Hill casino protesters put faith in 'Dr. Goddess'
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Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette
Kim EllisAt least for now, she's the queen of the Hill District, a diva with a Ph.D, the Dr. Goddess who uses hip-hop, satirical e-mails and a dogged determination to tell a casino developer to stay away from her neighborhood.
Some call her misguided. The casino, they say, could pour millions of dollars into a struggling community. But Kimberly Ellis, the home girl from Bedford Avenue, said she's just keeping it real when she chants "We don't want no casino on the Hill. Somebody raise your hand!"
Kim Ellis, who will be no more specific than "early 30s" in giving her age, earned her doctorate in African American studies from Purdue University.
She was raised in the Hill and still lives with her mother in the Bedford Avenue house where she grew up. She calls herself Dr. Goddess, also the name of her one-woman show and Web site www.drgoddess.com, where she describes herself as an artist, a scholar and an activist. She's done poetry slamming, dancing, acting and writing.
For the past few weekends, Ms. Ellis has taken her anti-casino gospel into one of the most traditional organizing venues in the black community: the church.
A month ago, she mounted the pulpit at Grace Memorial Presbyterian, one of the oldest churches on the Hill. Before she took her seat, she had the crowd waving its hands and chanting "We don't want no casino on the Hill" and poised to sign her petition. She calls it the "Raise your hands" campaign and today will test its strength when she, along with a coalition of Hill ministers, Hill residents and supporters from across the city, mounts a Speak Out and Resurrection Rally at Freedom Corner. The rally starts at 2 p.m.
The protesters aim to get the attention of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which is scheduled to award a slots license in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to one of three bidders. They are Forest City Enterprises, which wants to build a casino near Station Square; PITG Gaming, which has proposed a casino for the North Shore; and the Isle of Capri, whose multimillion dollar plan promises that no public dollars will be used to give the Penguins a new arena and offers redevelopment to the Hill, a community that has no grocery store or pharmacy.
Ms. Ellis isn't buying it. She says that casinos in other cities have done little for surrounding neighborhoods except burden them with crime, traffic, addiction-related troubles and more poverty. She also cites studies that show black Americans don't gamble as much as whites, but when they do, they are more likely to become addicted.
She believes the casino plan also threatens the historical and cultural legacy of the Hill, which is now known around the world because of her late uncle's Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. She is the niece of August Wilson, and, in his 10-play cycle, the setting of the Hill looms as large as any character.
Ms. Ellis' protests are theater. At today's event, there will be dancing, singing and poetry.
Ms. Ellis believes protest can be fun.
She freely channels pop-music references and pens her own rhythm-and-blues protest songs. Her next play is "Dr. Goddess Goes to Jail," a musical, spoken-word comedy that begins when she is arrested for lying in front of a bulldozer as a company begins development in the Hill.
She believes protest can be sexy.
At KDKA to film an interview on her activism, she checks her hair before going on air. At an outdoor rally in November, she runs from corner to corner in her high-heeled black boots. She peddles her brightly colored T-shirts to supporters: She wants her backers to look good.
She believes protest can be effective.
"Activism is the new black," she said, explaining that she believes political involvement is becoming a growing part of the African-American identity. "People need to get involved. Apathy is so yesterday."
She believes art and activism are natural partners.
Growing up, she said, "Even before I knew my uncle was a playwright, I saw the power of artists' presentations to inspire and change things."
She was a young girl when her mom, Freda, put her in dance classes at the Downtown YWCA. The teacher, Betty Love Gibbs, taught her the art of professionalism and presentation. Her fourth-grade teacher, Viola Burgess, helped give her a passion for black history and pageantry.
Artists are crucial as change agents, she said. Many in the black power movement used poetry and other art to begin their meetings. The civil rights warriors marched to spirituals and camp songs.
A new generation of protest, she said, is also a chance to show that young people appreciate the sacrifice that opened so many doors for them.
"Not all of us are focused on bling-bling; not all of us are focused on wearing our pants off of our behind; not all of us are focused on who can wear the tightest dress."
In the churches and in many community groups, opposition to a casino in the Lower Hill has been swirling since the summer. But it wasn't in the public forum.
Ms. Ellis said she heard people speaking against a casino on her way to church and on her way to chicken restaurants in the Hill.
She took it public on a cold and windy Nov. 3, when she staged an awareness rally.
Only six people showed up the first day; 30 people, the next.
"Grassroots organizing is difficult," said the Rev. Glenn Grayson, one of the Hill ministers who is against any casino development in the Hill. "It's difficult for any individual to galvanize people and Kim was able to gain momentum. She pulled [it] together."
Ms. Ellis thinks her voice is resonating because she comes at the right hour with the right combination of personality and time.
First Published December 16, 2006 12:00 am
