Nique Craft, an activist who became a fixture at the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Pittsburgh, died Tuesday at home on the South Side, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Craft was 36.
Craft organized and participated in countless demonstrations in and around Downtown Pittsburgh after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis in 2020. Craft often led the crowd, using a megaphone to lead chants, songs and calls for justice.
“When they said, ‘No justice, no peace,’ they meant it,” Craft’s attorney, Paul Jubas, wrote in a Facebook tribute. “Nique was a profound lightning rod during one of the most profound summers in any of our lives.”
Craft was an outspoken critic of Mayor Bill Peduto, leading protesters to the mayor’s doorstep for multiple days of protests in late summer of 2020. Peduto invited activists, including Craft, onto his stoop, though he went inside once Craft broke out a megaphone.
Police filed charges against Craft several times throughout the summer as the protests against police brutality continued. Supporters, many with signs, often attended Craft’s court hearings.
Craft was fierce advocate for Black women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We want you all to get to know each other,” Craft said at a Sept. 24, 2020, protest targeting the lack of charges filed in the death of Breona Taylor. “Because this is more than just marching. It’s community work.”
During the same protest, Craft and others chastised protesters for not turning out in droves for every protest and every demonstration supporting Black people.
“We are constantly educating you. Why … did I have to bring you out here to listen?” Craft said. “I had to put Breonna Taylor’s name on this to get you all out here.”
Craft told protesters to “show up for every single one of us. … Do not wait until we are dead to say our name.”
Zarah Livingston, one of the activists behind the Pittsburgh Protests social media accounts and an organizer with No Cop Money PA, said Craft became a figure to look up to for many activists.
“I can remember them being such a force for a lot of actions and protests during the summer,” Livingston said. “There was no way you could ignore that special kind of impact, which, in my opinion, cannot be duplicated.”
Craft made national headlines when footage of them drinking a beer from a diner’s table in Downtown went viral on social media. Craft said at the time that the exchange was a misunderstanding, and short video snippets without context can paint activists in a poor light.
“It’s really easy to paint protesters one way based on what you know about them and what they look like,” Craft said in September 2020.
Craft continued: “Everybody keeps getting these scenes of us doing things like this, but nobody gets the scenes” of ways protesters have helped others, such as collecting money for someone in need or helping the homeless.
A vigil is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Color Park, near the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and South Sixth Street on the city’s South Side.
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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