Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh poet’s debut collection explores Haiti past and present
In 2010, at age 19, Sony Ton-Aime was introduced to English. Born in Haiti, he’d grown up speaking Haitian Creole at home and French at school. Now he was enrolled at Kent State University, where he’d spend a semester in the English as a Second Language program.
Sixteen years later, it’s safe to say Ton-Aime is up to speed as far as English goes. He’s well into his third year as executive director of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, the region’s premiere showcase for visiting authors. And he’s just published his first book of poetry, “Konbit,” as part of the Carnegie Mellon University Press Poetry Series.
‘Your time has come’
The 93-page collection evokes the Haitian Revolution of 1791 and its contemporary echoes. Its theme is reflected in its title: “Konbit,” said Ton-Aime, is a Haitian Creole word for any project that requires the collective to achieve, whether that’s bringing in the harvest, staging a wedding, or pulling a car out of a ditch.
Many of the nearly 60 poems invoke the Bois Caiman ceremony, a religious gathering in August 1791 attended mostly by enslaved Blacks at which they resolved to overthrow French colonizers. Ton-Aime draws on both the historical record and the folklore surrounding the event to depict leaders like Dutty Boukman and Cecile Fatiman.
“Fatiman Contemplates the Knife on the Eve of the Bois Caiman Ceremony” begins, “blood-tinted blade / rusted yet never dull / prayer in waiting / always out of reach / you so many times have failed / you for far too long / have been hidden / your time has come …”
Poems in the latter portions of the book depict the Haiti of the 1990s and thereafter, when Ton-Aime grew up and came of age. Verses like “In the ’80s the U.S. Destroyed Haiti’s Rice Culture” (“a country / on its knees with promise of a full belly”) and “1994” collapse the history into a contemporary world of earthquakes, automobiles, HIV, corrupt aid workers and the effects of climate change.
But there is also joy, typically experienced in community. In the book’s title poem, Ton-Aime writes, “The children fill the holes with handfuls of corn. It is life. Men dig holes, children occupy them, and women mend the world.”
The book is replete with mothers and mother figures, a theme Ton-Aime said honors his own mother but also Haiti as “a nurturing place” and the women who looked after him as a child when his mother went off to sell secondhand clothes in the market. “She left me with the folks in the village, the women in the village,” he said. “And so many of them really took care of me and I came to see them as really mothers, in a way.”
In highlighting figures like Boukman, Fatiman and the unsung mothers of Haiti, Ton-Aime also seeks to emphasize the resourcefulness and creativity of marginalized people. He said their example can be a powerful one in troubled times.
“We have faced existential threats as well in the past, and I wanted this collection to be a way to connect them and for folks to feel a sense of optimism that our ancestors, our forefathers and foremothers, survived this,” he said. “And we can as well survive them.”
‘I can tell my own stories’
As a child, Ton-Aime loved reading and writing. At Kent State, in a practical move, he studied accounting and worked in that field back home. But the love of poetry he found in Kent State’s writing community brought him back to earn a master’s degree in poetry through the Northeast Ohio MFA Program.
A new career in arts administration led him first to the Cleveland-based nonprofit Lake Erie Ink, and then, in 2020, to New York’s famed Chautauqua Institute, where he became director of literary arts.
But even at PAL, as he was hosting authors like Zadie Smith, Percival Everett and Elizabeth Gilbert, he continued working on poetry. He especially credited as an inspiration the work of Jamaican-born American poet Shara McCallum.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I do not need to be an American to write poetry in [the] United States. I can keep my own authentic voice. I can tell my own stories that will relate to folks, right? And Shara McCallum was really the first person that gave me this permission to be my authentic self.”
Ton-Aime’s other literary projects include the Haitian Creole translation of “Olympic Hero: The Lennox Kilgour Story” and co-authoring the Haitian Creole course on Duolingo.
McCallum, who is a Penn State professor, and poet Joy Priest, who teaches in the University of Pittsburgh’s master of fine arts program, will join Ton-Aime at the “Konbit” book launch on Sun., March 15. The event, at Alphabet City, on the North Side, is free, but registration is recommended.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ pair of young quarterbacks received some refreshing news regarding Brendan Sorsby.
