Dannielle Brown hasn’t eaten in more than a month. But she says she hasn’t breathed in nearly two years.
“We’re in the day and time of Black Lives Matters, and there is a slogan that is constantly being shared that is ‘I can’t breathe.’ That’s literally this mom,” Brown said. “There was an incident that happened to my son, and since Oct. 4, 2018, this mom has not been able to breathe."
Brown’s son, Marquis Jaylen Brown, died on that day, when he fell from the window of his 16th floor dorm room on Duquesne University’s campus. The school says he was acting erratically before his death and investigations by the university and the City of Pittsburgh concluded that he used a chair to break the window and jumped, all while police officers were in the room. Brown says that story doesn’t add up.
About 100 current or former Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh employees signed an open letter last week criticizing management.
The message: “Black lives simply do not matter to museum leadership.”
Last week, the Pittsburgh Public Schools board of directors officially decided to go online-only for the first nine weeks of school due to the coronavirus pandemic. Board member Kevin Carter introduced the proposal, saying the health and safety of students, teachers and staff is on the line.
Helping explain the headlines:
- Sarah Schneider, education reporter
- Ariel Worthy, government and accountability reporter
- Bill O'Driscoll, arts and culture reporter
Pittsburgh Explainer is hosted by Liz Reid and produced by Katie Blackley. New episodes come out every Friday. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify.
