Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance

Pittsburgh Human Rights City AllianceDignity & Justice for All of Us"Human rights don't trickle down...they RISE UP!"

About

Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance works to bring together diverse groups and individuals to encourage the realization of our City Council's 2011 Proclamation declaring Pittsburgh a "human rights city". We strive to realize a city that maximizes human rights and dignity for all people who live in our region (See Human Rights Cities Principles). We help network leading community organizations and concerned residents to support local efforts to realize people-centered human rights in Pittsburgh. We cannot wait for leaders in Washington to protect our basic rights! It takes engaged and creative efforts of community residents to "bring human rights home"!

• About the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Coordinating Committee
• Advisory Board.

Ways to Get Involved!

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

Subscribe here to receive email updates on events & action opportunities!

• University faculty members, staff, and graduate students are also invited to join our Pittsburgh Area University Human Rights Network. Subscribe here to join our (low-volume) email list.

Join a Working Group!

We currently steward four working groups that convene on a regular basis. Additional working groups may be formed as our work evolves and to support campaigns or special projects as needed. To learn more about each one, click on the links below. All are welcome to get involved! For more information, please contact us at hrca@theglobalswitchboard.org.

Housing Rights This Working Group seeks to expand public awareness that housing is a human right and to advance policy changes to expand access to safe, stable, adequate, and affordable housing in our region.

• Next meeting Tuesday September 3rd 5:30PM-7PM at The Carnegie Library - East Liberty (130 S Whitfield St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206)
• Have you seen our Tenant Bill of Rights?

Community Safety & Policing This working group works to promote a human rights-based approach to law enforcement, drawing from global laws and standards that prohibit racial discrimination and promote community-centered alternatives to police.

• We are actively recruiting members for this working group. To get involved, please contact hrca@theglobalswitchboard.org!

Communications, Education and Outreach The Communications group is making headway on updating our online presence, in addition to supporting our PLuG and Housing Working Groups. If you’re interested in writing about human rights, helping to design online content, or passionate about education and outreach, please feel welcome to join us for our regular monthly meeting!

• Meetings take place on the third Tuesday of each month from 6-7pm.

Policy, Legislation, & Governance (PLuG) Join the PLuG Working Group and help design a Human Rights Blueprint & Scorecard to help advance and monitor local policies through a human rights lens.

• Meetings occur on the third Wednesday of each month from 5:30-7pm.

Calendar of Events

General Meeting - Thursday, September 19th, 5:30-7pm (Location will be updated ASAP! Meeting will no longer be at the DHS building). This meeting will take place in the Homestead-Greys Room on the lower level. We are working on preparing our agenda for the meeting, and more details will be posted soon!

Contact us

All are all welcome to join our work to make Pittsburgh a Human Rights City! For more information or to get involved, please contact us at hrca@theglobalswitchboard.org

Current Areas of Focus

HRCA's work continues to evolve. Our current work focuses on the following issue areas, which were identified by community members and organizers as key regional priorities. Our working groups correspond with these areas of focus.

Housing Rights & Justice

HRCA is an active member of the Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, a coalition of allied local organizations and independent advocates who believe that housing is a human right and that everyone should have access to the housing they need. Our Housing Rights Working Group supports the work of the Housing Justice Table through related events, education and advocacy efforts.

Through community engagement and conversations with Housing Justice Table coalition partners, HRCA developed A Human Rights-based Housing Strategy and Action Plan for Pittsburgh, PA which serves as a guiding document for our housing advocacy. We want our goals and strategy to reflect the needs and perspectives of our community, which is why we invite residents to review the document and share input with us so that we can strengthen it. Send your comments to hrca@theglobalswitchboard.org or join us for our next working group meeting!

You can learn more about the history behind our research and strategy conversations by reviewing our resource page, Building Pittsburgh's Human Rights Housing Strategy

Relevant Events & Actions

• (April 4-7, 2022), Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing, visits Pittsburgh. Check out our visit summary highlighting insights and recommendations from our discussions with Ms. Farha, who now leads global housing rights organization, The Shift. Here you’ll also find helpful links to learning resources and legal tools to help us advance housing as a human right. (Download report PDF)

Racial Equity & Justice

HRCA is active as part of a broad coalition of community members and organizations committed to ending and redressing long-standing racial inequalities, inequities, and discrimination in the Pittsburgh region and beyond, recognizing that Freedom from Racial Discrimination is a Right, Not a Privilege.