With the NFL opting not to hold a supplemental draft this summer and thus ensuring Sorsby’s only other opportunity to enter the league is by declaring for the 2027 NFL Draft, both Will Howard and Drew Allar won’t face any competition from another up-and-coming signal caller this summer.
While next year’s draft is still the target for the Steelers when it comes to finding a franchise quarterback, having to kick the can down the road in this instance means Howard and Allar now have additional time to prove themselves and aren’t at risk of losing their respective roles in 2026.
How Howard Benefits
Unless Pittsburgh was willing, or planning, to carry four quarterbacks had it landed Sorsby in the supplemental draft before it was nixed, Howard was all but certain to part ways with the organization.
Perhaps he would’ve latched back onto the practice squad if he were cut and subsequently cleared waivers, but the 24-year-old would’ve otherwise become a complete afterthought behind Sorsby and Allar.
The outlook on Howard ever becoming a long-term starter for the Steelers is grim at best. Because Sorsby won’t be on the roster this season, however, his battle with Mason Rudolph for the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers won’t be rendered obsolete.
It’s possible Howard could win it over Rudolph and show enough leading into the 2027 campaign that he could earn the starting role to open the year before Allar or a rookie takes over.
That feels like it’s looking too far ahead, though. In the present, the fact that Sorsby isn’t on the team means Howard’s odds of cracking the 53-man roster remain rather high.
Allar Is In a Good Spot
Assuming trading Allar was never on the table regardless of their potential plans if they had brought Sorsby in, the Penn State product was always going to be on the Steelers’ roster in 2026.
The third-round rookie would’ve had far more of a convoluted path to any sort of meaningful role with the team had Sorsby shared the quarterback room with him, though.
Their strengths are incredibly similar, though Sorsby has a significant leg-up over Allar in terms of his mobility, which could’ve ultimately been the difference down the line in any position battle between the two.
It’s still too early to champion Allar, and it’s likely that a first-round quarterback in the 2027 draft would usurp him if that’s the direction Pittsburgh ends up going in.
Nevertheless, with less pressure and more focus from the coaching staff on helping him develop than there would’ve been if Sorsby were in town, Allar doesn’t have to worry about competing with another signal caller when he isn’t really ready to do so.
Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube or anywhere you listen!
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Pittsburgh ranks among the top 25 best places to live, work and visit in the U.S., according to a new report.
The 2026 “America’s Best Cities” report from Resonance, an international business consulting company, ranks the top 100 U.S. metro areas overall based on factors such as economic data, quality of living and public perception. Pittsburgh scored in the top quarter of cities nationwide.
Here’s a breakdown of how Pittsburgh ranks.
Pittsburgh ranks among top U.S. cities
Overall, Pittsburgh scored at No. 25 among U.S. cities.
Top-scoring cities almost all “made the visitor and resident experience a strategic priority,” according to the report. Rankings were also further broken down based on each key scoring components.
Pittsburgh has put a focus on its cultural amenities and food scene, as well as in revitalizing its neighborhoods, the report noted. While other similarly sized cities in the ranking have fallen, Pittsburgh climbed by five spots in 2026.
Pittsburgh among best cities for livability
Pittsburgh scored at No. 24 among U.S. cities for its livability.
The report’s livability scores were ranked in accordance to the quality of daily life in a city based on factors such as walkability, transit access, air quality, climate risk, green space, housing costs relative to income, broadband connectivity, healthcare access and life expectancy, as well as if the location is somewhere people would want to live.
Pittsburgh ranks in top 30 cities for lovability, prosperity
Pittsburgh ranked among the top 30 U.S. cities for both its lovability and its prosperity, scoring at No. 26 for lovability and No. 28 for prosperity.
Lovability was scored based on factors like the quality and quantity of venues such as restaurants, arts and entertainment sites, museums, outdoor experiences and nightlife. Digital data such as search trends, social media activity and other user-generated content was also considered.
Prosperity rankings were based on factors such as gross domestic product per capita, labor force participation, innovation capital intensity, educational attainment, unemployment and poverty rates, the presence of major corporate headquarters, university quality and the number of direct air connections.
