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Interfaith group demands changes
The Rev. Johnnie Monroe and Chief Executive Jim Roddey
Jasmine Gehris/Tribune-Review
Members of Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network met at Wesley Center AME Zion Church and presented a list of demands to city, county and state leaders. They seek changes in education, civil rights, economics and youth recreation.
"The magnitude of the group gives a message to the leaders that we will hold them accountable," said the Rev. Johnnie Monroe of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, founding member of the interfaith network.
Last night was the first time that the group publicly aired a list of issues considered necessary to address.
Members of the civil-rights task force criticized Pittsburgh police and accused them of racial profiling. They then demanded that the city release quarterly performance reports on officers.
Deputy Mayor Tom Cox agreed to arrange a meeting with network members, Mayor Tom Murphy and police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr., to discuss performance reports. The crowd burst into applause.
The interfaith network was founded three years ago by Monroe as a way to address problems in the community.
"We're many different faiths, but we feel a common moral concern about the conditions in our community and especially those who don't have the same opportunities," said Wallace Watson, secretary of the network. "We want to bring about systemic changes, not just one little problem here and there. We're not just waiting for God to solve all our problems."
Officials attending the meeting included Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey; state Sen. Jim Ferlo; four members of the Pittsburgh school board; and representatives from the city human relations department and Allegheny County coroner's office.
Andrew King, chief academic officer for the city schools, agreed to the education task force's demands for revising the school's history curriculum to include African and Muslim histories. He also agreed to increase enrollment at Miller African Centered Academy in the Hill District.
Youth-recreation committee members made an impassioned plea to the mayor's office to scrap plans to build three Ultimate Frisbee fields for $100,000 and, instead, to use the money to install computers at recreation centers.
Cox did not agree with the proposal, citing the city's budgetary restraints this year. Upon hearing the response, the crowd booed him.
The Rev. Maurine Waun, vice president of the interfaith network and pastor of East Suburban Unitarian-Universalist Church in Murrysville, said the session last night will not be the end of the meetings.
"We will be doing this every year," Waun said. "Our strength is in our interfaith community, and we will only get stronger."
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