This work includes raising awareness of the U.S. government's legal obligation to address racial discrimination under international law. For example, the U.S. ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 1994 and has thus legally agreed to comply with and implement its requirements.

Recent events & actions:

• (November 2023) HRCA members prepared an Executive Summary of the UN Expert Mechanism's Report on Racial Discrimination in Law Enforcement for local elected officials to raise awareness of the UN's investigation, conclusions, and recommendations following its U.S. Country Visit in April & May 2023.

• (October 2023) HRCA organized a panel discussion of UN recommendations to end racially discriminatory policing and uphold human rights in the context of law enforcement. Event Panelists: Brandi Fisher (Alliance for Police Accountability), Tanisha Long (Abolitionist Law Center), Muhammad Ali Nasir (MAN-E) (1Hood Media), Laura Perkins (Casa San Jose). Read the UN reports: U.S. Country Visit 2023 & Reimagining Policing 2023. Event recording: UN Report Condemns Racial Discrimination in U.S. Law Enforcement: How does this relate to Southwest PA?

• (April 2023) HRCA joined the Alliance for Police Accountability and other advocates in submitting a report on policing and racial discrimination in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to the UN's International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) ahead of its visit to the US from April 24 to May 5, 2023. (Full report: Treatment of People of African Descent by Law Enforcement Agencies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Press release: Local Advocates File Report on Police Discrimination in Allegheny County to UN Fact-Finding Body on Law Enforcement and Racial Justice)

• (November 2022) HRCA assisted to facilitate a listening session with Justin Hansford, Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law and an elected founding member of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. For more details, review our summary Taking Back Our Human Rights: Black Pittsburgh's Appeal to the World and our background page for the event.

• (July 2022) HRCA prepared and submitted a Shadow Report to the United Nations CERD Committee (Full report: Racial Discrimination & Equity in the United States: Evidence from Pittsburgh, Summary report: Summary Document)

Creating a Human Rights City

In 2011, the City of Pittsburgh issued a Proclamation declaring Pittsburgh the 5th Human Rights City in the U.S.. While this represents a step in the right direction, much work remains to strengthen and actually realize the City's commitment and to create a City in which everyone can thrive. We’re drawing from examples in other cities such as Atlanta to bring stronger human rights commitments along with processes for monitoring and setting targets for advancing equity and protecting the rights of all residents.

Relevant Documents

• Draft Resolution to Renew and Update Pittsburgh’s Human Rights City Status

• Bringing a Human Rights Perspective to Mayor Gainey’s Transition Report 2022
• Message to Mayor-Elect Gainey on International Human Rights Day 2021 (Dec. 10)

• Pittsburgh Delegation Attends Human Rights Cities Leadership Summit in Atlanta, May 2023 - As part of our work with human rights cities and human rights advocates around the country and around the world, we brought a team of more than two dozen Pittsburgh activists, youth, and policy experts to Atlanta to learn, share, and network.

Human Rights Education & Outreach

A key focus of HRCA is raising awareness among civil society and elected officials of the international human rights framework, and how we can (and should) use this framework to advocate for, monitor, and uphold "people-centered human rights" at home. This work includes building a movement of human rights enforcers and educating elected and government officials about their obligations under international human rights laws.

Relevant Documents

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• International Bill of Human Rights

Recordings & Documentation

• (April 13, 2024) 2024 People's Assembly for Fair & Equitable Housing Around 150 people gathered at the Frick Fine Arts Building to engage in learning and dialogue focused on the affordable housing crisis in Pittsburgh and potential solutions. Participants heard from local housing and human rights advocates about current community-led efforts to address our region's affordable housing needs, as well as from international advocates about innovative potential solutions being explored in other cities and countries. Topic areas included funding a Right to Counsel+ initiative for tenants facing eviction, establishing a Tenant Bill of Rights and related protections, and exploring creative solutions for creating permanently affordable, community-controlled affordable housing, such as through housing cooperatives (co-ops) and community land trusts. Co-sponsors: Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, Human Rights City Alliance, City of Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, Pittsburgh United, Casa San Jose, University of Pittsburgh Department of Sociology, Pitt Graduate Workers’ Organizing Committee, The Global Switchboard. View the full program here, English Flier , Spanish Flier

