Pittsburgh grad student posts daily TikToks to share little-known Black history
THE STRIP DISTRICT MARCIE CIPRIANI. PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS FOUR. A LOCAL SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER, BEGAN THIS MONTH BLACK HISTORY MONTH, MAKING A TIKTOK EVERY SINGLE DAY ABOUT PITTSBURGH’S BLACK HISTORY. I CAUGHT UP WITH ASHLEY KING RIGGS, AKA THE PITTSBURGH PUBLICIST, TO FIND OUT WHAT MOTIVATES HER AND WHO INSPIRES HER. WELCOME TO EPISODE THREE OF THE FOUR ON ONE ON THE FOUR AND TWO PITTSBURGH BLACK HISTORY, WHERE I TELL YOU PITTSBURGH BLACK HISTORY THAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF. ASHLEY KING RIGGS SHOWED ME HOW SHE MAKES HER MINI HISTORY LESSONS THAT MAY HAVE POPPED UP ON YOUR FEED. AM I CREDENTIALS? WELL, I’M THE FOURTH GENERATION OF MY FAMILY TO LIVE IN PITTSBURGH, AND I’M A PROUD BIRACIAL WOMAN. I’M VERY PROUD OF THAT. AND I FIGURED THAT NOT ONLY WOULD I LIKE TO LEARN SOME OF THESE THINGS, BUT I FIGURED OTHER PEOPLE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THEM AS WELL. HER VERY FIRST BLACK HISTORY MONTH VIDEO FOCUSES ON DOROTHY MAE RICHARDSON THE MID 1960S. SHE ORGANIZED HER NEIGHBORS, BROUGHT BANKS AND CITY LEADERS TO THE TABLE, AND SUCCESSFULLY CONVINCED 16 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO LEND HER COMMUNITY TO REHABILITATE HOMES WHO I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT UNTIL I WENT TO RANDYLAND ONE DAY. AND THERE’S THIS BLUE PLAQUE RIGHT NEXT TO IT, AND I WAS LIKE, OH, WHAT DOES THAT SAY? AND I WENT UP TO IT AND I WAS LIKE, MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THIS WOMAN AND THIS IMPACT THAT SHE MADE, NOT JUST IN PITTSBURGH BUT ACROSS THE NATION. UNLIKE OTHER INFLUENCERS, SHE’S NOT DOING THIS TO MAKE MONEY. SHE CALLS HERSELF PITTSBURGH PUBLICIST BECAUSE SHE JUST LOVES PITTSBURGH. I THINK THE BEST COMMENTS ARE LIKE, OH, YOU’RE MAKING PITTSBURGH SO PROUD. AND I’M LIKE, THAT’S WHY I DO THIS, YOU KNOW? BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT PITTSBURGH SO MUCH. I LOVE PITTSBURGH, AND ANY WAY THAT I CAN ASSIST, EVEN IF IT’S MAKING SILLY LITTLE TIKTOKS. KING RIGGS FAMILY LED HER ON THIS PATH. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THE FIRST PERSON IN MY FAMILY TO MOVE TO PITTSBURGH WAS MY GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER, VIOLA. SHE WAS BORN ON A PLANTATION IN TALLADEGA, ALABAMA, AND SHE MOVED UP NORTH BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO HAVE A BETTER LIFE AND BETTER OPPORTUNITIES, AND SO DID HER CAREER. THAT BEGAN IN THE MILITARY, WHERE SHE MET HER HUSBAND. SHE DEPLOYED TO QATAR. SO I’M SURE THERE’S ELEMENTS OF MY PAST IN THE MILITARY. MAYBE MY ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS, WHO KNOWS? THAT HAS GOTTEN ME TO THIS PLACE. BUT I THINK ALSO THE ETHOS OF THE AIR FORCE AND THE MILITARY IN GENERAL IS TO DO GOOD AND TO HELP AND TO PROTECT PEOPLE. AND I FEEL VERY PROTECTIVE OF PITTSBURGH. I DO. I THINK OF IT AS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CARED FOR AND SHOULD BE NURTURED AND SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, UPLIFTED. HER WORK IN PITTSBURGH AS A SOCIAL WORKER MOTIVATES HER. KING RIGGS IS GETTING HER MASTER’S OF SOCIAL WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH. I THINK ADVOCACY IS JUST AT THE CORE OF WHAT I DO. I LOVE PITTSBURGH, AND I THINK THAT IF I HAVE THE ABILITY TO HELP GIVE PITTSBURGH A LITTLE BIT OF A BETTER NAME AND A BETTER REP THAN THAT’S WHAT I’M THERE TO DO. IN 