In(ter)dependence Day
I came across this poem on Substack over the Independence Day weekend and was prompted to write a reflection on the ways I’ve been benefiting from and contributing to the sense of interdependence I gratefully enjoy here in Pittsburgh.
In(ter)dependence Day
It is summer and I want to celebrate
that my neighbor speaks English and Spanish
in the same sentence,
that I can read any book I want,
that my body is mine
to fling into the lake or walk freely
down the street without fear.
I want to celebrate with potlucks,
block parties, fusion dancing,
and poetry. With laughter
and community, cookouts,
and accountability.
While we celebrate the hard-won
freedom we gained,
please also remember
that it is our interdependence
not just our independence
that makes this life worth fighting for.
-Alix Klingenberg, from Quietly Wild
With all the self-discovery work and job searching I’ve done over the last several years, I’ve become very clear about my core values, accessibility being one of the top 3 (and wellness and sustainability the other two). Growing up with very limited means helped me learn how to seek out communal resources, taught me that just because you don’t have much money doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy some of the same experiences as your peers who do; it just might need to be accessed differently. This has only been possible, of course, thanks to the fact and extent to which folks have generously invested in collective spaces that people like me can draw from. For this I’ve always sought out and appreciated shared public spaces and resources like parks, libraries (see my April 2025 Facebook post), and media broadcasting (see this July 2025 post).
In this current moment, I am personally grateful to live in a city where I can enjoy access to many experiences and resources within my very limited budget. I have challenged myself physically and have the chance to ground myself in nature several times a week thanks to the maintained trails at Frick and Schenley Parks—the first of which is within a 10 minute drive of my home and the other right out the back of campus where I work. Thanks to the advocacy and social planning of BikePGH, I have been introduced to the sheer delight of group bike rides on street routes I wouldn’t be comfortable navigating alone—like their Spring Picnic ride, the WMNBikePGH Women’s/Non-Binary group rides, and the main annual PedalPGH event—and have been consequently inspired to explore the wealth of bike trails in and around the city on my own. I benefit nearly daily from the free-to-me Pittsburgh Regional Transit and campus transportation systems available to me as a CMU employee, which help me save on gas money and parking fees, not to mention the hassle of taking a vehicle downtown whenever I attend an event there. I have attended a wide variety of masterful donation-based performances at City of Asylum, a residency-based sanctuary for global artists of all kinds seeking safety to continue their creative work, most recently a performance by the local group The Soup Session, who blend hip hop and jazz improvisation to build grooves that you can’t help but move to. And I’ve been so grateful for the weekly donation-based Cathedral Yoga classes I’ve been attending at East Liberty Presbyterian Church for over a year now, offering an accessible way for me to reset my body and mind in the middle of the work week.
Very recently, I benefited—and frankly felt I made out like a bandit—from the public access area along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in North Shore, specifically around PNC Park (home of the Pittsburgh Pirates) when Noah Kahan performed there over the holiday weekend. Although I’m a relatively new fan of his, thanks to a younger coworker who pointed me in the direction of his music just earlier this year, his music—especially his Busyhead and I Am/I Was albums, although if you’re a new listener, I would recommend starting with his recent Tiny Desk concert!—have become regulars in my listening queue and I was feeling rather bummed that I wouldn’t have the chance to attend his concert when he was going to be right here in Pittsburgh (due to—in my humble opinion—outrageously expensive ticket prices starting at $600-$800). That is, until I got the idea of trying to catch some of the concert outside the park. I had no idea how it would turn out when I headed over there to try to catch some of the opening band (Annabelle Dinda) that a former music teaching coworker was playing bass for and—after failing to hear clearly in front of the stadium and realizing I wouldn't hold up very long in the scorching sun—retreating to the shade of the Fred Rogers Memorial, located across from the point where the three rivers intersect and where I could catch a breeze off the water. As his scheduled entrance time approached, I walked back along the trail and was very pleasantly surprised that not only was the concert crystal clear behind the stadium, there was in fact a perfect grassy area to sit and enjoy the view of the river while listening. For someone with a sensitive nervous system and a fluctuating amount of social anxiety, being able to enjoy music I was eager to hear with plenty of space to myself and the ability to move around easily if needed was a real gift. Later, when I decided to walk along the trail around the park to deter the mosquitoes, I realized there were MANY more folks lining the entire Roberto Clemente Bridge, all sharing in the incredible night without having to pay a cent.
Later in the weekend, when I was feeling a little disappointed about not being able to visit with my own family (since I’ve needed to focus much of my time and funds on an upcoming move later this month), I found myself temporarily welcomed into a coworker’s family gathering that left me feeling hopeful and determined to keep paying the welcome forward in the ways that I can. While I know I'm not alone in feeling the inability to celebrate where we are in our country right now at a governmental level (although I’m admittedly encouraged to see and contribute to some powerful resistance toward ICE operations and data center development, and I’m continually inspired by the countercultural leadership of Zohran Mamdani), the gathering was a reminder that there’s always opportunity and reason—I dare say now more than ever—to celebrate the kindness and open-heartedness that exists around us, and to practice being the kind of collective—the version of America—we long for.
Here are some ways I’m contributing to the communal spaces I enjoy in Pittsburgh (and beyond):
Giving what I can to spaces and organizations I already enjoy (such as BikePGH, City of Asylum, and NPR)
Participating in local book clubs that discuss social issues and local implications/solutions
Volunteering at Pittsburgh Park Conservancy Stewardship Day/park cleanup events
Participating in local book clubs that discuss social issues
Paid memberships with BikePGH, Phipps Botanical Conservatory, and Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Purchasing books and eBooks from my local bookstore and/or on Bookshop.org
Intentionally shopping small, local, and reusable whenever and wherever I can- this is especially nice to be able to do right on the campus where I work with a beautifully unique dining model that features 13 independent vendors (including 3 local coffee chains!)
May we be aware of how truly interdependent we are, may we contribute to the spaces and experiences we enjoy, and may we continue to widen the reach of those spaces and experiences until they include every last one of us.
Food for Thought:
What’s something you feel like you—or someone you care about—is missing out on that might be accessible in a shared space or way?
What public spaces and resources have you benefited from?
How can you help make sure the spaces/resources you enjoy remain available to others and/or broaden their reach?
Mood for Thought
"End of August" may be my favorite track on Noah Kahan's new Great Divide album, particularly because of the lyrics in the first section of the chorus that expresses the feeling of ownership anyone can have of the place where you are, even if it's accessed at a different time or in a different way than the popular majority (not to mention the way the instrumentals on the chorus creates a feeling of expansiveness, plus the glorious interludes!). I’ve embedded the official YouTube recording below but would also/alternatively recommend this recording someone took from inside PNC Park during Friday night's concert here in this city I’m grateful to feel a sense of co-ownership for.
“Everything you see out here will die Oh, it’s a matter of time ‘Til it’s fields of ice and reflector lights ‘Til it’s our town”
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