• (October 2023) UN Report Condemns Racial Discrimination in U.S. Law Enforcement—How does this relate to Southwest PA? (Event recording)-Last spring, the United Nations sent a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations against people of African descent by U.S. law enforcement officials. Pittsburgh advocates reported on local conditions as part of this investigation (In early 2023, Report on Police Discrimination in Allegheny County. The UN Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement released its report on U.S. practices in October 2023 Panelists discuss how global policing guidelines can help us improve racial justice, violence prevention, and human rights protections in our region. Panelists: Brandi Fisher, Alliance for Police Accountability Tanisha Long, Abolitionist Law Center; Muhammad Ali Nasir (MAN-E), Advocacy & Policy and Civic Engagement Coordinator, 1Hood Media; Laura Perkins, Casa San Jose. See the reports: U.S. country visit 2023; *Reimagining Policing 2023

• (January 19, 2023) The African Diaspora Convenes on the World Stage & Calls for Reparatory Justice--Reports from the Inaugural session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. (Recording) In December 2022 the United Nations launched the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD) as part of the International Decade on People of African Descent (2015-2024). Activists who attended this historic, inaugural meeting of the PFPAD share their observations on how this new body can be a tool for building local and national movements to end white supremacy and advance racial justice. Panelists: Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy and Policy, Southern Poverty Law Center; Charkera Ervin, Howard University School of Law/ Movement Lawyering Clinic; Efia Nwangaza, SNCC Veteran, Civil/Human Rights Attorney, Director Malcolm X Center for Self Determination; Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights; Gretchen Rohr, US-Liaison and Global Strategic Litigation Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative

Webinar Co-sponsors: U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Ubuntu Institute for Community Development, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, Global Studies Center & the Center for African Studies-University of Pittsburgh

• (November 19, 2022) Taking Back our Human Rights: Black Pittsburgh’s Appeal to the World-Community Forum Summary Document, November 19, 2022. This document summarizes discussions at our community forum during Justin Hansford's visit, & it will guide our subsequent coalition building work aimed at centering the needs of Pittsburgh's Black residents and ensuring that no one is left behind as our city develops.

• (November 18, 2022, 1Hood Media) Using the Human Rights Framework for Racial Justice: A Conversation with Justin Hansford After Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri, Justin Hansford helped Brown family members bring their appeal for justice to the United Nations See Ferguson to Geneva. This conversation brings together Black community leaders, advocates, and educators to discuss this effort and understand how we can make use of UN bodies like the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent to promote racial equity and fight white supremacy. What role do our communities play in building global tools to help defend and advance our human rights? Panelists: Dr. Rashad Williams, Assistant Professor of Race and Social Justice in Public Policy, University of Pittsburgh (Host), Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights (Atlanta) & Steering Committee member, U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance; Randall Taylor, Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition

• (July 14, 2022) An Appeal to the World: Pittsburgh Advocates file report to UN Committee reviewing racial discrimination in the U.S. Racial Discrimination & Equity in the United States: Evidence from Pittsburgh-Report to United Nations Review of U.S. compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) This report draws from documentation compiled by Pittsburgh advocates, city officials, researchers, and news reporters to demonstrate where improvements are needed in efforts to implement the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination in the United States. This report is part of the official international review of U.S. compliance with its treaty obligations.

• (July 15, 2022) A Cross-City Report on Obstacles to U.S. Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination & how Human Rights Cities Can be a Remedy -This report combines insights from Pittsburgh with those from other cities, arguing for changes in federal policies to improve local compliance with U.S. obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

• (July 2022) OPEN LETTER: Bringing a Human Rights Perspective to Mayor Gainey’s Transition Report 2022

• (April 4-7, 2022), Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing, visits Pittsburgh. Check out our visit summary highlighting insights and recommendations from our discussions with Ms. Farha, who now leads global housing rights organization, The Shift. Here you’ll also find helpful links to learning resources and legal tools to help us advance housing as a human right. (Download report PDF)

• (December 10, 2021) International Human Rights Day: See our Open letter to Mayor-Elect Gainey

• (July 11, 2021) Statement to City Council: Human Rights City Alliance backs community organizations calling for pause in vote on ARP funds: Our message to Council reminds them of past commitments and priorities that must be addressed in ARP allocations while calling for transparent and democratic process for deciding how funds will be used.

