Shell and Renee Wilson. Pete, how did this group come together? Who is it made up of? Well, it's really a coalition of several different groups and people. Renee Wilson here actually found the group in the neighborhood of a neighborhood -based group over in Mount Oliver as where it started. Well, how did it start, Renee? It started because in a five -week period, three black people died at the hands of the police. The last being the 12 -year -old boy, Michael Ellaby, shot by the state police in Union Town. So you were just tired of saying this kind of thing happened and you decided you needed to organize. What have you been able to do? Well, it was the mothers. It was mothers in the area who

decided to organize. We decided to have community -based meetings. They make people in the community aware of these things and aware that there was something that we could do about it if we pulled together. How was the turnout? And exactly what did you discover you could do about it? We discovered that if we put political pressure and public pressure on some of the leaders that we can get results, one of the results was Damien Jordan, who died at the hands of the police in 1999. His case was reopened. The coroner saw a whack in 1999. They didn't give him that inquest. He died in the custody of the police. Was this young man who hung himself? Correct. That's allegedly hung himself. And while he was in police custody, is that right? And it was ruled initially a suicide as I recall. Yes. Well, what can be done about this? Michelle, what can you all do? Are you raising awareness? Are you dealing with police

authorities? Are you conducting marches? What are you doing? Yeah, I think by having these public campaigns and demanding justice and by having marches and letter writing campaigns, we're putting pressure on the system because in the Damien Jordan case, they refused to even hold a corner in the inquest until people against police violence had several demonstrations demanding and investigating. Renee, that really showed that I'm sure I've lifted the spirits of those mothers who originally came together to show that something could be done, but you got to speak up. Is that right? That's right. It definitely lifted our spirits up to know that if we're aware of what's going on and we could do something about it. You know, I want to mention Damien Jordan had blunt force trauma over his body, but we have worn it in quest. Kind of hard to do that when you're hanging yourself. Yes. Okay. So other cases though, Sarah Wektis, rule him as Michelle and say that somebody ought to be charged. Now it's up to the district attorney here in Allegheny County, Mr. Zipala to follow up on that. That's right. He's yet to do anything. Have you all corresponded with him? Do you know

what his intent is? Does anyone? Well, this really reminds me of the same situation we had back in 1995 with Johnny Gamers. You were done that case also. Yeah, we did. We were very concerned. We were outraged because Johnny Gamers didn't commit a crime. He didn't have any weapon, just like these recent victims didn't have. And in that case, the corner again recommended filing charges. And so we asked the DA, the time it was DA coal bill to file charges to prosecute the police who brutalized. Because we believe very strongly that the best way to stop police brutality is to hold the police accountable, prosecute the police who brutalized just like you or I would be prosecuted if we were to brutalize as well. You think that's going to happen in any of these cases? I think it will, because especially if we keep the pressure on, because it's the right thing to do. And so we're going to be continuously demanding, but the public needs to be public about that and write letters, and come to the rallies, come to the court hearings when they have these court cases, and demand that they do justice. As well as an, have you seen the organization going? Is the public responding, especially with the spade of killings by the police? Yes, the public has

responded very well. I'm pleased that the public responds to it. When you hear the details of the cases, anybody would respond. In Bernard Raj's case, the police, they were not called to the house. There was no distress call. But they say it was a knock -in search where they suspect that somebody is selling drugs, and so they have the authority to knock on the housing authority doors, and to check it out. We are even challenging that. We don't believe that the Constitution allows that, the knock -in talk rule. We, or some attorneys to pick that up and look at that, to enter a house without a warrant of any kind. To go in the house and say, we're not going to arrest you. We just want to talk. We're not going to search you. And then somebody is dead. You know, one police officer said, after they wouldn't talk, we began to search. So if they were using the knock -in

