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<\/a>Image courtesy of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.<\/p>\nAugust Wilson,\u00a0also known as \u201ctheater\u2019s poet of Black America\u201d was an American playwright. He is known for\u00a0his\u00a0award-winning\u00a0plays, many adapted into successful movies,\u00a0that\u00a0explore the Black experience throughout the past century. But\u00a0while many Pittsburghers know about Wilson\u2019s work, how much do you know\u00a0about his personal life?<\/p>\n
Born in 1945,\u00a0Wilson lived in the Hill\u00a0 District and grew up in poverty. He was one of five\u00a0\u00a0siblings that lived in a house with only two rooms. They\u00a0had no hot water and were\u00a0constantly surrounded by the\u00a0institutional racism and discrimination\u00a0that befall\u00a0African Americans. August often\u00a0explained that\u00a0he got his education from\u00a0what he called\u00a0\u201cthe\u00a0four B\u2019s\u201d: the blues, Jorge Luis Borges, Amiri Baraka\u00a0and Romare Bearden.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe foundation of my writing is poetry\u201d- August Wilson<\/p>\n
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Despite all the difficulties of his childhood,\u00a0Wilson\u00a0went on to win at least 28 awards including a Tony Award for\u00a0Best Play, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Whiting Award for Drama,\u00a0and so many other\u00a0tributes. Does the play\u00a0\u201cFences\u201d sound familiar? Wilson is the creator behind that masterpiece.\u00a0He can inspire all of us \u2013 including your children \u2013 by demonstrating\u00a0that no\u00a0\u00a0matter how or where you grow up,\u00a0you have the power to blow the socks off the world!<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s students aren\u2019t just missing out on all they could learn about\u00a0general\u00a0Black history. We\u2019re also not learning about\u00a0figures in our\u00a0own\u00a0city.<\/p>\n
I asked other students: \u201cWhen it comes to African American\u00a0 youth figures, who is first to come to mind?\u201d, to see how\u00a0 many young people are known.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m gonna skip that question, I don\u2019t\u00a0 know.\u201d- Alyssah, CAPA 6-12, freshman<\/p>\n
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\u201cLaylah Dukes.\u201d- Staff Sgt. Dukes, 34 (thanks, Dad!)\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cJanel Young.\u201d- Addie Daniels, 32\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Janel Young is a Pittsburgh native muralist painter and\u00a0\u00a0community leader. She went to Schenley High School as\u00a0\u00a0an International Baccalaureate student athlete. She then\u00a0\u00a0attended Penn State University as a Bunton-Waller Fellow. There, she studied Business Marketing and\u00a0\u00a0International Studies.<\/p>\n
In 2013, she moved to New York City\u00a0to\u00a0work\u00a0in public relations as a digital content strategist. October 23, 2019, was\u00a0declared \u201cJanel Young Day\u201d\u00a0in the city of Pittsburgh to celebrate\u00a0her consistent efforts to\u00a0fill\u00a0the community\u00a0with\u00a0her joyful,\u00a0colorful\u00a0artwork.\u00a0Young has found numerous opportunities to display her art, including at the Three Rivers Art\u00a0Festival, the Variety Spectacular, on Aerosol Mural and many\u00a0places and events. Janel had a vision and put in the energy to bring it to life.\u00a0(Want to learn more about Young and see her art?\u00a0Click here<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Here is another important figure in Pittsburgh today: The name\u00a0Young Black Motivated Kings and Queens has such a\u00a0beautiful ring to it, because we certainly are\u00a0that.\u00a0Kahlil Darden is the founder and CEO of this organization, which\u00a0encourages youth of all ages \u2014 from elementary school to high school students \u2014\u00a0 to become\u00a0leaders\u00a0and help make a better community for all.<\/p>\n Darden\u00a0found inspiration to start up\u00a0YBMKQ\u00a0after his uncle was tragically murdered at gunpoint. As a student, he founded the\u00a0first Black Student Union\u00a0at Penn Hills High School\u00a0in 2017.\u00a0Today, YBMKQ is bringing\u00a0new educational opportunities to the kids of Penn Hills<\/a>\u00a0and will be opening a new\u00a0community center in Verona<\/a>\u00a0that will honor\u00a0the legacy of Darden\u2019s godson, De\u2019Avry A. Thomas, who was murdered in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/a>Photo courtesy of YBMKQ.<\/p>\n