Group launches website to provide news, give voice to Black community in Pittsburgh

A Pittsburgh-based group of artists and activists has launched a website aimed to amplify the city’s Black voices.

The group behind the site, 1Hood Media, uses its platform to raise awareness for social issues.

In launching BlackPittsburgh.com, 1Hood Media hopes to become a destination for news, events and resources catered specifically to the Black community.

The website had a soft launch on Juneteenth and was officially unveiled to the public Tuesday.

The site features stories about de-centering police from the lives of Black people and expanding notions of Blackness. It also includes news on politics, health and entertainment sections and podcasts.

“BlackPittsburgh.com is an extension of the work we began at 1Hood Media over 10 years ago to authentically tell our own stories,” said Jasiri X, founder and CEO of 1Hood Media.

The website will aim to capture positive images, tell accurate stories of Black Pittsburgh and elevate diverse voices, 1Hood Media said.

“There are so many misrepresentations and falsehoods about Black people in mainstream media,” said Keisha N. Blain, an award-winning historian, professor and writer. “We deserve venues that center the voices of Black people and allow us the uninhibited space to tell our own stories with nuance and vitality.”

The website will build upon the tradition of previous publications like Freedom’s Journal, The North Star, The Chicago Defender and The New Pittsburgh Courier. The site will enlist journalists and historians.

“Black and Brown people and institutions must tell their own stories to ensure that our past, present and future in the Americas is seen for their long, large, varied and terrible dimensions,” said Chris Jenkins, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, independent filmmaker and former reporter and editor at The Washington Post. “In an era when the forces who have buried the trust are redoubling their efforts to whitewash the past, being in control of our own narratives that honestly dissect our wide and wondrous humanity couldn’t be more vital.”

The website provides a platform for 1Hood Media and 1Hood Power’s podcasts, like “What Black Pittsburgh Needs to Know” — a virtual townhall co-hosted with UrbanKind Institute and Black Women, Wise Women — and “This Week in White Supremacy,” which highlights ways to become anti-racist. The site’s “In Your Hood” segment will feature community members, organizations and events.

BlackPittsburgh.com will also bring expert insights to those disproportionately impacted by racial and gender inequalities.

People can submit story ideas through the site’s contact page or have conversations on the site’s forums.