Past Working Group Activities and Reports

2023-2024 Activities

• October 26, 2023-Reparations and the University’s Role in the City, Lunch and learn discussion with Davarian Baldwin, author of the book, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering our Cities.
• Together with the Urban History Association and the White Whale Bookstore the Human Rights Working Group hosted a book event on In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering our Cities with Professor Baldwin at the Westin Pittsburgh downtown. This event was part of the opening reception for the Urban History Association meeting on the theme of “Reparations and the Right to the City” (Oct. 26-29)
• Fair Housing Month-April 2024-The University Human Rights Working Group helped support the People's Assembly for Fair and Equitable Housing Co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, the Commission on Human Relations, the Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, and Casa San Jose. A number of our members contributed expertise to panels, and helped support student engagement in this important event that brought together students and others from area campuses, community leaders, and local residents. See full program here.

2021-2022 Activities

• November 2022-Back our Human Rights! Building a Black Regional Agenda for Justice Listening Session with UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent Member, Prof. Justin Hansford

• Using the Human Rights Framework for Racial Justice: A Conversation with Justin Hansford-Panel discussion event (Recording-November 18, 2022 by 1Hood Media).--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.

• Building a Black Regional Agenda for Justice-Summary Document (November 2022)

• Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice -American Apartheid City Series

• In this article in the University Times, “American Apartheid: From diagnosis to treatment and prevention” Jackie Smith & Noble Maseru introduce the series and discuss connections to social science and public health research

• Transforming systemic racism: Historical truth telling & reparations working group

• Summary: Conversations on the state of reparations organizing in Pittsburgh with local leaders Randall Taylor, Khalid Raheem, and Rev. Dale Snyder (Bethel AME Church), Nov. 16, 2022.

• ’’’Global Human Rights Expert/Advocate Visits Pittsburgh, Meets City Leaders and Residents’’’-In early April, together with the City’s Commission on Human Relations, and Pitt’s Global Studies Center (among other co-sponsors) we welcomed global housing expert, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha to meet with Pittsburgh public officials, housing advocates, students and other residents. We compiled this report on the visit, highlighting insights and recommendations from our discussions with Ms. Farha, who now leads global housing rights organization, The Shift.

2019-2020

• Learning from COVID-19: Shaping a Health and Human Rights Agenda for our Region Community forum series.
  • Letter to Mayor Peduto & County Executive Fitzgerald calling for a COVID-19 Social Equity Task Force

2018-2019

• Human Rights in Pittsburgh and the World: Dialogue Series Honoring the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Report on Activities: Fall 2018
• Human Rights Working Group Annual Report 2017-2018