talk as the way they described it, that was not allowed. Then you're into a legal search and seizure, you think. Correct. That's a violation of their privacy also, I think. What can you say about police officers themselves? I don't form a police officer friend that tells me that when they stop you, you just put your hands on the wheel, you do what they say, because a police officer could be the closest thing to God you ever wanted to meet. Meaning they can decide life and death issues with impunity. You know, and that's true. The thing about that is, is we cannot allow our police officers to be, to have criminal minds. Most of these people, they get shot down by the police, or not murderers and criminals that's out there making our community. But the police don't know that when they start knocking and talking and doing everything else, they don't know if somebody physically comes against them. What they're going to meet, do they? You know what? I think sometimes that they do. In the incident of John McGammitch, he was not armed in a car. And Bernard Rogers incident, he was

in a house unarmed with, he posed no threat whatsoever. I don't believe that the young man tried to take the gun off of a police officer when it was three police officers standing, or two other ones with guns he couldn't get. You said the police officer was the downright line. Correct. Now you all are also working to try to stop the violence in the community, the so -called black on black violence, that sometimes our young people perpetrate against each other, is that right? Yes, I think they go hand in hand. So this is the reason why we're upset with the police. When we call the police in our community to clean up crime and get some of these things solved, we don't get the response from them. And then when we find out that the people that they killed, these young men who didn't seem to be the problem in the community, and the community, the people that are in the community that is a problem, we can't get them to do anything with. We have drug dealers that make deals with lawyers, bribe judges, and go back on the street. Those are some pretty serious charges,

can you prove them? Yes. When we see this in the headline, I mean, bribe and judges deals with lawyers. I believe that they bribe judges. We have drug dealers that bribe judges pay lawyers. They pay lawyers that bribe judges. And they're back out on the street causing harm in the community, yet somebody who's not doing anything minding their own business, they always seem to be the victims of police violence. That's your view. Exactly. I just think it's important to note that there's recently been several victims of police violence. There was a peace march last Thursday you may have heard about. At the end of the march, there were peace protesters who were on the sidewalk, because I was involved in that march. They were there just as observers. They were going home. They were after the march. They were on the sidewalk, and the police came and attacked them, and they brutalized several of them. Now, these weren't the ones that we saw the news throwing the newspaper stands out. No, they weren't street. If somebody throws a newspaper stand to the street, they may be arrested. And they deserve to be arrested if they do so. But in this case, this was after the march. These were not the same people. They were walking home. They were on the sidewalk, and they were

surrounded by police. The police told them to disperse, but they couldn't go anywhere, because they were surrounded by the police. At that time, the police attacked a lot of them and arrested them, including my girlfriend, who was smashed up against the wall several times. Ms. Wilson, what's next for you? What are you going to try to do next? We're going to try. Because of the Michael Ellorby case, being a state case, because it was a little difficult. Yes. We were planning to start organizing a march in Harrisburg, because this is a state issue. People say that you shouldn't run from the police. Do you tell young people that, even if they're involved, with riding in a stolen car or driving a stolen car? Yes. I don't think that it's good to run from the police. Now, Michael's incident, he was running from the police. But there's a lot of these people weren't running at all. Charles Dixon wasn't running. He was at a birthday party. They decided to patrol with a K -9 unit. And 11 police officers, Mont Oliver and Pittsburgh, end up being on top of him. You know, you shouldn't run from the police. But even if you are run

from the police, that doesn't justify murder. Because Michael Ellorby was shot in the back and he was unarmed. According to the prosecuting attorney up there, it was a justified shooting. Well, we don't agree with that. I don't think that. Do you think that really does justify a shooting that 12 -year -old boy in the back? It's not for me to think. It's what they rule. Charitives. It's for you to think. Well, it's not. It's not for me to think, sir. It's what they ruled and how you deal with that ruling. But they're public officials. They're supposed to work for the public. That's us. They should be held accountable to the public. All right. When in 1955, when Edmitt Till was murdered, the jury and the prosecutors and the lawyers didn't think those people should go to jail. Nothing has changed, you think? Nothing has changed. All right. Thank you both for being here. Can I mention something else? Quick, please. Okay. I wanted to tell you that in the Mont Oliver case, the scene was even cleaned up before the Allegheny County police came to investigate. Is that right? Yes. Well, that should be a violation of law, right? Obstruction of justice. All right. Check out the

