There's a guy who takes an evening bus to work to clean a City office building for a little more than minimum wage. He's a little afraid since the evening hours are anticipated to be the most confrontational. Since he's not a City employee or a unionized employee, he has no choice. His fear makes me sad.
I just don't understand why our City leaders seem so immune to the economic realities people are facing. Will Bill Peduto or Dan Gilman suffer without two days pay? Maybe a little bit, but I bet they can still pay for their housing and groceries.
I want protestors' civil rights protected, but I'd also like to see some action on the livelihood of folks making less than $30,000/year who work downtown. Will Jim Motznik talk with their landlords about being late on the rent? Is Theresa Smith going to drop off some goceries? Might Darlene Harris negotiate with Duquesne Light and Equitable Gas to waive usage charges for 48 hours?
Sigh.
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Found out that this guy has been graciously told not to worry about cleaning his building on Thursday and Friday. So while he doesn't have to be afraid or struggle to get to work those evenings …. guess who isn't getting paid?
So, that's what … another $120 to add to the “cost” of the G-20?
Pittsburgh's G-20 story: Take an expressway from town and disappear into desolate 'hoods and encounter the civilization of menace. Pittsburgh, a dual city! The glass wonder of PPG Place and/or the G-20 Summit is a faded memory. Here in the 'hood lives lie abandoned as far as the eye can see.
That is: For the most part, African-American Pittsburgh seems to be invisible, not only to the public relations hucksters who tout Pittsburgh's successes, but we are equally invisible to the protesters.
Certainly, black Pittsburgh is as proud as anybody is that the black President we worked so hard to elect has selected Pittsburgh as the host of the G-20 Summit. We even enjoy the re-invention of Pittsburgh from a dirty, smoky steel-churning history to the bright, clean, green financial success that the business leaders and politicians boast about so loudly. Nobody is more proud of the Super Bowl winning African-American coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin. But none of that feel-good stuff erases the pain of the stubbornly high unemployment among African American young adults and the staggering dropout rate for young black males from the public school system.