Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit goes virtual again for 'Equity in Action' program

The Pittsburgh Racial Summit will be held virtually for the second year this year with the theme of “Equity in Action: Navigating intersections of Racial Justice.”

The program, in its 24^th year, was born out of the aftermath of the police killing of Jonny Gammage in suburban Pittsburgh in 1995.

The theme this year, said summit organizer Daeja Baker, is meant to examine what equity means to people at different intersections of the community.

Kevin Jarbo, the programming lead for the summit and a professor at Carnegie Mellon, said the goal is to look at how all people are impacted by racial injustice.

“How are different members of the community being impacted by these kinds of issues — the different kinds of public policy issues, environmental issues, social and economic issues — that all have these potentially negative impacts on how we live our day-to-day lives in the short and long term.”

The two-day conference includes workshops, panels and wellness sessions. It begins Friday, Jan. 21 with a virtual discussion with Pittsburgh authors Brian Broome, Deesha Philyaw and Damon Young.

“The keynote itself is going to be really up to Deesha, Damon and Brian,” Baker said. “It’s largely going to be a conversation.”

The opening ceremony will also include a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by the Pittsburgh Heritage Gospel Chorale.

Saturday’s panels and workshops include topics such as myths and reality surrounding critical race theory, unconscious biases and microaggressions, race and gender in public policy, and racism in maternal and child health.

“We really worked to put together a program that really showcases and puts up front the people within the Pittsburgh community and beyond who are doing the work for racial justice in a variety of ways,” Jarbo said.

For more information and a link to registration, visit www.pittsburghracialjusticesummit.org