websites here at pv .org. All right. Thank you very much again for being here. We're out of time. To find out more about people against police violence, you can contact them at 412 -432 -1290. That number again, 412 -432 -1290. Need the details on what's going on in your community? Then grab that pencil and paper because it's time for our community calendar on the horizon. What's that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I bought a big hat now. Wait, wait a minute. Groupy, groupy, jazzy, floaty, bounce, bounce, dance, as we dip in the melodic

scene. Bid them things flow when the drugs get out of the scene. Sweet sugar pops, sugar pop, rocks pop. You don't stop till the sweet deep drops. I show improve as I stick and move. Vivipals recite it on top of it. If you've got a bit, you'd like to see publicize. Please send the details to on the horizon. 480 -25th Avenue Pittsburgh TA -15213. From jazz to gospel to big bands and back again, Pittsburgh's black community has a rich musical legacy. The following segment originally appeared on our news magazine on cue, but we thought it was worth a second look. This is not the entire story, but let's start with Mary Cardwell Dawson of the National Negro Opera Company founded in Pittsburgh in 1941. When that Mary was young, she talked. She went to the New England Conservatory of music. And when she would come home for the summer, she would teach. This is how she

made her money. Barbara, it would be, is the niece of Mary Cardwell Dawson. She wanted to present to the world the black musician at its best in the genre of opera and the classics. Madam Dawson reasoned that people in Italy enjoyed opera there because it was sung in Italian. So she made opera accessible to everyone here by performing her productions in English. She made it so that the community could understand what it was all about and it was not something that was in another language and not able to touch. The National Negro Opera made a brilliant beginning here, performing Aida at the Seriamas, then moved on to Washington, D .C. Over the next 20 years, they performed in

a number of cities and became the first opera company to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Jazz also has a rich history here in Pittsburgh. Many great slights, Stanley. Terrentine got their start right here. Terrentine's neighbor, John Puggy Thompson, wanted to play with the big guys too. I played with the four bombers. I was playing with ten cans and putting sugarcans together and maybe some bombers and if I start playing. Puggy hooked up with another kid named J .C. Moses who was known as the King of the Applejack, a popular dance of the time. They couldn't get into the swing clubs because of their youth, but they found a place to perform. The Applejack King, he was an oh heck of a dancer and they told me he

loafed up there in front of Goody's drugstore. So one day I went up there and while he was up there, Applejack and George E .P. was playing his guitar. I told you know, I said, well, man, I can't Applejack, but I can play Bongo's. Okay. Evidently Good's drugstore was the place to be. Ruth Good White ran the soda counter there. They won the corner of Fullerton and Wiley. Ruth's sister, Disjockey Mary D of Radio Station, W -H -O -D, dubbed that intersection the crossroads of the world. Eventually Puggy started playing Bongo's with his friend, J .C. Moses, in their own group and they performed all over the hill. One of their favorite places was an after -hours club that put on full -scale reviews. The place was called Little Paris and it was owned by Gambling Baron, Seifas Ford. The Little Paris was just the place to be. If you were somebody, you played at the Little Paris.

If you didn't, it was an after -hour joint. It was a place that everybody came to. I mean, all musicians, everybody wanted to work at the Little Paris. Besides the after -hours joints, there were a lot of other clubs where musicians could play. Pittsburghers like Ahmad Jamal, Earl Garner, and Stanley Turntine played in places like Stan Lee's, and at the Musicians Club, which like everything else back then was segregated. Curtis L. Young is the oldest living member of the union. He remembers when the black musicians first broke the color barrier by playing downtown. It was back during the month of February 1937. The original William Penn Hotel. Their policy was to bring in traveling bands for six weeks here at the time. But the policy they never hired any black bands.