• (April 20, 2021) Human Rights City Alliance statement supporting City Council Fair Housing Proclamation

• (June 23, 2020) See Human Rights City Alliance's letter of support for the appointment of Brandi Fisher (President and CEO of the Alliance for Police Accountability) and Monica Ruiz (Executive Director of Casa San Jose) to Mayor Gainey's Community Task Force on Police Reform.

See this outline of the City’s Agenda for Police Reform.

• (April 2020) Learning from COVID-19:Shaping a Health and Human Rights Agenda for our Region HRCA collaborated with diverse groups in the community to advocate for equity and justice in healthcare in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. See our page for details, recordings and summaries of past discussions.

• (December 10, 2019) International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2019: See our media advisory, Pittsburgh joins other cities recognizing International Human Rights Day & highlights persistent challenge of racial inequities

Local News

• Community petition campaign to Protect Inclusionary Zoning & Demand Affordable Housing for All! In response to Pittsburgh’s chronic affordable housing crisis, the City Council recently passed a modest inclusionary zoning ordinance to require developers to designate at least 10% of units in developments of 20 or more units as affordable for low-income residents. The Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (BAMP)—a special interest group made up of corporate developers—has sued the city to prevent the implementation of the ordinance, and community partners are working to fight this move as we defend the rights of all residents to affordable, safe and secure housing.

• Councilpersons Gross, Kail-Smith introduce legislation to back housing cooperatives --See this letter of support from folks in our Human Rights City network.

• From Palestine to Pittsburgh--#Pushbacktalks Podcasts: April 20, 2022 Palestine and the Heartache of an Advocate-In her regular podcast, Leilani Farha reflects on her recent travel that took her from Palestine to Pittsburgh, considering lessons about people and our connections to the land.

Human Rights & Anti-Racism Organizing

Historical Truth-Telling: Key to Human Rights & Racial Healing Today:Building a human rights city requires efforts to remedy past injustices and ensure that all residents have equitable opportunities to thrive. The International Decade on People of African Descent (2015-2024) and the 400th anniversary of the first auction of enslaved Africans in North America provides an opportunity for renewing conversations about how we can address persistent inequities resulting from the United States's brutal history of slavery and genocide against people of African descent and indigenous peoples.

• Reparations Resource Guide
• *The World is Watching! Global movements support human rights and anti-racism in the U.S.

• UN Human Rights Council Strongly Condemns US Racial Violence: The United Nations responded to a call from Family members of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, and Philando Castile to take action in response to racially-motivated violence in the U.S., in an unprecedented Urgent Debate in the UN Human Rights Council June 19.
• Study shows US police fail to meet basic human rights standards. Not one police department in the 20 largest American cities are compliant with international rights laws study from the University of Chicago has found.
• Recommendations to Align Pittsburgh’s Policing Practices with International Human Rights Law & Standards Pitt student, Seth Kornbau, worked this summer to review Pittsburgh's policing policies and relate them to this analysis of international legal obligations. He prepared this brief to inform the Mayor's task force on police reform.

• Indigenous People's Day & Anti-racism work

Student human rights leaders compiled the following list of films, podcasts, and short articles and reports to inspire learning that acknowledges past harms and furthers a process of truth-telling and racial healing. Recording: Community Dialogue: Indigenous Peoples Day: Deconstructing white supremacy and celebrating Indigenous Peoples' history More Resources on Indigenous peoples and human rights

Past & Ongoing Projects

• Advancing the Human Right to Housing in our Cities Multi-city dialogue with organizers from Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and New York- View recording here

Co-Sponsors: Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, Atlanta Housing Justice League, Organization for Human Rights & Democracy, University of Pittsburgh Global Studies Center & Urban Studies Program, Student Human Rights Task Force- Pitt & The New School (NYC) Collaboration.

Further background and recordings at:Zero Evictions Days Resource page and webinar recordings Featuring dialogues with Leilani Farha, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing.)

Bringing Human Rights Home

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

*UPR Pittsburgh Bringing Global Human Rights Home: Pittsburgh's Human Rights Assessment & the United Nations Together with human rights defenders around the country, Pittsburgh residents are working to bring the stories and accounts of human rights conditions in our region to the United Nations through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. Over 2019-2020, the United States human rights record will be reviewed by international representatives and human rights experts, and the UN will issue a formal report with recommendations to the US government for improving respect for the country's international human rights obligations. A key to the UPR's effectiveness is engagement from civil society, and we're working to provide opportunities for residents to learn about human rights and the UPR process as we generate ideas for how we can make Pittsburgh and Southwest PA places where human rights thrive.

