PIIN 20th Annual Banquet

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Residents, activists concerned about racist graffiti in Swissvale

Residents and activists on Wednesday decried a recent incident of racist graffiti at a Swissvale transit parklet and demanded a stronger response from the borough government. The group of eight that held a press conference outside of the Swissvale council meeting said they were “troubled” by graffiti on a garbage can in early November that […]

PIIN Releases Statement of Christchurch Shooting

Clergy, Spiritual Leaders and other leaders in PIIN, Once again, this world finds itself responding to another senseless mass shooting that took place in a house of worship. The hatred in this country and in the world has once again risen to a level that the infringement upon the sacred is not even questioned. Where […]

Applaud this training in the city police force

The Public Safety Task Force of the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (of which I am a member) has been working to ensure violent confrontations between the police and residents of this city are things of the past. A hopeful sign has been a move by the Pittsburgh police department to add new modules to the training and retraining of its officers. The modules are: “Procedural Justice,” “Implicit Bias” and “Racial Reconciliation.” The first two have been implemented and the third is soon to follow.

Continue McLay’s good work

When Mayor Bill Peduto hired former police Chief Cameron McLay two years ago, it had been just a couple of short months since the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City. Across the nation, people were waking up to the reality that people of color are more than twice as likely to be shot by police than whites. Many were finally questioning how police officers operate in communities of color and the disparate treatment to which people of color are subjected.

Tony Norman: Confronting ‘the psychology of bias’ without fear

Last Thursday, Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay did something extraordinary at St. James AME Church. Speaking before a gathering of faith leaders assembled by the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network, Chief McLay spoke with the honesty and bluntness that has characterized his nearly two-year stint in Pittsburgh.

Faith leaders call for community dialogue on racism, policing, equity

In response to the police shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas, faith leaders from around the country are starting a dialogue about racial disparities and what it means to be a person of color in America. We’ll hear more on the community conversation from Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network President Reverend Rodney Lyde and Reverend Dave Swanson.