PITTSBURGH (PTTP) — University of Pittsburgh alumnus Tim Stevens has been advocating for Black voters’ rights for nearly 50 years — and Pitt has the proof.
Stevens returned to his alma mater last year for a visit through his archives at the University Library System’s Archives and Special Collections. There, he took a walk down memory lane as he shared the story of founding the Black Political Empowerment Project, also known as B-PEP. B-PEP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the empowerment and enfranchisement of African American voters across the country.
Stevens recalled how he started B-PEP as a class project at the University.
“Most people in that course had enough sense to end their project in 10 weeks,” Stevens said. “But here we are, 35 and a half years later, B-PEP is one of the most recognized black organizations in the city and in the region.”
Stevens has an extensive working history of advocacy in Pittsburgh. He serves as the chairman and CEO of B-PEP, the co-convenor of the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence and the facilitator for the Corporate Equity Inclusion Round Table Working Group. Additionally, he formerly served as president of the NAACP Pittsburgh branch and founded the Black and White Reunion.
Stevens isn’t the only significant figure in Black Pittsburgh history whose story is kept alive by the University’s archival systems — just last week, Pitt celebrated the grand opening of the August Wilson archives at the Hillman Library.