Economy

Pittsburgh: A ‘Most Livable’ City, but Not for Black Women

Pittsburgh is the worst place for black women to live in for just about every indicator of livability, says the city’s Gender Equity Commission.
Burgundi Russell, a mother of a student at Pittsburgh's Woodland Hills High School who was part of a lawsuit filed against the Woodland Hills school district in 2017 for violating the civil rights of students.Dake Kang/AP

On June 14, Stanlee Allyn Holbrook, a 26-year-old black mother, parked her car on the Homestead Bridge in Pittsburgh and then took her life by jumping into the Monongehela River below. Her three children were left in the car. A neighbor, Joanna D’Amico, told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Lacretia Wimbley that Holbrook was a disciplined caregiver for her kids. She didn’t understand why Holbrook committed suicide because she “didn’t show a sign that something was wrong.”

It may have been a sign that there is something tremendously wrong with Pittsburgh, though, for black women.