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I am not of Indigenous or Native descent. I am a descended from white European colonizers, mainly from the British Isles and Western Europe who settled in what we now label as Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina. I do try to listen and learn from my Indigenous friends, colleagues, and trusted sources. I’ve tried to […]
The banning and/or criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare, reproductive healthcare, trans youth’s participation in sports, and forms of self-expression, such as drag, are hugely important right now. While these attacks are being primarily advanced through the legislature, any expansion of existing criminal codes as well as any arrests made during demonstrations against such legislation will be […]
I speak to people all across the county and the state in my current job as a State Representative and now as a candidate for Allegheny County Executive and the high price of housing and rents is something I hear about more than nearly any other issue. It is on the minds of everyone, whether […]
Today, my therapist and I did a symptom review where we ‘sorted’ my current and very recent symptoms into three categories: Anxiety, Depression, and Hypomania. Then we looked at the intersection of these symptoms, this sorting, with my trauma symptoms. I was struggling to distinguish between Anxiety and Hypomania, so she literally created a divide […]
Easter brings to mind a lot of bullet point memories In 1983, things were bleak financially. I was 12 years old and in 7th grade. So, of course, my Dad decided to join my cousins on a spring fishing trip to the Outer Banks over Easter. They weren’t high end, but it was still money […]
Recently, The City University of New York Center for Community Media invited me to speak at a summit on hate crimes & media, covering my expenses & a $200 stipend. I booked train, planning on using the stipend to cover my wife’s ticket. I told them I would be doing this. I followed up to […]
It’s imperative that we pay attention to local races, even if they aren’t our own – that’s how Republicans have trampled on our rights, and that’s how we have to fight back to protect our lives. We need progressive electeds who protect working people up and down the ballot. Our next post of our 2023 […]
When I see data about percentages of people with mental health conditions in the jail, I always shake my head because if you didn’t have a mental health condition on the way in, you will on the way out. Allegheny County Jail is not a safe place for our community and if Magistrates aren’t watching […]
Pittsburgh has already begun to experience the effects of climate change with harsher winters, hotter summers, record setting precipitation, and increased numbers of invasive species. City of Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan 3.0 If you were worried that the Pittsburgh Animal Care & Control division is subject to an overabundance of oversight or accountability, I am […]
Cashay Ashanti Henderson was a 31-year-old Black trans woman. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she most recently lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before returning to her hometown. Milwaukee was where she died from a gunshot wound. On Sunday, February 26, her body was found in a burning building in Milwaukee. Someone shot Cashay and either set a […]