Black bands had somebody rented a room in an area. You could go there and play one night, but to be part of the policy, no. So, in 1937 February, I'm out in the street. And the union said, this is doing our reorganization. He called me and said, Kurt, got a gig before he'd go down the William Penn Hotel. He was a seat count bassist. And just off the street. So I'd go down there and I'd see bassist. And they had changed their policy. The band was booked at the William Penn. Bassist drummer became sick. And the union sent Curtis Young to replace it. That's our count bassist, along with Curtis L. Young, broke the color barrier in Pittsburgh. The Hill just wasn't a dull neighborhood. In fact, the Hill nurtured some great talent. Billy Eckstein, Lena Horn, Earl Garner, and Mary Lou Williams. They all lived in the Hill at one time or another. So did jazz great, George Benson. By the

1950s, jazz was on the way. But another Pittsburgh musical tradition was just coming to life. Have you been to the islands of the Caribbean? Where the girl's ready to go? The boys ready to go. Dua, played by Mary D and other popular DJs. Local groups like the Four Dots and Elle Caprice took sinister things. The black church has always been the bedrock of black music. In fact, many forms of popular music spring from gospel. There's been no one who's represented the gospel tradition better in Pittsburgh than musician, singer, and disc jockey. Gloria Inaz Briscoll. Well, I first started at W -A -M -O. Well, it gave me the opportunity. I started as receptionist. And then he offered me one hard day at my lunch hour. So I did that. And then he said, how

would you like to do a full time? Started there? Gloria Inaz Briscoll started playing the piano at the age of three. And the music is just something that has always been there. In church, all of my life, whether you wanted to go or not, you went. So it was just every day of current. You know, we went Sunday through Friday. Saturday was the off day. My grandma had me by the hands and we went. I remember I used to say, when I get home, I'm never going to go to church again. Never happened. Gloria Inaz Briscoll says that male quartets and choruses were always being in this area. Groups like the Trouble Tone sing here with Reverend Delano Page from Rodman Street Baptist Church. Well, Pittsburgh really is known as a quartet town. From years and years ago,

every Sunday night you could find a different quartet singing at different storefront churches. Everybody had a place they were going to go. They had the quartet's union here. It was great going from place to place. National groups like the Swan Silvertones, Reverend James Cleveland and the Soul Stairs with Sam Cook would come to Pittsburgh in what was called a gospel package. Local groups like the Morning Glories, the Gandhi Singers, and the Pittsburgh All -Stars joined in. And the people would line up around the block to hear them. Those are good days. Mother's people are going to miss them. We only miss the fellowship with them. They were real. Well, the men's courts from pilgrims, restaurants, Baptist Church on the north side. Love them. Basketball fans, Rick Joyce because the fifth annual Pittsburgh Hoops

Classic is on its way to a quart near you and here to give us all the details on the event is Director of Basketball Operations, Marvin. Right? An Executive Director of THWD, Richard Loveless. Mr. Loveless, you've got to explain that. THWD? Well, THWD stands for the Horse Will Drink, Chris. You know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Well, you're beaten in down tread and there's no reward. You're going to drink. So we take the opposite approach. If you reward our young people, become involved in the things that they do, and they see that there's an end to that rainbow, they'll drink and the horse will drink from the water. But you use basketball as the magnet to attract them. Is that right? Exactly. Basketball is a hook to bring these kids in and expose them to the educational and cultural issues that we like to demonstrate in our community. We also would like to give them the opportunity to be exposed to role models like yourself and others in the community who are positive and have achieved things that are capable of achieving even greater things. And so if they can achieve on a basketball court, they can achieve in a laboratory or something like that.

