[3][5] Byrd Brown was raised in the affluent neighborhood called Sugar Top, in the Hill District of Pittsburgh.
But this progress often has been at the expense of African-Americans, forced out of their neighborhoods by inflating property values, redlining and other practices that promote gentrification.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[citation needed] Mayor Tom Murphy of Pittsburgh said, "Byrd Brown was an African-American who stood in the front lines of the civil rights movement and faced down enormous hatred and prejudice.
[3][7] In 1967 Brown organized and led a downtown march of 5,000 people at the company Duquesne Light to seek better jobs and protesting unfair hiring practices for African Americans.
[3] Byrd helped organize the Black Monday demonstration to U.S. Steel corporation's new building to protest discrimination in construction.
[3][5] City Councilman Sala Udin recalled the time while they were driving back to Pittsburgh from Mississippi in the 1960s the police stopped him and fellow civil rights workers.
"Byrd came to Kentucky and got us out of jail," Udin said[7] Brown donated generously to college scholarships and non-profit organizations that assisted the poor and less fortunate.
[citation needed] Former NAACP president Harvey Adams said of Brown, "Pro bono was his middle name," "He did a thorough job whether the client had a nickel or nothing.
Brown filed successful civil rights litigation challenging perpetual racism in housing from the local Board of Realtors and represented Oswald Nickens, a black gynecologist who was prevented from buying a piece of property in Stanton Heights until his lawsuit.
"[citation needed] In 1991, Brown faced William Bradford Reynolds, a former U.S. Attorney General in a debate about affirmative action.
Brown argued against Reynolds that affirmative action is "the kind of code word that is always used to keep [African Americans] in [their] place" and so it is no more discriminative than other active legislation.
Ararat Baptist Church, "Byrd has fought (for civil rights) courageously and often single-handedly," "He is a hero in this corner of the world.
This award honored Brown's impact on the region and the community, but it also gave an opportunity to show appreciation "for the sacrifices made in the past as a reminder for us to work together and continue the movement in the present, as well as the future," said Chaz Kellum, Manager of Diversity Initiatives for the Pittsburgh Pirates.