Philadelphia ranked just a few spots above Pittsburgh at No. 20 overall.
Top 10 cities in 2026 ‘Best Cities’ ranking
The top 10 cities in the ranking are:
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Miami, FL
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Dallas, TX
- Houston, TX
- Boston, MA
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
Pittsburg, PA
Delta-8 is unregulated and untested. Here’s what to know about the synthetic cannabis.
Delta-8 is unregulated and untested, and more and more users are paying the price.
Health experts say the drug often contains chemicals and toxins, resulting in psychotic episodes and, in some cases, long-term damage.
Should Delta-8 be banned?
Walk into any of the now-hundreds of vape shops in the Pittsburgh region and just about any gas station, and it’s yours for the asking: Delta-8.
It’s an unregulated, quasi-legal form of synthetic cannabis. It’s supposed to be less potent than regular marijuana, but with some users, it’s resulted in psychotic episodes involving hallucinations, hospital admissions or even violence.
“You have no idea where it’s made, what it’s made with, what’s actually in it,” addiction psychiatrist Elizabeth McCord said.
Three years ago, a then-21-year-old University of Pittsburgh student took Delta-8 and went on a rampage. He stabbed Al Carlson, a random stranger in the city’s Shadyside neighborhood, seven times, leaving him for dead.
After his arrest, Jasper Hilliard told police he had been in an altered state, hearing voices. And in court, both the defense and prosecution experts said Hilliard acted in a “substance-induced state of psychosis.”
Still, Judge Edward Borkowski found him guilty last week of attempted homicide, saying even under the influence, Hilliard could still form intent to kill. Carlson agreed, but Hilliard’s father said his son wouldn’t have attacked but for the drug.
“My son was peaceful and non-violent for his entire life up to the day the crime happened, and it only happened because, like thousands of people in Pittsburgh, he took Delta-8,” Jasper’s father, Thomas Hilliard, said on June 16.
Delta-8 adverse reactions
The Food and Drug Administration has tracked 104 reports of adverse reactions from Delta-8, involving hallucinations, confusion, vomiting and loss of consciousness and has issued a public warning. The FDA points to the unregulated, untested nature of the drug and the unmonitored use of chemicals and potential toxins in the synthesis process.
McCord says every dose of Delta-8 is a crapshoot.
“It’s manufactured through chemical conversion rather than grown naturally, so you are exposing yourself to harmful chemicals,” McCord said. “It’s so unregulated that you’re also ingesting toxins.”
But since it’s so readily available, people assume it’s safe — especially in the ingestible form as gummies — which McCord says is an invitation to young people who may be susceptible to long-term brain damage.
“You go to a gas station or head shop, and you see Delta-8,” McCord said. “It looks like candy, and that’s predatory marketing toward young individuals.”
Delta-8 in Pennsylvania
But even though 22 states have now banned or severely restricted the sale of Delta-8, Pennsylvania is not one of them. A federal ban is scheduled to go into effect in November. And under proposed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana, synthetic cannabis would be subject to testing, and only authorized dealers could sell it.
This would take it out of vape shops and gas stations, but too late to prevent the tragedy involving Carlson and Tom Hilliard’s son.
“I’m surprised the state of Pennsylvania hasn’t done something already,” Tom Hilliard said.
-
Vermont43 seconds agoVermont trooper found justified in fatal Putney shooting
-
Virginia2 minutes agoVirginia House honors ABC13’s Noreen Turyn as she retires after 36 years
-
Washington9 minutes agoSocial media reacts to former BYU star AJ Dybantsa going No. 1 in 2026 NBA draft
-
Wisconsin16 minutes agoCult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
-
West Virginia19 minutes agoWVDNR accepting applications for waterfowl hunt at McClintic WMA
-
Wyoming24 minutes agoAmerican Rare Earths strengthens board with veteran Wyoming mine builder ahead of planned Nasdaq listing
-
Crypto31 minutes agoCrypto’s Liquidity Outlook Darkens as Fed Hawkish Pivot Pushes Hike Odds to 77%
-
Finance34 minutes agoBuilding a scalable finance function at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
