Brown Mamas Partners with Reconstruction for History of Black Pittsburgh Class

By now, everyone knows that Pittsburgh was voted the most livable city in the nation a few years back. However, very few people are aware of the region's reputation as a place of supreme significance in Black history. From the jazz greats of the History Hill District to being the home of the first Black Opera House; from Downtown Pittsburgh to Wilkinsburg our City of Bridges is steeping in Black History.

That's why it was no-brainer for Brown Mamas to collaborate with Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, the Grable Foundation and Reconstruction.us to create a History of Black Pittsburgh class and docu-series for Black families in the region.

In the Spring of 2021, founder and CEO, Muffy Mendoza, was contacted by the Grable Foundation to work alongside, Tammy Thompson, founder and CEO of Catapult Greater Pittsburgh to galvanize families around unapologetically Black-center learning opportunities created by Reconstruction.us with it's robust collection of classes created for Black kids by Black educators.

The partnership was a hit from the beginning when the collective developed its first Soul Food Cooking class in Summer of 2021. Over 100 families showed up for classes to learn the history, science and mathematics behind cooking the country's first cuisine: soul food, meals prepared by enslaved Africans in southern kitchen that have become a hallmark for American casual and classic dining.

Due to the early success, the collective decided to get even more ambitious in it's offerings requesting that Reconstruction bring it's team to Pittsburgh to create a truly unique and poignant experience with the History of Black Pittsburgh Course.

Reconstruction's team comprised of Taccarra Marzette and Rachel Ettienne visited Pittsburgh, camera crew in tow, and filmed local historians and storytellers, like Terri Baltimore to develop a course that includes a mini-docuseries and walking tour of the historic Hill District.

The course is currently being offered to 100 families-of-color in the region free of charge. In this video, Muffy Mendoza and Rachel Ettienne talk about the impact they are hoping the course will have and why it's important families support this project.

To sign up for the History of Black Pittsburgh Class visit the Reconstruction website here. Use the CODE: PITTSHISTORY to take the class free of charge.