Brian Brown Follows a Path of Purpose From the Hill District to Heinz College

Brian Brown developed a passion for activism when he was in grade school. Inspired by a parent-led effort to keep the Miller African-Centered Academy in the Hill District from closing, Brown went on to become an organizer with local nonprofits.

“It’s like (civil right activist) John Lewis once said about himself, ‘I’m always in good trouble,’” Brown said. “When I see something, I speak up and do something about it.”

Since joining Carnegie Mellon in 2020, Brown has worked for the Tepper School of Business and the Information Networking Institute. Currently, he is the administrative and events coordinator for the Block Center for Technology and Society in the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.

Researchers at the Block Center examine the societal and economic impacts of artificial intelligence. The center invests in faculty-led projects aligned with its three focus areas: how emerging technologies will alter the future of work, how AI and analytics can be harnessed responsibly for social good, and how innovation in these spaces can be more inclusive and improve quality of life for all. “We find ways to responsibly incorporate AI,” Brown said.

The process of managing logistics for Block Center events is nothing new for Brown. He’s done similar work before with various nonprofits. His greatest success is the August Wilson Birthday Celebration Block Party — an annual celebration Brown helped to create almost a decade ago that is still going strong. 

In 2015, Brown joined the board of directors of the Daisy Wilson Artist Community, which promotes the legacy of playwright August Wilson. The board’s top priority is August Wilson House, a project to transform and preserve Wilson’s childhood home in the Hill District.

Recognized as the “theatre’s poet of Black America,” Wilson is best known for his 10-play “Pittsburgh Cycle,” which documents the African American experience in the 20th century. The fourth play of the cycle, “Fences,” is set in the Hill District during the 1950s and won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. 

Wilson’s nephew, Paul Ellis Jr., purchased the abandoned house at 1727 Bedford Avenue in 2005. Prior to his uncle’s death later that year, the two discussed future plans for the space. Wilson told Ellis he didn't want the house resurrected as a monument to himself. He hoped it could become a haven for writers and artists — a place for dreamers and doers.

A decade after Wilson’s death, the building was on the verge of collapse. “People in the neighborhood were complaining and rightfully so because bricks were literally falling off of it,” Brown said.

Ellis formed the the Daisy Wilson Artist Community, named for August’s mother, and launched a fundraising campaign to repair the Wilson House. He secured a $1 million gift from Denzel Washington, who starred in a film adaptation of “Fences” in 2016. Washington coaxed additional donations from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Samuel L. Jackson, Shonda Rhimes and Antoine Fuqua.

To spur more donations, the group needed to build excitement around the project. Brown figured the best way to attract local investors was to make people feel at home in Wilson’s old neighborhood.

“To me, the one word that best describes August Wilson is community,” Brown said. “What he represents is when you invest in people, you create healthy, thriving communities. When you heal communities, you heal people. He was always people-centered.”

Brown came up with the idea of holding a block party at the Bedford Avenue site with live music, activities and vendors. He envisioned it as a way to raise awareness about the August Wilson House and lure investors.

The Daisy Wilson Artist Community’s board approved Brown’s plan. A group of volunteers from Duquesne University helped get it off the ground.

“Brian‘s idea to have a block party was brilliant,” said Kathleen Glenister Roberts, director of the Honors College and a professor of Catholic studies at Duquesne. “It injected life into everything we did.” 

“Brian played a significant role during our initial debut of the block party,” Ellis said.

With a shoestring budget, Brown and the block party team recruited sponsors, lined up food trucks and vendors, applied for permits, and cleaned up and organized the area. 

“Brian was our rock through the entire planning process,” Roberts said. “He had such a can-do spirit and solved every problem with little drama or fuss. Every project needs somebody who believes in the goal and has the practical ability to get it done. I’m forever grateful to Brian for doing that.”

The inaugural block party was held on April 27, 2016, on what would have been Wilson’s 71st birthday. Around 1,000 people, including Pittsburgh’s then-mayor, Bill Peduto, turned out for the daylong celebration. 

The block party has since become an annual event. Held on the Saturday closest to Wilson’s birthday, the party has corporate sponsorships and draws thousands of supporters from across the country. This year’s event featured about 200 vendors and food trucks, musical performances, a poetry slam and a baking contest.

“I was so proud at the first block party,” Brown said. “I’d always believed that in order for the house to (survive), people have to feel connected and drawn to it and feel like it's actually their home, too. By preserving his home, we're protecting August’s legacy and helping the next generation understand his legacy. Now, the home is a manifestation of what he wanted it to be.”

Brown has since left the Daisy Wilson Artist Community and is assisting with other projects in the Hill District. He feels a deep sense of satisfaction each time he goes past the renovated Wilson House, which held its grand opening in August 2022, but knows there is still other work to do.

“The Hill District has been traumatized so much for decades,” Brown said. “The way I see it, the August Wilson House is like a phoenix rising. If we can restore this home, why can't we restore the whole block, then the next two blocks, then three blocks and keep going? That’s what August Wilson would have wanted.”