• For more details see UPR Cities Project

Pittsburgh City Council Passes Zero Evictions Proclamation in Solidarity with Global Movement for Housing Justice

Housing Justice

• Housing is a Human Right-Letter to Officials The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, recently directed letters to governments and corporate leaders around the world, pointing out how prevailing policies violate international human rights obligations. This page has details and a template for contacting your local leaders to remind them of their international legal obligations.
• Housing Justice Pittsburgh Building community power to fight displacement and promote our "Right to the City."
• Housing Summit 2018
• Housing is a Human Right: Slideshow on international treaties and opportunities to promote the human right to housing
  
  

• Forged for All? the Amazon HQ2 Debate & the Future of Pittsburgh

Learn more about how Amazon's bid to move to Pittsburgh would affect human rights here. Resources, data, and recordings of community forums.

• View community forums on the question of how an Amazon HQ2 would impact us:
  • "Pittsburgh's Economic Revitalization: Technology, Corporate Power, and Democratic Accountability"
  • 'Human Rights, the Right to the City, and Amazon HQ2: Forged for all?

International Human Rights Monitoring

This page links to work by national and international human rights organizers to use international treaties and United Nations human rights review processes to hold local and national officials in the United States accountable to our international human rights obligations.

News & Updates

• UN Official Confronts Governments and Corporations on Housing Rights: Recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha held a press conference in Copenhagen to speak about letters released (see links below) to governments and corporations around the world including the United States and the Blackstone Group L.P. Ms. Farha spoke out directly against policies and laws which support housing as a commodity. In the letters to various governments, Ms. Farha stated that these policies and laws contradict governments’ international human rights obligations. Letters: UN Special Rapporteur Letter to US Government On Housing Policies as Human Rights Violations, Letter to Blackstone Investment Corporation, Blackstone's response. Campaign links #MaketheShift #HousingisaHumanRight!
  • We're working to get this message to Mayor Peduto and other public officials: If your organization wants to sign this *letter to public officials* please contact us at pghrights[at]riseup[dot]net or via Facebook PGHrights. For more details see Housing is a Human Right!

• Pittsburgh’s Our Water Campaign goes Global: The current issue of the Open Access Journal of World-Systems Research features a symposium on the problem of corporate power and its implications for local democracy. This project was inspired by the recent inter-city competition to host the Amazon 2nd headquarters. See: "Water is a Human Right! Grassroots Resistance to Corporate Power!" (by local water activist Caitlin Schroering).

• Pittsburgh for CEDAW Coalition helps bring Pittsburgh Human Rights Recognition In March 2019, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York awarded Mayor Peduto the Cities for CEDAW Global Leadership Award for his work to implement sustaining policies which eliminate all forms of discrimination against women at the local level. This award would not have been possible without all the hard work of PGH for CEDAW Coalition members to push for the CEDAW ordinance and to design policy recommendations that would ensure its effective implementation.
• Summary of lessons from Housing Justice Movement-Building work 2016-2019 This document provides a synthesis of ideas from conversations about how to advance the human right to housing and challenge market-oriented policies that continue to displace residents. ‎
• Print Media coverage of Racial Justice Summit- This report highlights our breakout session at the 2019 Summit, "Building an Intersectional Movement for Housing Justice"
• Pittsburgh City Council and Mayor Peduto re-affirm their commitment to human rights at the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (See Press Release December 10)
• National Human Rights Cities Alliance Workshop 2018, Washington DC

Human Rights Budgeting-Ideas and Resources for transforming how our city plans: This page shares links and background resources about how activists around the world are working to change the scripts of local politics to prioritize human rights over economic measures of progress. We believe that urban planning and development should be explicit in its attention to human rights and equity. More democratic budgeting processes are key to making this happen, and that means we all need to learn more about how city budgeting works and how it could be re-organized to engage more of the people who live in our region.

Resources

Link to more resources--toolkits, reports, and organizations supporting local human rights work

Other meetings

• Pittsburgh's Gender Equity Commission For more information and to join the next meeting, please contact pgh4cedaw@gmail.com.

• Pittsburghers for Public Transit second Wednesday of each month [at 7pm at 1 Smithfield Street (Pittsburgh Human Services Building) downtown].
• Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition every Monday, 6:00PM, Location [115 Beatty St. East Liberty]
• Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters, (412) 908-1603.

