Man who brought Juneteenth festivities to Pittsburgh speaks out about feud with city

PITTSBURGH — The man who brought the Juneteenth festivities and celebrations to Pittsburgh is speaking out about his ongoing feud with the city and why he said he feels betrayed.

It’s a controversy 11 Investigates first told you about over the summer when the city decided to launch its own Juneteenth celebration to compete with B. Marshall’s long-running festival.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle recently sat down with the man who started it all.

“It’s like a betrayal. It’s like you, It’s like your brother doing something to sabotage you,” said B. Marshall.

B. Marshall was surprised to learn in February that the city under the direction of Mayor Ed Gainey and Chief of Staff Jake Wheatley had applied in July 2023 for a permit to host a Juneteenth celebration in 2024 at Point State Park, especially since he has run Juneteenth celebrations in the city for more than a decade.

Marshall: I was shocked and devastated and I didn’t believe it.

Earle: You felt they had stabbed you in the back?

Marshall: I said to myself, I know Ed and Jake wouldn’t do this to the Black community. I know that Ed and Jake would not try to take the Juneteenth, knowing all that we have done.

The Gainey administration had earmarked $125,000 for Marshall’s celebration in 2023 and 2024, but opted to pull the funding this year and sponsor its own celebration.

The city decided to open it up for bid.

Marshall said he suspects the Gainey administration was upset after he called them out last year for not agreeing to provide police protection, something he says the previous administration had done.

“In my mind why am I arguing with you about protecting Black people in this society the day and age we live in,” said Marshall.

The city ultimately sent police in 2023.

This year the state covered the cost of police protection.

Marshall, who thought he had the upper hand because of his track record, submitted a bid through the Poise Foundation, but lost out to bounce marketing, a company that had done work for the Mayor before.

Earle: You felt the fix was in?

Marshall:  Oh, most definitely the fix was in. Once they told us, how could a person that established the biggest Juneteenth in Pennsylvania not get the money to do a Juneteenth,” said Marshall.

In an interview earlier this year, the Deputy Mayor defended the decision.

Earle:  This wasn’t rigged because of Mayor Gainey’s connection with her?

Pawlak: Not at all.  The committee reviewed three bids and scored them through a normal procedure, and made a determination based on who put together the most responsive proposal.

And at a news conference to introduce the head of Bounce, Mayor Gainey said he had nothing against B. Marshall and would support his festival but believes the city should run its own.

“We felt that at the end of the day, we need to be more transparent,” said Gainey.

Pittsburgh City Council concerned that the contract had been pulled from Marshall came to his aid, agreeing to give him $125,000.

Marshall said his three-day festival drew more than 70,000 people and pumped $7 million into the local economy.

As for the city’s one-day festival, Marshall believes they didn’t get what they paid for.

“If I was to do that, I might have to spend about $10,000,” said Marshall.

Moving forward, Marshall doesn’t expect any more funding from the city, but he said that won’t deter him.

“The community is telling me to keep fighting for us, we see what they’re doing, we see what they’re doing, keep fighting for us,” said Marshall.

As for the city’s celebration next year, the Mayor’s spokesperson said they are still evaluating what it will look like since there won’t be any funding from the American Rescue Plan for 2025.

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