Even if Pittsburgh possessed an ordinary cityscape – something that belied the grand slopes and hillsides that crowded my childhood, something that was more flat than fizz – its bridges would still be the sinews that hold everything together: the culture.
Bridges are a connecting point. They tie us together. The bridges, photos of which you’ll often find on postcards from their positions in various locations around the city, are made from hard steel and are the conduits to destinations and discoveries that natives and tourists alike find exciting.
But the City of Bridges is incredibly inconsistent with naming and nomenclature. If Pittsburgh’s bridges are so important — so heralded that they are named after the greatest Pittsburghers ever — why then are there no bridges named after a Black Pittsburgher?
I posed the question recently to fellow members of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation and decided to expand my thoughts in this piece.
Since moving away from Pittsburgh and settling in Central Pennsylvania, I’ve been fascinated with the lore of what makes my hometown great. “I love the bridges,” is a common response that I receive from people I meet in Central Pennsylvania who have visited Pittsburgh. I couldn’t agree more.
The bridges added much to my experiences growing up in Pittsburgh. I would travel along Hot Metal Bridge that connects from Oakland to the South Side in my grandparents’ green Kia to hangout and shop in the upstart shopping centers of the South Side.
I connect with the Andy Warhol Bridge because on the tail end of that bridge sits the Andy Warhol Museum. It was here that I learned how to fuse creative writing with other creative disciplines through after-school programs that I attended while a student at the Pittsburgh High School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA).
I cannot forget the Rachel Carson Bridge or the Roberto Clemente Bridge, whose lock-decorated path is always a bustling passageway of people (like family friend, “Reggie the Saxophone Man.”)
Whenever I mentioned to friends, family or acquaintances that Pittsburgh needs a bridge named after a Black Pittsburgher, Clemente’s name would often come up. The great ballplayer was a humanitarian who died serving others. I don’t want to discount Clemente’s legacy or erase his heritage, but Clemente was Afro-Puerto Rican. He is more often thought of as a Latino legend than a Black one.Clemente was not Black in the sense of say, August Wilson, who came of age in Black Pittsburgh.
On a recent trip to Pittsburgh with my teenage daughter, we traveled over the Warhol Bridge. I pointed out PNC Park, my high school (Pittsburgh CAPA) and several other local landmarks that mean something to me. Much to my disappointment, I couldn’t point to a bridge named after a Black Pittsburgher.
If Pittsburgh truly values its Black residents, it would give equal treatment to them by lifting up one of its own to denote the beauty, talent and hard work that Black Pittsburghers have contributed and continue to contribute to the region. Without a namesake bridge, part of Pittsburgh’s iconography, the city is advertising to its Black residents that they are second-class citizens. That who they are should remain nameless and out of sight, only to appear in the imaginations of those pointing in the cool night air, as I was. Yet, the contributions of Black Pittsburgh are so great that it’s difficult to limit their brilliance.
Here are some Black Pittsburghers who I think are more than worthy of having a bridge named after them.
August Wilson
August Wilson, the great literary phenom and darling of Black Pittsburgh should be top of the list.We have the grand August Wilson African American Cultural Center and the August Wilson House, which bears the late playwright’s name. I believe August Wilson would be a worthy addition to the many named bridges.The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright would have turned 80 yesterday, April 27, and a bridge named in his honor would be a fitting recognition to his artistic service and legacy.
Alma Speed Fox
The civil rights icon is someone who deserves to have her legacy preserved by being the namesake of a city bridge. In the Hill District, Fox’s legacy reigns — her work to make Pittsburgh equitable for all deserves a space on a bridge.
Billy Porter
Billy Porter is a contemporary name whose creative boldness catapulted him to the highest levels of artistic achievement.
Billy Strayhorn
The iconic jazz pianist was a trendsetter. His name is currently half of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh.
The Black Pittsburgher whom the city chooses to name a bridge after does not need to be uber famous. They can be anyone who has made life in Pittsburgh meaningful for all residents, Black or otherwise.
There are others who could fit that category: Mayor Ed Gainey (first Black mayor of Pittsburgh), Damon Young, Kathy Humphrey, Marimba Milliones, John Edgar Wideman, Emmai Alaquiva, Tim Stevens, Sala Udin or state Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes, to name a few.
And if a bridge were to be named for a Black Pittsburgher, it should be prominently located (namely, around the Downtown epicenter) and it should be painted in classic Pittsburgh gold.
Jamar Thrasher is a Pennsylvania-based writer of fiction and non-fiction. He has published works in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PennLive and the Pennsylvania Capital Star, among other outlets.
