World-travelling jazz drummer and educator, who became a professional musician at age 14.

For a time in the middle decades of the last century, Pittsburgh was one of the centers of Black life in America; musicians, athletes, writers and leaders from all walks of life put the Steel City on the map. Some of that history has been told. But every day, pieces of it are being lost, as the last living connections to those times pass on. Center of Life is going to begin collecting as many of these stories as possible before they are lost.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or by clicking the episodes below.

You can watch on our YouTube channel.

Jazz musicians who played with Herbie Hancock and Ahmad Jamal; founders of the Afro-American Music Institute in Homewood

For a time in the middle decades of the last century, Pittsburgh was one of the centers of Black life in America; musicians, athletes, writers and leaders from all walks of life put the Steel City on the map. Some of that history has been told. But every day, pieces of it are being lost, as the last living connections to those times pass on. Center of Life is going to begin collecting as many of these stories as possible before they are lost, in a new video podcast called “Black History: Closer Than You Think.”

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or by clicking the episodes below.

You can watch on our YouTube channel.

Lamont & Mary Shields are Gospel musicians, songwriters and producers. They were offered a chance at stardom by Berry Gordy of Motown Records, but would not compromise their music, and turned him down.

For a time in the middle decades of the last century, Pittsburgh was one of the centers of Black life in America; musicians, athletes, writers and leaders from all walks of life put the Steel City on the map. Some of that history has been told. But every day, pieces of it are being lost, as the last living connections to those times pass on. Center of Life is going to begin collecting as many of these stories as possible before they are lost, in a new video podcast called “Black History: Closer Than You Think.”

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or by clicking the episodes below.

You can watch on our YouTube channel.

Christine Washington was the first African-American manager at First Federal Savings & Loan in Downtown Pittsburgh.

For a time in the middle decades of the last century, Pittsburgh was one of the centers of Black life in America; musicians, athletes, writers and leaders from all walks of life put the Steel City on the map. Some of that history has been told. But every day, pieces of it are being lost, as the last living connections to those times pass on. Center of Life is going to begin collecting as many of these stories as possible before they are lost, in a new video podcast called “Black History: Closer Than You Think.”

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or by clicking the episodes below.

You can watch on our YouTube channel.