News

June 26, 2024

MuseumLab: Genius, Joy & Love

Genius, Joy, and Love is a five-day intensive summer institute that will bring together Black youth and adult educators to explore putting racial justice and equity into practice.

Learn More

The institute is aimed at Black youth between the ages of 14 and 22. It will explore questions of how to elevate genius in oneself and one’s community as well as how to center love and wellness in education.

Each day of the institute will involved a workshop with a leading social justice researcher and/or advocate. There will also be activities that explore the workshop’s topic through poetry, art, and song as well as healing and wellness activities.

The sessions will include guided action planning sessions that support fellows to put their learning into practice and make changes in their communities.

Selected fellows will receive a $500 stipend.

More Details

Sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 29 through Aug. 2 at MuseumLab, located at 6 Allegheny Square E. Suite 101 in Pittsburgh.

Those interested in attending can sign up now.

News

January 27, 2022

Equity in Action: Prioritizing and Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces a National Call to Action through the upcoming Information Memorandum (IM), Equity in Action: Prioritizing and Advancing Racial Equity and Support for the Undeserved Communities. The IM promotes racial equity as a critical factor to advance the economic and social well-being of children, youth, families, individuals, and communities through the administration and delivery of human services.

Join the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on February 3, 2022 to learn about the Biden administration’s overall actions to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. Explore the significance of racial equity in the U.S. and discover ways you can make an impact to advance equity.

How to Register

Registration is required for this free, virtual event. Individuals may register online via Eventbrite.

Key Topics

Topics for the webinar include:

  • Background information about the significance of and the Biden administration’s actions around racial equity
  • Agency-wide and program-specific actions taken by ACF to advance Equity in Action
  • Ways that stakeholders in the field can advance equity

About The Administration for Children and Families

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the Department of Health & Human Services. We promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities with partnerships, funding, guidance, training and technical assistance.

News

January 14, 2022

Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit

Join The Black and White Reunion for the 24th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit, Equity in Action: Navigating Intersections of Racial Justice. Registration for this event is available online.

About the Event

The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit is a one-and-a-half-day conference dedicated to providing resources and spaces for community dialogues, sharing strategies and experiences of organizing for racial justice, healing from racial trauma, and providing connections to social support services for all attendees. The Summit is a multicultural initiative of the Black and White Reunion. It was first held in 1996, convened in response to the death of Jonny Gammage, a thirty-one-year-old Black man who was murdered by four white police officers in a suburb on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.

The Summit begins Friday night, followed by a full day of panels and sessions on Saturday. Friday night includes a fireside chat by three internationally renowned, award-winning, best-selling Pittsburgh writers:

  • Deesha Philyaw, author of “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies”
  • Brian Broome, author of “Punch Me Up to the Gods”
  • Damon Young, author of “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker”
  • The keynote opening event will also include a choral performance of “Lift Ev’ry Voice” by the Pittsburgh Heritage Gospel Chorale directed by Dr Herbert V.R.P. Jones.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, all Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit events will be held on Zoom. The Friday keynote will be accessible on YouTube and Facebook.

The Summit’s goal is to underscore the necessity and importance of critically re-evaluating our respective histories, specifically the impact of white supremacy and how it has caused widespread dehumanization and exploitation throughout global and local history. Workshops and panels will confront historical and current racial issues, including social, economic, political, immigration, and environmental justice.

Registration proceeds are used to cover the cost of hosting the Summit and for the Jonny Gammage Scholarship Fund which is awarded to law students of color with an interest in studying civil rights and social justice issues at the University of Pittsburgh Law School or Duquesne University Law School. We ask that those with access to more resources pay more and thus provide the cushion for those with less access to pay less, creating a sustainable economic underpinning for the conference.

News

November 3, 2021

Antibias Education and Beyond: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Join P.R.I.D.E (Positive Racial Identity Development In Early Education) for a documentary screening of Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years and a discussion with the filmmakers. Individuals may register via the P.R.I.D.E. website.

About the Film

Produced by Debbie LeeKeenan and John Nimmo, this powerful documentary  features vignettes of anti-bias strategies in early childhood classrooms interspersed with teachers reflecting on their practice.  By taking viewers into diverse early childhood classrooms, and focusing on the voices of teachers, the film seeks to demonstrate the importance of teacher reflection on identity, context, and practice in anti-bias education and provides a much-needed resource for teacher education and professional development.

About P.R.I.D.E

P.R.I.D.E. is a program within the Office of Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Our goals are to help young African American children develop a positive racial identity, support teachers and parents by building their racial knowledge, and raise awareness of the impact of race on young children. We provide them with various learning opportunities, including educator trainings, Parent Village sessions for Black children and their families, Speaker Series events to educate the community and art festivals created to immerse young Black children in a space designed to celebrate them.

News

July 1, 2020

PACCA Zoom Series: Racial Equity in Early Learning

Are you interested in learning how to embed racial equity into your early learning program? Join the Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) on Fridays from July 10 – 24 for their Zoom Series, “Racial Equity in Early Learning.”

About

This three-part professional development series is designed to help early learning and school-age programs embed racial equity from recruiting, hiring, and on-going training offerings for staff to interactions with children of color. After defining key racial justice terminology such as implicit bias, cultural competency, race, racism, antiracist ally, etc., participants are encouraged to identify concrete ways to embrace racial equity personally and professionally.

These Zoom meetings will be informative and interactive, and will provide participants with real resources and supports for classroom situations. Individuals who participate in all three meetings will receive 4.5 hours of PQAS credits and/or 4.5 Act 48 hours.

Cost

    • PACCA Members: $20 for all three meetings
    • Non-Members: $45 for all three meetings

Registration

To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.

Zoom links will be sent in a confirmation email when your registration is received. If you do not receive confirmation, please check your Junk inbox or contact maureen.murphy@pacca.org.

News

June 17, 2020

Parenting in Support of Black Lives | Webinar

Are you interested in hearing practical, how-to advice for talking about race and inspiring kids to fight for racial equity? Join Common Sense and the Inforum of the Commonwealth Club on June 18 for their webinar, “Parenting in Support of Black Lives: How to Build a Just Future for Kids (and How Media Can Help).”

About

Through 400 years of systemic oppression and racism, our nation has failed to protect and value Black children and families. How do we support a future where all children are valued? And when we’re parenting amid crisis and trauma, how can we find support for ourselves and our kids? This conversation will center on these important questions and provide practical, how-to advice for talking about race and inspiring kids to fight for racial equity.

The event will feature Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, leading scholar on race in America, in conversation with child psychologist Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, moderated by Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author and activist.

Registration

To register and learn more, visit Common Sense Media’s website.

This event will be recorded and will be available on the Conversations with Common Sense YouTube page.