1976, ELLIOTT WAS ONE OF 12 WOMEN TO BECOME THE FIRST FEMALE POLICE OFFICERS IN PITTSBURGH. I ASKED HER ABOUT THE CHALLENGES BLACK PEOPLE FACE IN PITTSBURGH RIGHT NOW. I THINK IT’S DIFFICULT FOR ME TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF ALL BLACK PITTSBURGHERS, BECAUSE I’M ONLY MYSELF, AND ALSO I’M COMING FROM AN IMMENSE LEVEL OF PRIVILEGE. I’M A WHITE PRESENTING PERSON, AND I DO NOT MOVE ABOUT THE WORLD IN A WAY THAT MOST BLACK PEOPLE DO. SO UNFORTUNATELY, I CAN’T REALLY SPEAK TO THAT EXPERIENCE. KING RIGGS TELLS ME THAT PRIVILEGE MAY BE THE REASON SHE HAS NOT HAD NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES HERE. MY HOPE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE ISSUES ARE AMELIORATED. I AM A SOCIAL WORKER AT MY CORE, AND THAT’S WHY I’M AT PITT AND THEIR MSW PROGRAM, WHICH IS AMAZING. AND I’VE LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT ADVOCACY, AND I HOPE THAT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF MY JOURNEY IN SCHOOL, AND ONCE I GET OUT INTO THE FIELD, THAT I’LL BE ABLE TO MAYBE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THAT AREA. SO EXPECT PITTSBURGH PUBLICIST TO KEEP PLUGGING IN HER IPHONE MICROPHONE AND EDUCATING US ALL ON IMPORTANT AND SOMETIMES FUN STORIES OF PITTSBURGH’S BLACK HISTORY. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE ICE CREAM SCOOP WAS INVENTED BY A BLACK MAN IN PITTSBURGH? IT WAS A BLACK MAN IN PITTSBURGH WHO MADE SOMETHING THAT WE ALL I USE PRETTY MUCH EVERY SINGLE DAY. YEAH. DID YOU? I DID NOT KNOW THAT. I HAD NO IDEA. THERE YOU GO. AND SO AGAIN, ASHLEY KING RIGGS HANDLE IS PGA PUBLICIST ON TIKTOK. SHE’S ON INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK. WE POSTED HER INFORMATION ON WTAE.COM JUST IN CASE HER REELS AND HER VIDEOS HAVE NOT SHOWN UP IN YOUR ALGORITHM YET.
Pittsburgh grad student posts daily TikToks to share little-known Black history
Updated: 6:00 PM EST Feb 24, 2026
A Pittsburgh woman makes it her mission to learn about local Black history, and she uses TikTok to help spread the word.Ashley King-Riggs is a social worker and a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. She is posting a new video every day on Pittsburgh’s Black history that you may not have heard about.”I’m the fourth generation in my family to live in Pittsburgh, and I’m a proud biracial woman,” she says.King-Riggs says she enjoys researching little-known stories and posting about them. Her handle is PghPublicist on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.”I figured that not only would I like to learn some of these things, but I figured other people would be interested in them as well,” she said.Watch the full report in the video player above.
PITTSBURGH —
A Pittsburgh woman makes it her mission to learn about local Black history, and she uses TikTok to help spread the word.
Ashley King-Riggs is a social worker and a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. She is posting a new video every day on Pittsburgh’s Black history that you may not have heard about.
“I’m the fourth generation in my family to live in Pittsburgh, and I’m a proud biracial woman,” she says.
King-Riggs says she enjoys researching little-known stories and posting about them. Her handle is PghPublicist on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
“I figured that not only would I like to learn some of these things, but I figured other people would be interested in them as well,” she said.
Watch the full report in the video player above.