For a decade, I wondered why Pittsburgh employers wouldn’t call me back

Isaac Bunn, 55, the descendant of Black steelworkers and founder of the Braddock Inclusion Project, a nonprofit focused on alleviating poverty, stands for a portrait by U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Braddock. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) When a temporary agency worker sheepishly showed me the error that caused me to be passed over or let go so many times, my world shattered. But I also learned to be resilient. “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region.& Sign up for our free newsletters.” First-person essay by Isaac Bunn, PublicSource As a young Black man living in one of the worst places in America for Black folks, I was climbing the ladder of success, working two well-paying jobs, and steadily advancing in my career. I was living the American dream and thriving. While my teenage and early adult years were troubled, my journey mostly began with hope and promise. But then an effort to retrieve personal items from an ex turned into a nightmare I could not have anticipated. In the blink of an eye, my promising career and future were abruptly snatched away from me — not by my own doing or as...