Exactly. Because practice makes perfect. See, our kids, they will dribble, dribble, dribble. But they won't think, think, think. So if you get that driven into their mind that if you can dribble to basketball, that takes practice. Take the time and do the math. You can do the algebra in the geology. Geology. Geometry also. The whole thing. All right, Mr. Wright. Tell us about the Hoops Classic itself. You've got some outstanding players not only across the Commonwealth but from almost everywhere, right? Yes. Like I said, we've been doing the game for five years. We bring players from all over the world, Canada. Like I said, Europeans. Like I said, everybody. Like I said, we have some players that are planning to cause ranks right now that are just a young, planning George Mason from Canada was the number one player in Canada back in 1999. And he played in the Hoops Classic. Yep. All right, I want to know how is the Commonwealth done against the world? How have they done in five years? For three quarters? Yeah. They played well. Sound like they lost every time. But in a four quarter, they got to ward down. Not

enough depth or what? Just when you're playing against the world, I recruit kids and like I said, you're recruiting the best players in the country and they're going up against PA. So they have a little advantage. No LeBron James this year? We're working on them. You're working on them? We're working on them. You're making too much money to go at all these different places and play. You're not having a payday for this big enough. We're working. We're trying. All right. Now, you've brought all this together. You have this great basketball game, but you also have a banquet somewhere that's as important as the basketball game. Absolutely. The banquet is where we honor those people in the community who give back. We started this organization based on volunteers that want to give back to their community. Marvin and myself and a gentleman by the name of Frank Wallace who's an entrepreneur here in the community. And my oldest son had come up with this idea about education and athletics years ago. And we look back at the old round ball class sponsored by the Dapper Dan. It's that why not us? In an event, actually, what's happening here? Let's do it ourselves. Let's do it. We've got some minority business men that are involved in the community giving back with our kids and showing that we can do it too. And

that's an important part. Who are some of your alums that are out there playing at Yukon and all these other places? We can name one. And I think everybody knows him. That's a mecca Okapur. He's probably one of the most dominant big men in the country at Connecticut University of Connecticut. And he's just a great kid. As an example of a role model. And we use role models of all ages. Mecca is on course to graduate in three years at the University of Connecticut. So there's a young man that has his priorities. It proves that theory can work, right? Exactly. Okay. There are a lot of other people that you have involved in this whole thing. But tell us about the game itself. Mr. Wright, when will it be? The game is April 12th at the University of Pittsburgh at the Petersen and Event Center. And I imagine Pitt's success this year has helped too to use that as a magnet basketball. That is to get to education, right? It's a great being that the event center is the big draw. Like I said, Pitt doing so well is a double bonus. And then I said they have a great recruiting class coming in and we're going to have some of those players playing in our game this year.

Now anything you all want to say to get people to get out to the game, man, by those tickets. It's a magnificent venue at the Petersen and Event Center. It's a magnificent event. We like to see people turn out at the banquet. Actually, we're down in the community of Union Town. We go out into the community. Chris and we see people and expose our kids to the young people and those little small towns also. So come on down and see the best in the world. All right, gentlemen. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it. We wish you much success with not only the Hoops Classic but using basketball as a magnet to get those kids involved in education and if they practice that ball, they can do it the same way in the latter. Thanks, fellas. We appreciate it doing good work. Thank you. The fifth annual Pittsburgh Hoops Classic begins on April 10th for more information. Call them at 412 -969 -0891. That number again is 412 -969 -0891. Or you can check their website at Pittsburgh Hoopsworldclassic .com. That's all one word. Well, that'll just about do it for this episode of Black Horizons. We thank you for joining us. Be sure to join us every Friday night at 10.

And now, again, Sunday's at 2. And don't forget to catch me on OffCue Friday nights at 11 .30. I'm Chris Moore saying, have a great weekend everybody. Set pieces donated by Macondale and buy the history store. Craig Street and Forbes Avenue. Yeah. I bought a big hat now. Wait, wait a minute. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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