Pittsburgh

• Pittsburgh edition of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Booklet format--PDF)
• Working Draft of An Action Plan for building a Human Rights City (PDF Version)
• Research on Pittsburgh and Human Rights Organizing: Responding to Globalization and Urban Conflict: Human Rights City Initiatives Studies in Social Justice
• Local strategy working paper: Moving from Shallow to Deep Democracy
• Pitt Students work with Homewood residents on new resource website: I Am Homewood--this project reflects what can happen when we create networks among the various residents in our city. The Human Rights City Alliance helped bring creative and energetic folks together to enhance local knowledge and advance human rights advocacy work.
• The Case for Human Rights Today (February 2021)

People-Centered Human Rights: Analyses from Around the Nation and World

• “Unmasking the hidden power of cities”. (LA-A New Economy for All LAANE, Partnership for Working Families, In the Public Interest) June 2018.
• Statement of Principles - National Human Rights City Alliance and People-Centered Human Rights
• Human Rights Recommendations to the United States: A Desk Reference for State and Local Human Rights Agencies
• Resources for State and Local Human Rights Implementation
• Sanctuary Cities: Boston Principles on the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of Noncitizens
• Local Initiatives to Counter Violence-Promoting Political Extremism-- This document from the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Authorities was produced following violence at a 1995 white-supremacy concert organized by a growing right-wing movement. Examples of local initiatives can guide work in other communities to counter the exclusionary and hateful messages of such groups.
• Housing is a Human Right: Slideshow on international treaties and opportunities to promote the human right to housing

Dangerous Times: Defending Human Rights

• The Dangerous Rise of Populism: Global Attacks on Human Rights Values: "2017 World Report by Human Rights Watch" reminds us that "Values are fragile. Because the values of human rights depend foremost on the ability to empathize with others and "to recognize the importance of treating others the way we would want to be treated,” they are especially vulnerable to the demagogue's exclusionary appeal. A society's culture of respect for human rights needs regular tending, lest the fears of the moment sweep away the wisdom that built democratic rule."
• Truth-Telling for Reconciliation: Remembering Victims of Slavery & the Slave Trade March 25th is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
  • Relevant reading
    • The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    • Michael Dyson's Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon for White America.
    • UN initiatives to fight racism and xenophobia: Together (respect, safety and dignity for refugees and migrants), Let's Fight Racism", "Stand Up for Someone's Rights Today," and the International Decade for People of African Descent.
• Human Rights in Danger (Youth and public education resource) Human Rights Watch 2017 Report The Dangerous Rise of PopulismGlobal Attacks on Human Rights Values
• Teaching Tolerance: Talking with kids and adults about human rights "Speak up for civility"--Human Rights Educators USA
• Building a society that works for all: This election showed the urgency of people's need for major changes in the basic structure of our economy and government policies. Neither presidential candidate offered that. There is a need to build grassroots movements for economic and social transformation rather than allowing elites to determine what kind of society we live in. "Politicians from both parties lionize the entrepreneur, casting poverty ...as an individual shortcoming, a narrative that erases ...the structurally racist policies that have continued to maintain [white privilege]."
• See examples of legislation passed in Human Rights Cities of Washington DC and Eugene Oregon's Inclusive Community Resolution.
• Discussion Guideto Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian prepared for use around Indigenous Peoples Day 2017, but this resource can be used anytime to facilitate discussion and dialogue around themes of institutionalized racism, internalized oppression, and the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous communities and other communities of color in the United States.

Past Actions & Events

Actions HRCA Has Supported

• 2018 Communication Justice Initiative
• (2018) HRCA stood with the Community Power Movement and other advocates in calling for greater transparency and a commitment to community benefits from developers receiving public subsidies, including Amazon.
• (2017)Campaign to Stop Plan to Increase Policing on Public Transit-- This campaign led by the Alliance for Police Accountability, Casa San Jose, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, and the Thomas Merton Center warns that the Port Authority's planned fare enforcement policy would unfairly impact communities of color, increase the problematic trend of criminalizing young people, and threaten immigrant residents. The campaign called for civilian fare enforcers rather than armed Port Authority Police and a citation process rather than a criminal process to deal with fare evasion (See FAQs for more information).
• (2017) Pittsburgh Public Schools Passes Sanctuary Resolution
• (2016) Pittsburgh becomes 6th US City for CEDAW A broad coalition of human rights advocates helped advance a new ordinance enacting the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in our City, December 6, 2016.

