Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance

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

Donate to support human rights!

About Us

Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance is a grassroots network of individuals and groups committed to advancing and protecting human rights for all people in our region. We work to create a culture of human rights by building and supporting broad coalitions advocating for human rights, fostering human rights learning, and promoting policies that help all people to live with dignity and justice.

We work 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 foster a human rights culture that maximizes human rights and dignity for all people who live in our region. We help network leading community organizations and concerned residents to advance people-centered human rights in Pittsburgh.

• Coordinating Committee
• Advisory Board
• About the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Human Rights Cities Principles
• Introduction to the Human Rights Cities Movement
• Resources for starting a Human Rights City initiative near you

Ways to Get Involved

Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletterfor updates on events & action opportunities!

University Human Rights Working Group: Faculty members, staff and graduate students can subscribe here.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Join a Working Group
--Working groups meet regularly to develop projects on specific issues. Everyone is welcome to attend & learn about local human rights issues and find ways to get involved! Current working groups include:

• Housing Rights
• Community Safety & Policing
• Communications, Education and Outreach
• Policy, Legislation, & Governance (PLuG)

For more information, meeting times and links, please contact Maddy McGrady at madeline@theglobalswitchboard.org

Donate

Don't have time to volunteer? You can still support our work to bring human rights home by making a donation via our fiscal sponsor, The Global Switchboard. Simply select "Human Rights City Alliance" as the beneficiary.

Calendar

Housing Rights Working Group Meeting
Tuesday, March 18, 6:00-7:00PM on Zoom (Email madeline@theglobalswitchboard.org for the Zoom link)

All are welcome to get involved in planning the April Housing Justice Summit!

Webinar: Empowering Cities and Communities as Human Rights Defenders: Global tools and strategies,
Thursday, March 13, 6:00 PM Eastern/ 3:00 PM Pacific Time on Zoom

Register here

From our national partner, the Human Rights Cities Alliance: The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council drew headlines, but it has no bearing on the country’s legal obligations to uphold globally recognized and long-standing human rights standards. Over recent years, proponents of human rights and international law helped strengthen international monitoring and accountability processes, and this year we have the opportunity to hold our leaders accountable to these globally recognized laws and standards. This panel features local and national human rights leaders offering expertise and insights into how civil society and government actors can use UN tools to support and defend the rights of people in their communities. Find out how your community can build the power of cross-city solidarity!

Panelists: Jamil Dakwar, Director, American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program; Danielle Landen, M.A. student in Human Rights Practice, University of Arizona & Intern, Human Rights Cities Alliance; Julio Mateo, Dayton United for Human Rights; Joshua Cooper, Human Rights Cities Alliance; Facilitator: Jackie Smith, Human Rights Cities Alliance & Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance.

TEACH-IN: Local Impacts of Washington's Executive Orders & How We Can Fight Back
Saturday, March 29, 10am-2pm, HAVEN, 401 Atwood St. PGH 15213 (Oakland)

Facebook Event

Flyer

How are repressive policies being handed down from Washington impacting people and organizations in our community? What are the different challenges faced by our marginalized Black, immigrant, LGBT, and poor communities in the city of Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas? How are these changes affecting the future of our democracy and our ability to address long-standing challenges like affordable housing, the climate emergency, and persistent inequality and racism? This teach-in offers space for local community members to learn from local advocates and experts, discuss ideas and visions for working together to promote community-building responses to the challenges we face and network with folks interested in keeping our city and region safe for all residents.

Featuring speakers from: Abolitionist Law Center; Against Carceral Tech; Black Socialist formation; Alliance for Police Accountability; Take Action Advocacy Group; Casa San Jose; Pittsburghers for Public transit; Human Rights City Alliance

Housing is Healthcare: Community-Driven Initiatives in Pittsburgh and Beyond
Thursday, April 3, 2025, 4:45pm, with reception to follow, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Room A115

Housing remains a critical social determinant of health and a key driver of health inequities in our city. But, what aspects of housing matter most for people’s long-term health and well-being? What are the initiatives being implemented in the Pittsburgh region to improve housing security among its residents, and what potential do those efforts have to improve the health of residents? What lessons can we take from other settings?

April is Fair Housing Month, and this panel is part of a community-wide Housing Justice Summit taking place April 3-5th. The goal of this panel is to break down barriers between university and community cooperation and facilitate interdisciplinary connections among those working and interested in housing and health at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Pittsburgh community. Our objectives are to 1. Identify and discuss why housing is a priority public health and human rights issue in Pittsburgh and beyond. 2. Spotlight local initiatives to improve housing stability for people in Pittsburgh. 3. Explore novel and innovative housing programs/interventions/policies to improve health and well-being 4. Consider ways we can increase public attention to the connections between social, economic, and cultural rights and public health in order to advance equity and well-being for everyone in our community.

Reading & Conversation!: Abolish Rent by Tracy Rosenthal
Friday, April 4, 2025, 7:00-8:00PM, White Whale Bookstore (livestream option available here)

For more information, visit whitewhalebookstore.com/events

Prior to being the keynote speaker at the Housing Justice Summit on Saturday April 5, Tracy will give a talk on their book Abolish Rent at White Whale Bookstore on Friday April 4th.

