Wellness in Pittsburgh’s Black community isn’t just about self-care; it’s about survival. It’s about resistance. And it’s about legacy.
From the radical healthcare initiatives of the Black Panther Party to today’s Black-led mental health programs, yoga collectives, and community spaces, Black Pittsburghers have continually forged paths to healing. As these wellness movements continue to grow, they reinforce the belief that care is not a privilege but a right.
Local leaders at the heart of this movement recognize that healing must be holistic and culturally rooted to thrive. Brittany Steiner, a licensed professional counselor at the Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh, sees therapy as an act of defiance in a community where seeking professional help has often been stigmatized.
“I sometimes see a resistance to self-care in the Black community because it is perceived as a luxury versus a necessity,” Steiner tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “This is likely in part due to the way it is commercialized in mainstream media but can also be reflective of self-worth.”â
Her perspective is part of a more significant trend that’s been unfolding for decades. While the general act of self-care today is often commercialized, its roots are radical. As Teen Vogue highlights, the Black Panther Party saw healthcare as a human right, launching free health clinics, food programs, and mental health initiatives to combat the racist healthcare system. In Pittsburgh, the presence of the BBP was relatively low. Still, its influence inspired local activists to push for Black-led healthcare initiatives, feeding the larger Black Power movement that was active in the city during the late 1960s, addressing police brutality, food insecurity, and medical disparities that disproportionately affected Black residents.
That legacy continues today through Black mental health professionals and community healing spaces prioritizing culturally relevant care. Recently, Steiner has seen a shift in how Black Pittsburghers approach therapy. “The demand [for Black therapists] has certainly increased,” she says. “I also notice specific spaces for healing in the community from Black therapy providers in Pittsburgh and educational spaces specifically for BIPOC mental health providers on a national level.”
Despite this progress, significant challenges remain. Some of the most common diagnoses Steiner sees in the Black community are those of trauma and PTSD, marital/relational issues, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression — often linked to systemic problems such as gentrification, police violence, and economic inequality.
Therapy can be a crucial tool, but Steiner emphasizes that healing must also be communal. She incorporates community-based healing into her work by offering somatic release workshops, where participants process trauma through breathwork, meditation, and movementâ.
Faith and spirituality also play critical roles in Black healing. Steiner notes that more Black Pittsburghers embrace a dual approach, saying, “‘I can talk to God and go to therapy. I say ‘Amen’ to that, and I would add taking psychiatric medication to that.”
“My first ideas of healing involved taking everything to God and the church without addressing mental health,” Steiner says. “From the time I was a little girl, my mom would always say, and often [still] does, ‘You can’t just lay on the train tracks and pray you won’t get run over.’ We have to pray and do some other things and that may include therapy and medication.”
Everyday Cafe, a church-run social enterprise in Homestead, exemplifies this approach. Founded by Dr. John M. Wallace Jr. and his wife, Cynthia, both pastors, the cafe is an extension of Bible Center Church’s mission to uplift the Homewood community.
“We believe wellness encompasses the whole person — body, mind, and spirit,” Dr. Wallace tells City Paper. “Our cafe serves as more than just a place for quality food and beverages; we strive to be a sanctuary where our community can gather, connect, and be nurtured holistically through the power of food and fellowship.”
Everyday Cafe hosts pop-up markets for Black businesses, breast cancer awareness programs, and local wellness collaborations, ensuring that healing remains accessible to allâ. They also offer nutritious meals, wellness initiatives, and community-building events. Additionally, through Own Our Own Entrepreneurship Academy and Business Development Center, the cafe fosters economic empowerment by mentoring Black entrepreneurs and providing resources for business growthâ.
Dr. Wallace, a social scientist, envisioned Everyday Cafe as a “third space” for members of the Homewood community. He explains that the term refers to a place that is neither home nor work but a hub where residents, business leaders, and activists can gather and build relationships.
Through its connection to Bible Center Church, the restaurant also integrates faith-based wellness with tangible resources, from financial literacy workshops to health fairs, and allows for the addressing of mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, ensuring that Pittsburgh’s Black residents have a holistic wellness space rooted in both cultural and religious traditions.
On the body movement side of wellness, YogaRoots On Location, founded by Felicia Savage Friedman, brings trauma-informed yoga with a racial justice lens to Pittsburgh’s Black community.
“My self-care living practice is an act of resistance against a system that does not value my life,” Friedman tells CP. “YROL is my private and public commitment to my survival and thrive in this life, in this arrangement of intersectional oppressions. Yes, my breath is radical resistance.”
Friedman traces her practice back more than 35 years, first learning Raja Yoga from a Black woman in Pittsburgh. From there, she built a teaching practice that expanded throughout the city, bringing yoga to the Healthy Black Family Project, local jails, and various community spacesâ.
Her curriculum incorporates social justice principles, mindfulness, and movement, letting yoga serve as a tool for Black liberation. She sees her work as a natural continuation of the Black Panther Party’s legacy of community health initiatives. “YogaRoots On Location aligns with The Black Panther Party’s 10-point plan for Black people,” she says. “However, YROL extends the 10-point plan to include all humans who want to live in harmony with all people.”
While Pittsburgh’s Black communities continue to navigate systemic healthcare inequities, grassroots movements are reclaiming self-care as a revolutionary act, not just as a trend, but as a transformative force for future generations.
“Practicing my agency and being as healthy as possible is my birthright,” says Friedman.â
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2025.
