The Soul of Black Pittsburgh

Emmai Alaquiva

Pittsburgh-based Emmy Award–winning filmmaker, photographer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges storytelling, social impact, and community empowerment.

Alaquiva’s creative practice focuses on documenting underrepresented voices and elevating stories from Black communities through film, visual media, and immersive cultural projects. His work often sits at the intersection of art and advocacy, using narrative storytelling to highlight resilience, identity, and collective history.

Beyond his production work, he is also a cultural strategist who develops creative initiatives that connect arts, education, and civic engagement — positioning storytelling as a tool for transformation in Pittsburgh and beyond.

In the city’s creative ecosystem, Alaquiva stands as a builder of narrative infrastructure — helping ensure that Black stories are not only told, but preserved and amplified across platforms.

Alisha B. Wormsley

Pittsburgh-based conceptual artist whose work blends Afrofuturism, installation, photography, and community storytelling.

Her practice centers Black women, collective memory, and the idea that the future is something communities actively create — not wait for. She is widely known for building creative spaces that function outside traditional institutions, including projects that support Black women and femme artists through residency, collaboration, and care-based practice.

Wormsley’s work challenges how art is accessed and who gets to define cultural value.

In Pittsburgh’s cultural landscape, she represents a powerful shift: art not just as expression, but as infrastructure for healing, imagination, and community building.

Reverend Cornell Jones

Pittsburgh-based pastor, activist, and violence prevention leader whose work bridges faith, public safety, and community healing.

He currently serves in city leadership focused on community affairs and violence intervention, coordinating outreach teams, residents, and public safety partners to reduce violence and strengthen neighborhood trust. His work is deeply rooted in direct engagement — meeting people where they are in communities most impacted by trauma and disinvestment.

Before his city leadership role, Reverend Jones spent more than a decade as a chaplain at SCI Pittsburgh, providing crisis support, mentoring, and conflict de-escalation services for incarcerated individuals. He has also led youth mentorship programs, street outreach efforts, and reentry initiatives supporting returning citizens.

At the center of his work is a consistent message: restoration over rejection. In Pittsburgh’s cultural landscape, Reverend Jones represents the bridge between public safety and community care — where faith, lived experience, and service converge to reshape outcomes for future generations.

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