Available online on-demand! PREMIERED ON WQED TV13 What changes a given event from mere occurrence into actual history? With the recent passing of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, many Pittsburghers have had occasion to recall this city's struggles during those turbulent times. The fight for equal housing, equal access, and equal pay was as real - and nearly as frightening - in Allegheny County as it was anywhere else in America.
"Torchbearers," a new hour-long documentary will revisit those times, and many of the men and women who lit the way for the generations that followed. Hosted by Chris Moore - of WQED's "Black Horizons" and "OnQ" - and co-produced by Minette Seate, the special is a celebration of lives driven by a greater purpose.
The special profiles the late Rev. Dr. Leroy Patrick, Judge Livingstone Johnson, Dr. Helen Faison, attorney Wendell Freeland, Thelma Lovette, Rev. Jimmy Joe Robinson, Alma Speed Fox, Regis Bobonis, Sr., former Olympic athlete Herb Douglas, pioneering realtor Robert Lavelle, and features Professor Lawrence Glasco.
These pioneers recount tales of picket lines and death threats; hot rivets falling from the sky during protests of the segregated construction of the US Steel Building; and the Rev. Dr. LeRoy Patrick's daring leap into the "unofficially restricted" Highland Park pool - when he couldn't even swim.
With grace, dedication and a disregard for their own safety, these pioneers - and many others like them - blazed a trail that changed a city. "Torchbearers" premieres on WQED tv13 on Thursday, February 23 at 8 pm. It is underwritten by the University of Pittsburgh with additional funding from the African American Chamber of Commerce.
Torchbearers, Past and Present |
WQED thanks its sponsors
Wendell Freeland 
JUDGE LIVINGSTONE JOHNSON
CHRIS MOORE WITH MRS. THELMA LOVETTE
REVEREND JIMMY JOE ROBINSON
ROBERT LAVELLE
CHRIS MOORE WITH REGIS BORBONIS, SR.
CHRIS MOORE WITH ALMA SPEED FOX
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Live weeknights at 7:30 with encore broadcasts the same night at midnight and the following weekday at 12:30p.m. on the Create Channel. Live weeknights at 7:30 with encore broadcasts the same night at midnight and the following weekday at 12:30p.m. on the Create Channel.