University-Based Projects

• Pittsburgh area university faculty, staff, and graduate students are invited to join the University Human Rights Network. We invite volunteers from different campuses to help support work on your campus and coordinate with other campuses.
• Pitt Human Rights Initiative
• Campus worker organizing: Pitt faculty, graduate student workers, and other workers are organizing for their rights and to support and protect the right to education. Keep informed about the campaign on their website and Facebook page

Past Events

• (2024) 10th Annual Human Rights Cookout and Potluck - Sunday, August 25th, 2024. Around 60 human rights supporters and advocates came together to enjoy food, music and updates about human rights work happening in Pittsburgh.
• (2020) International Human Rights Day Public/Media Statement:Pittsburgh Joins Global Efforts to Target Systemic Racism, Bring Human Rights Home [1]
• See the summary of our Human Rights Cities Conference, hosted at the University of Pittsburgh
• Housing Summit 2016 & 2018
• (2017): Uniting Against Hate: Immigrant Rights, Racial Justice and the U.S. Prison System
• (2017) International Human Rights Day 2017 Press Conference at the City County Building
• (2016) International Workers Day March for Immigrant Rights 2016 Statement of Unity and Solidarity
• (2015)World Food Day Watch video recording of October 2015 panel on the Right to Food
• OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute-Human Rights in Pittsburgh and Beyond, Resource Page
• Teach-In: Uniting Against Hate: How the prison industrial complex impacts our communities & what we can do to change it.

Annual Reports

• 2019 Annual Report
• 2017 Annual Report
• 2016 Annual Report: See what we've done in the past year as we look forward to strengthening Pittsburgh activism for human rights in the year ahead!
• 2015 Annual Report

Archive

• (December 2023) Peoples Campaign for Reparations and Black Self-Determination- held a community forum on this theme to help organize and build a Reparations Commission for Black Residents of Pittsburgh.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Website: pghrights.org Facebook: pghrights

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e-mail: pghrights [at] riseup.net

Universal Declaration of Human Rights booklet with Pittsburgh's Human Rights City Proclamation

All Pages

• Communication Justice Initiative
• Forums on Amazon HQ2 and the Right to the City
• Frequently Asked Questions

• About the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Book Discussions
• Call for Artists
• Communication Justice Initiative
• Communications, Education and Outreach
• Community Safety & Policing
• Coordinating Committee
• Educator Outreach
• Events
• Films
• Forums on Amazon HQ2 and the Right to the City
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Health, Human Rights, and Cities Initiative
• Health is a Human Right
• Housing Justice
• Housing Justice Coalition Table
• Housing Justice Pittsburgh
• Housing Rights
• Housing Summit
• Housing Summit Resources
• How to get involved
• Human Rights Budgeting Resource Page
• Human Rights City Action Plan
• Indigenous Peoples Day in Pittsburgh
• International Human Rights Monitoring
• Jackies Homepage
• Learning from COVID-19:Shaping a Health and Human Rights Agenda for our Region
• Main Page
• Making the Global Local-Human Rights Cities Workshop
• Media Advisories
• Model Letter supporting Pennsylvania Fairness Act
• National Human Rights Cities Alliance Workshop 2018, Washington DC
• OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute-Human Rights in Pittsburgh and Beyond, Resource Page
• Outreach Material
• Participants Partners and Allies
• Past Working Group Activities and Reports
• Past events
• Pitt Human Rights Initiative
• Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Pittsburgh Human Rights Housing Strategy
• Pittsburgh delegation to Human Rights Cities Leadership Summit in Atlanta, May 2023
• Police Reform
• Policy, Legislation, & Governance (PLuG)
• Preliminary Schedule
• Reparations Resource Guide
• Resources
• Schedule
• Speakers
• Statement of principles
• Steering Committee
• Taking Back our Human Rights! Building a Black Regional Agenda for Justice
• Task Forces
• Teach-In
• U.S. Human Rights Network UDHR Campaign
• UPR Pittsburgh
• University Human Rights Network
• Washington DC 2016 Human Rights Cities Convergence
• Washington DC 2016 Human Rights Cities Convergence Documentation
• Workshop Human Rights Cities 2015 Making the Global Local
• Workshops
• Youth-led Candidate Forum
• Z Human Rights Days of Action 2015
• Z Human Rights Days of Action Spring 2015
• Zero Evictions Days 2020