PINJ | Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism

Social Justice

‘Mighty Harlan County,’ film about the Blackjewel miners, will be shown through the Battle of Homestead Foundation 

by Jody DiPerna On May 11, the Battle of Homestead will show the film ‘Mighty Harlan County,’ followed by a conversation with film director Jared Hamilton moderated by the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.  UPDATE:  The May 11th event at 7:30 is the roundtable discussion with the filmmaker. Viewers will want to view the film,…

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Incarcerated person dies after jumping from building in downtown Pittsburgh

Brittany Hailer William Spencer, 24, a man in custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, jumped from a building on the 300 block of the Boulevard of the Allies in downtown Pittsburgh. He died after being rushed to UPMC Mercy Hospital on Monday, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. The Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit…

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Pa. Lt. Gov. Davis joins multi-state abortion alliance

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis announced on Monday that he has joined a national group of lieutenant governors to expand and protect access to reproductive rights nationwide.  by Cassie Miller for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star Known as The Reproductive Freedom Coalition, the group of 22 Democratic lieutenant governors is focused on protecting abortion access in their states, including through…

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PINJ has paid particular attention to the Allegheny County Jail throughout the pandemic, tracking the deaths of those in custody as well as the conditions incarcerated individuals have been forced to endure.

View all of our coverage on the Allegheny County Jail by clicking here.

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The Short-Stories in Jolene McIlwain’s New Collection, ‘Sidle Creek’ Are Essential Tales of Northern Appalachia

by Jody DiPerna Kittanning author’s new story collection simmers with country community, pain and perseverance  Jolene McIlwain was an outside kid; she was always out of doors, getting dirty and wet in the high grass, roaming the power cuts, hills and creeks of western Pennsylvania. Her storytelling springs from being in these places and creating…

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Three Short Stories from “Sidle Creek”

by Jolene McIlWain from “Sidle Creek” courtesy of the author and Belt Magazine Eminent Domain Cheezer worms up behind me, covers my eye sockets with his cold hands and breathes into my neck the word, “Guess.” He has something to tell and he loves rumor so much it makes him tremble; when he spreads it,…

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Labor, Solidarity and Nursing

Soon, nurses saw the gulf widen between their values and those of an increasingly commodified healthcare system by Eva Rosenfeld for Belt Magazine “Why do nurses strike?” A nurse and state union leader named Nadine Furlong delivered a speech with this title at a 1984 ethics conference sponsored by the University of Michigan. Furlong was…

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Advocating for accommodations has been a constant, but largely quiet, struggle for college students with disabilities since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990.

Read from our award-winning series, Leveling the Playing Field, here.

Books

New Book “This Is My Jail” Digs Deep on the History of Jails in America

by Jody DiPerna Melanie Newport is an historian who teaches urban history and criminal justice history at the University of Connecticut at Hartford. Her book, “This Is My Jail:  Local Politics and the Rise of Mass Incarceration” has just been released by the University of Pennsylvania Press.  Melanie Newport wanted to understand the history of…

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Education

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Education in Pittsburgh was upended in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly closed schools. Since then, as multiple virus waves have swept the nation, students have been in and out of physical classrooms, learning sometimes online, sometimes in person, sometimes not at all. How will they rebound?

Read more from Playing the Long Game here.

Commentary

Exiles Living in a Church

By Kristin Kovacic, Belt Magazine It certainly isn’t cool, or edgy, or funny–the things people say about what it must be like to live in a church. It’s relentless. . . . Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.—Psalm 83 St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist…

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Pa.’s criminal legal system increases overdose deaths and makes recovery impossible | Opinion

By Sean Fogler and Carla Sofronski , Pennsylvania Capital-Star In 2021, over 5,300 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to a preventable drug overdose. Pennsylvania policy makers and local government officials have led the charge in fueling this historic public health crisis. While there are many factors contributing to this horrific toll, Pennsylvania’s criminal legal system stands…

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