About the book: Rent drives millions into debt, despair, and onto the streets. The social cost of rent is too damn high. Written for anyone fed up with the permanent housing crisis, complicit politicians, and real estate greed, Abolish Rent dissects our housing system from the perspective of those it immiserates. Through brisk, unequivocating analysis and striking stories of resistance, it shows us how tenants can, through organizing and collective action, finally rebalance the scales.

From two co-founders of the largest tenants' union in the country, this deeply reported account of the resurgent tenant movement centers poor and working-class people who are fighting back, staying put, and remaking the city in the process. Authors Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis take us to trilingual strategy meetings, raucous marches against gentrification, and daring eviction defenses where immigrants put their lives on the line. These are the seeds of the revolutionary movement we need to make our housing, our cities, and the world our home.

About the Author: Tracy Rosenthal is a co-founder of the L.A. Tenants Union, a frequent contributor to The New Republic, and the author, with Leonardo Vilchis, of Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis, published by Haymarket. They are now on rent strike in New York City.

Pittsburgh Housing Justice Summit
Saturday, April 5, 2025, 9:00AM - 4:00PM, University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building

Register Here

Flyer

Pittsburgh area residents and others are invited to learn about what’s driving rising housing prices in our communities, how tenants can defend their rights and improve conditions, and how community activists and organizations and elected officials are working to bring new solutions to the deepening crisis of housing insecurity. Although housing is a human right protected under both national and international law, governments haven’t done enough to guarantee all people–especially the most vulnerable– a right to a safe and secure home. We believe that a better city is possible. Be part of the work to realize a city where everyone can enjoy safe, stable and affordable housing.

Keynote speaker: Tracy Rosenthal, co-founder, Los Angeles Tenants Union & co-author of Abolish Rent: How Tenants can end the Housing Crisis (Haymarket Books)

Co-sponsors: Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, City of Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, The Global Switchboard

BEYOND THE BRIDGE: A Solution to Homelessness
April 30 2025, the August Wilson Center

Pittsburgh will host an important new documentary called BEYOND THE BRIDGE: A Solution To Homelessness. The film and impact tour is designed to help communities align their efforts towards solving homelessness.The film team traveled over 40,000 miles around the US to answer this question: How can this country solve homelessness in a comprehensive way? The impact campaign is focused on changing the national discourse on solutions to homelessness, addressing the upstream causes of homelessness, and addressing the downstream needs via housing and robust supportive services. Learn more about the film here.

Pittsburgh Event Steering Committee Members: Maddy McGrady, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance & Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table; Sam Schmidt, Our Streets Collective; Man-E, 1Hood; Dave Lettrich, Street Medicine Institute; David Ellwood and Emilia Morris, Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations; Lisa Frank, Office of Mayor Ed Gainey; Ed Nusser, Office of County Executive Sara Innamorato; Chuck Keenan, Allegheny County Department of Human Services

Current Work

The Human Rights City Alliance helps build alliances among individuals and groups in our area supporting human rights for all. We support local engagement in national and international human rights advocacy, and participate in UN human rights reviews of U.S. policies.

Universal Periodic Review 2025

We are currently involved in the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. government and will be hosting a series of related community forums. See our Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies, submitted as part of the global work to improve compliance with international human rights law.

Working Groups Our current working groups focus on the following issue areas, and they are shaped by efforts of volunteers like you!

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

Steel City Cooperative Housing Initiative

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)

Immigrant Rights

HRCA partners with the Global Switchboard, Casa San Jose, and other organizations led by and supporting immigrants and immigrant rights. We also collaborate with advocates and experts in the National Human Rights Cities Alliance to uplift ways cities can organize locally to protect and strengthen immigrant rights.

Recent events & actions:

• (January 29, 2025) How Cities Can Defend Human Rights in the Face of Mass Deportations, Hosted by the Human Rights Cities Alliance and Young Initiative on the Global Economy, Occidental College. Panelists: Mary Meg McCarty, National Immigrant Justice Center, Bettina Rodriguez Schlegel, Chief of Staff-Acacia Center for Justice, Ev Meade, Director, Proceso Pacifico & Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee Webinar recording How Cities Can Defend Human Rights in the Face of Mass Deportations

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)

Policy, Legislation and Governance (PLuG): 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 Events & Actions

• (December 10 2024) International Human Rights Day Press Conference & Proclamation. The Human Rights City Alliance assisted in bringing together City leaders, residents, and community groups to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to renew our shared commitment to using human rights as a path to building a just and equitable city in which everyone can thrive. The Mayor's office also issued and presented our proclamation recognizing Dec. 10 as International Human Rights Day in the City of Pittsburgh.

Relevant Documents

• 2011 City Council Proclamation declaring Pittsburgh a "HUMAN RIGHTS CITY."
• 2024 Proclamation by Mayor Ed Gainey recognizing December 10 as International Human Rights Day and "affirm[ing] the City's commitment to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights and promote a culture of human rights in our City."
• 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

Resources

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

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

• Official Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies (multiple years)

Past Events & Actions

• Past Actions & Events

Archive

• Archive

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

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
• Archive
• Book Discussions
• Bringing Human Rights Home
• 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 Rights Resources Page
• Housing Summit
• Housing Summit Resources
• How Cities Can Defend Human Rights in the Face of Mass Deportations
• 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 Actions & Events
• 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
• Recordings & Documentation
• Reparations Resource Guide
• Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies
• Resources
• Schedule
• Speakers
• Statement of principles
• Steel City Cooperative Housing
• 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
• University Human Rights Working Group
• 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